It’s been getting crowded in our house this last week due to the population of paintbrush people and creatures growing rapidly. This story making activity took a tiny bit more preparation in terms of gathering together a selection of craft items to pick and choose from but it has probably been the best one of this series in terms of getting them to think about story structure in more depth. Although I did get involved by making suggestions along the way and assisting with a couple of the paintbrush characters, I mostly left the design and character names to the boys. So it’s by no means polished or perfect but that’s the whole idea. This is something the kids can do themselves, the characters can be crazy and the story doesn’t even have to make sense. The sole intention is to get them laughing and enjoying creating stories.
So we started with an assortment of paintbrushes. Some were children’s brushes and others a cheap packet of wall painting brushes from a local DIY store.
I then put out an array of craft items such as buttons, wiggly and sticky eyes, pipe cleaners, feathers, felt, foam, tissue paper, glitter, paint and mini pom poms etc.
Next we got decorating……….
And soon we had a wacky cast of paintbrush characters. Each have been ranked out of 100 for evilness, skill level, humour and speed.
Pencil Armour Guy: He’s the ruler of the kingdom. He looks mean but is really a big softy. He loves his sweeping capes and dancing to “Happy.”
Evilness: 10
Skill: 88
Humour: 92
Speed: 53
Bristle: A young donkey, always over-excitable, keeps crashing into things and says what he thinks!
Evilness: 2
Skill: 8
Humour: 100
Speed: 98
Super Dog: Who looks nothing like a dog because………. he’s in disguise!
Evilness: 39
Skill: 87
Humour: 51
Speed: 78
Evil Cat: The supreme fur ball of ultimate nastiness! She is constantly plotting and scheming ways to capture Pencil Armour Guy and rule the kingdom.
Evilness: 100
Skill: 67
Humour: 5
Speed: 44
Eyeballs Edna: Evil Cat’s evil sidekick who has her eyes on you! She enjoys people watching and chocolate. Suffers from an identity crisis!
Evilness: 86
Skill: 51
Humour: 43
Speed: 88
Morris: These minions get everywhere. Although Morris is lesser known in the minion world, he’s totally brilliant at scaring baddies away with his craziness.
Evilness: 2
Skill Level: 45
Humour: 100
Speed: 68
Twister: Fast, untouchable, out to save the universe in a whirlwind.
Evilness: 36
Skill Level: 89
Humour: 51
Speed: 92
We then needed to create a backdrop for our play. I was ready to keep it simple by draping a throw across a chair and hiding beneath the kitchen table but it seems my boys had other plans. They wanted to make a whole theatre! We settled for a cardboard box they could decorate with foam and felt instead!
Making stories should be fun not a chore and most children naturally do it as part of their play, just sometimes they need some new ideas and a different approach to tap into their enthusiasm. Have fun!
Creating Stories Using Art and Play: PART 1 – Sand Stories
Creating Stories Using Art and Play: PART 2 – Stories in Shadow
Books for Children Blog 