After School Creative Writing Exercises and Activities
In the pages that follow, I describe creative writing exercises and activities, for parents and educators who would like to engage kids of primary school age with after school activities. Most of these ideas and activities could be used during summer vacations, so that children keep exercising and improving their creative writing skills.
1. Ask kids to describe a day in school, first as Happy Leo would describe it (mentioning only the good things that happened) and then as Unhappy Leo would describe it (mentioning only the bad things that happened). They could choose to start the other way round, with Unhappy Leo first. Also, they could tell the whole story with Happy Leo and Unhappy Leo taking turns to speak (just like in an adventure story of sequenced good and bad events). For younger kids, it’s easier to describe story events while making, at the same time, two lists, one of “good” things and one of “bad”, so they would have a visual picture of the development of the story they’re telling.
2. Team up with the kids to make two lists, one of good things that may happen during a birthday party (this list belongs to Lucky Leo) and one of bad things that could happen during the same party, meaning things that could go wrong (this list belongs to Unhappy Leo).
3. Cut out 6 pictures from old, useless magazines. Ask children which 3 they believe Lucky Leo would pick and which 3 they believe Unlucky Leo would pick. What would Lucky Leo and Unlucky Leo say about the pictures they would choose? Remind the children that Unlucky Leo would have to talk about a misfortunate event, about something that blocked the hero’s road to success/happiness or about some sort of danger he encountered. Tell them that it could be only a sentence for each picture they choose. This activity works best with children of 10-11 years old.
4. This activity asks kids to imagine they’re super-heroes and are going to save our world. What road-blocks or types of danger and problems would Unlucky Leo create for them? How would Lucky Leo help them overcome all these problems?
5. This is a group activity. What would Lucky Leo and Unlucky Leo say if:
a) Aliens landed in your neighborhood?
b) Suddenly, one day everyone in your family turned into a giant?
6. For this activity, you need 2 empty Mason Jars (jam jars). Use your scissors to cut out 2 identical circles from a piece of paper. Draw Unlucky Leo’s face on one of them and Lucky Leo’s face on the other. Glue a face on each jar. Give kids 24 small square pieces of white paper and ask them to draw 12 pictures Lucky Leo would like (showing “good things/events” in a story) and 12 pictures Unlucky Leo would like (showing “bad things/events” in a story). Have them use a blue or green marker to draw the good events and a red marker to draw the bad events. When they’ve finished with the drawings, wrap the paper pieces well, so the drawings won’t show. Then, put all the blue (or green) pictures in Lucky Leo’s jar, and the red pictures in Unlucky Leo’s jar. Whenever you want to write an adventure story as a group, you pick 6 pieces of paper from one jar and 6 from the other. These 12 drawings will be the Middle part of your story – the parent or teacher will start the story, while the ending will be provided by the whole group.
7. I’ve named this activity “The Rescue”. Form 2 teams, one of them will play the part of Unlucky Leo, the other the part of Lucky Leo. Ask children to imagine they were eye-witnesses to a rescue (from a sinking ship, a big fire burning in the city or in a village, or from an earthquake disaster). Both teams must describe what they saw, according to their roles. Every team member has to add a sentence (what he/she witnessed) to telling the story of the rescue. This activity works best with children of 10-11 years old.
8. Give kids a photocopy of a short adventure story, where you have typed only the parts that either Lucky Leo or Unlucky Leo have provided to your story. Also, your story has a beginning but you have not written the ending. Children are supposed to add whatever parts are missing from the story (this could be pair-work, team-work), as well as the ending. When they finish, you will have as many different stories as the number of pairs or teams in the kids’ group. It works well as an activity done individually too.
9. This is an activity for pair-work but could also be done individually. Ask pairs to cut an A4 paper sheet in half. Each child in a pair takes one half. They must then draw two circles (random) and a square on each half and, then, make simple drawings using these shapes. One child plays Lucky Leo, and the other one Unlucky Leo. With the help of the pictures they drew, Lucky Leo and Unlucky Leo write or tell an adventure story that “tumbles and flips” (each one of them changing the plot the other one is developing).
10. “The Adventure of the Alien’s Transformation” is what I’ve named this game. It is a chalk game, so you need a yard or sidewalk to draw on.
However, you could also play it inside if you have a chalkboard or a whiteboard and a marker. The instructions are simple: The teacher (or the parent) make a line drawing of an alien. Tell kids that the alien has visited our planet (as a tourist) and that in a week’s time his appearance has changed by Lucky Leo and Unlucky Leo. Every day of the week they said one sentence with the word “Luckily/Fortunately” and one with the word “Unluckily/Unfortunately” which worked like magic.
For example: The teacher (or parent) calls out “MONDAY”. The child who plays Unhappy Leo answers: “Unfortunately Druck (that’s the name I’ve given to my alien visitor) couldn’t see well in the light of our planet”. The child who plays Happy Leo continues: “Fortunately, he went to the doctor and wore glasses.” You give kids the marker or a piece of chalk to draw glasses on the alien you’ve drew on your board, yard or sidewalk. Similarly, you continue with all days of the week. It works well with teams, pairs and individuals.
11. Make a path on the floor, using large cards – they need to be as many as the beginning, the events (problems and solutions) in your adventure story and the ending. The “problem” cards belong to Unlucky Leo and the “Solution” cards belong to Lucky Leo. Let the children write the sentences (that make the story) on the cards, one by one, as they proceed with the story-telling. When they’re through with writing, have them retell or act out the story.
It is important and necessary for kids to feel that they have total freedom to express themselves when doing the exercises and activities mentioned above. However, it is equally important for you to set the necessary rules that kids must obey in order to respect other people’s opinions (whether these people are their friends, siblings or classmates).
Some of the above activities could be adapted for classroom use. You need to keep in mind that creative writing takes lots of time and patience on the educator’s/parent’s part. You also need to plan very well and in detail, in advance, as well as be focused on your final goals. These goals are: to offer kids a chance for better self-expression, to strengthen their self-confidence, to help them acquire learning and self-knowledge through self-expression, to exercise their imagination. Creative writing is not only a game, although many of the activities in this mini guide make it look like one.