The Many Ways Kids Can Benefit from Regular Story Times

At The Legendary Connection, we believe that the most important benefit of inter-generational storytelling is the bond it forms between the teller and listener.

However, this is far from being the only benefit.

This is a well-documented area of research that through multiple studies has shown that kids who are exposed to storytelling have important developmental advantages when compared to those who are not. Here we will break these down into the academic, social/cultural, and emotional benefits this practice can provide. Even here, we have summarized what we believe to be the top 5 benefits to the listener (child) in each category. The benefits seem to us to be endless. The more we read on the topic, the more we uncover.

Academic Benefits of Storytelling:

1. Improves listening and comprehension skills

2. Improves speech and language skills

3. Builds imagination and visualization skills

4. Fosters the ability to construct a narrative/ tell a story of one’s own

5. Increases understanding of literary devices, common plotlines, and tropes

Social / Cultural Benefits of Storytelling

1. Aids in the search for self-identity

2. Passes on morals, values, beliefs, life lessons, and traditions

3. Provides a greater sense of belonging to a group (family, religious structure, ethnic affiliation)

4. Broadens awareness of other cultures, both distant and past

5. Develops discernment when consuming stories in other formats (popular media, books, movies)

Emotional Benefits of Storytelling

1. Teaches perseverance by providing examples that while the world is full of challenges, if you strive to reach your full potential, these obstacles can be overcome

2. Increases empathy as the child identifies with the hero or other characters of the story

3. Demonstrates that everyone is capable of good and evil, we strive to maximize the good and limit the evil we do

4. Helps to uncover and subsequently work through any fears the child may have

5. Provides an opportunity to process major life events in a non-threatening way (e.g. death of a family member, the birth of a sibling, health concerns)

References:

Boris, Vanessa. “What Makes Storytelling so Effective for Learning?” Harvard Business Publishing, 20 Dec. 2017, www.harvardbusiness.org/what-makes-storytelling-so-effective-for-learning/. Accessed 22 May 2024.

Gratton, Samantha. “How Telling Stories Helps Kids Learn | Parenting Tips & Advice.” PBS KIDS for Parents, 26 May 2021, www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/how-telling-stories-helps-kids-learn. Accessed 22 May 2024.

Isbell, Rebecca, et al. “(PDF) the Effects of Storytelling and Story Reading on the Oral Language Complexity and Story Comprehension of Young Children.” ResearchGate, Dec. 2004, www.researchgate.net/publication/226108668_The_Effects_of_Storytelling_and_Story_Reading_on_the_Oral_Language_Complexity_and_Story_Comprehension_of_Young_Children. Accessed 22 May 2024.

Margaret Read Macdonald. (1993). The storyteller’s start-up book : finding, learning, performing, and using folktales including twelve tellable tales. August House.

Mellon, Nancy. The Art of Storytelling. Cambridge, Mass., Yellow Moon Press, 2003.

Silke Rose West, Sarosy, J., & Green, R. (2021). How to tell stories to children. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Yabe, Miyuki, et al. “Effects of Storytelling on the Childhood Brain: Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Comparison with the Effects of Picture-Book Reading.” Fukushima Journal of Medical Science, vol. 64, no. 3, 2018, pp. 125–132, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6305786/, https://doi.org/10.5387/fms.2018-11.