Junior & Young Writers: Week 3 - Fairytale Fictions

Hi Writers,

We started by asking everyone to describe their week as a magic spell or curse. Some were positive, most were curses caused by trials during the week... examples included: False Accusation curses, bread into toast magic, delayed gratification spells, and bysycanuta (being VERY busy)

What is everyone reading?

Berry – Tom Gates books by Liz Pichon
Catherine – The Book of Sand by Theo Clare
Sunny – The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Georgie – Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Leo – The Loop by Ben Oliver
Poppy – The Things We Leave Behind by Lucy Score
Juno – Oh Maya Gods! by Maz Evans (Part of the Who Let the Gods Out series)
Evan – Five Nights at Freddy's by Scott Cawthon and Kira Breed-Wrisley
Wilf – The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
Eddie – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Indie – The Guinness Book of World Records 2024 by Guinness World Records

Warm-Up Game:

We played a game of Buzzy Buzzy Bees.

Main Activity: Story Cards

Here is how to create them and how to use them!

Card Types

Characters – The people and creatures that the story is about
Things – The important objects which feature in the story (e.g., “Pencil,” “Sword,” “Ring,” “Jewels,” etc.)
Places – The locations that the characters in the story will visit (e.g., “Palace,” “Forest,” “City,” “Tower,” etc.)
Ending Cards – The possible endings to the story (e.g., “Defeats the Baddie”). Players only get one of these cards and must do their best to tell the story so that it will reach that ending.

Card Creation – Characters, Things, Places

A card name– What is it? (In clear writing) The card name should only be a couple of words. An illustration of the card (in the middle)
All Ending Cards Should Include A brief description of an ending to the story
The ending should be vague enough to fit with multiple stories
Use pronouns instead of specific character titles or names (e.g., He/She/They were never caught and lived happily ever after)
An illustration of the card – your drawings do not need to be perfect 😊

After taking the time to create our story cards they were mixed up and everyone got a new set of ones they hadn’t designed! We collaborated to tell these wild and wonderful tales!

Younger writers: Story Using Story Cards

There once was a Luigi who hated Mario. He lived in space, in a very comfy trash bin. And he would sometimes go to visit Bob. Bob finds a shell on the Eurovision Song Contest stage... After he finds the seashell, he goes home. Luigi’s favourite drink is coffee... and he heard there was a coffee convention going on in the Nether. Also in the Nether there was Kitty-Meow-Meow, fighting a Forbidden Five made out of Bug Bros bugs. As Luigi passes the fight, he finds the TASTIEST espresso macchiato, served by Fred, the Alien. Then Luigi orders a pizza. When it arrives, it is served by something green and mushy... IT WAS MR BLOB. Luigi gets out a gun and shoots Mr Blob... But the bullets go straight through and out the other side, instead shooting a castle! Mr Blob gets smaller from losing some of himself in this altercation. The castle is also tiny. As Luigi walks through the castle, he finds Kitty Land, and Fergus. And a wand in a cup. Luigi is told his brother Mario is dead... Mamma Mia! He is told Mario was hit many times... Then POOF, a baby Yoshi appears. The solar system then explodes. Every alien self-explodes, only toads and mushrooms survive, and they end up in Australia.

Older Writers: Story Using Story Cards

Once there was a horse called John who wanted to kill everyone. So John the horse bought a gun and shot everyone. He took an eyeball from one of his victims and passed it between his hands. Until two spiders and the physical embodiment of terror, Greg, appeared and chased him into the forest, where there was a cocoon of spiders... and a horse graveyard. In front of John stood a piece of cheese with legs, and a face. The horse tries killing everyone but the cheese says, “You MUST encounter Bob the Frog — the easiest way is through the labyrinth.” In the labyrinth they find the Watermelon of Friendship and they make friends with a duck- who then asks them how to find Bob the Frog, who needed help. The reason they were in the labyrinth is because they had fallen into this pulsating mass of heaving unidentified substance. They had to force their way through the pulsating mass of an unidentified substance to get to the castle in the centre, where they found a lake, where Bob must be! A boss raindrop appears and says he wants them to escape before they get tied up. They get tied up anyway, but they use a seashell to break the lock! They leave through the pulsating mass of an unidentified substance and find a swamp. Years later, now they are trying to find the physical embodiment of terror and Greg. There is a cursed turnip that explodes and kills them all whilst they are at therapy for what happened all those years ago. Their ghosts become filled with revenge...They find a big red button.

Picture Prompt Discussion

Questions:

What is the creature doing? Why?
Why is there a glowing light over the flower?
Where is it coming from?
What do you think is in the pouches on the creature's bag strap?
Why are the children in the woods?
Is this creature good or evil? Are the children good or evil?
Where might this scene be taking place?

Stories Created from the Prompt:

Eddie – The children steal the flower to cook chicken in its lava!
Indie – The flower's magic only glows for monsters, not children. The creature is evil... and he has a
big bag of bones.
Anna – The kids plan to eat the Ogre!

Older Group Activity: Fairytale Archetypes

Understanding the Archetypes-

VILLAIN: Causes some form of misfortune, damage or harm.
THE DONOR (provider): the hero needs some sort of item or aid to defeat the villain and complete their quest. This object is provided by the donor- sometimes after a series of tests.
THE HELPER: A helper uses their force or cunning to help the hero acquire the object needed to remove the misfortune from their lives. – think sidekick.
PRINCESS (sought after person/prize): The hero gains their affection, seeks marriage, or perhaps rescues them from the villain.
DISPATCHER: After the villain has committed a terrible deed and brought misfortune to the land, the dispatcher calls for help and sends the hero on their journey.
THE HERO/HEROINE: Typically, the hero/heroine is the protagonist that reacts to the donor and dispatcher, defeats the villain, resolves the problem and marries the prince(ss) -or wins the prize.
THE FALSE HERO/HEROINE: a character that appears to be heroic and may be mistaken as the real hero/heroine. The false hero/heroine is selfish and manipulative who attempts to steal the hero’s spotlight, take credit for their achievements and may even try to win the prize.

This led to:

Georgie’s dramatic retelling of Rapunzel

Sonny’s story of a fire-breathing dragon who liked to hoard, and conversations about the original Cinderella which included some gruesome facts.

This week we crafted intensely creative stories and showed true artistic talents when designing the story cards! It was a real joy to spend this time with you all.

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Junior & Young Writers: Week 3 - Fairytale Fictions