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Currently viewing the tag: "children"
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It was the baby, of all things, that woke her up. Not her husband. Not the police. Just the baby and his crying. -Todd Ritter, Bad Moon
Fiction Writing Prompt: Use the first line of the week as the starting point or inspiration for a scene, story, poem, or haiku.
Journaling Prompt: What is usually your first indication that something is wrong at your house? Describe how it happens.
Art Prompt: The Curious Incident of the Baby in the Night Time
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write a humorous piece about your personal security system, whether it be a baby, a dog, or something else.
Photo Credit: rabble on Flickr
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Teenage girls were a strange breed of animal, prone to strange trends and behaviors. – Bradley Convissar, Blink
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story, scene, or poem that features the exotic creature known as the teenage girl.
Journaling Prompt: What is the strangest trend you have seen in teenage girls, whether in this generation or your own generation.
Art Prompt: Teenage Girls
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write a humorous piece about teenage girls and their strange trends and behaviors.
Photo Credit: Pink Sherbet Photography on Flickr
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…parents from different social classes teach their children different lessons about interacting with institutions. …parents help to perpetuate inequalities not only through what they do for their children, such as equipping them with different resources or opportunities, but also through what they teach children to do for themselves. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Add to your character sketch. How did your protagonist’s parents teach social interaction and how does that affect your protagonist in your story? (Click through and read the entire article to learn how social class affects what parents teach children.)
Journaling Prompt: What is the most valuable lesson your parents taught you?
Art Prompt: Parent teaching Child
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the essential lessons that parents must teach their children.
Photo Credit: Nationaal Archief on Flickr
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Surely such a fearsome human being as a high school teacher couldn’t be harmed by anything less than a nuclear missile with a Kryptonite tip. – Michaelbrent Collings, Billy: Messenger of Powers
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a scene or story about a fearsome high school teacher.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a memorable high school teacher.
Art Prompt: High School Teacher
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about a high school teacher who influenced you and helped you become the person you are today.
Photo Credit: BurningQuestion on Flickr
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Research done by University of Wisconsin-Madison doctoral student Emily Cramer and professor of communication Edward Mabry indicates that families in which open conversation is encouraged tend to use “richer” technologies, such as Facebook and Skype, to keep in touch with each other, while families who prefer to avoid conflict and enforce conformity stick with e-mail, texting, and phone calls. -Kecia Lynn
Fiction Writing Prompt: Add to your protagonist’s character sketch. How did his or her family of origin communicate? How does his or her current family communicate?
Journaling Prompt: What is your family’s electronic communication style?
Art Prompt: Electronic family communication styles
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about your family’s communication style.
Photo Credit: khalid Albaih on Flickr
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But when it came to the Princess’s turn to give an acid drop to the dragon, he smiled a very wide smile, and wagged his tail to the very last long inch of it, as much as to say, “Oh, you nice, kind, pretty little Princess.” But deep down in his wicked purple heart he was saying, “Oh, you nice, fat, pretty little Princess, I should like to eat you instead of these silly acid drops.” But of course nobody heard him except the Princess’s uncle, and he was a magician, and accustomed to listening at doors. It was part of his trade. -Edith Nesbitt, The Book of Dragons (free Kindle book)NOTE: an acid drop is a old fashioned boiled sweet with a sharp taste
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story or poem about a princess who tries to befriend a dragon.
Journaling Prompt: How do you flirt with danger?
Art Prompt: The Princess, the Dragon, and the Magician
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about how we try to allay our fears by placating them. Give your audience a better solution.
Photo Credit: thejbird on Flickr
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The great majority of the parents (88 per cent) answered that they did not think that there were disadvantages for their child in having an imaginary friend. Parents saw the main reasons for having invisible friends as supporting fantasy play and as a companion to play and have fun with. Parents also gave numerous examples of how invisible friends helped their children process and cope with life events.
Younger children also used their interactions with invisible friends to test their parents’ reactions to behaviour that might be disapproved of, thus helping them learn to regulate their behaviour. -Science Daily
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story or poem about a child and his or her imaginary friend.
Journaling Prompt: Did you have an imaginary friend or a stuffed animal that you believed was alive?
Art Prompt: Imaginary Friend
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Tell your audience how parents should deal with a child’s imaginary friend.
Photo Credit: dospaz on Flickr
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“Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine—thirty.” Pippa took in a deep breath and yelled as loud as her six-year-old lungs would allow. “Ready or not, here I come!” Anthony Eglin, Garden of Secrets Past
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story or scene beginning with the First Line of the Week.
Journaling Prompt: Write about your memories of childhood friends and the games you played.
Art Prompt: Hide and Go Seek
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about the lessons you learned from the games of your childhood.
Photo Credit: jakarachuonyo on Flickr
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“Once upon a time in that part of Mississippi where every town’s name reads like a memory of some better place, a girl with a honey-colored braid down her back stood by the side of the road and stared at a hand-painted sign.” -Cynthia Shearer, The Celestial Jukebox
Fiction Writing Prompt: Use the first line of the week as the starting point or inspiration for a scene, story, poem, or haiku.
Journaling Prompt: Picture yourself as a child where you grew up. Describe the town through a child’s eyes.
Art Prompt: Girl with a Braid
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Write about your home town and what it was like when you were a child.
Photo Credit: Allie Holzman on Flickr
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The four culture types identified, which together comprised 89 percent of families surveyed, are:
- The Faithful: These parents base their moral compass on religion and seek to maintain traditions within their homes and through their children.
- The Engaged Progressives: These parents view morality through a lens of personal responsibility and freedom and strive to raise “responsible choosers.”
- The Detached: These parents don’t feel very close to their children and tend to adopt a “let kids be kids and let the cards fall where they may” attitude.
- The American Dreamers: These parents are very optimistic about their children’s future and focus heavily on giving them every possible advantage while also protecting them from negative influences. -Kecia Lynn
Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a scene about something that happens in within a family. Re-write the same scene for each of the family types.
Journaling Prompt: Where does your family fall in this list? Write about how you feel about your family type.
Art Prompt: Families
Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Inform your audience about the four American family types.
Photo Credit: normalityrelief on Flickr
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I believe that the most important thing about writing is to HAVE FUN! You can worry about things like commas, point of view, tenses, etc., later. Right now, just start writing!
If you respond to one of the prompts on your blog, be sure to come back here and put the link in the comment section for that prompt. Share your brilliance!
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