Little kids love making up their own stories. This simple idea is lots of fun, encourages imagination, teaches literacy skills and can make a special memento your child will cherish. Here's how.

What you need

• a camera (or a smart phone/tablet with a camera)
• access to printer*
• an exercise book

What to do

• Ask your child if they’d like to make a story together starring their toys.
• Ask your child to choose which toys to include in the story.
• Encourage your little one to set the toys up in a little scene, such as eating breakfast, playing in the park, reading a book, or sleeping on the couch.
• Help your child to take photos of the scene (if they can do it themselves, let them!)
• Set up a new scene and repeat – you’ll need at least 4 photos to make a basic story.
• Help your little one to make up a story based on the pictures
  
  Teddy woke up one morning. He was very hungry so he ate a big bowl of cereal. Then Teddy went out to the park and had a big play. When he got home he read his favourite book. Teddy was so tired he had a snooze on the couch. What a lovely day!

If you have access to a printer, your child might like to create a handmade book by printing out the photos and pasting them into an exercise book. You can write the words of your story underneath the picture – or if your child is able to, encourage them to write some of the words themselves. (*If you don’t have access to a printer, you could tell the story with your child while scrolling through the photos on your phone or camera.)

If you have a smart phone or tablet, your child might like to create a digital book using an app. Search for ‘create a story book for kids’ in the app store for your device, and make sure the app lets you use your own photos. Depending on the app you use, your child might even be able to record their voice as they tell the story for each photo!