From Stories to Social Skills: Using Storytime to Grow SEL in Kids
The moment you say, “It’s storytime!” the room typically quiets, and young listeners lean in. And while storytime strengthens a child’s listening skills, it can also be a powerful tool for social and emotional learning (SEL).
Recent research shows that picture book activities paired with guided discussions can influence how children connect emotional awareness with positive behavior. This suggests that storytime helps kids recognize and manage their emotions while understanding others.
Let’s explore how this works in practice. In this article, you’ll learn how you can use storytelling to support emotional growth and connection. We’ll also share best practices that will make each reading session a chance for meaningful learning and development.
The Connection Between Storytime and SEL
Books provide a safe space for children to discover feelings, relationships, and moral choices. Through storytime, they can experience a range of emotions and situations in a way that feels secure and engaging.
How Stories Build Emotional Understanding
Emotional understanding is the ability to recognize, interpret, and respond to emotions in oneself and in others. With this, children can develop empathy, manage their reactions, and build healthy relationships.
Storytime nurtures emotional understanding in several ways:
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Stories present emotional scenarios children can observe safely: Through the experiences of fictional characters, children can witness a wide range of feelings (even complex ones) without being personally involved.
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Characters demonstrate empathy and coping: By following a character’s journey, children get to see multiple viewpoints, learn how to respond with kindness, and make thoughtful choices in various situations.
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Naming feelings strengthens emotional vocabulary: When adults point out feelings during storytime, children learn words that help them express and understand emotions more clearly.
Through these experiences, stories become more than entertainment, as they also become gentle lessons in recognizing and managing emotions.
Storytime as a Social Space
Listening to stories is a shared moment. As children sit together, they practice patience, active listening, and turn-taking. These moments teach respect for others’ time and attention while encouraging a sense of belonging within the group.
After the story, open discussions give children a chance to express their thoughts and hear different perspectives. Talking about what a character might have felt or how a situation could be handled differently lets them see that people feel emotions in various ways.
Storytime also plays a supportive social role, as it serves as a regular gathering where children feel seen and heard. Children who feel this sense of belonging tend to develop stronger social bonds and emotional resilience, making them less likely to experience loneliness.
How to Use Storytime to Grow SEL Skills
Here’s how each stage of reading (before, during, and after) offers an opportunity to help children connect stories to their own emotions and relationships.
Before reading: Set the Emotional Stage
First, choose a book with emotional depth and compelling storytelling, like I’m Not Mad: A Book for Kids Who Aren’t Angry (At All). Written by psychologists, it teaches children to recognize anger cues and understand that all feelings are normal.
Then, prepare your children to think about the chosen story’s theme and their personal experiences related to it. Briefly introduce the emotion at the heart of the story, such as frustration, kindness, or courage. I’m Not Mad deals with anger.
You might say, “Today we’ll read a story about feeling angry. How do you feel when things don’t go your way?” This short check-in encourages children to name emotions, making them more aware of their feelings and more engaged with the story ahead.
During Reading: Pause and Prompt Reflection
As the story unfolds, pause occasionally to invite reflection. Ask open-ended questions like, “How do you think the character feels right now?” or “What would you do if that happened to you?” Use these moments to model empathy in your tone and responses.
Also, draw attention to the character’s choices and coping strategies so children can see how thoughts and emotions influence behavior.
After Reading: Connect and Extend
Once the story is finished, use the moment to help your kids make sense of the story and its emotions with SEL activities:
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Art activities: Invite children to express a character’s emotions through drawing, painting, or collage. This approach supports learning through art and allows children to express themselves creatively.
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Role-play: Act out scenes or imagine different endings. Children can explore how characters might feel and practice seeing things from other points of view.
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Emotion chart: Link main story moments to specific feelings on a chart. Children can add stickers or write down the emotions, reinforcing recognition and naming of different emotions.
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Coping strategies: Use the story to talk about healthy ways to handle emotions, like taking deep breaths, asking for support, or talking to a friend. Connecting strategies to characters’ experiences makes them memorable.
Together, these activities engage self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making, which are the five core SEL competencies within the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework.
Best Practices for Storytime-Based SEL
When approached thoughtfully, storytime can be a valuable tool for SEL growth. Here are some strategies to make the most of it:
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Keep storytime interactive: Encourage children to talk about the story as you read. SEL grows when children think and share, not just listen.
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Create a safe, judgment-free environment: Children need to feel comfortable expressing ideas and emotions. Celebrate when they participate, acknowledge their feelings, and avoid criticism so everyone knows their perspective matters.
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Use props or visuals: Puppets, emotion cards, and illustrations can make abstract feelings tangible and easier to understand.
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Collaborate with parents: If you’re an educator, share your discussion prompts or suggest some simple activities to continue SEL learning at home.
Storytime guided in this way encourages children to explore their feelings more deeply, see different perspectives, and apply what they learn to real-life situations.
Make Storytime a Launchpad for SEL
Storytime gives children a chance to explore emotions, practice empathy, and build the social-emotional skills they need in everyday life. Choosing the right books, encouraging discussion, and adding interactive activities can turn each story into a meaningful learning experience.
Emotional learning can continue through play. ThinkPsych offers psychologist-designed toys and educational games that support emotional health. With storytime and playful learning, children can develop skills that last a lifetime.
Find out more about our products here.
References:
Reshaping the Ability–Strategy Link in Emotion Regulation: The Role of a Structured Picture-Book Intervention for Preschoolers.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12383865/
Lonely children and adolescents are less healthy and report less social support: A study on the effect of loneliness on mental health and the moderating role of social support.
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-025-23247-5
What is the CASEL Framework?
https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework/
