Thursday October 30, 2014

How to Be an Engaging Storyteller: Top Ten Tools for Kids by Jenn Choi

I wish there was such a thing as storytelling class in schools. Sadly, it is always just a part of the English Language Arts curriculum for students in which they are graded for organization, grammar, and the ability to support an argument.

But ask yourself if your child has ever been taught the importance of being interesting and engaging. Are students today taught how to change their tone and even how to discard or add details depending on who their audience is? We ask kids to write book reports and research papers but does that really reflect how we like to consume information today? If your answer is no, as mine had been, then know that good news is here. The toy industry has provided a plethora of options that cater to children’s interests and measure up to the level of technology to which they’ve grown accustomed.

Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Oyo Sports New York Giants Endzone Set:
My children love watching sports games with their dad. The three of them sit down while my youngest asks a million questions about rules and the history of the sport. The great part is that once he learns the game, he can use his Oyo Sports toys to narrate the awesome plays he had seen or use it to tell stories about game plays that he has made up on his own. And in case your child is not a New York Giants fan, there is no need to worry. Oyo Sports has sets for every team in not just the NFL, but also Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League

2. Aquabot 2.0 The Harbour
3. Pop-Out Pets Sea Life Savers
4. The Storymatic KIDS edition
5. Rory’s Story Cubes – MAX
6. Tell Tale
7. Obstacles
8. OGOBILD with AnimateIt! Kit
9. Goldieblox Movie Making App
10. LEGO Education StoryVisualizer Software and App

Read the full article here.