Creative Bursts

Creative Bursts - Write with Sarah - Travel, Adventure and Exploration (April 20th to 24th)

Welcome to Creative Bursts - short creative activities to do at home with your children. 

Creative Bursts are created by Sarah Webb, an award-winning children's writer and children’s book champion. Her children’s books include A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea, illustrated by Steve McCarthy which won the Irish Book Awards Junior Category and Blazing a Trail: Irish Women Who Changed the World, illustrated by Lauren O’Neill which won the Irish Book Awards Senior Category.

Her latest book is Dare to Dream: Irish People Who Took On the World (and Won!), illustrated by Graham Corcoran and Animal Crackers, a book of funny animal facts will be out in the autumn, co-created with Alan Nolan.

She has taught creative writing for over twenty years to both children and adults and runs Writing Clubs for young writers.

Sarah believes that creativity is vital for children’s well being and is providing Creative Bursts while schools are closed to help encourage creativity at home by providing free creative activities to share with children.

To get lost in a Creative Burst all you need is a pencil or pen and a notebook or piece of paper. 

The writing games and prompts are aimed at around age 9+ but could be done with younger children with some help.

Remember grown-ups – please join in too! It’s great for children to see you being creative, making mistakes and having fun on the page!

Warm Up

Let’s warm up those writing muscles.

Start by writing this quote – Sarah’s favourite - into your writing notebook, copybook or sheet of paper. You could give it a fancy frame or border if you like!

And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it. Roald Dahl

This Week

This week we will write and draw and we will also learn about Granuaile, one of our greatest sailors and leaders and explorer and dragonfly expert, Cynthia Evelyn Longfield, known as ‘Madam Dragonfly’.

Creative Bursts Challenge - Monday

Travel, Adventure and Exploration

Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Extract)

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.

1/ Do you love travel and adventure? Do you want to be an explorer and discover new species like Madam Dragonfly?

Write about a place you’d like to explore

What would you discover there?

Here are some examples:

Mars

The ocean abyss

The Amazon jungle

The Arctic or the Antarctic

The Egyptian desert

2/ Write about a discovery you make in the place you have chosen. Have you found a new plant, animal or ancient treasure? You decide! Draw it too.

3/ Write a poem called One Day

Finish the sentences below to complete your poem.

One day I will explore…

One day I will travel…

One day I will see…

One day I will discover…

And then I will…

Creative Bursts Challenge - Tuesday

The Sea

 Sea Fever by John Masefield (Extract)

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

 1/ Write a story or a poem about being on a great sea voyage

Maybe you have been on a fishing boat, a ferry, a sailing boat or even a kayak – you can use this experience to inform your writing.

Describe what it feels like to be on the sea:

Are there waves lapping at your boat?

Can you hear sea gulls?

Do you see whales or dolphins?

You decide!

2/ Do you like swimming or paddling? Write a story or poem about swimming or paddling in the sea.

3/ Imagine you are a fish. Write a story or poem about what it feels like to be a fish, through the fish’s eyes. Draw the fish.

Look up the poem ‘A Baby Sardine’ by Spike Milligan – it’s great!

Creative Bursts Challenge - Wednesday

Sailors, Pirates and Sea Shanties

 Granuaile was sometimes called the Pirate Queen of Connacht. Sailors and pirates often sang sea shanties.

1/ Try writing (and singing) your own sea shanty. Now there’s a challenge!

Think about adding sea names:

The Irish Sea

Atlantic Ocean

And names of sea animals and birds

And what about some of the things you’d find on an old-fashioned ship – sails, ropes, barrels, wheels etc

And weather you might find – storms, gales, fair winds


2/ Create your own pirate crew – but with a funny twist and write a story about one of your adventures.

You could be a crew of:

Dogs

Cats

Babies

Children

Witches

You decide!

Give your crew a brilliant name and draw them!

 3/ Whales – my favourite animals!

Write a poem about a whale.

You can use this structure if you like:

Whales

As big as…

The colour of…

They…

On the…

But I’ve never seen a whale…

Creative Bursts Challenge - Thursday

Dragonflies

I wish I was a dragonfly

Hallelujah in sunbeam.

Anonymous

1/ Madam Dragonfly spent her whole life exploring and discovering new insects. She travelled by boat, rail, road, dirt track, hacking her way through jungles with a machete!

I want you to image you are in a jungle, looking for new insects, like Madam Dragonfly.

What do you see and hear?

What kind of animals do you encounter?

What new insect do you discover?


2/ The Dragonfly by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Today I saw the dragonfly

Come from the wells where he did lie.

An inner impulse rent the veil

Of his old husk: from head to tail

Came out clear plates of sapphire mail.

He dried his wings: like gauze they grew;

Thro’ crofts and pastures wet with dew

A living flash of light he flew.

 Write a poem or haiku about a dragonfly.

The structure of a haiku:

Line 1: 5 syllables

Line 2: 7 syllables

Line 3: 5 syllables

3/ Draw a dragonfly. Give it a name and its own personality. Write about an adventure it has.

