Celebrate the Spoken Word: National Share a Story Month

May is National Share a Story Month, the perfect time to celebrate what we do at Ojai Storytelling Festival! Whether you’re spinning wild yarns about dragons and pirates, passing down a favorite family memory, or reading a beloved bedtime book, this month is all about celebrating the joy of storytelling. Sharing stories brings people together, sparks imaginations, and helps us understand each other better. This month let’s encourage everyone, young and old, to tell, listen, and connect through the timeless power of a story.

National Share a Story Month began in the United Kingdom by The Federation of Children’s Book Groups way back in the last century (the 1970s). It was founded as a weeklong literacy program to promote a love of reading in children. Over the years it grew into a month-long celebration of reading, writing and telling stories.

We here at the Ojai Storytelling Festival know that storytelling is not just for kids. Hearing and telling stories increases empathy and understanding, boosts creativity and language skills, and strengthens bonds between generations and communities.

I encourage you to celebrate this month by doing one of the activities below.

• Host a Story Circle-Gather with friends and/or family to read to each other, share something you’ve written or simply tell a story off the cuff.

• Family Story Time-Play a storytelling game! Some great ones that I used for years as a teacher are Rory’s Story Cubes, Story Wars, and Once Upon a Time.

• Social Media Sharing-Record yourself telling a favorite story and share it with the world.

• Story Challenges-Challenge your family and friends to read one short story every day and then share their favorite at a happy hour or tea time.

We are going to celebrate by offering you a new storytelling prompt each week! The first one is “Laughter”. Tell or write a story about something in your life that made you laugh. Or make up a new story that will make others laugh. The possibilities are endless!

Let us know if you’d like to share your story with us! We’d love to hear it!