• A child is never too young for stories. Babies who can't possibly know what you are saying nonetheless love to listen to your voice (in fact, we know that as they listen, they develop the ability around four to six months to pick out and remember individual words. Later, they connect meanings to the words they already know.) They take in the sounds, rhythms, and facial expressions that go along with stories. They learn to love listening.



• Tell stories about things that happened in your own childhood. Every child is fascinated by the thought that his mother or father was once little and had to deal with the same difficulties that all youngsters face.



• Start with a familiar story and let it lead you in a new direction. Maybe it's the three bears, but this time, instead of running out of the house, Goldilocks and the bears become friends and go on an adventure. Or maybe it's Jack and the beanstalk, but the giant turns out to be ... well, you make it up!



• Look to books. If you need inspiration for your stories, browse through the children's section of your local library. It's perfectly all right to start with someone else's idea and either copy it altogether or change whatever parts you feel like to make it your own.



• Starting at age three or four years, most children love stories about kids who go on adventures. For younger children, make the adventures simple and short (for example, a boy who had to figure out how to get across a wide river to reach a special place on the other side. How does he solve this problem?). For older children, you can create stories of infinite complexity (a long, long journey, past many, many dangers, to rescue a prince or bring back a magic stone or find something of great importance that was lost, etc.).



• Be sure to include lots of magic. Young children understand the world in magical ways anyhow (for example, believing that their being bad caused it to rain on their birthday), so they have no difficulty at all with talking animals, flying carpets, secret caves filled with jewels, creatures who can grant three wishes, and so on. At one level, of course, they know that these characters and events aren't real, but a part of them believes, or very much wants to believe, that they might be!



• Make the hero or heroine a person who is like your child in some ways, but not necessarily exactly the same. If the hero is a bit older, maybe lives in a different time and place, perhaps has an evil and awful mother (not at all like you!), or maybe has lots of brothers and sisters (or none), your child can still place himself in the lead role if he chooses to. If you fashion your hero out to be obviously the same as your child, you take away this choice, essentially saying, "This is a story about you." Since children love to feel that they are in control, it's better to be a bit looser, and let them reach their own conclusions.



• Let your child take over. If your child starts to chime in with his own ideas about what might happen next, that's wonderful! It means that he's been listening intently, and is really into the story. As you listen to the direction that your child takes, you can learn a lot about his thoughts and emotions. For example, he might steer away from a character or situation that he thinks is perhaps a little too scary for him to deal with, or he might come up with a particular dilemma that reminds you of something he is facing in his own life (the king gives the credit for a noble deed to the wrong knight, for example--a situation that mirrors your child's feeling that he isn't getting enough attention at home or school).



• Share the telling with your whole family. Let everyone take a turn spinning the tale until they run out of ideas, then someone else can pick up the thread. The stories you create in this way are truly yours, and will be with your children (and you) forever.

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