LITMIR.BIZ

      Though not every parent has enough fiction-writing ability to make up stories that are totally original, there are plenty of parents who do just that. Instead of making up stories about elephants or puppies or firefighters or just any old kid, however, why not make up a story about your child? He'd love to “star” in a story!

      The more conventional way to do this is: If your child's name is Bryan tell him a story about a boy named Bryan and describe your story's Bryan in such a way that it's obvious you're talking about your child. This is a fine way but I have a different approach.

      Start your story this way: “One day you were walking down the street when suddenly you saw a box….”

      If you remember your grammar lessons, the conventional way of doing it is “third person”—“he,” “she,” or “they;” The way I'm suggesting is “second person”—“you.” Tell your story in the second person and draw your child right into it.

      This isn't recommended for the youngest of nappers who might be confused by the second-person format and think the stories are actual events they just don't remember. But try it on your older nappers.

      In most storytelling, the words precede the pictures, but in this activity, the pictures come first. Cut a picture out of a magazine. The picture should show either a person or an animal as well as something more. Either the person or animal should be doing something (even something as simple as a person looking at his watch would be all right) or should be shown in some surroundings, preferably something more than just a typical living room.

      Now show the picture to your child and ask her to make up a story about the picture. You can prompt her: What is the person's name? Or, if the animal is a domestic animal or horse, what is the animal's name? What is the person or animal doing? What does your child suppose the person might be about to do? What does she suppose the person might have just done? If the person is outdoors or in a car or on a bike (or any other form of transportation), where might she be going?

      When she answers, you can then ask follow-up questions, prompting her to supply further details.

      (When she gets up from his nap, you can suggest she draw more pictures of the people in the story, if she wants.)