Our goal is to teach, inspire and promote the art, craft, and tradition of storytelling to our youth by encouraging the sharing and listening of stories by, about, and for people of all social, cultural, and religious traditions.
Why is storytelling cool?
- Storytelling builds self confidence
- Storytelling changes lives
- Storytelling offers community opportunities
- Storytelling allows others to share their view of a story while the listeners have a chance to hear various points of view to open their minds.
- Storytelling connects body, mind and soul providing a nurturing place to be accepted
Don’t take our word for it. Click on the Why Storytelling is Cool image to listen to these youth tellers share their tales and explain why storytelling is cool.
Are there storytelling clubs in your area?
Here are two that we know about right now but we’d love to hear from you if you know of other youth storytelling clubs in your community. You can also check here to find a local storytelling guild in your area.
- Waco, TX: “Tell Me A Story” Youth Club/Heart of Texas Storytelling Guild – Contact Storyteller, Vivian Rutherford at Vivian.Rutherford@thestorylady.org
- Cedar Hill, TX: The Zula B. Wylie Youth Tellers – Contact Storyteller, Toni Simmons at toni@tonisimmons.com
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- Storytelling Youth Club members performing at the San Antonio Alamo Plaza
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- Lighthouse for the Blind Storytelling Summer Club fun
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- Youth storyteller Gloria performing at George West StoryFest
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- Practicing our art in one of the club meetings
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- Middle School storytelling members sharing stories at a local elementary school
Resources to Ignite Your Storytelling Enthusiasm
TSA’s Event’s Calendar: https://tejasstorytelling.com/events/
Beauty and the Beast Storytellers: Just for Kids Page:
http://beautyandthebeaststorytellers.com/justforkids.php
Beauty and the Beast Storytellers: Games for Storytelling:
http://beautyandthebeaststorytellers.com/games.php
Imagine Forest:
https://www.imagineforest.com/blog/storytelling-activities-kids/
National Youth Storytelling (Friendly Competition on a state level to a National Level):
http://nationalyouthstorytelling.org/NYS/Welcome.html
Videos of TSA’s previous Youth Storytelling Concerts – you’ll be inspired!
Fantastic Storytelling Book Resources
101 Games That Teach Storytelling Skills. Burcher, Anthony. Healthy Learning, 2013.
Children Tell Stories: Teaching and Using Storytelling in the Classroom. Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss, Richard C. Owen Publishers (2005)
Raising Voices: Creating Youth Storytelling Groups and Troupes. Judy Sima and Kevin Cordi, Libraries Unlimited (2003)
Stories in My Pocket: Tales Kids Can Tell. Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss, Fulcrum Press, 1996.
Story by Story. Karen Chace. Parkhurst Brothers Publishers, 2014.
The Storytelling Classroom: Applications Across the Curriculum. Sherry Norfolk, Jane Stenson, and Diane Williams, Libraries Unlimited (2006)
Storytelling Games. Lipman, Doug. Oryx Press, 1995.
Super Simple Storytelling; A Can-Do Guide for every Classroom, Every Day. Haven, Kendall. Teacher Ideas Press, 2000.
Teaching with Story; Classroom Connections to Storytelling. MacDonald, Margaret Read. August House, 2013.