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This post was written by Children's Museum Blog Ambassador, Creed Anthony. Follow Creed's posts on the blog or follow him on Twitter @acjlist.
This month I have a simple way to share inspiration with your kids. It requires no materials, special place, or special time.
Storytelling.
Yep. Tell your kids a story. My daughter and I had a substantial commute in the mornings to get to school. We listened to music, even watched (she watched, I drove) a few movies or shows, but one of my favorite memories is when she made a simple request, "Daddy, tell me a story."
And so I did. It was a bit of a daunting request, kind of like asking a comedian to be funny on the spot. We all know hundreds of stories, but which ones do you tell? So I started with something very familiar—I recited the entire original trilogy of Star Wars. Each trip to and from school was a new episode. My stories were interrupted by questions, laughs, and gasps. The tales latest about two weeks, and I think we both enjoyed every moment.
Eventually, I made it through the original trilogy and found that I didn't know the new trilogy nearly as well. However, the stories didn't stop there. My daughter asked about stories when I was a kid, what it was like for me to grow up.
I shared, and am still sharing, tons of stories: The first time I learned how to ride a bike, the time my dad got stuck on the roof in the rain, the time I locked my dad outside with the hornet nest, the time I almost got my sister arrested.
By sharing, yes, I'm entertaining, but I'm also sharing history. Some of it is superficial and fun while other tales are full of lessons. Some stories I can't fully tell yet. Some she, or her younger brother, simply won't appreciate yet.
Not too long ago, I benefited from some storytelling. I got to visit the land—in Kentucky—that my own ancestors worked as slaves, and I learned a great deal of my family history. It's an amazing story that I haven't fully grasped yet.
However, the experience speaks to the importance of the oral history that we pass down from generation to generation. No, not every story will seem signicant, and not every story will be entertaining, but with each story you are passing on a bit of "you" to your kid.
Need some help kickstarting your storytelling skills? The Stories from Our Community exhibit at the Children's Museum is a great place to learn about the tradition of storytelling and oral history-sharing. You can see real objects related to people in our community and listen to the stories that these objects inspired. It may help you to sit down somewhere with your kid and tell your own tale. Who knows what your story will inspire?
