This Diwali Let Your Kids Forge Special Connections Through Storytelling

Stories are the universal way to communicate ideas and messages. Even the most obstinate of non-readers enjoy hearing good stories. In India specifically, children are brought up on stories and folklore. Our grandparents and parents narrate endless stories to us, which we in turn relate to our children, especially during the festive season. The current situation may have made it difficult for us to spend time with our family members who live away from us, but innovative digital concepts such as the MaPa story app help us stay connected.

The MaPa Story App is unlike any other book-related app for children. At just INR 365 for a year (or INR 100 for a month), it goes a step further by allowing them to record their own stories and share these stories with their family members and close ones via Whatsapp, ensuring they receive the recognition they deserve for their imaginative skills as well as the drive to continue being creative.

THE IMPORTANCE OF STORYTELLING:

Storytelling is an essential life skill that usually begins in the laps of our ‘ma and pa’ at home. By listening to stories, our children develop the skills required to make their own stories. There are many ways in which storytelling skills enhance the overall growth of children:

• Stories encourage our children to develop critical thinking skills
• Stories allow our children to explore concepts and topics that are inaccessible to them in real life
• Stories allow our children to travel without leaving the comfort of our homes
• Stories encourage the values of tolerance and acceptance
• Stories impart important life lessons in an easy to understand manner, ensuring they are firmly ingrained
• Storytelling skills aid our children later in life, as every career option has an aspect of storytelling involved in it
• Stories offer a comfort zone from the harsh realities of life
• Stories forge a strong bond between the storyteller and the listener

The MaPa story app addresses each of these aspects of storytelling, with particular emphasis on the last point. This Diwali season, many of us are lamenting the forced distance between us and our family members in other cities because of the pandemic, but it is our children who are missing out the most, as they forgo the time spent with grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins of all ages. By encouraging our little ones to create their own stories and sharing these with family members, we are boosting their creativity and imagination, and also keeping the larger family aware of our child’s progress.

HOW MAPA ENCOURAGES STORYTELLING:

The MaPa story app can be used in a variety of ways, the simplest of which is an online library of age-appropriate stories. 

• Each story is categorized clearly so parents and children can decide what appeals to them
• There is a fun element as well as a learning element, to cater to various needs and times of the day
• The stories are available in English and Hindi to reach a wider audience
• The stories can be read out loud, heard through a video recording, or recorded in the child’s voice to help boost their expression and creativity
• The recorded stories can be saved to the in-app library and re-visited at any time
• The stories can be shared with others through Whatsapp
• Your family members can read and share stories from their devices which your children will enjoy listening to

My son and I enjoy exploring the various stories on Mapa Story app. Though he is just starting his reading journey, I encourage him to record his own stories looking at the pictures provided. It allows him to express his own creativity and he enjoys the freedom of making his own stories. However, the person that is enjoying it the most is perhaps my mother, who misses time spent with her grandson and enjoys his imaginative and often riotously funny stories, inspired by the images on the app.

The MaPa story app connects each one of us in a special way and will help bridge the distance this Diwali. After all the shortest distance between two people is a smile, and we all know that a wonderful story gives rise to a wonderful smile. 

I recommend you download the app and watch your children explore their creativity, while sharing these precious moments of childhood with your family members.

HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE MAPA STORY APP:

The MaPa story can be downloaded on android devices here (Coming to iOS soon): https://mapa.onelink.me/VtTL/b0d96d60

Though the app can be explored for free, in order to enjoy all its benefits, one must subscribe to it at the nominal rate of INR 365 per year or INR 100 per month

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