Plushies can be a great comfort for children, providing a safe, soft friend to talk to, cry with, or hug. Among the many benefits of incorporating plushies into children's development, such as practicing social skills, enhancing motor skills, and taking care of possessions, they can also be great partners during storytime, helping kids tap further into their imaginations. From having a storytime buddy to centering a new story around a physical object to acting out their new worlds, incorporating plushies makes storytime both developmental and memorable.
Story Buddies
Before children become storytellers, plushies can be great examples of active listening as story buddies. They are very quiet, sit still, and keep their eyes on the speaker. Set up a row of soft friends in front of your little listeners and tell them to look at how respectful the plushies are and to follow their lead. Not only will this help fidgety kids feel like they have a little extra help when they need to be calm, fostering patience and good listening skills, but it also helps spark the idea that there's more to storytime than just listening to the words. It's a collaborative effort between the storyteller, the kids, and the plushies. Even though the kids and plushies are sitting still, they are actively involved in the story and feel like they are just as important to the story as the speaker.
Getting the Story Started
In between kids listening to stories and making up their own, plushies can help spark their creative juices. Hold up a plushie and ask what its name is. There is no wrong answer: Teddy the Teddy Bear, Horsey the Horse, Hoppy the Bunny. Continue asking the child more in-depth questions, like what plushie likes to eat, their favorite color, or their favorite activity. Though the child is just answering questions rather than forming a complete and cohesive narrative, it allows them to make up a world based on a single object. Basic questions can also spark new ideas for the child. As they think of Teddy's favorite activity, they may naturally jump to who Teddy likes to do that activity with, or where they get their favorite food from. Along with helping to form a world all their own, this allows kids to practice empathy as they try to see the worlds from Whiskers the Cat's point of view.
Collaborative Play
Once children start creating their own stories, using plushies can give them a hands-on way to connect to the story they are crafting. Using the plushies as little actors, children behind to get more descriptive with what their characters are doing, not just what they're saying. They can make a horse leap across a field, a cow flop over and fall asleep, or an owl fly up into a tree. If multiple plushies are involved, kids also start mimicking social dynamics they see every day, practicing how the plushies (or friends) should treat one another. Extending beyond the collaboration between children and plushie friend, once another child enters the story with their little actor friend, they'll have to take turns and have patience as they all put together something bigger than one child could have created.
Final Thoughts
Children are naturally drawn to their soft little friends when they need an extra hand, and storytelling is no different. Plushies help out the world they see in their head in front of them and can help them feel more heard when telling their teacher or family stories, either ones they made up or the ones that happened to them during the day. Whether there's one plushie that can handle everything the child throws at them, or multiple that take on different roles, incorporating plushies into their stories will deepen them and make come alive.
