Remember the fun of flipping through family photo albums as a kid, and being amazed at how different your parents and grandparents looked in their youth? And how clothing and hairstyles and daily life had changed over the years?
Looking at old pictures is a great way to inspire an impromptu storytelling session. It can be fascinating to listen to older generations share about the past and to learn new things about your family members.
Sharing personal stories with the children in our lives – of both momentous occasions and ordinary days – can create lasting benefits for the entire family.
From sparking their imagination to helping them understand their place in the world, these narratives connect kids to their heritage and offer valuable lessons.
1. Strengthens Generational Bonds
Storytelling in general provides a way for people to relate to each other and connect. For a child, hearing a personal story told by someone they love helps them to reflect on similarities and differences between themselves and the storyteller. It may provide an opportunity to connect over shared values and interests and where there are differences, learn about new things that may spark an interest. Many times, sharing personal stories involves passing down a family story or an aspect of cultural heritage from one generation to another, enhancing a child’s connection to family members and previous generations.
2. Provides a Personal Connection to History
Imagine you’re a child again and you have two choices: (1) reading about FDR’s New Deal and the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) in a textbook, or (2) walking through a museum with your grandparent, who shares a personal story about your great-grandparent being a surveyor with the CCC as a young man in the 1930s, as you see a display about this in the museum. Which experience do you think would be more memorable and compelling? Of course, scenario #2!
Personal stories help a child think about what it would be like to live in a different time period and experience moments in history they have only read about in books. These stories also provide context, bridging the years between kids and past events.
For children living today, anything occurring in the 1900s sounds like an extremely long time ago . . . even though most of their parents were born in the 1980s and 1990s.
3. Puts Current Challenges into Perspective
When kids hear about the challenges or turbulent times that adults they know and love have faced, it helps them put their own struggles into perspective. For instance, knowing that a parent or grandparent dealt with bullying, peer pressure or difficulties in school during their childhood can make a child feel less alone. Learning that an adult they admire persevered through something hard can be just the encouragement a child needs to keep going. And it goes both ways. Adults that recall their own childhood experiences can better empathize and understand what children are going through.
4. Influences Well-Being and Self-Image
For children, hearing personal stories from family members helps them understand their role in their family and the world around them. This connection can help them feel secure, knowing they are part of a something bigger than themselves that has lasted for generations.
Personal stories help kids broaden their perspective, by giving insight into the progress and changes that have shaped their present-day reality.
Hearing about a grandparent’s journey through a different era can inspire kids to ask questions, seek out new information and envision possibilities for their own future.
Storytelling in the Modern Age
In our fast-paced society, how can we tap into the age-old practice of storytelling so that our kids reap the same benefits we did?
Simple conversation is a great place to start.
Reading a book together? Use that as an opportunity to talk about the type of books you liked to read when you were young. Tell stories about who read to you as a child.
Watching a TV show or movie that takes place in the past? Take that as jumping off place to note how old you were during the time period depicted, and share a bit about what it was like.
Be sure to collect your family stories – either in writing or by recording the audio. Pictures alone may lose their meaning for future generations.
How does your family preserve and share personal stories? Let us know in the comments!