Kids have such an incredible innate sense of story. It never ceases to amaze me.
And, it's well known that stories are like a flight simulator for the brain. Kids, of course, already understand this.
Sometimes, I make books with kids. We take a few pieces of paper, fold em in half, staple, and voila - a book.
Just the notion of writing a story induces a volcanic explosion of ideas, from titles to characters to settings and crazy plots. One young author did a story entitled, "What Does a Cat Do When No One is Looking?"
Recently, I've started writing a set of prompts on the pages. They follow a very simple progression that gets you through a story.
Simple boundaries and prompts give kids just enough to work with that they can freely generate ideas, but come out with something they recognize and can share. That feeling of connection that comes from making something someone else will read is huge.
So, I've made a Free Printable Story Page for you. It has the same prompts in it that I use when making books, in a handy printable one-page format!
Try it yourself, or give it to someone you like. And, say, if you want to make it into a book, you can always cut this up, paste the pieces to sheets of paper, and add illustrations.
Enjoy!
