CPI Introduces New Family Storytelling Guide!
In April 2024, ChildsPlay International (CPI) issued a comprehensive Storytelling Manual, explaining how schools, as well as groups dedicated to children’s education, could deploy the program. The manual is adaptable to an array of local settings and situations. It responded to the recognition that children everywhere love to tell stories and benefit from listening to and discussing other people’s stories.
The Manual itself generated discussion amongst our partners on the ground. For example:
How would you conduct a storytelling session for children at home traumatized by war without trained personnel?
How would you conduct a session in spaces not easily separated from surrounding activity and noise?
Empowering Healing: Integrating Storytelling for Children Impacted by War Into the Home
In this regard, Sincere Heart, a Ukrainian charity aiding mothers and children impacted by the war, sought guidance from CPI. The organization coordinates six-day play camps aimed at emotional rehabilitation of children where mothers and children are together. Recognizing storytelling as a healing tool amidst trauma, Sincere Hearts wanted to know how to introduce storytelling into the home.
CPI responded to this request, issuing a new guide specifically focused on how mothers can conduct story sessions in the home.
Practical Insights Promoting Confidence Within the Family Unit
Like the manual, the guide provides practical insights and promotes confidence within the family unit.
Creating a Safe Space:
- Provide specific guidance on creating a dedicated “story” area, ensuring it becomes a “safe space” where children feel comfortable expressing themselves freely. (Link to Q&A with Professor Caroline Beauregard here.)
Participant Selection:
- Offer advice on how to choose the right number of participants for the at-home sessions, optimizing engagement and inclusivity.
Follow-Up Discussions:
- Outline strategies for holding follow-up discussions, emphasizing confidentiality and trust (“what is said in the space, stays in the space”).
Story Selection:
- Suggest various types of stories that parents and children might want to tell, catering to diverse interests and emotions.
Establishing Routine:
- Provide tips on making storytelling a regular activity, highlighting the importance of consistency and comfort in routine ((children find comfort in routine).
Particularly, the guide addresses the healing effects of storytelling on children and parents traumatized by disorienting events.
An Exercise in Compassion
Telling stories to children is an exercise in compassion. It allows parents and children to find joy in each other in a space that – however temporary – is separate from noisy surroundings and the harsh world outside. Studies show that these benefits last even beyond a session, allowing everyone involved to feel better about the future.
Generational Bonds Strengthened: The Power of Sharing Stories
In the timeless tradition of storytelling, the family stands as a central pillar. Across the ages, family would gather, drawn by the flickering flames or the warmth of shared spaces, to weave tales that wove through generations. But it wasn’t just the stories themselves that mattered; it was the act of sharing them. Storytelling forged bonds within families, strengthening the ties that bound them together. There was a reassurance in the continuity of these shared tales, passed down from one generation to the next. And in the repetition of these stories lay their enduring power.
To inquire about CPI’s new Manual or the Guide to Storytelling in the Home, contact us!