A storytelling nook at home is something that children, particularly under-fives, will find magical. It’ll particularly come into its own once winter arrives, being somewhere warm and cosy that children can nestle with a parent, carer, or older sibling. There, they can enjoy high-quality shared moments together. In a corner dedicated to the task, an adult and child can read and share stories, steer clear of inclement weather, and escape on an unlimited number of imaginary adventures. Through the power of the written or spoken word, children’s imaginations can be taken to a myriad of destinations, situations and climes. Sharing stories in such a way will be a truly precious part of their childhood, particularly if undertaken regularly. What’s more, reading with children is proven to benefit little ones enormously. With all this in mind, today’s post outlines how to set up a storytelling nook at home and make it successful for your child.

Set Up a Storytelling Nook for Success

Any successful storytelling nook needs to be warm, cosy, quiet and comfortable. That means choosing a corner or recess of some kind in the home that’s away from distractions like TVs and game consoles. Somewhere that’s not used as a thoroughfare by other family members will also help. Wherever you choose, it also needs to be warm. Therefore, somewhere away from draughts is required, so avoid being too close to entrances and exits to the outside. A corner of a quiet room or a tranquil alcove are therefore often ideal spots for your child’s storytelling nook.

To make it more cosy and comfortable, add soft, padded cushions or beanbags. Blankets will make it even more comfy and allow children to wrap themselves up in readiness for each storytelling or reading session. You can take it further by adding magical fairy lights, perhaps adorning a teepee or mini indoor tent in which to ‘nest’. Children will absolutely love the cosy and safe feel of such an area. Indeed, it’s very Hygge, as the Danish would say (a “cosy, contented mood evoked by comfort and conviviality”). By taking such steps in the set-up of a storytelling and reading nook, children will naturally be drawn to spend time there. The real bonus is that it will further encourage them to spend time reading with parents, which is beneficial to them in a myriad of ways.

Theme Your Storytelling Nook – for Extra Engagement!

You/your child can even theme the storytelling nook. For example,

• In Autumn your child could collect dried leaves and attach them to the play tent or stick them to the edge of a nearby bookshelf.
• In winter, they could cut out home-made snowflake art, or characters like snowmen to decorate their nook.
• At Christmas, they could create cut-out Santas, stars, holly leaf paintings and suchlike to cut out and adorn the teepee entrance.
• Alternative themes might include soft animal toys, teddies, farm animals, their favourite cuddly toy, and so on.

The various storytelling nook themes can be taken a step further by combining them with storytelling topics that are thematically matched. To illustrate the point, the children’s book “The Snowman” by Raymond Briggs would be an ideal match when the nook is decorated with a winter or Christmas theme.

Regular theme updates will give more life and longevity to your child’s storytelling nook; it’ll make it more inviting, engaging and, in a word, successful. Theming, along with the aforementioned measures to make it comfy and cosy, attracts children and ensures they are drawn to the storytelling area. In turn, this helps encourage children to garner a love of reading and creative stories. Such things are both magical and immensely beneficial to them, so putting effort into a storytelling nook will be a hugely worthwhile undertaking.

Captivate Your Child Through Expressive Storytelling

Whether reading from a book or creating a new story off the top of one’s head, there’s something that really brings a story to life — being animated and expressive during storytelling, rather like actors might do. That’s true whether it’s the adult or the child telling the story.

Examples of how to add extra expression and dynamics to a story include:

• Adding theatrics like hand movements and facial expressions to the storytelling;
• Using props — like a hand puppet or soft toy to bring life to a character or situation in the story;
• Using different voices for different characters in the story;
• Using varying tones and volumes as appropriate to the storyline — whispering here creates suspense, bellowing there creates drama, and so on;

Such facets give life to characters, make storylines seem more real, and create a much more immersive experience for a child.

Encourage Your Child to Join In

Encouraging children to join in with certain parts of the storytelling also makes it more immersive — and fun! For example, allow them to exclaim ‘Yes!’, ‘No!’, ‘Ooh!’, and ‘Ahh!’, when appropriate to the storyline, to ask questions, and add in their own ideas for how the story can unfold. Not only do such activities bring things to life, but they also draw children into the story and encourage them to exercise their imaginations, get creative, and even problem-solve. Such skills can often lead to great strides in creativity, critical thinking, and ultimately even to careers in creative, theatrical, scientific, or technical fields.

Storytelling Nooks – a Wonderful Addition for Any Family

Do consider adding a storytelling nook or reading corner to your child’s home. They’re great vehicles for escapism, are incredibly worthwhile, and offer potentially magical experiences for your child. And, if you go the extra mile to make them cosy, immersive and special, they will encourage your child to love reading and creating new adventures using their imagination. Storytelling nooks and reading corners can open up whole new worlds to your child and be a wonderful antidote to electronic screens, gloomy weather, and more limited daylight during winter months. What’s more, they’re a great way for all parties to grow deeper bonds through shared periods of exquisitely immersive, high-quality time.

Little Cedars Nursery, Streatham

At Little Cedars Day Nursery in Streatham, we nurture every aspect of children’s reading, language, vocabulary, creativity, self-expression and so much more. Guided reading, two-way interactive feedback and creative storytelling are just some of the ways we approach this. We know just how important reading with children is and how much it benefits them — it’s potentially transformative! As such, we encourage parents to read with their children too. What better way to do so than in a magical storytelling nook? There, both parent and child can get comfy, totally immerse themselves in the story, and take themselves on adventures to incredible places and situations.

Little Cedars Nursery is located in Streatham, close to Streatham Common, Streatham Hill, Streatham Park, Tooting Common, Tooting, Tooting Broadway, Furzedown, Balham, Norbury and Colliers Wood. If you would like to consider a place there for your child, please get started today: