Welcome to Creative Bursts - ten videos I created for MoLI (Museum of Literature Ireland) during March and April 2020. I do hope you enjoy them!
I’ll be posting more #CreativeBursts on my social media channels - Twitter and Instagram. Watch out for them at 1pm on weekdays until the end of May 2020.
Happy reading and writing!
Where do you like to hide?
Is there a special place where you like to get away from it all?
Do you bring a book, or a notebook and pen?
When I was a girl we had a wooden climbing frame in our back garden – it had a special platform – like a tree house – and I loved dragging cushions and rugs up there and making my own hidey hole. I’d bring a book and stay there all afternoon in the summer.
I wrote a tree house poem inspired by this:
Tree House by Sarah Webb
High up in a leafy tree
Shaded from all company,
Is the place I love to be,
Hiding in my tree house.
Happy is sky
And happy is free,
Happy is reading
High up in my tree.
To get lost in a Creative Burst all you need is a pencil or pen and a notebook or piece of paper.
The writing games and prompts are aimed at around age 8/9+ but could be done with younger children if you give them a bit of help. I’ve also included some more challenging story prompts for older or more experienced writers of around 11+ (every young writer is different).
Remember grown-ups – please join in too! It’s great for children to see you being creative, making mistakes and having fun on the page!
To get started let’s warm up those writing muscles.
You could start by writing this quote into your writing notebook, copybook or sheet of paper. You could give it a fancy frame or border if you like!
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” Roald Dahl
If you’ve already got that one in your notebook, how about one of these:
"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful." Alice Walker
Alice Walker is a famous American writer who wrote The Colour Purple.
“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in 1867 and wrote the Little House on the Prairie books.
So here’s your first prompt: Write a story or draw a picture inspired by this photograph:
Now imagine you are one of those ladybirds and write a poem about flying - what do you see? What does it feel like to be a ladybird?
I love walking with my dog, Lucky on Dún Laoghaire pier. We love being by the water and are often joined by sea birds. Sometimes a seal pops up to say hello.
I’m fascinated by jellyfish. Did you know the Irish for jellyfish is smugairle róin or seal snot? Strange but true!
We also love walking in the forest. He loves sniffing out all kinds of smells in the damp leaves and tree stumps.
Our next story prompt is inspired by walking in the forest with Lucky.
You are out walking in the forest with your dog when you spot a large opening in a tree trunk
You go closer – there’s something moving in there.
You look inside and see…
(If you’re with your dog she/he probably smells or hears it first – they have very sensitive noses and ears!)
It can be a real creature, something imaginary like a unicorn or a dragon – or the hole can be a portal to another world – you decide!
Now write the story from your DOG’S point of view!
Get writing!
Look out for the video tomorrow - Wed - with more games and story prompts!