Do you want to be able to help grow your child’s creativity and expand their imagination? Does your child suffer with ‘writers block’ when asked to write a creative story for their homework?
This blog will guide you through some creative ways to encourage your children’s imaginations and give them story ideas so that they can become pros at thinking up exciting and inventive stories all by themselves.
Read, Read and Read.
I cannot stress this enough. Get your children reading, read to them, buy books, visit libraries, listen to recorded stories. Even get them watching films. The more information they can gather, the more they’ll be able to put into both their vocabulary and story bank.
Practise
They say, ‘practise makes perfect’ and it really does. Not even the most famous authors write a story and send the first copy to their publishers. They do what is known as a ‘brain dump’, this is where they get all their ideas out there and write them down. Then they cut, chop and change their stories many times before they send it off to their editors, who will also make some changes, before the author then sits down to make even more changes.
This is not always possible, especially in a school environment. However, if your child has a bank of stories that they’ve previously thought about and practised writing, they will be able to adapt them to the task they’ve been given in school.
Check out my ‘Story Challenge Saturday’ posts on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. Here I pick 3 random photos, and from these photos I ask my followers to create a short story. I have a different genre each week, some you’ll love and some you may feel a little out of your comfort zone… but that’s the challenge.
Pictures and Props
As I’ve just said, using a collection of random pictures or props can really give your child a challenge to create new and exciting stories.
The use of photos and props also helps a child imagine a story better, because they are able to use their senses to explore what might happen to their characters in relation to the item.
For example, it’s not just a ball. It’s a cold, shiny glass ball… maybe it’s magic and belongs to a witch? Where did you find it?
This is not just a picture of a ship. It’s an old ship full of supplies … maybe it’s going on an exciting adventure? Where will it sail?
This is not just a piece of fabric. It’s soft and beautifully decorated… maybe it’s an ancient invisibility cloak? Who does it belong to?
Draw Characters
Children love to draw and drawing their characters before they start to write their stories can really help them to identify who their character is and their characters personality traits. Labelling the picture with these traits can also help them to identify how their character will react in different situations throughout their stories.
For instance, is the character small, yet bold and brave? Or are they plump and jolly but a scaredy-cat?
I always start my ‘Children’s Author Academy’ workshops by asking the children to draw their main character, which they are then able to use throughout the writing process as inspiration to how the story may flow.
Mindfulness
Another tool I often use in my ‘Children’s Author Academy’ workshops.
Sometimes we all need to take a bit of time out, especially if we get the dreaded ‘writer’s block’. I ask my students to close their eyes and take a few deep breathes in and out. Then I ask them to imagine their characters. Where are they? What can they see? What can they hear? What can they taste? What can they smell? and what can they feel?
From this go on the journey with your character. What do they say? How will they react? What happens next? Play the story or scene out in your mind. This will allow you to get some clarity on where you would like your story to go and hopefully when you open your eyes you can carry on writing your creative story.
For more information about how to help your child with their story writing, have a read of my blog; How to Help Your Child Write a Story.
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