Writing Resilience in the Face of Driving Rain

Rainy days are not only great for reading but writing! It’s a great way to sit down with the children in your family and either be the secretary to taking your child’s story dictation with a gentle touch of coaching (see my previous blog post) or jointly create a story with the child in your life. It is great if you are in the same room but if not, there is a virtual conversation at the computer through Zoom, WhatsApp, or FaceTime. The adult can easily type the story into a word document that can be edited and shared later. This is a great time to share personal experiences and use them to create a memoir or fictionalized version. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Reflect on a past memory and retell it from the child’s point of view, your point of view, or both. This exercise highlights to your child the concept of point of view which is a critical skill in writing.
Reflect on a past memory and together brainstorm ideas to alter the story by changing the outcome, exaggerating, embellishing or omitting details. A positive outcome could end up with a negative one or a negative outcome could end up with a positive one.
The adult asks the child to tell the story of their most embarrassing moment.

The adult offers to the child a story of one of their most child-appropriate embarrassing moments.
Let the weather be your guide. Read the following Robert Munch story. Then talk about what it’s like when it rains a lot. Use the general storyline of Robert Munch’s tale as a story template. Imagine it is raining for many days, make up your own number of days. Think of your own silly and fun example of what might happen when it rains that much, such as moss growing on your bed.
Check out some of the following links for rainy day writing prompts. Use these writing prompts to chat and brainstorm about a story set on a rainy day. A great way to start a story is the classic Once upon a time there was…. or One dark and cloudy day….