Narrative skills involve the ability to tell stories, describe events in sequence, and understand story structure. These skills are crucial for language development, reading comprehension, and social communication. Strong narrative abilities predict later literacy success.
Through storytelling activities, toddlers learn to organize thoughts, use language to express ideas, and understand that stories have structure (beginning, middle, end). These activities also build vocabulary, sequencing skills, and the ability to understand and create meaning.
Create stories together, building narrative structure and language skills through collaboration.
Start a story and take turns adding parts: "Once upon a time, there was a..." Let your child contribute ideas. Use pictures or toys as prompts. This builds narrative thinking and language skills.
Use pictures to create and tell stories, developing sequencing and narrative skills.
Arrange pictures in sequence and tell the story. Use family photos to recount events. Create picture books together. Ask "What happened first? Then what?" This builds sequencing and narrative understanding.
Retelling familiar stories helps children understand narrative structure and develop language skills.
After reading a story, ask your child to retell it. Start with simple prompts: "What happened in the story?" Use props or pictures to help. This builds comprehension and narrative skills.
Describe daily events in story form, helping children understand narrative structure in real life.
Narrate daily activities as stories: "First we woke up, then we had breakfast, and now we're playing." Ask your child to tell about their day. This builds narrative thinking about real events.
Begin to understand simple story sequences. Respond to stories with sounds and gestures. Enjoy interactive storytelling with adults.
Retell simple parts of familiar stories. Begin to create simple narratives with help. Understand basic story structure (beginning, middle, end).
Create and tell simple stories independently. Understand and use story elements (characters, setting, events). Sequence events correctly. These skills support reading comprehension.