If you’ve never seen one, look them up first! They are amazing creatures.

 

Illustration of Cynthia and her beloved dragonflies by Graham Corcoran from Dare to Dream.

Creative Bursts Challenge - Friday

Being Brave

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost (Extract)

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

1/ Granuaile was strong, clever and brave. It took her many years to become a brilliant sailor.

Is there something you’d like to learn how to do in the future?

Sail (like Granuaile)?

Learn a language?

Play a musical instrument?

Make a list of three things (or more) you’d like to learn or find out about in the future.

 2/ If you could go back in time and ask Granuaile or Cynthia (Madam Dragonfly) or another interesting person from the past a question, what would you ask them?

Write a story about meeting them and asking your question.

 3/ Write a script of your meeting or another scene from the life of Granuaile or Madam Dragonfly or another brave explorer or adventurer.

Act it out if you like – you could even post it on social media. Don’t forget to tag me so I can see it!

You might need to do some research to find out what people wore at that time.

Or you could act this one out if you like:

GRANUAILE (Script by Sarah Webb)

Granuaile: ‘Father, I must speak with you.’

Father: ‘What is it, child?’

Granuaile: ‘That’s just it. I’m not a child anymore, I’m thirteen and I want to sail to Spain with you to trade. I’m ready, Father.’

Father: ‘Granuaile, you may be thirteen but you are a girl. Girls do not sail. And besides, your hair would get caught in the ship’s rigging.’

Granuaile: ‘But Father…’

Father: ‘My decision is final. Now please leave me to my work.’

Granuaile storms off. She cuts her hair and marches back in

Granuaile: ‘Father, I have shorn off my hair. Now will you let me sail? Please. The sea calls me. It is in my blood. I cannot live if I do not sail.’

Father: ‘I can see your mind is made up. Very well, Granuaile. You may sail to Spain with us.’

Granuaile: ‘Thank you, Father. You won’t regret it.’

Buy the books Blazing a Trail and Dare to Dream here: https://www.obrien.ie/sarah-webb

Or here: https://www.halfwayupthestairs.ie/

 I hope you enjoyed this week’s Creative Bursts and Write with Sarah

And remember what Einstein said: ‘Creativity is intelligence having fun.’

Keep writing,

Sarah XXX

All text copyright Sarah Webb 2020

Creative Bursts #7 - Hidden Stories Extra - Design a Tree House

Where do you like to hide?

Is there a special place where you like to get away from it all?

Do you bring a book, or a notebook and pen?

When I was a girl we had a wooden climbing frame in our back garden – it had a special platform – like a tree house – and I loved dragging cushions and rugs up there and making my own hidey hole. I’d bring a book and stay there all afternoon in the summer.

I wrote a tree house poem inspired by this:

Tree House by Sarah Webb

High up in a leafy tree

Shaded from all company,

Is the place I love to be,

Hiding in my tree house.


Happy is sky

And happy is free,

Happy is reading

High up in my tree.

Now design your own special tree house and write a poem or a story about it. You can draw it too!

tree+house.jpg

Creative Bursts #6 What a World! - Extra Word Games and Story Prompts

To get lost in a Creative Burst all you need is a pencil or pen and a notebook or piece of paper. 

The writing games and prompts are aimed at around age 8/9+ but could be done with younger children if you give them a bit of help. I’ve also included some more challenging story prompts for older or more experienced writers of around 11+ (every young writer is different). 

Remember grown-ups – please join in too! It’s great for children to see you being creative, making mistakes and having fun on the page!

Warm Up

To get started let’s warm up those writing muscles.

You could start by writing this quote into your writing notebook, copybook or sheet of paper. You could give it a fancy frame or border if you like!

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” Roald Dahl

If you’ve already got that one in your notebook, how about one of these:

"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful." Alice Walker

Alice Walker is a famous American writer who wrote The Colour Purple.

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in 1867 and wrote the Little House on the Prairie books.

Story Prompt 1

So here’s your first prompt: Write a story or draw a picture inspired by this photograph:

Ladybirds.jpg

Now imagine you are one of those ladybirds and write a poem about flying - what do you see? What does it feel like to be a ladybird?

Story Prompt 2

I love walking with my dog, Lucky on Dún Laoghaire pier. We love being by the water and are often joined by sea birds. Sometimes a seal pops up to say hello.

I’m fascinated by jellyfish. Did you know the Irish for jellyfish is smugairle róin or seal snot? Strange but true!

We also love walking in the forest. He loves sniffing out all kinds of smells in the damp leaves and tree stumps.

Our next story prompt is inspired by walking in the forest with Lucky.

You are out walking in the forest with your dog when you spot a large opening in a tree trunk

You go closer – there’s something moving in there.

You look inside and see…

(If you’re with your dog she/he probably smells or hears it first – they have very sensitive noses and ears!)

It can be a real creature, something imaginary like a unicorn or a dragon – or the hole can be a portal to another world – you decide!

Now write the story from your DOG’S point of view!

Get writing!

Look out for the video tomorrow - Wed - with more games and story prompts!