Exploring children’s experience evident in the process of creating and sharing stories

Objectives This study explored the experiences of children as they took the lead in creating and sharing their own stories, based on the necessity for storytelling activities driven by children themselves. Methods For 19 weeks from March 20 to July 28, 2023, story-making activities were conducted with 14 five-year-old children. Data were collected through methods such as participant observation via video recording and story recording, interviews with the children, and creating a researcher’s journal. The collected data were tran-scribed and analyzed on the same day, and the meanings were interpreted through a process of reviewing the sto-ries created by the children in chronological order and by each individual child. Results The results showed that the children experienced ‘attempting to transition the story’, ‘inducing interest with their own stories’, and ‘maintaining their own stories’. When the story deviated from their interests, the chil-dren refused or attempted to transition the story by moving the space and time. To attract the interest of their peers, they raised curiosity through questions or expressed things that could simultaneously pursue their own de-sires and others’ expectations. They also tried to maintain their own stories by responding to negative reactions from their peers and distinguishing between their own stories and others’ stories. Conclusions Since the children felt the need for listening and revisited their experiences to create ‘meaningful ex-periences’, the process of creating and sharing stories can be seen as a reciprocal dialogue and growth process for children.