Why is ‘story time’ so important?

Keeping a group of small children interested while you read to them can be a massive challenge for even the most experienced of early years professionals. So why should a humble toddler group leader bother?

It develops social skills

Well, the fact that sitting still and listening do not come naturally to children is precisely why it’s good to teach them those skills. Children need to learn to be part of a group, to focus their attention for a short time and to join in when appropriate. These social skills are invaluable once they reach nursery or school.

However, we also need to accept that our pre-school children are, by definition, not yet ready for school. We need to keep our expectations for their behaviour reasonable if we’re not to become discouraged and frustrated. Similarly, whilst encouraging parents to help their children take part, we must be careful not to make them feel embarrassed or guilty if the little ones don’t sit still.

It improves literacy

Regardless of the choice of book, reading to children is a great thing to do. Right from the start, they will watch and learn which way up to hold the book and how to turn the pages – great preparation for when they begin to handle books themselves. They may be used to hearing spoken English but the written word is handled differently, so when you read to them they may encounter new words (effortlessly absorbing the correct pronunciation), sentence structures and grammar. By reading stories to them at a young age they should soon learn to love books and want to read independently.

Hopefully the parents in your toddler group are regularly reading to their children at home but for those who perhaps struggle with reading themselves, your story time could be vital.

It stimulates creativity

The story that you tell will hopefully interest the children, but really this should just be a starting point. Reading to children should excite their curiosity and lead them into further adventures in their own minds. Asking questions such as “What do you think happens next?” encourages this and incites them to use their imaginations.

It teaches new ideas

Finally, stories can be an effective way to communicate a message. I don’t know about you, but somehow it seems much easier for me to remember a story than a list of bullet points. Jesus himself knew this and often used parables to teach his followers. You may want to read some of His stories to your group to teach the same simple biblical truths. Other bible stories can also be used with pre-school children but some secular stories have fantastic moral messages too. Don’t be afraid to skip pages or adjust the words to make a book more suitable for the audience – you might even develop a talent for writing your own tales!

Running a story time may feel like hard work but it really is worth persevering. You might not consider yourself to be an expert but you will find some simple ways to help the children (and adults) to concentrate in the Playtime article ‘Attention please!’.

So, are we sitting comfortably?...then let us begin.

Last Updated 24 January 2011