This post will be a condensed version of the workshop I conduct on this topic. This topic is near and dear to my heart as an author, former homeschooling mom, preschool teacher, and early childhood literacy advocate. Helping children to create with words is one of my passions. This post will contain four different activities that can be used with preschool children to promote creative writing. I will also provide information on what makes each activity so important for the creative process.
How This Works in a Preschool Setting
As I said, I have conducted workshops on this topic several times. Many people might think that creative writing should not be done with preschool children. They believe this to be too academic to be developmentally appropriate for this age group. However, I am not asking the children to write a story on their own. I do not try to make them come up with something that is grammatically accurate or has a plausible plot. I want the children to use language in a creative way. I simply act as the scribe and write down exactly what they say. At first, the children's creations will be nonsensical. However, it does not take long for the children to figure out how this works and begin to create stories that do have somewhat of a plot to them. At least in the minds of the children, their story has substance.
Interactive Writing
The first activity on the list is what I call "interactive writing." In this activity, the group comes up with one sentence and one sentence only. Then the teacher and the students together write the sentence on a large piece of paper or board. For this activity the teacher will have to know the level of alphabet knowledge the children in their care possess as well as the level of the children's drawing/writing ability. Some children will be writing certain letters. Some children will be able to draw sticks and circles. Some children will not be able to make anything but scribbles. When the group has decided on the sentence that will be written, the teacher must divide the writing between the children so that everyone gets an opportunity to write something. For those children that are able to write certain letters utilize them for those letters. For those children that can make sticks or circles, let them make letters that use those shapes and help them to finish them or do it yourself. For those that only scribble, use the hand over hand technique to help them write a letter that contains sticks and/or circles to help them learn how to make those shapes. Let each child use a different color marker and reserve black for yourself. This way the child can identify quickly which letter he/she made and show that to his/her parents. As you write the sentence go over each word as it is finished. Talk about the letters that make up the word as well as the sounds those letters make. Once the entire sentence is completed, read over it several times running your hand under the words.
Expand-a-Story
The second activity is called "expand a story." In this one, the teacher either reads a familiar story or tells it orally. Then the teacher asks the children what happens next. As the children tell their story, the teacher writes it down as close to what they say as possible. Sometimes during this one, I have to hold up my hand to make the children wait until I catch up. I also try to give each child an opportunity to make up one sentence of the story. I have used books, books on tape/CD, retelling familiar stories (The Three Little Pigs, etc.), and the stories from my blog, The Adventures of Polliwog Pond for this activity. It is actually best to use a oral story for this activity to give the children opportunity to build their listening skills. A teacher can tell by how the children expand on a story as to how much they followed the original story. This will give the teacher an indication of how well the children in his/her care follow a story that is told strictly orally. Being able to follow an oral story is an invaluable skill for preschool children to develop. It lays the foundation for being able to comprehend a story without pictures later in the later elementary grades.
Using a Picture
The next activity involves creating a story from a picture. I usually use paintings of landscapes or dwellings, but you can also use photographs if you want. I am a big fan of Thomas Kinkade and have many old calendars that contain his paintings, which is what I use for this activity. I bring out the picture and let the children study it for a little while. Then I begin to discuss with the children what they think is happening in the picture. When the children begin to talk about what is happening, I begin writing. I am very careful to let the children bring out what they want from the picture. Children will always be drawn to something more obscure than adults. What you as the adult take from the picture will most likely be the exact opposite of what the children take from the picture. Please resist the urge to control this activity. Let them go in whatever direction they choose. This is not about you, the adult, making a story from the picture. It is about them placing themselves inside the picture in their imaginations and drawing out a story. This is an especially important activity for developing creative thought. Right-brained dominant children will be better at this activity, but left-brained dominant children need experience with this type of activity as well. Make sure every child has the opportunity to create at least one sentence for the story.
The Word Bucket List
The last activity comes straight from my experience as a children's author. I learned this technique while taking a correspondence course from the Institute of Children's Literature a very long time ago. It involves a word bucket. For the preschool I have a bucket that contains words written on little pieces of paper. I took these words from different books of first words in which my children were familiar. I let them draw out three or four words from the bucket. Then we make a story from those words. In my writing, I have a similar bucket that contains many more words. I draw out 10 words to create my children's stories. This is a word association activity. It calls on the children to make associations between random words. I will tell you this is a higher-order thinking skill and is vitally important for many subjects later in a child's educational journey. At this stage, you will only be concerned with a beginner's effort. The children's associations will seem very random to you, and that is perfectly normal. If you have a child that makes incredible associations, you probably have a child with an extremely high IQ on your hands. Just as with the picture activity, please resist the urge to control this activity. You want the children to make the associations, not you. The associations they make between the words will become more feasible with practice. Let the stories be as random as the children tell them, and please do not try to fix them.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
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