What comes to your mind when you think about hanging out with your family? What do you value most about family time? In an era where everyone is so busy trying to put food on the table, spending time with our loved ones becomes a hustle. But have we ever considered cheaper available and educational options such as attending an event with the option of family inclusivity?

At the NYrobi Book Fest, held at the Alliance Française in Nairobi, a family event that included storytelling for kids by Wangari the storyteller was part of the activities. The most interesting fact about family events where Wangari performs is that she knows how to involve everyone in the storytelling, including the adults. In this year’s event, specifically, she invited the parents and their kids together with the guests around to the stage to sing and dance.

“I loved the composition of the audience, it was almost half of adults and children. It allowed me to explore storytelling in a way that had enough juice for the children to swallow and yet enough meat for the adults to chew,” Wangari said. Considering the context of the event, the organisers saw it fit to add the aspect of the children and families so that they not only grow both the current but also the future generations of readers and writers.

The audience was equally amazed at how they enjoyed the storytelling session, considering the fact that storytelling is often dismissed by adults as something just for kids. “It enlightened me and my mind started figuring out how the story being told applies to my reality,” said Elosy Kanampiu, a mother. It also brings together the family, according to her daughter Yvonne Wangui, who described her experience as a family hangout time. She said that when she looks back years later, she will always remember that her mother took her somewhere and they enjoyed themselves.

The kids normally enjoy these events a lot. Children in general love the interaction with others and they tend to learn better in environments that involve them. This is seen perfectly in storytelling, whereby it jogs the mind of the kid. Velma Blessings, an 11-year-old girl, described her experience as fun due to her interaction with others. “There are a lot of fun activities.”

Storytelling has a lot of benefits and just like the olden days, it is one of the quickest ways to teach a person a lesson or a moral. It’s easier to listen to stories that relate to our realities. “Storytelling will help to soften some of those tough topics like personal financial management, budgeting, and how to spend your money. And with time you notice that storytelling is at the root of who we are and we can see it in advertising, social media, and content creation. 

Everything falls back on storytelling because stories have a different way of connecting with people,” said Paul Sagati, a parent. He also thinks that it’s a good idea to bring storytelling back to schools as in his days, where they had lessons in vernacular which helped them a lot in their learning.

Sagati feels that such sessions are enriching to the kids as they focus on cultural African storytelling that kids raised in urban areas lack. 

According to Elosy Kanampiu, storytelling also motivates children to read more, which in turn helps them to improve on their language skills. “Stories are therapeutic, fun and enjoyable. It is where we share experiences and try to make sense of the world,” said John Namai, a storyteller. He adds that there is little space for kids to experience arts in the world today, and so story telling enables them to experience that world.

Namai quotes a saying that a nation is as weak as the story it tells. This means that the strength, unity and identity of a nation depend heavily on the narratives it believes in and promotes about itself. “Storytelling and stories gets children and the adults in their lives to connect at an emotional level, to view things from different perspectives,” commented Wangari. In her view, it is an art form that works great for family audiences. In a world dominated with technology and social media, it is so hard to interact with people and make connections. Unfortunately, this also applies to families interacting with each other, thus storytelling helps people to activate their minds and bring them to the reality of things.

Edith Temba is a correspondent for Books in Africa. Email: editemba5@gmail.com

‍