Want to tell better stories? Remember The Wheels on the Bus.  My daughter and I sing it often.  We start with the traditional . . . 

• The wheels on the bus go round and round
• The baby on the bus says “wah, wah, wah”
• The doors on the bus go open and close . . . etc.

Then, we start to add our own variations.

• The dog on the bus says “ruff, ruff, ruff”
• The grandma on the bus says, “quiet please”

She is pretty engaged through all of this (because she’s 3), but her engagement reaches a new level when we loose our creativity and stop being restricted by what could actually be on a bus.  

How about the hippopotamus on the bus?

But, a hippopotamus can’t be on a bus.

Sure he can.  The hippopotamus on the bus says “Where’s my lunch?  Where’s my lunch?  Where’s my lunch?”

The airplane on the bus?

The penguins on the bus?

The jell-o monsters (monsters made out of jell-o) on the bus?

I hope you can see the connection.  When we open up the possibilities, my daughter giggles and begins suggesting her own wild ideas.  The same old song has become brand new and much more engaging.  In our classes, we may not be singing silly songs or even telling silly stories with animals and jell-o monsters, but we can apply this same idea.  We can look at our stories and find places where we are being restricted by reality or habit.  

She wanted a boyfriend who was tall and strong?  No, she wanted a fella with no teeth who could play the accordion with his toes.  His mother was angry because he came home late last night?  No.  She was angry because he washed his socks in the kitchen sink, AGAIN.