Finding Stories for Kids to Tell

When you ask children to tell stories, we strongly recommend that you begin with folktales, such as the stories in the StoryJam package. These tales have been honed and polished for generations. They’re meant to be told, and they provide students with every opportunity to be successful storytellers. While there is great benefit to children writing their own stories, those rarely become tellable tales for first-time storytellers.

So where do you find them?

Check out the collection in the StoryJam package

Look in the library. Every storyteller quickly becomes familiar with section 398.2, the home of folk and fairy tales from around the world. Besides being good stories to tell, because these stories come from every part of the world, learning and telling them can validate a child's culture.

Another source is the World Wide Web. Web sites do change from time to time, so we can't be certain that all of these links still work, but they did when we posted them to the web site:

World Folktales:

http://www.worldandi.com/newhome/wwft/demo.html

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html

http://WebInstituteForTeachers.ORG/99/teams/tales/folktales.html

http://www.longlongtimeago.com/

Native Peoples' Stories:

http://www.indians.org/welker/bear.htm

American Folktales:

http://www.americanfolklore.net/   

Ghost Stories:

http://www.themoonlitroad.com/

A word of caution:

Anyone can create a web site and post material, so read over any stories you find to make sure they’re suitable before giving them to students.