At our house storytelling is a huge part of the way our family has connected over the years.
Now that my son is 8, he is more and more reluctant to participate in face to face storytelling. I think he gets a little embarrassed and feels like he’s too old to play pretend. I, on the other hand, think there is no such thing as too old for storytelling.
I want to make storytelling easy for my kids. So I figured out how to include one of his very favorite things into our storytelling adventures… LEGOs!
7 Tips for LEGO Storytelling for Kids
Touch the creation. Move it around, roll it, flip it, make it walk. Whatever it takes to give this creation some life. (Disclaimer: only do this if you are allowed to actually touch the LEGO creations. I am not, one too many have crumbled in my hands. Oops!)
Ask a lot of questions. Sometimes storytelling for kids is as easy as a little Q & A. Unleashing the details rolling around in the creators mind might be just what you need to get the story started. Try to make the questions open ended. “I see this side of the truck is green and the other side is blue, can you tell me about that?” “I bet that alien came from a really cool planet. What can you tell me about the place he used to live?”
Get the story started. Using the creation as inspiration, start a story. See how far you can get before the builder jumps in to correct you, or add to your story. If you end up completing an entire story, cool! You may have just given your little one an idea for how to create their own story later, when no one is watching.
Invent your own version. Show your kids that one subject can actually inspire many story ideas. Once you’ve heard your kid’s version ask if you can have a turn. Change the entire story or just certain parts. (Remember the idea is not to improve on their story. Try to keep it the same length and don’t go overboard with awesome details.)
Add video. Prop up a camera near your kid’s favorite building area or even teach them how to make a
stop action movie. This is great for kids who are a little embarrassed to participate in face to face storytelling and adds the extra bonus of allowing them to go back later and watch their creations come to life.
Use Mini Figs and Lego Creations to set the scene. Mini Figs are great little models and they are almost always willing to play the necessary parts. Try having a separate box with just Mini Figs so they are ready to jump into a
Lego storytelling activity anytime.
Make Lego storytelling a game. Add a group story round to more
Lego party games. Even if it’s only your family participating (or a small group of neighbor kids), there is much fun to be had with Lego challenges!
More Storytelling Ideas From Kids Activities Blog
Check out these
story stones! Paint rocks and tell stories, how fun!
What is your favorite way to encourage storytelling at home?
Great ideas. I use stuffed animals to generate stories with children I visit in preschool and even elementary school. We often develop a group story. I’m a writer and illustrator of children’s picture books. Another technique is to ask the children to only look at the pictures in a book and make up their own story. I often include a few extra pages in my books so that children can draw their own characters and write their own stories. Anything that gets the creative juices flowing is helpful. Beryl
What a darling idea! I’m going to try this with my 8-year-old! Thanks for sharing, Jillian!
🙂 YAY!