Is your kid a natural storyteller, even though they haven’t yet learned to write? That doesn’t mean they can’t write stories! Anyone who’s spent some time with pre-literate kids knows that the stories they make up tend to be wildly unpredictable, full of shocking plot twists and hilarious moments. You can create wonderful keepsakes (and potentially enter our upcoming Youth Scary Story Contest) by helping your kid make a permanent record of their stories.

(If you’re asking yourself whether it’s worth it, consider: The riotously funny, award-winning comic Axe Cop started out as a project where a 29-year-old drew comics scripted by his 5-year-old brother…and eventually became a real animated TV show on Fox. You might not be able to parlay your kid’s work into international fame and fortune, but you can still showcase your kid’s genius!)

So, how do you get those strange, silly stories recorded someplace permanent?

Draw it out

When your child draws you a picture, ask them to tell you about it. (“Tell me about your picture,” as an aside, is a great alternative to “What’s that?” It doesn’t suggest that the child’s picture is unrecognizable, even if it looks like scribbles and blobs.) Jot down what they tell you about what’s happening, and offer open-ended questions and statements (more on those below!) to help expand the story.

You can do this with all kinds of drawings, but if you want to aim for something specific, tell the child. You can even make it a Grownup-and-Me activity: “Let’s each draw a picture of [thing], and then we can tell each other about them!” When you participate, too, you offer a model for storytelling and reinforce the message that creating art and stories are activities everyone can enjoy. 

Pull out a smartphone

Oral storytelling is a natural extension of playing pretend - so most children are pretty great at it. And because preschoolers often trust their own voices implicitly, rather than getting self-conscious about their ideas, they tend to be willing to put their whole heart into their telling.

So next time your child wants to tell you a story, ask them if you can make a video or audio recording of them while they do! (Asking permission and respecting the answer you get is important - it reinforces to children that they are the boss of their own body and reminds them that trustworthy adults respect body boundaries.) If they agree, let them tell you the story or act it out. When they’re done, you’ll have an adorable video - and if you transcribe it for your kid, you can enter it in our Youth Scary Story Contest!

Take Dictation

If your secretarial skills are second to none, write down your child’s story as they tell it to you. They can talk to their heart’s content, and you can focus on keeping up!

Ask open-ended questions (and statements!)

Is a kid running out of steam? Have they painted themselves into a corner (metaphorically or literally)? If it feels like they’re done, they can be done, but if they want to keep going, you can use open-ended questions and statements to encourage their imaginations.

As you know, an open-ended question is one that requires a long response to really answer - it can’t be answered with “Yes” or “No.” Think of the difference between “How was school today?” (“Fine.”) and “What did you do in school today?” (...unless they answer “Stuff,” and then you’re back at square one). When you ask open-ended questions, children dig into their imaginations to answer you:

• “Why do you think she wanted to go there?”
• “What do you think they’ll find in the box?”
• “How do they know that he isn’t telling the truth about that unicorn?”

Open-ended statements also encourage children to talk more about their work. Children can agree or disagree with what you say and elaborate as they feel comfortable:

• “That’s a lot of purple.”
• “It sounds like the house they walked into might be haunted.”
• “I wonder if the dog is going to come home.”

Open-ended statements are also a great invitation to delve into the feelings a child expresses through their work. Because you aren’t asking a question directly about them, children can talk about complex emotions without feeling like they’ve been put on the spot:

• “He looks really happy to me.”
• “That sounds like a scary situation.”
• “I think I would feel pretty jealous if she got a cookie and I didn’t.”

To edit, or not to edit

Try to preserve your child’s words and ideas the best you can - the joy of preschool storytelling is how unique it often feels to the child who did the telling. That said, editing out extraneous “um”s, non sequiturs that aren’t related to the story (“Can we play outside tomorrow?”), and anything else that distracts from the story is fair play. Think of it like pruning a bush: You’re preserving the shape and spirit of the story by snipping out things that don’t belong.

The rule of fun

When I was a teen librarian, my rule was that teens could play video games in my programs until it stopped being fun. We stopped playing at the first truly angry groans, so that we never got to the point of rage-quitting (and possibly throwing the controller!). The same rule applies here: Tell stories together when it’s a joyful, creative experience, and stop before it becomes draining, frustrating, or tiring.

That might mean that you take videos of your child’s stories but never transcribe them. Or your child tells a story, gets bored, and decides to play with blocks instead. That’s okay! You’ll still be able to enjoy these stories, and your kid will still practice important early literacy skills. The most important thing is that you’ll have shared these creative experiences and deepened your bond with your kiddo.

For extra spooky story fun, join us at KPL Kids @Uptown Lofts on Saturday, September 27th, for our Scary Story Contest Kickoff! From 12-4 PM, we’ll have everything you need to start making up your own stories, including a Pete the Cat walk-through story, special story paper, and lots of art supplies. If you also head over to the Carthage College Literacy Center for their Scary Story Contest activity (also 12-4 PM), you’ll receive a free notebook (while supplies last) and a bunch of great ideas for jumpstarting your story-writing experience.