We have favorite stories and hopefully, they’re not all from movies….right?  Hopefully, we have lots of favorite BOOKS that we share with our littles!

An idea to initiate conversations and to spark creativity is to challenge our kids to create an alternate ending to a story they know well and really like.   Now, for those of us who like things orderly and the way they are supposed to be (self-evaluation occurring), this can be a bit uncomfortable at first, but the fun and creative conversations that will evolve make it all worthwhile.

Here’s an example:  In the sweet story, The Yellow Bus by Loren Long, a yellow bus is reused in several ways over many years.  First, the yellow bus spends her days (opportunity to teach personification here) taking children to and from school.  Then, she transitions into taking seniors to needed locations… and this trend continues as she is used for different needs.  In each of these scenarios, the bus is “filled with joy” as she loves being needed.     This is such a SWEET STORY with stunning illustrations and a creative use of emphasized color.

I don’t want to give away the ending, but at the end of the story, the yellow bus ends up in quite the unexpected setting, being used in a completely new way.  There are animals involved (teaser), and once again, she is filled with joy. 

Here’s the hard part of this activity …. you’re going to REALLY LIKE the way the story ends.  But the challenge is to coax your child into creating another, equally as satisfying ending.  Ask questions like, “What’s another way that the bus could be used?” ” How would you change the ending of the story if you were the author?” “What other idea do you have about a useful way for an older bus to be used?”  “What other creative way could the yellow bus be used that might make it happy?”    If you can’t think of ideas right away, this conversation could continue….as you are driving or out and about, you may see things that spur ideas!

When our children do come up with alternate endings, we can applaud them as budding authors!  This activity works on their reading/writing skills and their self-esteem too.  Whatever we can do to make reading fun and interactive is a “win”.  And you never know, as we BOOK TIME WITH OUR KIDS, our littles may come up with original ideas that actually surprise and teach US!

Thanks for reading! Please share and subscribe for ideas of how we can BOOK TIME WITH OUR KIDS!