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Welcome to Michael Rosen’s Storytelling Tips. 

This one’s on keeping children engaged. So if you’re telling a story to one child and you can see the child’s face and the child can see you, then the crucial thing is to look at the child as often as possible.

Because if you start wandering off and glancing at your phone while you’re reading the story, then the message you’re giving them is obvious – you’re not very interested so why should they be?

And then if you’ve got two or three, or four maybe, or maybe more than that, and you’re telling stories, then you have to do what I call ​‘eyeball them’, all of them at some point or another. You have to keep looking – I’ll take my glasses off – you have to keep looking at them to make sure. When you see one child maybe peeling off, you’ve got to think of something to draw them in. 

If you know their name, see whether you can put them in the story… let’s say you’re telling Little Red Riding Hood and this child is called, what should we say, um, uh, Ayo, there you go, just made up a name – Ayo. So, then you’d say, ​“And in the forest with Little Red Riding Hood there was Ayo,” and then Ayo will look up, and you say, ​“Well, I think he was there, and then you can carry on you see.” So you can play all sorts of tricks to keep the children engaged.

So looking and using, identifying the child right there at that moment, yes? And also, when you’re telling a story, if you’re using gestures as often as possible to get them to imitate those, yes?

So that if you’re using a gesture – so, walking through the forest [swishing noise] – get them to join in with that, get them to join in with that, and then if you can invent those repetitions in movement but also maybe with something you’re saying, yes? 

Little Red Riding Hood looked around, and there was a bird [bird whistle noise]. Little Red Riding Hood looked around, and there was a… mole [snuffling noise]. So you keep repeating… Little Red Riding Hood looked around, and there was a… river. 

You see, so if you put in those little repeaty things, it gives the children something to say and do while you’re telling a story, and that’s an old tradition; it goes back to African storytelling in particular, where the repetition keeps everyone engaged and that way you make the storytelling like a community. 

There, that’s my tip for keeping children engaged. So that’s it, thanks, and come back for more storytelling tips.

Welcome to Michael Rosen’s Storytelling Tips. 

This one’s on keeping children engaged. So if you’re telling a story to one child and you can see the child’s face and the child can see you, then the crucial thing is to look at the child as often as possible.

Because if you start wandering off and glancing at your phone while you’re reading the story, then the message you’re giving them is obvious – you’re not very interested so why should they be?

And then if you’ve got two or three, or four maybe, or maybe more than that, and you’re telling stories, then you have to do what I call ​‘eyeball them’, all of them at some point or another. You have to keep looking – I’ll take my glasses off – you have to keep looking at them to make sure. When you see one child maybe peeling off, you’ve got to think of something to draw them in. 

If you know their name, see whether you can put them in the story… let’s say you’re telling Little Red Riding Hood and this child is called, what should we say, um, uh, Ayo, there you go, just made up a name – Ayo. So, then you’d say, ​“And in the forest with Little Red Riding Hood there was Ayo,” and then Ayo will look up, and you say, ​“Well, I think he was there, and then you can carry on you see.” So you can play all sorts of tricks to keep the children engaged.

So looking and using, identifying the child right there at that moment, yes? And also, when you’re telling a story, if you’re using gestures as often as possible to get them to imitate those, yes?

So that if you’re using a gesture – so, walking through the forest [swishing noise] – get them to join in with that, get them to join in with that, and then if you can invent those repetitions in movement but also maybe with something you’re saying, yes? 

Little Red Riding Hood looked around, and there was a bird [bird whistle noise]. Little Red Riding Hood looked around, and there was a… mole [snuffling noise]. So you keep repeating… Little Red Riding Hood looked around, and there was a… river. 

You see, so if you put in those little repeaty things, it gives the children something to say and do while you’re telling a story, and that’s an old tradition; it goes back to African storytelling in particular, where the repetition keeps everyone engaged and that way you make the storytelling like a community. 

There, that’s my tip for keeping children engaged. So that’s it, thanks, and come back for more storytelling tips.