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Mommy Labs - Creative Learning, Purposeful Living

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Though English is my second language, I have nurtured a life-long love for it. As I child, I loved reading and writing and wrote all sorts of things - essays, poetry, diary, and sometimes stories. I won many prizes too. And yet, I feel that the way English was taught at school and later on in University, it failed to bring out the best in me.

Today, when I look back, I feel there was so much scope - to nourish the interest of a student who was clearly 'into' writing. But, no, there was absolutely no focus on 'developing' a child's interest; tapping into his potential by providing him creative cues.

The only focus was on rushing through the curriculum; preparing us for the possible questions that we might face in the tests; having us swallow the best known vitamin pills then - called the guide books; and prompt us to mug up the "quotes" that we could unquote (read vomit out) in our answer sheets to show how well read we are and earn extra marks.

All these are my lessons learned that I want to never forget as a teacher to my child. Pari, I can see, has a passion for the written word. She loves reading and she adores writing.

But, I want to ensure I am not thrusting reading and writing in a way that it erodes her love, curiosity and hunger for it.

I want to make her interest in writing as enjoyable as possible. For, I know that enjoying what you do is the first step to ensure you will do it well.

Then come the tools and support to enrich her writing skills - and early on.

Even when Pari was just about two, she was very fond of collecting pens from around the house and scribbling on any piece of paper/note book/newspaper that she could lay her hands on. At 2.5, she would sit down with all seriousness and scribble in a proper notebook as if she's writing long sentences. While, she could not actually write more than letters and mock words, she would pretend as if writing all that she was speaking aloud.

Having said this, inspite of her real interest in writing, I found that she never quite liked the school's text-book type of writing. For exp: a picture is given and you have to write the word against it; or a small sentence is provided and the child has to fill a missing word. That sort of closed-ended writing did not excite her. May be because she did not feel empowered. May be it came across as merely doing a 'task'.

Hence, just as we do with our art activities, I strive to make her writing activities as open-ended as possible. I use different ways that allow her to express herself freely - without being chained to a set pattern or a rule.

Ongoing Letter Writing

With an intention to encourage self-expression, articulation, interaction with friends and family, we started this ongoing letter-writing project an year or so back.

For this, I bought her a beautiful leather-bound, spiral diary and we decided to write a letter in it to a family member, friend, a favourite actor/actress, a cartoon character - basically whoever she felt like talking to - that particular day. I would post some of these letters while others stayed on in the diary.

Sometimes, she would just call up the person and read out the letter to him/her over phone! Initially, she wrote one letter everyday. Some days, even two. Over time, the frequency came down but always, the urge to write a letter came from within her. I always keep this diary visible and accessible to her.

More often than not, she really enjoyed it because this form of writing is personal and interactive. She knows that it will be read by someone who will then let her know how he/she felt after reading her letter. This is different from writing any other prose piece.

It can entice even a reluctant writer. If your child is not at the stage when he/she can write sentences, you can have him/her dictate to you. Or, the child can even 'draw' out his message.

Art + Writing = Greeting Cards

For festivals, birthday parties and other special occasions, the letters became greeting cards - complete with drawings or flower prints or collaging - along side the long message inside. Well, her messages are always long. Repetitive at times but never will she let go without filling the page and often spilling over.

And, sometimes, e-mail over traditional letter

E-mailing is another writing tool that has added a new dimension to her letter writing. An year back, I opened an email account for her with an intention to have her write message to me and to other family members.

This turned out to be a good decision.

She loves typing on the keyboard and has started using both hands these days. On days when she's not interested in writing the traditional way, the idea of sending a mail to her uncle or grandma or Aunt inspires her to write.

I don't know what the experts say about letting your child e-mail etc at such an early age, but I think, it really is a great extension to Pari's love for writing. More so because she's enamoured with the digital tools.

I am her pen-pal

Above all else, I love writing letters to Pari - the traditional pen and paper way and also the e-mail way. Sometimes, I ask her what she would like me to write and other times, I just send her a surprise message. The e-mail method is always interesting as she writes back and I reply and the chain goes on for some time.

With my e-mail, I also like to send her some interesting pictures from flickr etc. to make it more appealing and visual.

I encourage a gamut of other open-ended ways to nurture her writing. I think I'll discuss all those ideas in a separate post.

What do you think of the good old pen-pal practice? Is your child engaged in any?

If not, I would highly recommend this form of interaction and exchange within your own city, country or even across borders (if it's sustainable).

As part of this, the kids can exchange small letters, greeting cards, cuttings from magazines, poems, drawings - whatever that can go in a regular-sized envelope

Recently, I also chose to participate in a Postcard exchange - an initiative by Deborah of Teach Preschool. Pari is excited to send posts to her pen-pal group in the US, UK, Australia and couple of other participating countries.

