Nursery World - Listening to Children

What a recent Covid project tells us about the pandemic experiences of children and the vital role of storytelling. By Professor Chris Pascal and Professor Tony Bertram

Guildford Nursery School: Books that reflected real life were part of the prompts to encourage storytelling

When young children were encouraged to explore their experiences of the pandemic through storytelling, they were able to express themselves and process their feelings while giving practitioners a deeper insight into their needs.

Our aims with The Froebel Young Voices of Covid project were to realise children’s right to express their narratives about Covid-19 while exploring the power of Froebelian storytelling strategies to support reflection on, and resilience about, their experiences.

The project was carried out in four nursery settings – two in Scotland and one each in England and New Zealand – where practitioners are trained in a Froebelian approach to storytelling and in action research methodologies. Practitioners were encouraged to document the different pedagogic strategies they used to support children’s storytelling about Covid-19.

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