I read this quote from a Dr. Gordon Neufeld recently: “Remember…children at play are insulated from the alarming world around them. Play is a sanctuary of safety. … In true play, the engagement is in the activity, not the outcome.”

I love this, as it speaks to the essence of our goals for A Pirate’s Guide - engagement, not outcome. And it reminds us that, during these potential stressful times (I’m writing this 4 weeks into the US quarantine resulting from the Covid-19 virus), creativity provides all of us with a level of play and safety that we deeply need. Whether you are 3 and building a block tower, 10 and creating chalk art on the front driveway, 14 and art journaling your experience, 47 and taking a moment to tell a story, paint a picture, or create a lovely meal - creativity can be true play for us all. Take a moment, and slip into the “sanctuary of safety” that playing creatively allows. Whether that’s doing an exercise in A Pirate’s Guide, arranging some flowers in a vase, making up a story alongside your child, or even just plating dinner in a beautiful way, being creative is important for each one of us, parents included. Encourage your children to play today, in some way, and then join in yourself.

Rest in the engagement, and don’t worry about the outcome.

As we begin our third week of Lockdown, I’m beginning to see signs in my online communities of heightened emotions. This is obviously true of the adults who are feeling the expected stress of uncertainty, but even more so of our children, who may be overhearing things that confuse, scare, or anger them.

When I find that it's hard for my children to express their frustration/anger/fear/emotions in a healthy way, our family chooses to channel those pent up emotions into something creative. Creating is one means we humans have for expressing things we don't have words for. For one of my children, that means lots of paintings (and we are very aware that they are her emotions on paper, even if she isn't, so we comment little and just encourage her to keep painting). For my older child, it was in photography. For another, it was doodling and displaying her precious things creatively. For my husband, it’s writing (no surprise there), and for me, it is usually watercolor or nature journaling.

Most children need some direction in order to be creative, so we have also used creative writing to help those deeper emotions get channeled out in a healthy way. To be sure, the kids have no idea this is happening (and often we don't see it either), but even benign creative tasks, like brainstorming, lets our inner stuff find a venue to be expressed. When we created A Pirate's Guide t' th' Grammar of Story as a creative writing curriculum, we had no idea it would end up being a very easy and fun way for kids to get their inner life out, but, amazingly, it does. And sometimes, that's all that's needed!

So we encourage you to take those discipline issues, and give your child somewhere creative to channel it. If you think they might be interested in writing, try A Pirate’s Guide t’ th’ Grammar of Story - it’s an easy to use (read: parents who are already stretched thin don’t have to teach) and fun to do (read: it’s a pirate story with engaging brainstorming and story-related exercises) workbook that can help fill some time and grow some creativity. Kids can do it on their own, or as a family (each would want their own workbook, since they write in them), or even do it with a virtual group. You can find out more about the workbook itself on our main page, or read through the reviews on Amazon. This is a fun and easy book - and the benefits are far more than just occupying their attention for some time each day. 

If your state is like ours, you may be experiencing an extended school closure - or you may know a public school family who suddenly has their kids at home. All day. Seven days a week. Unexpectedly. While they are still working. And some of these kids are going to get bored!

Of course, this is the perfect time to engage in more creativity and activities we normally don’t have time for. Read a book aloud, visit a virtual museum, make a painting, learn to play guitar, write a story.

Enter A Pirate’s Guide t’ th’ Grammar of Story - here’s an easy to use (read: parents who are already stretched thin don’t have to teach) and fun to do (read: it’s a pirate story with engaging brainstorming and story-related exercises) workbook that can help fill some time and grow some creativity. Kids can do it on their own, or as a family (each would want their own workbook, since they write in them), or even do it with a virtual group. You can find out more about the workbook itself on our main page, or read through the reviews on Amazon. This is a fun and easy book - and the benefits are more than just occupying their attention for some time each day.

This is a great opportunity to engage more with our children - and this workbook gives a context for growing as a family. How does a creative writing workbook do this? When we are creative, a little bit of us comes out. The colors we choose when we paint, the notes we make when we play piano, the words and images that we create as we write - all of these are little snapshots of something inside of us. So when your children brainstorm the five worst ice cream flavors they can think of, it tells you a little about them. It gives you something to talk about - “what made you think of booger flavored ice cream?” Or “have you ever tried that?” Simple questions that show you are interested and care about your child. Though very simple, it opens them up to more. So, take some time this week. Ask some questions. Maybe buy the kids some paint, or this workbook, and then over dinner, show you are interested - and see how your family can grow in these weeks together.