Pari wants to make more pen-pals.

If you are interested in having your child write to and receive post from Pari, please let us know in the 'comment' section. We will take it forward from there!

Receiving a handwritten or 'drawn' letter is pure joy! Isn't it?

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nurture the love for writing in your child

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How Letter-Writing Can Nurture a Love for Writing in Your Child

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Though English is my second language, I have nurtured a life-long love for it. As I child, I loved reading and writing and wrote all sorts of things - essays, poetry, diary, and sometimes stories. I won many prizes too.

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Purposeful, Imaginative, Inclusive

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If you are a teacher wanting something fun and rewarding to inspire your students, or a parent looking for a creative activity for a rainy day - Little Inventors has everything you need to embrace the spirit of imagination and support your students in coming up with marvellous, ingenious and bonkers invention ideas!

Little Inventors provides free curriculum-linked resource packs, personal inventors' logs, mini-challenges to help you bring creativity in your classroom or at home!

Download our resources and get inventing!

If you are an Artsmark school, we are official partners and you can use any of our resources to deliver great creativity projects in your school!

Little Inventors Mini Challenge Pack 4

Here is our fourth edition of mini-challenge! In this pack we introduce Maker Mondays! It includes daily challenges 46 to 58 and two making challenges. We challenge you to make a pair of of binoculars to see into the future and to draw a wacky machine to help you eat your lunch! Share your inventions with us and let's keep the creativity flowing. (Challenges 46-58 and Maker Mondays 1-2)

Little Inventors Mini Challenge Pack 3

Here is our third edition of mini-challenge, that you can take one day at a time! This pack will help you to not stop inventing and creating. We challenge you to create super-hero outfits for you and your family and to draw haircuts in the shape of animals! Don't forget to share your inventions with us here on our website. Big or small, there is always something to invent for!
(Challenges 31-45)

Little Inventors Mini Challenge Pack 2

Here is our second edition of mini-challenge, that you can take one day at a time! Get your creativity flowing by thinking about and inventing eco-friendly cities, smoothie-makers, a playground for your home and many more... have fun, and make sure to share your inventions with us here!
(Challenges 16-30)

Little Inventors Mini Challenge Pack 1

Take these mini-challenges one day at a time - from helping people to social distance, drawing magic sweets or inviting time machines, there is plenty to play with and get your creativity flowing! (Challenges 1-15)

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Mini Challenges < Resources : Little Inventors

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If you are a teacher wanting something fun and rewarding to inspire your students, or a parent looking for a creative activity for a rainy day - Little Inventors has everything you need to embrace the spirit of imagination and support your students in coming up with marvellous, ingenious and bonkers invention ideas!

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Literacy Archives - The Imagination Tree

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Written by Alison Smith

World Storytelling Day is celebrated every year and is a great opportunity to explore some storytelling activities to promote this global event. This year it is celebrated on Tuesday, 20th March. To mark the occasion, I have put together ten fun and creative ideas to spark imaginations and encourage a love of storytelling. Watch this video for a sneak peek...
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World Storytelling Day

One fine day, a long time ago in green woodlands of Sweden, a special storytelling day was held. Many people read wonderful stories of adventure, mystery and wonder. More and more people heard about the fun that was being had and news of Storytelling Day spread around the world. Now, World Storytelling Day is celebrated across the globe.

The aim of World Storytelling Day is to celebrate the art of storytelling, with as many people as possible and in as many different places around the world. Imagine a day on which the whole world is telling and listening to stories in their own languages!

World Storytelling Day is a truly international festival that creates new friendships and promotes a positive appreciation of cultures around the world!

Storytelling Dice Activity

Use this teaching resource in the classroom during English Group Activities or during creative writing lessons. All you need to do is print, cut and construct the setting dice, character dice and object dice. Next encourage your students to have fun by rolling each dice to generate ideas for an action-packed narrative.

Your students will love to use this Story Building Dice Activity in conjunction with our Blank Comic Strip Template for a fun and pressure free storytelling activity.

Storytelling with Finger Puppets

Our talented designer and illustrator Boaz has been extremely busy creating a new collection of fun-loving finger puppets for storytelling.

Don't be fooled, finger puppets are not just for the early years. Our brand new Storytelling Finger Puppets have been designed for all year levels. The tales that these characters tell can be as sophisticated or simple as your students like. These storytelling finger puppets are going to be so popular and well loved!

Follow these simple steps to set up an upper years storytelling activity that will create a buzz in your classroom:

1. Introduce the finger puppets. Be sure to leave the name and characteristics of each finger puppet open to students interpretation.

2. Remind your students of a basic narrative structure and how it includes orientation, rising action, climax, falling action and a resolution.

