Today’s play-of-the-day starts with a question. Are you telling your own stories to your children? Think of these stories are a sort of oral valentine.
Human beings are hard-wired for stories. The human mind “…is a story processor, not a logic processor.” (How the Human Brain Became Hardwired to Tell Stories, by Orion Jones) Brains are more able to process information that is presented in the form of stories. That could be one reason why stories are so important to share with young children.
Google reminded us just recently that Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in February. Perhaps, could we think of her stories as a Valentine from the past? Her Little House on the Prairie books were much loved by generations of children all around the world. The continuing popularity of her books and the expansion to TV and film attests to the power of stories.
Stories not only help brains, they also help hearts. When we share our stories with our own children, this creates a different kind of connection.
We can tell kids about what’s happening in our work, the story of our day. We can also tell kids what it was like for us as children. When we were kids, our parents told us about “the olden days.” It may seem like a time warp, but our childhoods have become “the olden days.” Remember, telephones? Did you used to have phones that were connected with a cord? Because cords were not very long, we had to have extensions. If a bank did not have an automatic machine for money we had to go inside and ask for it. And don’t forget stories of our favorite TV shows.
With stories we can share our memories of other family members that our children may never had had the chance to meet. This creates links for our kids with the past. Valentine’s Day is about hearts and sharing our stories is another way to celebrate. What stories will you share with your child?