Want to hold a 4-year-old’s attention? Tell him a story! Preschoolers are a joy to teach yoga to using storytelling and with a few easy methods; you will put them on a lifelong path of health and literacy.
It is very important to teach these young people, as their future depends on the attention, care and learning they receive. Maria Montessori knew all too well that by creating a child-centered environment, the child can grow into happiness, independence and harmony with adults and the world.
Children love stories and the more you tell them, the more they will ask for more! By creating their own images from the stories they hear, children develop the all important imagination and self-awareness. Ultimately it leads to critical and original thinking, and self-reliance which is essential for learning.
Ask your librarian for help in selecting stories. By telling the story orally, rather than reading it, you will create an intense connection to your children.
For preschool, keep stories short and simple. You can take any story and pull out the bare bones of it. Who is the story about? What happens? What happens next? How does it end? Look for stories with the three Rs – Rhyme, Rhythm and Repetition. Make up a funny repetitive sound that goes with the story. It can be as simple as an “OH, YEAH!” every time a character appears, to a call and response.
Engage children in clapping hands, snapping fingers, pounding feet, wiggling, roaring like tigers. Ask them questions. “SO what do you think? Should the peddler go on his journey? Why or why not?”
This all engages their active imaginations and finding themselves within.
I also use props with preschoolers. They are just so much fun. I have a special story bag that keeps them all together, and they come out one by one. Children know Lalita the Marequtia, a ladybug puppet who speaks Spanish and recites nonsense poetry and most importantly sets the rules. Then there is Mr. Bones, a rubber skeleton that emphasizes healthy eating. I have glockenspiels and bells, which draws children’s attention like magic. And those who are good at controlling their bodies and listening get the reward of ringing them! Children look forward to the ritual of these props each class and it makes it fun!
I always act the silliest with preschoolers, and it’s so much fun! I make the most exaggerated facial expressions, the strangest sounding noises for characters. I use my whole body, and children focus on it! I’ve done classes with 50 preschoolers, and teachers come up to me and say, “How did you get them to be so still?” I tell them it was all the power of story, imagery and their own imaginations, spellbinding them into finding the world within their own bodies.
Namaste!
Sydney