Five Ways to Retell a Story with Your Toddler or Preschooler

Guest Post by Dawn of Toadally Tots

“Again, Mommy, again!” Our little ones often squeal with delight over having their favorite story read over and over (and over!) again. While there is nothing more delightful than to listen to our three year old retell a story, unlike her, I grow weary of hearing or telling the same story a hundred times. So, how can you spice it up and keep things interesting? Here are five ideas!

1. Make a Clay Model

Some books lend themselves to retelling with clay. One example is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. You can make a clay caterpillar and then recreate all the yummy foods he ate! Not only is this fun, but it reinforces colors and counting skills.

 

 

2. Utilize Felt/Story Cards/Puppets

This is a great one for a rainy day. Many stories are simple enough to recreate with felt or printed pictures. If you are willing to invest in some quality felt pieces there are online sites that sell great felt pieces for the most popular books and nursery rhymes. If you have puppets on hand you can use those or create your own sock puppets. Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Your little one has a better imagination than you think!

3. Act it out!

This is our daughter’s favorite! Some books are ideal for acting out. One example is We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. You and your little one can go over it, under it, through it, and recreate the fun sounds of the grass…swishy-swashy, swishy-swashy. Another great one is Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins. Play the part of the fox as your child goes around the pond, under the beehive, and through the fence. Just be prepared to do this one over and over again. Your kiddo is unlikely to tire of being chased by the bear or stalked by the fox any time soon!

4. Read from different loved ones

Certain retailers, such as Hallmark, now have recordable books. Nowadays, there are tech tools out there designed to make any book recordable. I invested in the Franklin Electronics Any Books Reader and we love it! Have different family members record themselves reading a few pages. Or send different books to different people and have them record one each. Not only is this a great way for your child to hear the story for the one hundred and first time, but it makes a great keepsake too!

5. Make Up a Song and be Silly

This one requires the most creativity and imagination on your part, but once again I remind you that it doesn’t have to be perfect. Make up a song about the story. Here is one I created for Rosie’s Walk. Try purposely mixing up the characters: Goldilocks goes out for a walk and the bears eat HER porridge! This is sure to get giggles galore. Introduce characters from other stories that don’t belong such as the three pigs with Hansel and Gretel. The possibilities are endless!

 

Dawn is a special education teacher in Warren, New Jersey. She is the mother of a three year old girl. Dawn enjoys writing, reading, and blogging on several blogs. One of Dawn’s blogs is Toadally Tots where she writes about teaching toddlers through preschoolers and shares activities and resources.

 

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