We are in a very mentally, emotionally, and financially challenging time right now.

How many of you are feeling very challenged right now? Life is certainly full of uncertainties, and right now is no exception. I understand the challenges many of you face with being off work and having to make many adjustments for your families.

If you are in need of assistance with home schooling, there are many teachers offering their services. If you just need to talk about it, please feel free to call me. I home schooled my four children for many years back in the day when it was not the most popular thing to do.

One of the things we did to foster creativity and spur imaginative thinking was "creating our own stories" from simple images we found in magazines. These images had no words and definitely told a story that was unique. Sometimes it was hilarious and other times the story was sad or scary. But, the one thing they all had in common was the bonding it produced within us as a family unit, and the creativity it sparked within my children.

The video below explains it a little more in detail and it is such a simple thing to do that can be fun. Here it is in a nutshell-

1.CHOOSE AN IMAGE FROM A MAGAZINE WITH NO WORDS (IF YOU HAVE NO MAGAZINES, CHOOSE A GOOGLE IMAGE OR AN IMAGE FROM A POSTER OR BOOK THAT HAS NO WORDS)

2.MOM OR DAD STARTS THE STORY OFF IN THE BEGINNING (once the kids catch on, they can do it, too) FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOUR IMAGE IS OF A DOG AND CHILD, START WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS, "ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE LIVED A DOG AND BOY NAMED......" THEN HAVE YOUR CHILD COME UP WITH THE CHILD'S NAME

3. START ANOTHER SENTENCE LIKE, "THE BOY, WHO IS NAMED GEORGE, FOUND A DOG WHEN HE WAS....",. THEN HAVE YOUR CHILD FILL IN THAT BLANK...

4. ASK QUESTIONS THAT BEGIN WITH WHO, WHAT, WHERE, AND WHY TO HELP YOU CHILD OR CHILDREN TELL THE STORY OF THE BOY AND THE DOG

5. LET YOUR CHILDREN TAKE TURNS FILLING IN THE BLANKS AND EXPANDING ON THE STORY

6. WRITE IT ALL DOWN AS YOUR CHILDREN TALK OR HAVE ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN WRITE IT DOWN

7. READ THE STORY ALOUD ONCE IT IS FINISHED

Sometimes this takes practice and it might take some time for your children to start or come up with something unique. Don't focus on being grammatically correct, rather let them just tell the story and write it down exactly as they say. This will spark creativity and can be a wonderful bonding experience when you read it together.