“Momma, can we work on my story again?” my seven-year-old asked me during this morning’s park playdate. His whole body sagged under the August humidity. “I have new idea. What if baby snake needs to find a treasure!”
Another mom nearby asked about baby snake, which prompted my seven-year-old to tell her all about the story we just finished writing together. Looking at his feet, he offered to read it to her and her baby. Without hesitation, she said she’d love to hear his story and then proceeded to laugh and gasp at all the right moments.
My kiddo pulled his shirt collar up to hide his smile. Then he declared we could print and read the story to the whole playgroup next time, at which point this mom who had permanently endeared herself to me said, “I can’t wait to see the finished book.” He skipped away as if the humidity had magically disappeared—though not before telling me that I need to become an illustrator.
For the rest of the day, he stood three feet taller because when we encourage our kids’ imagination and storytelling, we provide them with concrete evidence that they and their ideas matter. This not only builds their confidence in terms of self-expression but also helps set them up for life.
Purpose
Being able to think creatively enables us to seek creative solutions and remain open to alternative perspectives. It also helps us entertain ourselves without electronic devices—a skill that many parents pray their kids will develop.
Regardless of whether your child eventually writes their first book, storytelling sets the stage for building meaningful moments of connection between us and our kids. That alone is priceless.
Below are seven ways I’ve encouraged my kids to develop their storytelling and imagination.
1. My undivided attention
My kids began telling stories around the age of four. They’d stop what they were doing, run over to me, and breathlessly share their adventures in as much detail as possible, about how their bedroom was actually a submarine that transformed into a space rocket only for pirates to attack, but then the Paw Patrol came to the rescue.
I admit, more than once I responded with, “That’s nice, sweetheart,” and continued folding the laundry. But one day, I paused. I put down the shirt or my phone or the toys I’d picked up, and I listened.
I really listened.
I locked eyes with them, nodded my head, and gasped out loud when they told me about the bad guys who surprised them. I listened to every word. And I could see their imagination forming with vibrant colors, fantastical characters, and zany adventures.
The more I listened, the more their stories grew. I’d ask questions, and they’d start problem solving and then run away to cast their sails again. I learned in these moments to give them my undivided attention and show them that I not only loved but also valued their crazy adorable stories. That their ideas mattered.
2. Poetry Teatime
During the height of the pandemic, Julie Bogart's Poetry Teatime became a special ritual in our house. Once a week, I got a bunch of fancy desserts or made homemade baked goods. The kids were also happy for just Oreos and chocolate milk. Regardless, I always made tea, covered the table with my fancy tablecloth, and got out my China tea cups. My kids began anticipating this special time.
At 2:00 pm, we would sit down at the dining room table, and while we delighted in various yummy little desserts, I would read a variety of poetry, from Emily Dickinson (my all-time favorite), to seasonal poems, to a lot of silly stuff that my kids absolutely loved, such as this peanut poem:
A peanut sat on a railroad track,
by Anonymous
His heart was all a-flutter.
The five-fifteen came rushing by—
Toot! toot! Peanut butter!
My kids would ask me to recite that one every week. While the rhyme itself is adorable, it also shows kids the fun ways we can play with language.
And that right there is exactly why I loved introducing my kids to poetry at such a young age—because poetry helps introduce them to how lovely and lyrical the sound of language can be. More specifically, poetry teaches children about pitch, volume, inflection, and patterns in speech.
Book recommendations
Here are some of our favorite poetry books for kids in order of preference:
- Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poetry
- The Random House Book of Poetry for Children
- Poetry for Kids: Emily Dickinson
- Read Aloud Poems for Young People
- Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems
3. One-off poems when inspiration strikes
I remember the moment my first born dragged a stool into the kitchen, climbed up, and peered over the counter to watch his toast turn brown. I had been spiraling around the kitchen, prepping the rest of his lunch, when he said, “Look, Momma! I’m dancing to the music of the toaster.”
I couldn’t let that one slip away, so I got out a piece of construction paper and wrote it down. When he finished lunch, I asked him to draw beneath those words a picture of a toaster. At the time, he was only four years old, so the picture is sort of a rectangular object with some extra wiggly lines that make this souvenir all the more endearing.
I added his name, and then we hung up his poem. From that moment on, when my kids said something inspirational, something that sounded like a line from a poem, I would write it down and then ask them to illustrate it later.
Thus, a few years later when we were doing Poetry Teatime, I would read a couple of my son’s poems. He got to hear his poems being read alongside Shel Silverstein, the Jabberwocky, and of course that peanut poem.
I had planted the seed of his potential long ago.
