The Importance of Stories
Storytelling is timeless. We hear stories when we’re little, and when we grow older, we are able to share our own stories with the next generation. The stories that we grew up with taught us a great deal, giving us fantastic worlds to explore and allowing our imagination to run wild, while offering us heroes to look up to. There are so many reasons why reading is such an important learning tool for children, so here are a few.
Shared Experiences
Stories are a way of leaving our world and entering a new one, regardless of how close to reality that world might be. In every story, there are characters whose adventures or misadventures are described in enough detail for us to imaging them clearly. Often, learning how those characters felt while making their decisions gives us enough information to imagine what it’s like to be in their shoes. When these stories are exposed to children, positive characters can become role models or even heroes, and children may strive to be more like them. They might learn to make better decisions in their own life because of the connection they have made to the character in the story. Using stories to teach kids only enhances their learning through this bond.
Open to Interpretation
No matter how many details there are in a story, there are always enough missing elements; the ones that we are meant to fill in with our imagination. These missing details tend to be a catalyst to spark our creativity and imagination, but the real learning comes through interpretation of the message. For an example, let’s think of a very large collection of stories with meaningful lessons: the Bible. There’s a specific verse you may be familiar with from Luke 6.
“Do to others as you would have them do to you”
Albeit at first glance this verse seems very straightforward. Children that learn this lesson still need to interpret it and figure out how exactly it applies in their lives. To children, the message from this passage may at first seem self-serving, possibly suggesting that in order to avoid mistreatment, don’t mistreat others. On the other hand, an alternative interpretation could also be made to be more positive, and less egocentric, in which you do good not for your own self-preservation, but to become and example of good for others, an inspiration of good in the world to bring forth more good. This is just one example of how a seemingly straightforward concept can be interpreted in multiple ways and put into practice differently based those interpretations.
They Entertain
Fun and exciting stories tend to be the ones we remember. Entertainment value is a key factor that helps enhance the learning experience for kids. When they genuinely enjoy the story, it stays with them, and the lessons that they learned also stay with them. Stories that invoke emotions like excitement and curiosity are very effective at helping kids learn. I’m sure we can all remember hearing the story of Noah and his Ark as a child. This is a perfect example of how a story can be told in way that not only enlightens it’s readers to God’s message, but also allows for a younger audience to gain valuable insight into that message. For children, the story is what becomes the bridge that connects the message and their ability to understand it.
They Engage
Not all stories do, but when they turn the reader into a character, it becomes a whole different experience. Stories that kids can interact with take their connection, entertainment, and understanding to a new level, since the story crosses over into the real. It makes the content more tangible and easier to process for young children that are still learning how to process complex paradigms like many of those found in the Bible that scholars to this day still debate. How do we make this important knowledge accessible to our youth? The Egglo Entertainment Adventure Book is one such way, telling a story that pairs perfectly with the Egglo glow-in-the-dark egg hunt to bridge the gap between the story and reality. When kids are able to engage with their favorite characters through reading and activities, they create their own unique and personal memories that connect their lives back to the story’s message.
If you are looking for a unique and positive storytelling experience for the special children in your life, check out the Egglo Entertainment Adventure Book. Here at Egglo we pride ourselves in being able to help children and their loved ones connect with God’s message in a fun and engaging way.