3. Encourage your students to work with a partner and to choose 3 or more finger puppets and plan a simple narrative. Use our Free Download: Narrative Plot Structure Template to support your students in the planning stage.

4. Encourage your students to work with their partner to rehearse a puppet show and to explore the use of voice and expression.

5. Encourage more confident students to perform their finger puppet storytelling with the class.

Storytelling with Spoon Puppets

Celebrate World Storytelling Day with wooden spoon puppets! Your students will love getting crafty to create a set of wooden spoon characters! What's more, they will love working with a partner or a small group to plan and rehearse a storytelling performance. I have never taken wooden spoons more seriously than right now.

This storytelling activity is suitable for lower to upper years and allows you to differentiate by expectation.

For middle to upper years, provide each student with a wooden spoon and a range of craft materials. Encourage your students to plan and create an interesting wooden spoon character by considering the characters:

The next step is to encourage your students to collaborate with their peers and to find other wooden spoon characters that would make a good storytelling match! Next, it's time to get planning and rehearsing before having a showdown at the class wooden spoon storytelling bonanza!

Storytelling Stones

The act of telling stories is a tradition as old as humankind. Storytelling creates a connection between the storyteller and the listener and it also promotes listening skills. Storytelling stones are a collection of small stones with pictures on them that can be used as storytelling prompts. They can be used as an effective way to create collaborative stories in small groups.

Ask your students to collect 8-10 flat and smooth stones. Next, ask your students to draw simple pictures on the stones using permanent markers, chalk pens or paint (if the stones are dark it's a good idea to paint the background in white paint first). Storytelling stones can be used in a few different ways:

1. Encourage students to arrange their own stones in an order that tells a story and to share the story.

2. Work in a small group to take it in turns to select a stone to tell a collaborative imaginary tale.

3. Working in a small group, place all of the stones face down. Take it in turns to turn over a stone to continue a crazy and funny story.

Storytelling Boxes

Story boxes are a great way to generate ideas for storytelling. Simply find a bag or a box and fill it with objects that will spark your students' imagination. To get the story off to a flying start, it's often a good idea to add something to your box that suggests a setting, a character and perhaps an object.

Storytelling boxes work brilliantly for whole class circle time or for a small group activity. Just sit back and observe your amazing students as the ideas and stories unfold. Why not ask your students to collect interesting objects and to create their own story box as a meaningful homework task?

For more idea on how to use story boxes red Holly's blog 7 Ways to Guide and Inspire Reluctant Children to Write.

Storytelling Jars

There's something quite lovely about getting a message in a jar. On World Storytelling Day why not put story starter ideas in a jar to help to spark your students' imagination and creative storytelling. Download our FREE download Narrative Story Sentence Cards, roll them up and tie them with some twine to add a little extra mystery.

For an extra bit of pretty, I used our editable Purple Tartan - Star Student Badges to create a lid label.

One Word Story Active Game

One Word Story is an active game that can be used at any time and encourage creative storytelling and teamwork.

Before the game begins, explain the rules of the game. Arrange the students into a seated or standing circle. Establish who will begin the story and which direction the story will travel (clockwise or anticlockwise).

How to Play:

1. The first person begins by saying a single word.
For example: "there".

2. Whoever is next in the circle says another single word that
makes sense following the previous word. For example: "was".

3. Continue around the circle with each person saying a single word
with the collective aim of telling a coherent story.

Why not break tradition and start a story with an onomatopoeia word!

Storytelling with Music

Storytelling with percussion instruments is so much fun! Your students will love to explore the sounds and effects of different instruments and how they can be used to tell a story.

This music activity works very well with a familiar traditional tale such as The Three Little Pigs or the Gingerbread Man. All you need to do is raid your school percussion instrument cupboard and buy some earplugs! Don't forget that there are lots of brilliant ways to make your own percussion instrument s in the classroom.

As you read the story aloud, encourage your students to use the musical instruments to interpret the action in the story.

Storytelling with Poetry

The lyrics of songs are often poems that tell a story. Choose a suitable poem and ask your students:

What is this story about?

Who are the main characters in the story?

Where is the story set?

What are the main events that take place?

How does the story make you feel?

Check out Lesson 8 of our Exploring Poetry - Year 3 and Year 4 Unit Plan focuses on storytelling through poetry. The unit includes an Exploring Poetry Workbook that contains a brilliant narrative poem, Tilly the Tiger, that tells a story about a tiger escaping from a zoo. As a class, read the poem and have fun exploring the explore the orientation, complication, climax and resolution of this poem.

Storytelling with Drama

If you have a class of budding thespians, embrace World Story Telling Day with drama. We've done the hard work for you and created a Readers' Theatre Resource Pack.

