Benefits of Storytelling for Children

​There are several key ways in which telling stories helps children to learn key skills that will benefit them throughout their lives. One of the criteria for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework is being imaginative and expressive. This includes being able to invent, adapt and recount stories with other children as well as teachers. 

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Nurturing children’s creativity and enabling them to express themselves through a variety of activities helps build their confidence, developing key social skills and promoting good mental and physical health. In addition to this, thinking creatively and having an agile imagination enables them to find innovative solutions to problems and hone their analytical skills, which will be beneficial to their education and careers in later life.
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​Creating and then recounting stories helps children to make connections between abstract concepts, linking different ideas, places, people and events in their own lives to help understand the world around them. Storytelling can also help to connect past and present events, enabling children to gain an understanding of timelines and history, and how this relates to them.

Being able to combine different events within a narrative and link them together with meaning gives children valuable communication and interpersonal skills, helping them to express their ideas both verbally and in writing. These skills will be useful throughout their education and in the world of work.

With all of these benefits of storytelling for child development in mind, how can you encourage children to tell stories and develop these key skills?