For the next few weeks, we are running a special - buy a copy of A Pirate’s Guide t’ th’ Grammar of Story directly from us, and get a free copy of Volume One of The Magician’s Workshop - a young adult fantasy novel that will leave you eager for Volume Two!

While we are all isolating this month, let’s make the most of it!

One fan of A Pirate’s Guide sent in this suggestion - grab a workbook, start reading the story with your kids. Then use this extra time we have together to get them started on a project, one which they can continue while you get back to the many things you already have to do!

• Get some cardboard boxes (cereal, or Amazon, or …) and let them recreate Captain Yogger LeFossa’s pirate ship.

• Give them some paper (or an old pillowcase) to create their own pirate flag.

• Grab some “treasure” and have them hide it and create a treasure map. X marks the spot! When dad or siblings get home, have them go on a treasure hunt.

• Spend the day speaking in pirate.

• Google “pirate word search” and let them spend some time searching for piratey words. Argh.

• Create a pirate character and then sketch out what they look like (this goes great with the character exercises in A Pirate’s Guide).

• Spend some time on youtube and learn how to make sailing knots.

While we are all isolating this month, let’s make the most of it!

Take a tip from improv groups across the country - here’s a very simple way to create a spontaneous story to pass the time. You could even make a contest to choose the best story at the end of the night - or just pop some popcorn, make some hot cocoa, sit back, and enjoy the stories.

Choose one person to be the story-teller. They should ask someone to shout out a character (superman, a cowboy, the dentist, a little boy), a place (the golf course, a bathroom, planet Mars), a time (yesterday, the week before the apocalypse, today at 2 pm), and a problem (a meteor is hurtling towards earth, there is no more ice cream, it’s raining).

From there, the story-teller will make up a story on the spot. At any point they can call on the “audience” to give them another detail, which they have to work into the story. It can be as short or long as their creativity leads them. Tomorrow I’ll share a variation for telling the story in the round, and getting everyone involved.

While we are all isolating this month, let’s make the most of it!

This week we are shared a basic improv technique for spontaneous storytelling. Here’s an easy way to spend some time together and hopefully have a few laughs: create a shared story. It’s very simple. One by one, go around the room and gather some basic information, allowing each person to be as creative and specific as they want. The first person should name a type of person (cowboy, artist, businessman, circus leader, teacher, etc). The second person should name a place (the US, a laundromat, the underside of a swing). The next person should name a time (early morning, the second Christmas after the stock market crashed, in the distant future). The next person should name a problem (they are hungry, reptiles are crawling out of the storm drain, it’s raining). Now, continuing in a circle, each person will tell one sentence of a story. There are no rules, except that you should continue where the person before you leaves off, even if you take it in an entirely new direction.

Make this fun! Some families strive to tell a coherent story, where all the parts make sense, and they are really working together. Great stories can emerge, and you’ll learn something about teamwork and how to anticipate and respond to one another. Other families work to make the story as crazy as possible, shifting and turning with each sentence. No one can plan ahead because you simply don’t know where it’s going! You’ll all learn something about thinking on your feet and you will certainly laugh a lot.

Doesn’t matter how you tell it, storytelling can help bring you together as a family.

While we are all isolating this month, let’s make the most of it!

This week we shared about a basic improv pattern for telling a story as an individual or in the round as a group. Today I want to share another storytelling idea - telling the story of your family.

Here’s a few ways that can get you started:

• Pull out a photo album (or your camera roll on your phone, if it goes back far enough), turn to a page, and share with your family what was happening.

• Have your children pick a favorite memory from their earlier childhood to share.

• Take slips of paper and have everyone write down specific stories they’d like to hear about. Give them some examples to get their curiosity piqued: someone’s birth story, how Grandma and Grandpa met, what it was like to be a child in 1985, the story of your first dance or first kiss, how you listened to music as a kid. The options are endless.