everyone is a storyteller

Q. My kids love to listen to the same stories again and again - but I'm so bored of them! There's no good library nearby and I have no place to stock any more books. How do I make up my own stories?

A. Anyone and everyone can tell a story. Do your kids like dinosaurs? Who is their favorite superhero? Here's an example of what I did.

I picked up an ecyclopedia with dino pictures in it to tell 2 kids a spiderman tale. We went through the pictures of the tallest dino, the fastest dino, the dino with bony plates on its back, but the one that excited them most was the meat eating dino - T Rex.

Make it real - personalize it
I froze on this page and built up my story putting the 2 boys names (Tarun and Varun) into it, adding some suspense.
"Look at T Rex! He has a mouth as big as a fridge! His teeth are as sharp as a butcher's knives!"
(Their eyes are rolling by now because the comparisons make it quite real)
"Saliva drips from his mouth...He is HUNGRY!"

"Varun (never call them 'Little' because its demeaning) is running over to him. He thinks T Rex is a friend. Varun climbs on to his big toe. T Rex feels a tickle and turns around angrily. "Who dares climb on to MY toe? " ( By now, the kids are clinging to me, quite afraid of what will happen next. The tone of your voice is important to build suspense.)

"Grrrrr! "T Rex snaps Varun up in his powerful jaws. "Bad T Rex! Put me down!" shouts Varun.
But T Rex only swings him this way and that.
Now Tarun is very angry. He is Spiderman! Tang-ta-dang! Dishoom! Dishoom!

Encourage them to participate
(From here onwards, Tarun and Varun take over the story telling while I sit back and listen. They punctuate their tale of valour with dazzling actions ( this may not be good as a bedtime story!)
Finally a bashed upT Rex turns tail and runs, Varun is saved by Spiderman Tarun and all is well.