Teaching Children About Important Topics Through Storytelling
If you believe in something with all your heart, then you speak about it even when you are not aware of it.
The animated series “Puffins Impossible” created at our studio is more than an action-packed adventure featuring a team of superhero puffins. It teaches children about society, ecology, friendship, selflessness, tolerance and equality.
Filled with essential life lessons from which children of all ages can learn a great deal, “Puffins Impossible” is an ideal example of how we can bring important issues closer to children.
But how do writers manage to convey such important messages through their narratives and writings and make it suitable for a young audience? Ivana Nešić, one of our scriptwriters at ILBES, gives us some valuable insight into this topic.
Teaching Children About Important Topics Through Storytelling
Author: Ivana Nešić, Scriptwriter at ILBE Studios
What is the best way to teach children about important social and ecological topics through narrative structures and the power of storytelling? Pedagogy and methodology have probably already given precise and entirely correct answers to this question, but unfortunately, I am not familiar with them. I only know what my personal answer would be; a highly subjective and not very practical one…
If you believe in something with all your heart and without hesitation, then you speak about it even when you are not aware of it. Your values are reflected in your thoughts and actions, and the messages intended for the audience are conveyed subtly and without an overly didactic approach.
On a behavioral level, I think it may be more impactful to demonstrate actions without explicitly commenting on them. For example, rather than providing an explanation for the significance of cleaning up after a picnic, we can show the main character in the story picking up all their things without any commentary, thus setting an example for the young readers that it is something intuitive, natural and inherent to the character.
On an emotional level, if we are able to effectively depict the beauty of unspoiled nature, we can elicit the same sense of awe and wonder in the reader that we ourselves experienced when we first encountered a breathtaking landscape. Then again, by portraying the devastation that could result from its destruction, we can inspire a sense of resistance to any harmthat may come to it in the future.
It is important to have a measure. If we go overboard in our efforts to teach or illustrate a point, we can end up creating a situation that is grotesque or unrealistic, causing the reader to feel disconnected and unable to identify with the narrative or its surroundings. This can result in a failure to effect meaningful change. Striking a balance between too little and too much is a delicate task, requiring mastery and skillful judgment.
The same applies to other significant topics or issues which are important to you – issues for which it seems to you that it would be a shame if the whole world did not share your opinion.matters for which you believe it would be unfortunate if the entire world didn't align with your viewpoint.