“Why a naughty story?” you say in horror!
Well, what better title to attract children of a certain age?
In my opinion children need to know:
a) firstly, just what naughtiness is; they need to be able to tell the difference between naughtiness, which is really taking action which not approved of by the adult who explains the rules, is tempting enough to risk doing, or isn’t understood as naughtiness… and the behaviour of some people which hurts others, can make a real change which is not good, in their own, or others, lives, and has consequences which may lead to a punishment.
b)then they need to know that it IS ok to be naughty sometimes,
c)that, other children are also naughty,
d) and that not all naughtiness is intended by the person doing it.
and…
e) that grown-ups can be understanding.
It is also important for them to realise that, maybe with a bit of help sometimes, ‘naughtiness can be put right’
A story with this theme can both amuse and reassure a child, and remind adults that a stern reaction is not always the most appropriate.
It’s quite hard to think of a ‘naughty story’ and it is probably best to work it out in advance…or you may find yourself tied up in knots, probably by the questions the children ask! You may remember something naughty you did as a child that you can build into a story, or an example of something you’ve seen. So plan for the next time you will speak to/see the child or save it for after that real-life ‘naughty’ occasion, Don’t offer it as a reward but as a discussion point or example to learn from, but don’t make it heavy either. These kind of stories are probably only suitable for 6 or 7 year olds and younger, as you can’t make the story too serious without the serious consequences. After all, you are describing mischief not wrongdoing.
This is the first one I wrote and it certainly amused my grandchildren, with the older two being the characters this time.
A Naughty Story:
Thomas didn’t really mean to be naughty; he just saw what Fini was doing and thought it was funny. It had been raining overnight so there were lots of puddles on the garden path even though it was nice and sunny now. Fini was happily jumping in and out of puddles when she accidentally splashed Suzi, the magic dog, and the dog barked in surprise and shook herself over Fini who just stamped her footand splashed again.
Thomas ran towards them and joined in. This time he splashed Fini and Suzi at the same time. Suzi flew up in the air and shook herself over the top of the children and soon all of their clothes were muddy. So they ran round and round the garden, splashing, laughing, splashing and laughing.
Then Thomas had his idea. He decided to play a trick on Nana. He filled a bowl of water from the garden tap and then tied a big loop of rope round it. He climbed up the big tree and fastened the bowl onto a strong branch. He left one big bit of rope hanging down the tree for Nana to reach.
Then he asked Fini to get her from the house. When Nana came out she called “What is the matter Thomas? I’m busy baking some biscuits for teatime” Thomas said “Sorry Nana, but I’ve got a trick to show you”, then he called “Just pull on the rope, Nana”. Nana walked towards the tree and Thomas looked down at her; he was giggling away to himself thinking how funny it would be when the water tipped on Nana.
But when he saw her he knew he had to stop her as she was wearing her best pinny and some baking gloves. He didn’t want her to get those wet – he hadn’t thought out his trick properly! He called out “No Nana!” and lent forward to hold the bowl to stop it from spilling..
But it was too late and Nana pulled the rope anyway. As the water began to pour out of the bowl Thomas began to fall off the branch.
Nana worked her magic quickly. She turned the drops of water into flower petals and then she magiced the rope and it wrapped itself round Thomas’s ankle. Suddenly he was hanging upside down in the tree!
Fini and Nana started laughing and Suzi barked excitedly as she floated up to Thomas and licked his upside down face. “Sorry Nana!” said Thomas and Nana lowered him down safely to the ground. “You silly boy,Thomas" she said “when I was baking I could see what you were doing out of the kitchen window – I’m glad you changed your mind about splashing me. Now let’s all go inside see if the biscuits are ready yet”. And they were, biscuits and Hot Chocolate for tea! Yum!
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Over to you:
- Think who is going to make mischief/play the trick, girl, boy, animal…etc
- Think who they will do it to – is it their parent, sibling, friend, other grown-up? Their Nana? 😊
- Think how that character might react – you need a sympathetic character who will tolerate the action (as above). Or, maybe a character who will be a little upset, so that the mischief maker has to put things right afterwards. Consider the age of the child as you do this.
- Decide on what the action is to be. Make sure it is something fairly straight-forward and easy enough for the listeners to picture and enjoy – anticipating the incident; but also…
- Make sure it is easy to put right, for example, if a child undoes a knot holding a toy boat steady and it starts to float away, make sure there is a way of recovering the naughty act easily, by them, maybe with someone else’s help.
- Finish with a smile, a warm ending – don’t just end with little brother sulking and upset, or Mum very cross. The listeners won’t find it satisfactory, they may find it worrying…and after all “Everyone loves a happy ending”
My Podcast is on Podbeam, Google, Spotify & others, and on this website of course https://www.telltales2kids.com
Sorry, there are no pictures this time but my PC doesn’t want me to share at the moment – and is quite proud of the fact, so I’ll tell it off later! 🙂
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