The Readers' Resource Pack is a comprehensive pack of 33 readers' theatre scripts, catering to a range of age groups and ability levels. It includes:

an introduction to Readers' Theatre PowerPoint

a scripts tracker

11 scripts catering to students 6 years and over

11 scripts catering to students 8 years and over

11 scripts catering to students 10 years and over.

Storytelling is one of those magical pleasures that can be easily overlooked in the crazy hustle and bustle of life.

Be that inspirational teacher who keeps storytelling alive by sharing a whimsical tale every day!

Share some of your students' storytelling magic on Instagram and spread tales around the globe #teachstarter
Make your classroom buzz! Subscribe to Teach Starter and access thousands of curriculum-aligned resources and digital learning tools. Get Started

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10 Storytelling Ideas to Inspire Magical Storytelling and Narrative Writing

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Written by Alison Smith World Storytelling Day is celebrated every year and is a great opportunity to explore some storytelling activities to promote this global event. This year it is celebrated on Tuesday, 20th March. To mark the occasion, I have put together ten fun and creative ideas to spark imaginations and encourage a love of storytelling.

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How to Help Your Child Learn Writing Skills

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How to Help Your Child Learn Writing Skills

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Most kids just aren't that into writing, and it shows in their school work through the years. You may save your child's cute early writings. But, except for homework assignments, writing isn't a big part of our kids' everyday life at home. What can parents do to help their child develop good writing skills during the elementary years?

Start Writing Early

Educational technology advances show that reading and writing development are intertwined in early learning. The physical act of writing letters and early words enhances the child's ability to read. The complementary relationship between reading and writing continues long after these early efforts. Parents enhance their child's skills dramatically by encouraging the writing habit in childhood.

Follow the lead of early childhood educators by allowing phonetic writing rather than worrying about proper spelling in preschool and kindergarten.

Focus on the Building Blocks of Good Writing

A rich language environment is a foundation for good writing. Games and activities that build vocabulary increase the range of words your child will know to write with depth. Word games are classic and fun for families. Now, you can find fun word games online or on mobile apps.

Checking your child's homework for spelling and punctuation errors will reinforce the skills your child is learning at school. When she has a report to write at home, help her take the time to write a first draft that you can check. Then, mark the spelling, capitalization, and punctuation errors for her to correct.

Most middle elementary children are able to use a word processing program to write reports. Teach your child to use the spellchecker.

Provide Tools and Opportunities for Writing

Mechanical pencils, gel pens, and plenty of paper, both lined for your child's grade level and unlined, should be available for spontaneous writing play and projects. Cute note cards and stationery make writing letters and notes to friends and relatives a regular writing habit. Let your child write the shopping list before a trip to the store. Encourage journal keeping for special times such as a family trip. If your child has a creative streak, gifts of writing activity books will encourage that talent.

Learn Easy Strategies for Elementary Writing

Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer, authors of The Well-Trained Mind, talk about the two-step writing process for elementary students. The first step is to practice oral composition. First, encourage your child to talk about what he is going to write. The second step is dictation practice. Children learn to put words on paper by copying sentences from books or from story dictation. This step teaches sentence and paragraph structure.

Julie Bogart at Bravewriter.com makes the point that elementary-age children are very poor writers because it takes at least 10 years of writing practice to begin to write well. Don't be discouraged by your elementary child's lack of writing skill. Encourage practice, build his fund of language, talk and talk about everything, don't be critical of creative writing efforts, and make it fun to encourage a love of writing from an early age.

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How to Help Your Child Learn Writing Skills

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Most kids just aren't that into writing, and it shows in their school work through the years. You may save your child's cute early writings. But, except for homework assignments, writing isn't a big part of our kids' everyday life at home. What can parents do to help their child develop good writing skills during the elementary years?

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Sample frames to support organisation and sequencing of ideas.

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- Shopping Lists
- Recipes
- Penpal Letters
- Action Projects
- Make Special Diary: A special day
- Write a Schedule
- Publishing Stories
- Comic Con Collection

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References

Click the "References" link above to hide these references.

Bloodgood, J. (1999). What's in a name? Children's name writing and literacy acquisition. Reading Research Quarterly, 34, 342-367.

Clay, M. (1975). What did I write? Exeter, NH: Heinemann.

Gentry, J. R. (1982). An Analysis of Developmental Spelling in GNYS AT WRK. The Reading Teacher, 36, 192-200.

Morrow, L. M. (2001). Literacy development in the early years: Helping children read and write (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

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Click the "References" link above to hide these references. Bloodgood, J. (1999). What's in a name? Children's name writing and literacy acquisition. Reading Research Quarterly, 34, 342-367. Clay, M. (1975). What did I write? Exeter, NH: Heinemann. Gentry, J. R. (1982). An Analysis of Developmental Spelling in GNYS AT WRK.