Stories from acclaimed international storytellers intended to bring healing and levity to the coronavirus pandemic.
We are collecting stories from acclaimed storytellers We created a series of articles and stories to support parents and children at home throughout the coronavirus outbreak. We believe we need tools to help parents and children deal with the anxiety and cabin fever, not just the virus. Storytelling is a great way to create intimacy and security in the home.
Worred About Coronavirus? Telling Stories Calms Anxiety in the Family
The King’s Crown - A Coronavirus Story
Announcing the 2020 Coronavirus Storytelling Challenge
This story comes from Dr. Joyce Mills, a play therapist who works with storytelling, along with a series of helpful ideas for parents stuck at home. She writes, “I am attaching what I sent to China in response to their request for support during this challenging time. They offered it free to all of their parents to help their children. The responses were very positive.”
To be clear - these stories are intended to help parents guide young children and ease anxiety in the household after the serious work of preparation has been done. They are not intended to make light of the illness. While this and other stories can be shared directly with children, we believe you will find the greatest comfort in crafting stories of your own with the help of your child.
Announcing the 2020 Coronavirus Storytelling Challenge
As politicians and journalists wrestle for control over the story of coronavirus in the media, parents are locked down in a different battle – the story forming in our children’s hearts.
Schools are closing their doors. Parents are feeling anxious. Social distancing and empty shelves have us gasping for normalcy. We need skills for handling the disease, but we also need tools for managing the anxiety that treads in its footsteps.
That’s why we created the 2020 Coronoavirus Storytelling Challenge. As the nation struggles to catch up with the disease, let’s help parents and children connect at home, have a little fun, and turn the stress meter down just a notch.
“Stories can be a way for humans to feel that we have control over the world. They allow people to see patterns where there is chaos, meaning where there is randomness. Humans are inclined to see narratives where there are none because it can afford meaning to our lives – a form of existential problem-solving.” – The Atlantic
How it Works
We are inviting everyone – ages 4 to 104 – to submit stories that bring healing and levity to the subject of coronavirus. Here’s an example - The King’s Crown. Stories could be about the virus, washing hands, or a funny twist on the run on toilet paper.
The goal is to inspire parents and kids to come up with their own stories.
We will share good stories as they come in, then collect the best for one final knock-down, drag-out, friendly competition where everybody gets to vote for their favorite. The winner gets bragging rights and a roll of toilet paper.
The real winner, of course, is each family that participates (see below for some of the benefits of storytelling in the home). And parents - it’s a great activity for kids who are stuck at home for a few weeks. Let them be honest.
Stories can be any length – typed, written, or recorded on video or audio. We are only able to accept digital submissions. We will post updates via our Facebook page and on this website.
The Science Behind Storytelling
Scientists have been piecing together facts about storytelling for decades. What we’ve learned is that storytelling helps us remember information, focus our attention, and build empathy and trust – critical tools for social creatures like you and I.
But it’s only recently that some people have started coalescing this data into a unified theory. Far from being a novelty or entertainment, storytelling is one of the primary cognitive tools humans have to make sense of our sometimes complicated world. In other words, stories help us connect socially and make meaning of the difficult moments in life, allowing us to form close-knit social groups that are more successful at survival than individuals. That’s why we see it in our religions, nations, neighborhoods, and families.
This is exactly what families grappling with coronavirus need right now. This is not so much a challenge to win the narrative in the national media. It is a challenge designed to help all of us reconnect with a simple tool that helps a family grow together amidst the stress and fragmented events in the media. That’s real power.
The Storytelling Loop is a newsletter bringing you tips, science, and real-life examples of how storytelling builds the connection between parent and child. It is a joint project of Silke Rose West and Joseph Sarosy, authors of How to Tell Stories to Children. Originally published in August of 2019, a new edition is due out from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2021. You can find more from Joseph Sarosy at Fatherly. Are you interested in storytelling? Join Us.