I’m terrible at reading maps. It doesn’t matter if it’s a paper map or GPS and don’t get me started on cardinal directions- I’ll never find you! Now, tell me to turn left at McDonald’s, go 3 blocks and turn right at the blue birdhouse, then look for the tree that fell down and I’m there no problem. What about you? Map reader or visual clues. Let us know. This leads us to today’s story lab. You can get the full lab with twists and age variations in the Story Lab classroom or click this link to go direct to the activity. #Map the Unmapped Every world has places worth discovering. Create a map of somewhere that doesn’t exist yet, then discover what happens when you try to travel through it. Gather Your Gear: - Large sheet of paper, paper bag, or several sheets taped together - Pencil, crayons, or markers - Small object to use as a traveler, such as a coin, button, toy figure, or game piece - Optional: ruler - Optional: stickers or sticky notes Steps: 1. Make the first mark. Draw one feature somewhere on your map. It might be a mountain, castle, enormous tree, floating island, secret tunnel, or something nobody has seen before. 2. Take turns expanding the world. Each person adds a new place or feature. Give interesting places names as you go. 3. Make it tricky. Add something that makes traveling difficult. Maybe there’s a bottomless canyon, a river flowing uphill, a forest that rearranges itself, or a bridge guarded by a very stubborn goose. 4. Hide something. Add a secret place, treasure, creature, shortcut, or discovery somewhere on the map. Decide whether everyone knows about it or only the mapmaker does. 5. Choose a journey. Place your traveler somewhere on the map and choose a destination. 6. Travel the map. Move your traveler toward the destination. As you reach different places, describe what happens there. If you encounter an obstacle, decide how your traveler gets past it. 7. Finish the journey. Did you reach your destination? Where did you actually end up? Add any new places you discovered along the

I’d love to hear from the parents, grandparents and teachers in this community: what types of stories can the children in your lives simply not get enough of? Are they obsessed with magical adventures, funny animals, mysteries, superheroes, friendship stories, fairy tales, spooky-but-cute characters — or something completely different? Please share their ages too, as I’d love to understand how children’s interests vary across different age groups. Your insights would be incredibly valuable to me as a children’s author! 😊 👉 I'm listening. 😉

Storytelling is both an art and has a long history over hundreds of years as a way to share wisdom, knowledge, and family history. This week, in the Story lab, we are going to explore creating story worlds. For those of you who are new to the community, if you click the Classroom tab, you will find our four main labs: Curious Kitchen, Play, Story, and Build. Each week, I provide 5-6 activities for one of the labs. This week, it's story lab. I'll also post a short version of the activity here and then you can visit the classroom to see an activity twist and also variations for age broken down by 3-6, 7-12, and 13 - 17. You are encouraged to share your stories, builds, and more with the community. We also have a few authors and illustrators in our community, I'm sure they would be delighted to have a conversation here. Some of our creatives are @Joanne Langston who is also presenting at Unplug & Play, @Paulette Ng who is developing several children's books and educational content, and @Sakthivel M Drop your questions below.

I'm curious about your family's approach to educational YouTube content, especially for younger children. I'd love to hear your thoughts: - At what age did you start letting your child watch educational videos on YouTube? - How much screen time do you usually allow for educational content? - Which educational YouTube channels or programmes do your children enjoy the most? - What made you choose those channels? (For example: educational value, entertainment, trust, recommendations, production quality, or something else.) - Have you found any channels that genuinely helped your child learn or develop new skills? I'm asking because I'm researching children's educational content and would really value hearing about real experiences from parents, rather than just relying on online articles. Thank you in advance for sharing your insights! 😊

Imagine you're a toddler exploring a brand new world as you learn to walk or perhaps you're a pre-teen ready to embark on new adventures, or maybe, a teen walking between childhood and adulthood. Each brings a unique set of challenges and sometimes, as one of the adults in their lives, it's hard to communicate with them. That's why this week's story lab focuses on world building and idea sharing. You can use the concepts to open doors and have conversations you might now have dreamed of in the regular day to day. Each activity can be done in as few as 15 minutes but if the kids are enjoying it, you may find they fill up an hour or more. For the complete activity with variations by age go to #A Door to Somewhere. When you complete the activity, click the checkmark in the upper right corner to mark it as finished, you can always revisit but it may help you track your progress. Here's today's story lab. Every door leads somewhere. But what if an ordinary door in your home could suddenly open into a place that has never existed before? Gather Your Gear: - A door in your home - Paper - Pencil, crayons, or markers - Optional: household objects to use as props - My Story Planner (optional) Steps: 1. Choose your door. Pick any door in your home. Don't open it yet. 2. Imagine what's on the other side. Everyone takes a turn adding one detail. Maybe it opens onto a floating city, a jungle where the plants whisper, an underwater library, or someplace completely different. 3. Build the world together. Decide what you might see, hear, smell, or feel when you step through. What makes this place different from your everyday world? 4. Add something unexpected. What is happening when you arrive? Perhaps everyone is hiding. Something enormous just flew overhead. A tiny creature is waiting for you. There are footprints leading away from the door. 5. Open the door. Pretend you've crossed into your new world. Explore it together through conversation, movement, drawing, or acting. 6. Capture your world. Draw what you discovered, make a quick map, write or tell a few sentences about your visit, or simply keep playing.