4. Record their stories
Next, I took this poetry dictation a step further. Instead of waiting for what I felt were poetic, inspirational moments, I started recording their stories when I saw them bouncing off the walls, trying to shake loose their ideas.
When my six-year-old told me that “28,000 years ago, this house was a legendary school. It’s a story I haven’t told you in 87 days or 20 seconds, until one day a friendly dragon appeared,” you better believe I started writing this down. I got out my Notes app on my phone, and my fingers tried to keep up as his imagination took off.
We never finished the story about the legendary school and dragon, but that’s okay. An unfinished story doesn’t mean our time together was wasted.
In fact, writers’ drawers are usually chockfull of half-finished story ideas. But all of those half-baked ideas provide us with practice, practice that teaches us to keep trying, practice that improves our communication skills, practice that shows us measurable growth over time.
And let me tell you, at age seven, my kiddo’s stories have become epic.
5. Guided storytelling with prompts
In June 2022, I chaperoned my seven-year-old’s first-grade field trip to a puppet theatre. On this humid day, we had a 30-minute ride on a crowded bus with no air conditioner and no electronic devices. To divert his attention, I asked my kid to tell me one of his stories, and he hissed, “I don’t want to. I have no ideas!”
So I decided to try guided storytelling. I said, “Okay, I’m going to think of a story, but I need your help. Do you think our main character should be a boy or a girl or an animal?”
My son started to sit up. “A snake,” he whimpered.
“Okay, great. A snake. And where do you want the story to take place? A city? Out in nature? In a castle?”
“A city of buses. Of broken-down buses!” he said, bouncing on his seat. Over the next few months, this story evolved into an entire book that he now wants to publish.
Providing story prompts builds the foundation for kids by supplying a few story elements. Then they can either come up with the rest on their own, or they're happy to make the story with me, which, again, I start writing down.
6. Turning artwork into picture books
Now we have these bits of stories and poems, right? What do we do with them? Mindful Doodling for Kids offers some ideas. During one of her Instagram videos, she encouraged me to take my kids’ artwork—not the stories and poems I had transcribed and asked them to illustrate—and turn those stacks into books.
I got two sheets of construction paper, piled his artwork in between, and stabled them together along one edge. I decorated the cover, per Amy’s doodle recommendations. And now my preschooler’s Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar, seahorse, crab, and other creations that I consider to be the best are now his own book.
I can also take Amy’s idea one step further and ask my little guy to tell me about his artwork. At the bottom of each page, I can add his descriptions—what’s it about and what’s happening—thus turning his artwork into his own picture book. By making a book from their artwork, you don't have to wait until their words inspire you.
When I showed my four-year-old his book, he ran around the living room, shouting, “I made a book!” I thought my seven-year-old would not particularly care, but still I collected his drawings and made him a book. When he saw his work in the form of a book, he gave me the biggest smile and kept staring at his book like it was hot off the press from Simon and Schuster.
7. Dictated comic strips
Like so many elementary age kids, my seven-year-old has become a huge fan of the Dog Man and Bad Kitty graphic novels. Thus, when Amy from Mindful Doodling for Kids shared a post about doodling simple pictures on cards that represent our kids’ stories, I realized this idea lends itself to encouraging our kids to tell a story that we can doodle into a four-panel comic strip.
I tried this last month with my four-year-old who loves to talk about the 100 cats that hide in his room and their adventures with lava and rocket boosters. (He’s really big on adding rocket boosters to almost anything.) However, this moment turned into something a tad different.
He had come to me with tear-stained cheeks because he missed his brother who was attending summer school that week. I suggested that we draw a picture of the two of them, and thus my sweet boy told me a story. I drew his picture according to his specifications, including his rainbow shoes and the heart-shaped balloon that carried both my boys off into the sky.
Although we didn’t create multiple pictures or a four-panel comic, he did sit on my lap and stare loving at his picture. He held me tight and said he couldn’t wait to tell his big brother about their adventure in the balloon. I’m truly grateful that Amy’s idea created another moment of connection between me and my sweet boy and that I could comfort him this way.
Conclusion
I hope you try some of these ideas. If they don’t work the first time, keep trying. After all, storytelling takes practice. As you encourage your kids’ imagination, you’ll also provide them with a solid foundation in writing and communication—life skills with endless potential.
If you’re interested in more articles about nurturing and unleashing your own creativity, check out these articles:
- Anyone Can Do It: 5 Easy Steps to Start Writing and Unleash Your Creative Self
- 5 Easy Ways to Make Time to Write, Even for Busy Parents
- Prioritize Yourself Too: How and Why Parents Need Self-Care
To my readers
Please let me know which of these you try and how it goes. I'm excited to hear your stories about your kids' experiences.
Featured photo by Steven Libralon on Unsplash
