When my kids were little, we lived in a house with a sturdy oak tree out front.

Of course, we hung a wooden swing on the oak tree with super thick rope.

Before the kids learned to hold on to the ropes without letting go, I would sit them on my lap, hold them tight with one arm and hold the rope while we went back and forth, back and forth, listening to the wind rustle the leaves and feeling it brush our faces.

Then as they got older, learned how to maneuver a swing, I’d push them and tell them stories.

I’d start out the way all good stories begin, “Once upon a time….”

From there it became interactive.

I’d say, “Once upon a time, a little girl or a little boy?”

They’d choose.

I would continue with their choice and add something simple like: “Once Upon a time, a little girl packed up her suitcase for a trip to her grandmother’s or her best friend?”

“Her best friend,” they might choose.

It was a cross between MadLibs, Choose Your Own Adventure, and the old memory game, “My mother went to the grocery store and there she bought Apples, Biscuits, Cat food, Divinity fudge, Earrings, Fancy frocks….”

It passed the time and gave the kids the sense that they were the story tellers.

You can get as silly as you want, steer the story in any direction.

I’m certain that you, too, can create stories with your kids, no matter what their age.

You can sit with them at the end of the day, the magical time of day when things sloooooow down, and create your own stories this way.

I don’t know if my kids enjoy writing now.

But I will tell you, they are fantastic writers.

Coincidence?

Kids making connections: Click Here

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