Children Finding Help Through Stories

The On Our Minds Scholastic blog recently featured an article about how in these tough economic times, children can find help in coping through the stories they read. The topic was brought into the spotlight by the NBC Nightly News when they ran a story about a little girl who found the courage to break her silence about her family's homelessness because of a book.

I agree that books can help children in so many ways, and children can see themselves, sometimes, in the characters they read about. That can really help them to cope with the variety of things that they are going through.

I also believe that sometimes telling stories can be cathartic for children. Even if the story they are telling is fictional, they can sometimes live out a fantasy or show someone else dealing with the same issue that they are, or even work through something through writing about it. Another method that writing can help a child deal with issues in his life is through poetry.

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) has a Young Writer's Program. It is free to join and it begins on November 1st and runs through November 30th. I wish more schools would get involved with it, but your child can sign up as an individual and start writing! I highly recommend it!

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Creative Kids

Since Your Kids' Creations is all about inspiring our kids to be creative, I thought I'd share some of the creativity my own kids have been showing.

Gabriella is eight years old. She has her own blog where she posts her drawings, stories she has written and poems she has written. She even makes and posts videos on occasion. Her blog is called Gabby's Art Gallery. She's had the blog ever since she was seven. You can follow Gabby's Art Gallery on Facebook. You can also find a lot of her artwork in several different on-line stores such as Through Innocent Eyes on Printfection, Through Innocent Eyes on Zazzle, or as a section of a larger store at Fyfe Photography & Design.

Isabella is only 5 years old. She too has been working creatively for more than a year. She has her own blog called Tangle Fairies, and you can also follow the Tangle Fairies blog on Facebook. She has several shops too. A few of her designs can be found at the same Printfection store as Gabby's art, Through Innocent Eyes at Printfection. Her designs can also be found in Imaginative Minds and Tangle Fairies. A few of her earlier designs can be found in a section of the larger Fyfe Photography & Design store too.

Connor is four years old. His blog and his store are very new, started only this week. Connor's blog is called Connor's Spirit Of Imagination and it has a Spirit Of Imagination Facebook page. His store is called Spirit Of Imagination.

Gabby has some books that are her own creation (with help from Your Kids' Creations) at Moonduster's Books. Isabella and Connor will have books available there soon too.

Another way kids can be creative is through photography. All three of the children have their own photography blog, shared between them, and a store too. Their blog is called Photography By Kids. The Photography By Kids blog has a Facebook page too. There is also a Photography By Kids gift store.

They also love to bake and create food desserts, so they share a blog called Kids Creating Cakes: Cooking For Kids and there is a Kids Creating Cakes Facebook page as well as a Kids Creating Cakes store.

And because they are so interested in creativity and in trying new things, they also have a review blog called Children Review where businesses can send them kid-products to try and test out and hear what children think of them. There is also a Children Review Facebook page.

Social media has a lot of avenues for children to express their creativity and to find encouragement. With a conscientious parent monitoring their on-line activity, there is a wealth of activity for a child to embark on the Internet.

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