Experts have found that pretend play affords children opportunities to express different processes. Cognitive, affective and interpersonal processes are all important for creativity. Storytelling can teach lessons without making children feel that they are being lectured to. Storytelling can also promote creativity and teach reading structure. Both playing and listening to stories are a fun and wholesome experience for children. Each gives children a unique avenue to learn acceptable behavior. They also enhance their ability to negotiate conflicts and the ability to think “out of the box.’
In the November 30, 2021 issue of Psychology Today, an article by Scott G. Eberle Storytelling is Play; so is “Storylistening," tells of a toddler boy who likes dinosaurs and trucks. He was taught that some dinosaurs eat meat (T-Rex) and some eat plants (Stegosaurus). The boy’s imagination had created dinosaurs driving trucks, sailing boats and crossing sandy plains on a llama.
I have a friend who taught his 5-year-old daughter about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. She was happy to tell the story to me without much prompting from her father. She is now working on a story about beans. I can’t wait to hear it.
You maybe wondering what age should combing play and storytelling should stop. I had a group of over 21-year-old “kids” play imaginary drums during a story. The “kids” had as much fun as the preschoolers. It shows that combing play and storytelling is fun for all ages.
The image at the top of the post can be found here.
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