Making up stories is a great way to start imaginative conversations with your child.
Use props like toys to bring your stories to life, just like the family in the film below.
The benefits of imagining stories together
- Allowing your little one to take the lead can lead to them using lots of imaginative language.
- Asking them lots of questions can help them to form longer sentences and link their ideas together.
- It can get them to use lots of descriptive words for things they don't see in their everyday life.
- Telling stories can be great for helping children to develop emotional awareness and express themselves.
- Telling stories can help to reinforce children's knowledge of the world around them.
- It can help children with their reading and writing skills later on.
How to get children to tell stories
A simple way to get them to tell stories is to ask children about what they've been up to. This way they will tell you about their day and often tell you all sorts of weird and wonderfully imaginative things.
Praise them as they give more detail and ask further questions to get them to give longer answers. This can be great for getting them to talk about the past.
You could really get their imagination fired up by introducing characters like sock puppets or favourite toys.
Ask them what their toy's name is, what it's doing and why. As they respond, ask them further questions based on their answers so they can start to string their ideas together and give more detail.
If they struggle to come up with ideas give them choices. You could say, "Shall we call him Ben or Todd?", for example.
React expressively and show an interest in what they tell you to encourage them to keep going with the story.
You might like to involve siblings or other family members in the story as part of the fun.
Imaginative play with 4-5 year olds
There are lots of ways you could have imaginative fun with your little one. Here are some of our ideas…
- Try making up nursery rhyme words together
- Add lots of sound effects and voices to your favourite story book
- A teddy bear's picnic is a fun way to act out social situations before starting school
