Grandma storytellers are here to stay

Childhood days spent with grandma are filled with some of the warmest memories. Perched on her lap, you would listen intently as she recounted tales of fairies, woodcutters and tigers in the woods. Even as an adult, those magical moments sometimes resurface from the recesses of your memory, still full of luster and warmth.

When a grandparent and a grandchild connect through the characters and plot of a fairy tale, they share a common experience. The intimate act of storytelling can help form close bonds across generations and strengthen family ties. It can also transmit deep-rooted traditions, bridge generational gaps and create lasting childhood memories.

In an effort to develop this style of storytelling, the Korean government has been running its “Beautiful Grandma Storyteller” project since 2009. With the goal of forging close generational bonds, it recruits women between the ages of 56 and 70 and assigns them to preschools across the country.

The project aims to transfer the wisdom of the older generation to the younger generation. By creating an educational space where children can learn traditional values from grandparents’ stories, the project aspires to cultivate good moral character in the nation’s children. In an age where nuclear families are commonplace and intergenerational ties are weakening, the Beautiful Grandma Storytellers remind us of fundamental values through the folk tales they share with the nation’s children.

This year, the project sent out around 2,000 storytellers with huge support from the grandparents themselves, as well as the young children, parents and the participating preschools.

Next year, it expects to place over 2,700 storytellers in preschools around the country. The Beautiful Grandma Storytellers will continue to visit classrooms and engage children with stories that teach filial piety, wisdom, honesty and love.

The Ministry of Sports, Culture and Tourism stated that “The Beautiful Grandma Storytellers are helping to increase communication between generations by transmitting traditional culture, and we hope to further expand the project in the years ahead.”

By Lee Hana
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
hlee10@korea.kr