This homemade play was inspired by a photo I found on Pinterest which came from a blog called Almost Unschoolers.  The Almost Unschooling mom found this activity in a book called "The Ultimate Indoor Game Book" by Veronika Alice Gunter. 

Set up: 

• 2 chairs
• 2 plastic cups
• 1 metal skewer or sharp pencil
• scissors
• thread

Poke a hole in the plastic cup with the metal skewer and thread it onto some string.  Secure the string to both chairs fairly tight. Repeat for the second cup.

Pictures are really worth a thousand words. Have you and your kids read wordless picture books? I have read wordless picture books with my own children and used them many times in therapy sessions to help those who struggle with creative writing.

Reading generally has been drummed into parents as a fantastic thing to do together with your kids. It encourages the love of books, literacy and language development. 

Wordless picture books encourage your child to tell the story. This is an important skill when it comes to creative story writing at school.  It helps them to observe how authors tell a story even when there are no words. 

According to their age and abilities... kids can observe the setting, characters, problem, events and resolution of the story.  They can sequence events as beginning, middle and end parts of the story.  They can add dialogue, expression and feelings.  They can explore language; naming objects, adding verbs, adjectives, adverbs... etc.

Wordless picture books spark imagination!

Facilitated story telling
The adult describes what is happening using the pictures on each page.  You may make mention of the setting, characters, problem and resolution. You may initially tell the story with action words moving the pages quickly to engage a child with poor attention. Over time, you may add more detail and making the story more elaborate.

Joint story telling
The adult prompts the child to notice things in the pictures to "tell" the story. For example, What is the person wearing? Are they hot or cold? Why did they do that action? How do they feel? What is the character doing now?   

Child guided story telling, adult writes.
The child "reads" the story with some prompting when they have difficulty describing the picture or need help to add to the story with adjectives, adverbs and character feelings. The adult writes down the child's story.  Re-read the story with what is written.

Child guided story telling, joint writing.
The child "reads" the story with some prompting.  Child also writes story using a story map.   {Look out for future posts about story maps.  If you want a sneak peek have a look below and at the Your Kid OT shop.} The adult helps guide the child through the story map, providing connecting words as necessary. Re-read the story with what is written.

Independent reading and writing with a story map.
The child reads the story to themselves and uses the story map to write down the story. Re-read the story with what is written.

Independent reading and writing.
The child reads the story to themselves and writes down the story. Re-read the story with what is written.