How to Bring Your Child’s Favorite Book Character to Life!
Kids are known for having bold and bright imaginations. Childhood creativity is unrivaled and can be applied in so many exciting ways.
Children are looking for ways to apply their creative spirit and imagination more in their day-to-day lives. One great challenge for your household may be to pick a day and bring your favorite book character(s) to life.
Plan your whole day around how you think the character would spend their day. What would the character eat? What kind of games would they play? Would they go for a walk? Try a puppet show where you create a new story featuring the same character.
Here’s an example of how to bring your child’s favorite book character to life, featuring a Dandeliophone (children’s pop-up book) character named Little Ant.
Start your day off the way Little Ant would
Ask your child what they think that Little Ant would like for breakfast? How would he wake up and what would he do in the morning? Would Little Ant set some goals for the day? Would Little Ant do some stretching or yoga?
Decide how the start of your day would look like your book character of choice and really lean into it for your child. If they request a specific kind of food because that’s what they think the character would eat - then do your best to make that.
What physical activity would Little Ant do throughout the day?
To incorporate some movement into the day, ask your child what kind of activity you think the character would do throughout the day? In the Dandeliophone book, Little Ant lives in the forest so maybe he would go for a walk through a tree-filled nature area. On his walk, he’d drink some water and pack a snack like a cookie.
What games would Little Ant want to play during the day?
You’ve had breakfast and got your morning walk in as Little Ant would. Now, it’s time to ask - what kind of games or activities would Little Ant fill his morning with? Little Ant is a dreamer who loves to find solutions to things. Maybe he would spend his morning developing an invention or doing a craft. Maybe he’d write greeting cards to his friends for the mail. Maybe your child thinks that Little Ant would want to go to the mall and window shop. Or maybe Little Ant would want to watch a movie like Bug’s Life.
The possibilities here are endless. Be sure to prompt your child if they can’t think of anything at first. Once you spark that childhood creativity, you might be surprised what your child can come up with!
What stories would Little Ant be able to tell about the day?
Since you’re focusing your day on the main character in a book, it’s a great idea to foster some writing and storytelling skills on this day as well. Set aside an hour or two to create a new story featuring the same main character. Use childhood creativity to recap your day and add some extra elements. Or, create an entirely new story that’s different than Dandeliophone with new characters that also feature Little Ant. Since your child was the author of their own story today, they should keep a record of it. If you’re feeling ambitious, make the story into a small storybook and put it in your child’s bookshelf for them to remember this special day in the future.
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