All children love to play with words. They love to make jokes, sing songs, listen to and tell stories. It is a short step from play to loving writing.
Here are some wacky writing ideas to inspire you over the holiday season! If your child is too young or unwilling to write, it’s OK to volunteer to do the writing – learning that writing is fun is the idea here!
Team story
Have the family take turns making up one big story together – one sentence each. Or even funnier, one word each!
Write a play
Organise the children to produce your evening’s entertainment! This could be a whole day project, with writing, rehearsals, costumes, lighting and culminating in The Big Performance! Song writing could also have a place here.
Write a limerick
“There was a Young Lady whose chin,
Resembled the point of a pin;
So she had it made sharp,
And purchased a harp,
And played several tunes with her chin.”
Edward Lear from A Book of Nonsense
If you are having trouble with the structure of limericks, try filling in this template;
There once was a ______________ from __________________.
All the while s/he hoped _______________________________.
So s/he _______________________________.
And _________________________________.
That ___________________ from ___________________.
Riddles
Children love riddles and guessing games. Start with the answer. Riddles generally involve giving children clues one at a time. It usually works best to give general clues first; then more specific clues. For example; What am I? You can not see me. You can not touch me. Yet you use me. I am very important to you. You can not live without me. What am I? (Answer: Air)
Magnetic Poetry
Here is a fun site that allows you to play with a wide range of magnetic sentences on-line. Here is my offering from the children’s storytelling section – “The moon sings a song, the sky under my bed sleeps soundly.” http://www.magneticpoetry.com/kidspoetry/playonline.cfm
Wacky tales
Another fun site, where you fill in the blanks to generate a funny, theme based story (similar to madlibs)
http://www.eduplace.com/tales/
Make a comic strip
Many children would prefer to draw more and write less. How about a comic strip with speech bubbles?
First sentences
Help your child start a story by providing a first sentence. This sentence should be imaginative and inspiring, for example;
"Last night, there was a golden coin under my pillow.”
Tongue twisters
A Tongue Twister is a phrase which is hard to speak fast. To get the full effect of a tongue twister you should try to repeat it several times, as quickly as possible, without stumbling or mispronouncing. For example;
Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said "This butter's bitter! But a bit of better butter will but make my butter better" So she bought some better butter, better than the bitter butter, and it made her butter better so 'twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter!
Publish
Children like to have other people appreciate their work. You can type it up, photocopy it and give it to family, friends and teachers. You could also include illustrations.
Sharri
Original Stories for Cool Kids
