ACTIVITIES Children are naturalstorytelers. Theym akeup gam es,inventcharacters, givetoyselaboratebackstoriesand turn a cardboard boxintopracticalyanything. Storywritng isa lovelywayto takethat im aginationonestep further,and itbrings som e usefulbenefitsalong with it. Itbuildsconfidence Puting anidea downonpapercanfeel like a big achievem ent,particularlyfor children who don'talwayssee them selvesasgood atwritng.There doesn'tneed to bea perfectending,neat handwritng oreven a sensibleplot.The im portantbitishaving anidea and seeing itbecom etheirown story. Ithelpswith language W ritng storiesgiveschildren a reason to experim entwith words.Theycan describe a character,explain whathappened and workouthow tom aketheirreader understand whattheym ean.Overtim e, thiscanhelp build vocabularyand m ake writng feelm orepurposeful. Itgetsim agination working A storycangoanywhere.A dog can becom ea detective,thegarden can turn into a jungleand anordinaryTuesday can end with a trip to them oon.Thereare no expensivem aterialsorcom plicated activitesneeded,justperm is ion to invent. Itencouragesproblem -solving Even a verysim plestoryneedssom ething tohappen.W hatdoesthecharacter want?W hatgoeswrong?How wilthey sortitout?Children arequietlyworking through causeand efect,m aking choices and deciding whathappensnext. Keep itfun Don'tworyaboutspeling everyother word orcorecting everysentenceasthey write.Ifyourchild hasa briliantidea but getsstuckwith thewritng,oferto be theirscribe.Theycan telyou the story whileyou writeitdown,then perhaps ilustrate itafterw ards.Try starting w ith a ridiculoussentencesuch as, opened thefridge,therewasa dragon inside’ and seewheretheytakeit. You could also m ake a litlefam ilystory jarwith characters,placesand objects writenonscrapsofpaper.Pickoneof eachand you'vegottheingredientsfora new adventure. The bestbit? Thererealyisn'ta wrong answer.Thedragon can befriendly,the princes can rescueherselfand the ending can becom pletelybonkers. That'sratherthepoint. You don’tneedtobea budding novelistathom e tom akestorywritng fun! Let’sm ake up a story.. 15
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