With the current trend to push for better results in our children’s literacy skills, fear of them losing their creativity is a concern. Children love to create and when given the chance and a little encouragement they can surprise both us and themselves. I recently started my young students on a combined literature-art adventure, creating their own books. Over several weeks, using a variety of painting techniques and a little ingenuity we assembled their ‘Fishy Tales’ complete with movable characters. The delight on their faces as they developed each part and saw their stories come to life was worth the extra effort. They were all keen to extend their stories and role-play with their characters before and after their books were completed. From one experience comes the seeds for many more.
