Tuesday Tips: Building Storytellers (and Thinkers)

Yesterday, we talked about the connection between narrative language and metacognition—how telling a story isn’t just a language skill, but a thinking skill.

Because when a child tells a story, they aren’t just stringing words together.
They’re organizing events, sequencing time, building cause-and-effect, and monitoring how it all fits together.

It’s metacognition!

Often people think kids will develop narrative language naturally. But just like planning, organizing, or time awareness, narrative language doesn’t develop automatically.

It has to be taught—intentionally, explicitly… and if possible, playfully.

So today we’re diving into two ways to do just that:

• A strategy that strengthens the brain’s storytelling circuits

• A tool that brings it all to life

Let’s talk about how each works—and why they’re powerful together.