How to Encourage Siblings to Share Stories and Strengthen Their Bond

Bringing Siblings Together Through Storytelling

If you’re a parent juggling the emotional and academic needs of multiple children, you know how chaotic afternoons and evenings can feel. Between homework stress, after-school fatigue, and sibling squabbles, peaceful moments of connection can feel out of reach. But there’s a surprisingly powerful — and often overlooked — way to bring siblings closer: shared storytelling.

Encouraging your children to share stories with one another isn’t just about sparking creativity. It helps them practice empathy, improves communication skills, and creates a shared world that only they inhabit. And in a time when school can be a source of stress or struggle, those shared stories can become little islands of calm and understanding between siblings.

Why Storytelling Works for Kids Aged 6–12

At this age, children are starting to develop a nuanced understanding of narrative, motives, and emotions. Whether they’re still clinging to picture books or diving into chapter books, kids between 6–12 are natural storytellers. But they don’t always know how to express those stories — or they may not feel confident to do so, especially if they have learning differences or struggle with language skills at school.

Storytelling with a sibling can be a lower-pressure environment than school. It can be goofy, outrageous, or deeply imaginative. And because it exists outside school expectations, it often becomes a safe space for self-expression — especially when older siblings join in and model kindness, listening, and creativity.

Creating Opportunities for Shared Stories

Many parents imagine that storytelling has to be structured: a nighttime ritual, a writing exercise, a strict part of the routine. But some of the best sibling stories happen in the in-between moments — when the house is quiet, when the car ride feels long, or while waiting for dinner. These are the perfect moments to gently invite your children into a shared story:

• “What do you think would happen if our cat could talk — what would she say?”
• “Let’s make up a story about two superhero twins. You start — what’s their first mission?”
• “Imagine you two found a secret door in the backyard. What would be on the other side?”

These prompts can open the door for cooperative storytelling. One sibling can add a twist, and the other can build on it. The goal isn’t a perfect plot — it’s playful connection.

For Siblings with Different Ages or Interests

What if your kids don’t naturally play together? Or if one is much older or more verbal than the other? That’s where shared listening can help overcome the gap. Stories experienced together help bridge developmental differences. Listening to a story side-by-side encourages shared laughter, shared questions, shared sparks of imagination.

You might play an audiobook while making dinner or during a pre-bedtime routine. The iOS and Android versions of the LISN Kids App offer a thoughtful collection of original audiobooks and age-appropriate audio series for children ages 3–12, many of which are perfect for siblings to enjoy together. Listening to a shared story can serve as a natural lead-in to telling one’s own.

Listening as a pair also lends itself wonderfully to engagement beyond the story. Afterward, you might hear:

• “Wait, why did she do that in the story?”
• “Do you think we could have done better if we were the main characters?”
• “Let’s make up our version where the dragon is nice.”

Each of these is a doorway to original stories, co-created between siblings — and guided by their own imagination.

Making Space for Storytelling in Busy Days

Even in the busiest households, tiny shifts can create more room for shared stories. Think about replacing screen time here or there with a shared story challenge. Instead of winding down separately in different corners, invite your children to invent an adventure together — or continue a story where they left off yesterday.

You could even turn storytelling into a regular ritual, like a rotating “Story Night” where one sibling starts the tale and the other finishes it. Profound bonding can happen in these small exchanges. And for children experiencing academic frustrations or emotional stress at school, storytelling offers freedom — there are no wrong answers, no corrections, only curiosity and play.

For more ideas on creating supportive, screen-free routines for children, explore resources like this guide to calming pre-dinner routines or ways to turn waiting time into story-rich play.

Let Kids Take the Lead

As a parent, your role isn’t to direct every moment — it’s to make space for connection. Some days, siblings will argue or drift apart. That’s normal. But when we offer safe, playful opportunities for shared storytelling — without pressure — we invite closeness to return in a natural, joyful way.

Older children might feel empowered as storytellers and leaders. Younger siblings gain vocabulary, listening skills, and a sense of belonging. Together, they create something uniquely theirs.

And in a world where school can feel like a place of comparison, rules, and pressure, the shared intimacy of a sibling story can become a sanctuary.

Looking for more tools to support emotional resilience and connection? You might enjoy exploring inspiring audiobooks that help children learn and grow calmly or discovering bedtime audio stories to help siblings settle together.