Since a random point this year, one of our Young Writers Group regulars, Angus, has been walking around with a toothbrush in his blazer pocket. None of us know why, and I suspect he’s forgotten the reason he started this too!
After the workshops of last term, this term the kids wanted a return to our crazy writing prompts. When thinking about what to do this session, I thought of Angus’ toothbrush and was sure we could all come up with reasons why he had the toothbrush in his blazer pocket.
To mix things up a bit, I brought along a box of animal flash cards that I had picked up at KMart to add to my store of writing prompts.
As usual, I told the kids that they don’t need to use the cards literally, as in write about an octopus if that was the card they received. It could be something else on the card – the letter, colour, or even the pattern on the back of the card.
Most of the kids were regulars and know Angus fairly well. There were a couple of new members, but they got the gist of the toothbrush in the pocket quickly. Everyone came up with fantastic stories and Angus took notes so he could use some of the ideas in the future when people asked about the toothbrush!
This was a fun session and a great writing prompt. Being able to do sessions like this is only possible when you’ve been working with the same group of kids over time. I’m so honored to be working with this amazing bunch of young writers. There are times when I think I get just as much out of the group as they do.
