It feels like a very long time since I’ve been in anyone’s home other than mine. I’ve learnt that it is very possible to be homesick for other people’s homes! But inside my head and in my writing there are lots of familiar places that I like to visit. One of my favourite picture books … Continue reading Houses
Last summer, at our book festival, our writing club had fun with this rhyme. Each line in the traditional rhyme begins with a number, from one to twelve, and all the words in that line begin with the starting letter of that number. One old Oxford ox opening oysters.Two toads totally tired of trying to … Continue reading One Old Oxford Ox
Lots of streets are lined with red, white and blue in celebration of VE Day. It's gotten me thinking about colours and how they can be so meaningful. I wonder if we could write a poem about colours, with a specific person in mind. Someone who we know really well. What are the colours that … Continue reading Colours
Today’s post hides a special treat for people who love making things from paper – and a new fold up pocket book which could also hide some special memories, even some secrets. The fold up pocket book is a slightly more sophisticated form of the zigzag pocket book which you used to collect characters for your … Continue reading Fold Up Pocket Book
A little technical challenge today. You need something to write with and something to write on. We’re going to do five minutes of freewriting about what you did yesterday or this morning; describe in as much detail as possible. Write in first person, using ‘I’ and ‘we’. Try and find something to time yourself. Go! … Continue reading Points of view
Today we challenge you to create one, two, three, or even more characters. We have photographs of the things we found when three characters turned out their pockets and bags. Who can they be? Look closely at the photographs and see what clues you can find. Who would carry such things with them and what … Continue reading Whose pockets?
Sometimes the best ideas for writing come from drawing. When you start drawing you find that words start popping into your head and suddenly you've built a whole picture, a whole story. I've been reading a book called 'Flights of Fancy', which was actually a present from Jeni (she's very good at choosing books). There … Continue reading Shape game
It’s quiz time! And, yes, more vegetables. I have been playing a game with my family. We have been looking at recipe books and reading out the descriptions of vegetables. We try to guess what vegetable the cook is describing. What vegetable do you think this is? A fat round -???- is used both as a candlelit … Continue reading Guess the vegetable
Today I’m feeling lazy and just can’t seem to conjure up any words to write. There’s only one solution on days like this – become a word thief. This is a brilliant way to really look at individual words and the different meanings they can carry. And don’t worry, it may be stealing but I’m … Continue reading Word thief
I am excited to introduce to you, Colin the Courageous Carrot. This brave carrot was invented, designed and made by Harriet who is a friend of a friend of mine. When I first saw Colin, I couldn’t wait to introduce you to this new and thoroughly amazing superhero. Look closely to see how Harriet has … Continue reading Colin the Courageous Carrot
Writing Box 