You’re the Storyteller: Surprise (Home Edition) is one of the most complete storytelling experiences we have seen. Your child will watch a short, wordless video about a little boy and a stray dog. The boy brings the dog home and attempts to hide it from his mother. The story continues to develop, wordlessly, as the boy tries different ways to keep the pup a secret.
The video-story is broken up into eight chapters. It’s your child’s job to tell the story through both narration and text. There is a writing box thoughtfully placed on the same page as the video, a strong reader can use the writing box to prepare the script. For younger children, parents can type in the text that matches the narrator’s speech. Overall, this is an easy to use app but we suggest parent involvement particularly with the first use.
Good readers use visual clues to help predict unknown words while reading. Wordless books help your child learn to pay attention to detail. This story uses body language, facial expressions, and carefully selected sound effects. Outside of the story, you will find an outstanding informational page with probing questions and “challenge” vocabulary.
One of our child testers was amazing to observe. The whole time her little mind was going. She was working out a plan as to how to use this story idea to get the dog she has been begging for. Her storyline went something like this. “The boy is going to take good care of the puppy by feeding it and taking it out to poop. He learned that the puppy needed to go out because it was farting. The boy can manage the responsibility. He will take very good care of the puppy and love it forever.”
This is the HOME version. Only one user’s voice file and one written narration are kept in the program. When a new recording or writing is provided, it erases whatever was previously recorded or written. (The Professional Version keeps the voice/narration files for up to 30 users)
These activities are excellent for stretching a child’s imagination. Each is based on encouraging children to express their imagination in words.
Activity 1: Circle Story
You and your child are sitting at a restaurant waiting for your food to arrive. Your child is cranky and restless. What do you do with this teachable moment? Spark their interest by coming up with a title for your next story. Any title will do: My School Bus Ride, If I Were a Juggler.
Once the child chooses, begin the story with a sentence or two. Your child takes up where you left off. He provides one or two sentences and then it is your turn again. All this back and forth storytelling teaches children how stories develop and how one story idea connects with another. The game is a lesson in the principles of narration. You might develop characters that your child loves and become part of your family circle stories for years to come. I found in our family that my oldest son (David) passed characters down to his younger brothers. (One of our family favorites was a skunk named Stinkweed).
Whenever possible let your child take the initiative in plotting the story. Encourage your child’s ideas and imagination by following through on his storyline. If your food arrives and the story is still progressing it is your chance to talk about good endings. Then make your own contribution, modeling how to quickly lower the curtain.
This can be played with lots of children. Works well at birthday parties while children wait for the cake. Teachers, when waiting for the bus calls at the end of the school day. Our family likes doing this around a campfire. I always have trouble keeping my husband in line, his contributions always turn scary. Our nephew always destroys the monster and my husband continues to bring him back to life during his turn. Good memories (hopefully not nightmares) are being made!
Activity 2: Problems & Solutions
This is another game when you have minutes in a day. You might be waiting for the laundry to come out, or peeling potatoes.
I begin, “You are in a shipwreck. You are alone and manage to get to a deserted island. There are no people or animals there. There are fruit trees so you have food. No cell phone, no supplies of any kind. A ship will come close to the island in about one month. What do you do?”
Your child may be inhibited to throw herself into this imaginary solution. She may have trouble picturing herself in this unlikely position. She might struggle to pretend. If things stay this way, how will she ever enjoy Swiss Family Robinson or Treasure Island? Yet, some children will throw themselves into these adventures with gusto.
“How will you make sure the passing ship sees you?” She might solve the problem by a suggestion to make a big fire that can be seen from a distance. “You don’t have matches. There are lots of trees for firewood but you still have to cut them down.” And so on…..
As a parent/teacher I keep a “hypothetical problems” folder on my computer. Here are two more ideas to get your own folder started:
- You recently moved to a new neighborhood. You are walking your dog. Suddenly he escapes from his leash chasing a cat. You call his name and run after him but he ignores you and gets away. You can’t find him. What do you do?
- You are sleeping over at friends house. You never slept there before. You wake in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep. What do you do?
If you play enough games like this eventually your child will find it perfectly natural to address difficult problems, construct more or less logical solutions, and express themselves in imaginative ways-basic skills of the sort that go under the label “intelligence.”