Holiday Writing & Drama for Kids
Winter Writing Ideas & Games for Young School and Homeschool Writers
Holiday and winter stories, poems, and mini-books are fun to write when at school or during the winter break. Writing during cold weather, snuggled up by a warm fire can kindle all kinds of creative ideas for fiction and more. Here are some ideas to spark ideas for children.
A Teaching Tip: Pull Writing Ideas Out of A Jar
Print ideas for writing ideas on slips of paper, fold, and put in a container. Let children pick a slip and see what creative writing they can come up with from the word, concept, or phrase. Kids can even help come up with ideas of their own.
Some ideas to write on the slips include:
- What does the word "frost" bring to mind?
- If I were a balloon in the Macy's parade...
- What if snow was warm?
- If I were an animal in the snow, what animal would I want to be?
- If snow did not fall in flakes...
- My favorite winter activity is...
- It would be funny if a snowman looked like...
- If I were a Christmas tree, I would...
- Combine a snowman, a mouse, and a cup into a written creation.
- Combine purple snow, a holiday candle, and a very old lady into a story or poem.
- Dear Santa...
"Drama" Skit Improvisation Lesson Plan Builds Language Arts Skills
Here is a fun improv game. Make two sets of paper slips. On one set, write character names or types. On the other set, write situations in which characters might find themselves. As above, have students pick out slips from each set and make up a quick skit using the character and situation.
- Some examples of characters: A man with a headache, Jack Sparrow (the pirate), Alice from Wonderland, Mickey Mouse, Mary Poppins, an angry dog, a friendly lion, an acrobat, a mime, a baby, a very old man, or a crazy person.
- Some examples of situations: Sinking in a boat into a pond full of chocolate pudding, being chased by bees, stuck in an elevator, having to be polite and eat something disgusting in taste, playing in ocean waves, on a roller coaster.
To play, have students pick characters (two to four characters works well) and one situation. Give the students two minutes to brainstorm, and then they act out their chosen characters and deal with the situation at hand. For instance, say two students chose Mary Poppins and an angry dog with the situation of sinking in a boat into a pond full of chocolate pudding. Perhaps Mary Poppins makes the dog happy by feeding him the pudding as she bails out the boat. Depending on what the "actors" come up with, the improvisations can become very funny. Try to keep everyone "in character."
Let the game go on as long as it keeps moving along. When things begin to stall, ring a bell and move on to new characters and a new situation.
Drama games teach character, dialog, setting, creative thinking, story telling, and many other language arts skills. These are just a few ideas to get the children going. Brainstorm with kids to come up with other writing and drama-type games to play over the holiday season and bring some unique joy into the learning of language arts. Homeschoolers, check out The Homeschool Writing Page.
Other articles of interest may be Teach Writing Without Handwriting: Ideas for Teaching Writing with No Penmanship Needed, Christmas Carols Song Lyrics Sites and Getting Kids Writing Published: Tips for Getting Children's Creative Written Work in Print or Online.
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