Telling stories

All children and adults use storytelling to communicate with others, store memories and build relationships. Story telling can be based on fact or fiction! When children talk about what they have done at the weekend or want to tell you what has just happened in the playground, they are giving a factual recount of their experiences – this is also ‘story telling’.

All children and adults use storytelling to communicate with others, store memories and build relationships.

Young children learn to tell stories by listening to the stories of others. Sharing books with adults and engaging in imaginary play scenarios are key foundation skills for developing story telling in young children. When playing, children often start by reproducing familiar life events and gradually learn to attach spoken language to these events.

Young children also learn about story telling when they are introduced to picture books. The pages of the book represent a sequence of events including a beginning, middle, and end. The carer’s spoken description of the events and relevant vocabulary teaches young children how to tell stories and that sharing a story together is enjoyable and fun. Sharing books with adults and engaging in imaginary play scenarios are key foundation skills for developing story telling in young children.

Often children require a good imagination to create fictional stories however the most effective way for children to develop the story-telling skill at home is by listening to and re-telling familiar stories to their family and friends. Opportunities to expand or change familiar stories can enable children to build confidence with developing their own ideas for fictional stories.

Good storytelling skills enable older children to produce interesting, engaging accounts of events from their lives (e.g. talking about a film they’ve seen, or a funny situation they experienced). Storytelling skills also underpin written work at Secondary school, as the ability to include all of the key information in a well-planned and organised piece of written work is crucial in essay and report writing.

Non-urgent advice: Talking tips and strategies

  • Create opportunities for children to look at books together, and not just read the words!
  • Take turns to talk about the pictures, and have fun guessing what might happen next. If the child knows the story really well ask them to tell the story to someone else.
  • Encourage the child to develop their understanding and recall of the correct sequence of events throughout the day and for familiar stories.
  • Talk about events within a taught activity, using sequencing vocabulary such as ‘First we put the ingredients in the bowl’, ‘Then we mixed everything together’, ‘Last we put the mixture into the cake cases’. Talk about this sequence before you do it, what you’re doing whilst you do it, then recap again after the event. See if the child can then tell you what you did.
  • Take photos of key events and days out – these will help the child talk about them with someone else when they return home.

General resources

Resources by age group

0-12 months

1-2 Years

2-3 Years

3-4 Years

4-5 Years (Reception)

5-7 Years (year 1-2)

7-9 Years (year 3-4)

9-11 years (years 5-6)

11-14 Years (years 7-9)

14+ Years (year 10+)

Page last reviewed: 29 August, 2021