Storytelling at home in three languages: story prompts in English, Bahasa Melayu and Chinese

The short answer

Give your child the start of a story and let them carry on. Ask what happens next, how the characters feel and what they would do. A few minutes in English, Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin or whichever language your family speaks gives your child practice in listening, putting ideas in order and finding words. The story prompt cards below give you eight story starters, plus a question card, in all three languages.

About these ideas. Everything to try at home in this guide was written by SunnySeeds Academy for families. It is not a record of our class activities, not part of a licensed curriculum, and not a test or a therapy programme.

Why stories help

UNICEF's parenting resources describe play and everyday activities as learning opportunities, and its Care for Child Development materials describe responsive communication, where the adult notices and answers what the child says and does, as practice for language and thinking. Telling a story together is a natural form of both. It asks children to remember, put events in order, imagine and explain, and it leaves plenty of room for silliness.

How to use a prompt

1. Say the starter in the language you are most comfortable with.
2. Wait. Give your child time to think before you help.
3. Ask one question at a time: What happens next? Who else is there? How do they feel?
4. Add to what your child says rather than correcting it. If they say "the cat runned away", you might reply "Yes, the cat ran away! Where did it go?"
5. Stop while it is still fun. Two or three minutes is plenty.

Using more than one language

• You do not need to speak all three. Use your strongest language; school and other family members can add the rest.
• Try the same starter in two languages on different days. Children often enjoy noticing that a cat is a kucing and a 猫.
• If your child switches language halfway through a story, that is common. Follow the story first; you can repeat a word in the other language afterwards.
• The three versions on each card say the same thing in natural phrasing for each language, not word for word. If your family says it differently, use your own words.

Follow your child's interests

The prompts are only a start. If your child loves buses, the lost shoe can be left on a bus. If dinosaurs are the thing this month, a dinosaur can find the hat. Children say more when the story is about something they care about. You can also swap roles: your child gives you a starter, and you carry on.

Making it easier or harder

Read together too

Story prompts sit well alongside reading aloud. Picture books in any language give children new words and new kinds of stories to borrow. For English, Cambridge English publishes free activities for children grouped by level, for reading and writing, listening or speaking, and suggests starting with an easier level when you are unsure.

At SunnySeeds

Stories run through our curriculum. Bahasa Melayu lessons use storytelling, poetry and singing; Mandarin lessons include story retelling, rhymes and tongue twisters; and full day children have Story Lab, our speaking and storytelling sessions, described on our Early Years page. See our curriculum for how each subject works. The cards below are separate home ideas, written for families.