Know 5 benefits of storytelling for little one

Has Mom often do a storytelling for the little one before he/she sleep? In fact, a storytelling is really good for little one development.

Mom could start this habit as early as possible. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in 2014 suggested to do storytelling for the little one since he/she was born to increase the quality of parent-child relationship.

Besides become one of the ways to increase emotional relationship between Mom and the little one, storytelling has another benefits that Mom needs to know. Does Mom want to know? Morinaga Platinum already summarized it for Mom below.

1. Improve the language skills
   Listening to a fairytale is one of the ways to improve the little one’s language skills. Because listening to a fairytale, the little one can learn new vocabulary, evaluate, and get new information. The intonation and Mom’s expression while storytelling also could stimulate the connection between parts of the brain that have a role in language setting.

2. Teaching the little one about good and bad
   Fairytale helps to give the little one lesson about the comprehension between right and wrong, not through directly, but through the message that contained in the story.

   Through fairytale, the little one can get various moral lessons. Fairytale teach the little one about kindness will always win, so it will train the little one to have a positive viewpoint about life.

3. Increase the little one critical thinking
   Through fairytale, the little one will see a consequences from decisions he/she made. Fairytale taught that every decision has its own consequences.

4. Fairytale help the little one to handle his/her own personal emotion
   Through fairytale, the little one will got to handle the conflict inside him/her. A child psychologist, Bruno Bettelheim believed that fairytale could help children facing anxiety.

5. Stimulate brain development
   When Mom do a storytelling, unconsciously part of the little one brain will active. Listening to a storytelling will not just active one part of the brain, but almost all the brain function work, because the little one learn to receive information and using the information to imagine.

To choose the right fairytale, no need to focus on just one moral story, Mom. Because  all of the fairytales must have a good moral story. Besides,doing storytelling for the little one, make sure the story is fit to the little one’s age. The purpose is so the message that delivered through the story could be understandable by the little one.

For example, the little one who age 0-2 years. In this stage, the little one’s behavior and thought still based on sensory and motoric. The choice of story that fit to kids at that age is a story about the objects around them. This is because the little one still need the visualization of whatever he/she heard, especially when Mom storytelling. Mom can choose the story that tell about animals that little one often see like cats, chickens, lizards, dogs, etc.

For the little one age 2-4 years, he/she has a lot of chances to know and learn a new thing. The little one can be interested in so many things and often imitate people's behaviour around him/her. Fairytale that suit for this age is the story that focusing more on characters and could be adjusted with the little one’s activities.

How is it Mom? Getting more excited to storytelling for the little one?