Get involved in National Share-a-Story Month!

Did you know this month is National Share-a-Story Month (May)? What a perfect opportunity to celebrate the power of storytelling with your family and friends. Here are some ideas you can consider to celebrate this event.

Listen to your child reading out loud
Listening to your child reading out loud will not only fill you with joy as they express their version of their favourite story, it will also be very beneficial for your child. Your child will take great comfort in knowing that you have dedicated your time to being with them and that you have placed importance on the development of their reading skills.

Reading aloud helps to develop your child's ability to express themselves and experience a range of emotions through the characters they take the role of. It will also build their confidence as you praise them for their continued effort and improvement.

Dedicate a few nights each week to reading to your children
Take turns in your child reading to you, and you reading to your child. Many children are able to understand more complex topics in spoken English than they can when reading text. Listening to you tell a more advanced story will make more complex ideas accessible for your child. It will also expose them to more advanced vocabulary and language patterns that they may not find in books they are currently able to read themselves. Listening to you read on a regular basis will also build your child's listening skills and attention span.

Hearing you passionately tell an exciting tale will entice your child to become a more passionate and fluent reader, as they look to copy your behaviour. In addition to all of the above, reading to your child is simply a wonderful way to spend quality time together as you experience new adventures with the turn of each page, taking you both to places you can't physically reach in everyday life.

Hold a storytelling event
With the bank holidays and summer holidays coming up, you might be looking for cost-effective ways to entertain your children. Why not invest in a few good books and invite your child's friends around for a storytelling event? They could even create a play out of the stories they have read, to perform to you at the end of the week. Remember, a great book doesn't have to be brand new so rummage through your local charity shop or have a book swap with your friends. They are much more likely to be enthusiastic about the contents of the pages than the condition of the spine!

Download an audio-book
In addition to reading together, you could always bring in a professional storyteller to your bedtime routine, who can wow you both with their rendition of a classic story. This doesn't necessarily mean inviting the local Hans Christian Andersen to pop by, but rather you could download an audio-book that you can snuggle up and listen to together. This is also a great way to entertain children on long car journeys!