Good Stories For Kids
Enhance Their Listening Skills

We are constantly looking for ways to advance our skills in many areas. These may be skills in interviewing for a job or social skills when working in a group. Learning new skills may take us on a lifelong journey. Yet the younger we learn, the better and stronger we become at it. These include listening skills. Good stories for kids enhance their listening skills.

Let’s see how a savvy teacher can develop some of these listening skills in children:

As a parent, you can adopt some of these methods to alert the child if she’s not focusing. Also, make sure to have good stories for kids to read. Adults as well as children appreciate being inspired and entertained with unique stories.

Find more about Listening Skills with Listenwise.

There’s a six-month-old baby in my family. We call her Coco. She’s alert and curious. She stares at the person holding her. And she stares at the cat and dog as they pass by her. The baby turns her head to locate the origin of the music that plays. When an item is placed in her hand, she fingers the texture. Variety is key. Different textures, different sounds, and different smells keep her interested.

Although Coco’s too young to understand the stories read to her, her vocabulary can begin with the words ma-ma and da-da. However, her older sisters and brother are great candidates for learning by reading good stories for kids.

In communicating stories for children, they must listen and understand. Using their names often will grab their attention and keep it.

 If children feel that you care about them, they will put more effort into communicating, which involves listening and understanding.

According to Gov. UK, “Listening . . . means interpreting different sounds, while beginning to understand social interactions. Understanding means processing what’s being communicated, beginning with simple ideas and vocabulary.”

Find more about Understanding at Gov.UK

Having children repeat what the story is about, and they can do so, will attest to the fact that they comprehend. If they are unable to repeat the meaning of the story, parents can address this. And this issue can be strengthened.

What are Good Stories for Kids to Read?

Just as baby Coco gets information through all of her senses, good stories for kids address all of their senses. Children love whimsy, fantasy, and imaginative settings. They like to imagine ordinary things extraordinarily. They like to hear animals talk. 

While listening to unique stories, children like to hear themselves saying, “WOW.” Good stories for kids to read lift them up and away over housetops and mountaintops. 

The world in which kids live can feel a bit too mundane sometimes. They need the fantastical journey. Given this, children will be more apt to learn and listen and build their vocabularies.

Children love songs and learn from them. The ABCs can be learned through song. Children also love rhymes.  

For instance, when I say the following rhyme to children, they laugh, their eyes light up, and they spend quite a bit of time trying to repeat it. They become fully engaged. Learning it also improves their pronunciation and vocal agility. 

You’ve probably heard of "Peter Piper." Here it is:

“Peter Piper” is a popular tongue twister and nursery rhyme original to England. It was first published in John Harris’ "Peter Piper’s Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation" in 1813.

I wrote a short story for my friend’s granddaughter. It’s about a secret garden with a talking gray cat and a talking marigold flower. This flower tends to blush when complimented. 

The little girl in the story is the cat’s friend. She is called upon by a talking grasshopper who needs her help to help save his girlfriend who is caught in a spiderweb. The little girl and the cat team up to save the grasshopper’s girlfriend from a giant robotic spider. 

The cat and the girl narrate the story at different intervals. Here’s an excerpt from the story as narrated by the cat:

A child's attention is also captured through reading about movement. Here, we read about movement, evidenced by the cat stretching. 

Good stories for kids to read and listen to will enhance the listening and comprehension skills they will need for life. These help build their vocabulary and help rescue them from the mundane by offering them a measure of adventure and entertainment.

Images created with AI.