Engaging in oral storytelling at a young age will help children build this skill early on in life. It provides a rich opportunity for groups of people to reminisce, share cultural folktales, exchange narratives, or create new stories, which not only enhance developmental skills, but also creates a bonding environment.

Storytelling originated with visual stories, such as cave drawings, and then shifted to oral traditions, in which stories were passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. They reflected a universal language by which all could understand and appreciate the stories told with a stick, in mud or in clay.

The original incarnations of visual storytelling were cave drawings, the earliest of which date back more than 40,000 years. From the first millennium BC onward, forms like live theatre and shadow puppetry helped redefine storytelling as a visual medium, presenting characters that moved, spoke, and expressed feelings.

From the first scrolls of written word to the invention of the printing press and widescale distribution of books. Developing technologies have allowed stories to be shared with an ever-increasing audience. As technology has evolved, so too have the media through which stories can be shared.

A Very Brief History of Storytelling

• The earliest form of storytelling that has been discovered is from the Lascaux Caves in the Pyrenees Mountains in southern France.
• In the 200s B.C., Aesop’s fables were written down, and continue to teach lessons today in many areas of life.

The plots

• Overcoming the Monster.
• Rags to Riches.
• The Quest.
• Voyage and Return.
• Comedy.
• Tragedy.
• Rebirth.