Family memories are a great source of nonfiction stories to tell our children.  These stories are about anyone related to the child and help provide perspective on how the child fits into the family throughout generations.  They may be stories that the child participated in with other family members, or, they may be about relatives who lived, and died, long before their birth.

The story topics you choose will vary based on whether they are about family members the child knows personally or distant family members/ancestors.  Sharing stories about individuals your child knows, builds connection points between the listener and their family members.   Stories about more distant relatives help your child mentally reach beyond their immediate sphere and give them context of the larger family across space and time. Stories about distant relatives provide them with examples of how the family would laugh, cry, and overcome obstacles together.

A.J. Jacobs states in a CNN article (1) “When you’re a kid, you think you’re the most important, you’re the only person out there, the world revolves around you, and this is just one way to show them no, you are part of this massive world. You are just one link in the chain,” 

An Emory University study about family storytelling found, “Family stories provide a sense of identity through time, and help children understand who they are in the world."  These same researchers found that children displayed higher self-esteem, lower levels of anxiety or nervousness, had fewer behavioral problems, and could deal with stress more effectively when parents frequently shared family stories. (1) 

Below are 10 Sparks to help you begin telling your family stories.  For a look at other nonfiction stories to tell, check out our previous post on story types.

When telling stories about yourself or loved ones the child knows, we recommend looking to the following categories for inspiration:

When telling stories about individuals the child does not know first-hand, we recommend looking to the types of topics listed below for inspiration. Just note, that these subjects may still apply for close relatives.

Bonus: One of the best ways to find family story Sparks is to look at photo albums with your child(ren) and tell the stories of why those pictures were taken and saved. Similarly, story inspiration can be found by looking at the items your family has saved and passed down from generation to generation in the form of heirlooms.

References:

(1) Wallace, K. (2015). Your ancestor owned slaves? Don’t run from it; Tell the kids. CNN

(2) Duke, Marshall P., PhD (2015). The 7 Basic Stories Families Tell and Why We Need to Tell Them. Huff Post

(3) Feiler, Bruce. The Stories that Bind Us. New York Times March 15, 2013 https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/fashion/the-family-stories-that-bind-us-this-life.html Jan 23, 2024