Occasionally, bedtime for my 5 year old now consists of writing words on his Cars brand Magna-Doodle, and pretending that the words come to life, just like the characters and objects that inhabit Word World.
Tonight, I found myself laughing out loud as we dove for cover to protect ourselves from a variety of creatures. After starting with the fire-breathing dragon, and the water-breathing dragon, we met up with the popcorn-breathing dragon and ping-pong-ball-breathing dragon.
The puppy that burped ice-cubes, and the dinosaur that sneezed spaghetti soon followed, and I found myself wondering what amazing stories might be told by young people given such a simple premise.
I hold out hope that a creative teacher might engage online cartooning tools, or audio-recording tools to help students bring unique creatures to life. A bold educator might even provide students access to the freely available creature creator tool courtesy of Spore!
While bedtime always includes at least one book, taking time to get on the floor and pretend has become one of our favourite rituals to end the day. I just hope teachers will find ways to harness the creative thinking that at present, comes so naturally to my child.
Does anyone have any recommendations for other 'creatures' we might encounter at future bedtimes?
3 comments:
I was thinking the same thing a few weeks ago, when I used Jing with my 5 year daughter and had her narrate a slide show. Just make stuff up on the spot. Kids have such great imaginations, and we can capture things so easily. Here's hoping more catch on!
Hey Colin, Can you imagine starting an electronic portfolio with the little ones? That would sure knock the socks off a few teachers!
"Mrs. Teacher, can I show the class my story? I animated it on my website..."
I'm a drama teacher (among other things) and there is nothing more fun than (re)teaching 13 year olds how to play like this. It's incredible fun to play the "what it is not" game and see them use a chair as a horse, a handbag, a phone.
So much potential in the idea of keeping digital portfolios (audio, screencast, video, cartoon) for this sort of thing.
Post a Comment