Children's writing

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Storytelling and Writing this week

My Pet T-Rex

Dinosaur picture coloured in by children using pencils.

This week I’ve had a great time running creative writing sessions for children as part of the excellent HAF (Health, Activity and Food) program with YourTrust Rochdale. The children in each group range from age 4 to age 12 and this week we’ve worked with my children’s story “My pet T-Rex”.

We talk about dinosaur facts, we look at my life sized dinosaur eggs and birds eggs for comparison before I tell them my story and then help them to create their own stories. The focus is firmly on creativity and fun and children are encouraged to use their imaginations.

Dinosaur picture coloured in by children using pencils.

some great examples this week have included;

“The dinosaur became sad because the people ran away. I gave him a flower to eat and it cheered him up.”

One girl told of an aquatic dinosaur that could take her under the water, “it was magical, I tell ya!”

A dinosaur as big as the the Leaning Tower of Pisa and another with square shaped eyes.

There were magical dinosaurs that could teleport, read minds, dance, sing and even one with an extendable neck. There were dinosaurs that went on picnics, went shopping or left a trail of squashed footprints through a forest.

Children at my sessions are encouraged to join in with actions and sounds but yesterday one group asked me if they could act out the story. At the end of the session I spent a few minutes working out how we could act out the story and we then had a performance with young people taking the roles of the dinosaur and the children in the story – they were fully engaged and had a great time.

Dinosaur picture coloured in by children using pencils.

When we’ve had our fill of talking, listening and writing there may be time for some artwork or creative colouring like the examples shown in this post. It has been an inspiring week of story telling, more dinosaurs, more imagination and more magic with children from some of the most deprived backgrounds.

if you’d like the children in your school or groups to experience this unique storytelling and writing session please email seamus@onepoetsvision.co.uk

I also offer storytelling and writing sessions based on my original children’s stories covering topics including, an ocean adventure, a space adventure, wolves, mini beasts and forest friends. All of the stories have plenty of reference to science and nature, echoing my own interests and my degree in Ecology.

Sessions run for one to two hours and up to three sessions can be delivered during a typical school day.

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Summer Holiday Workshops

I’ve had an amazing Summer running workshops as part of the HAF (Health Activity and Food) working with young people from age 5 to 11. Your Trust Rochdale, the borough’s cultural and leisure trust, had asked me to deliver sessions following feedback from sessions I had previously delivered for HAF last Summer and at Easter.

I delivered a total of 13 sessions at schools and libraries in Darnhill, Heywood, Middleton, Smallbridge and Kirkholt in Rochdale, and were attended by between 12 and 22 young people at each.

Each workshop involved storytelling, with a new series of children’s stories I have been developing, learning about a topic, creative writing and drawing and colouring matching the themes of each topic. in some sessions we also shared some poetry and children produced some of their own.

The workshops were titled:

My Ocean Adventure, My Space Adventure, My Minibeast Adventure, My Dinosaur Adventure and Endangered – Creatures at Risk.

Here are just a few examples of the work produced by young people at my HAF workshops

All of the workshops were very well received and when a 7 year old on my final session (one of My Ocean Adventure sessions) said ”That was a really good story” I couldn’t have been happier.

The workshops are all now available for schools, and other groups, and are suitable for anyone from 5 to 11, including children with special needs. Each session can be run over one hour or two hours depending on ages and needs of the group.

I’m always happy to discuss the sessions I offer and availability and can also prepare bespoke sessions as required for all age groups for age 5 upwards.

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“Dinobirds” Creative Writing Workshops

New 2021 Summer School Workshops (2)

Workshops for KS1, KS2 and KS3 (time 1 to 2 hours per group)

Following the success of the Insect and Mini-Beast Superhero workshops for #HAF2021 Summer Schools I have been delivering another brand new workshop for children aged 5 to 12. The topics for this new “Dinobirds” workshop are dinosaurs and birds. The “Dinobirds” workshop is now available for bookings from September onwards – please email seamus@onepoetsvision.co.uk for availability.

In this fun and informative workshop children write either poems or stories after hearing my light hearted poem, “My Pet T-Rex”, followed by discussion about dinosaurs and birds. They will learn about the different types of creatures, what are the largest and smallest, what they looked like, what they eat and how birds evolved from dinosaurs and how their feathers developed to enable them to fly. Children are encouraged to be creative and think beyond the usual constraints they might sometimes have in a classroom setting. By mixing together birds and dinosaurs the poems and stories have a unique appeal with each child given free rein to extend their creativity.

An image of the T-Rex footprint leaned against a microphone stand

To help get ideas flowing a wide range of visual images are available, including a life size Tyrannosaurus foot print and template sheets for poems or stories.

When the children have finished their poems or stories they can read them out, if they choose to, and audio recordings can be made. If children are not comfortable reading their work out they can choose for an adult to read for them.

During the workshops delivered for the Health Activity and Food sessions by YourTrust, Rochdale, young people have created a Golden-Rex that likes to play dodge ball, a Golden Eagle-Velociraptor that likes to ride on the bus and a Golden-Eagle Ostrich that sings like a broken record.

For young people the opportunity to write creatively, without being tied by specific rules, or being limited by their ability to spell or use perfect grammar, helps to develop creative thought and imagination. Working in this way helps with problem solving skills and logic whilst still allowing them to explore the familiar alongside the unknown and magic. Telling stories and writing poems is a highly personal set of skills and children benefit from exploring their own opinions and their own creative voices.

After completing their poems the children have the opportunity to draw or colour images using the range of source material provided.

To do this without being judged, marked or graded, brings a freedom that can rarely exist in the school curriculum. That freedom makes it fun to write, read and in some cases to record of perform their work. Such enjoyment of reading, writing and literature can continue to bring benefits throughout our lives.