Adventures in Toyland

There are many ways to tell a story; Richard Patterson's three-dimensional painting If serves as the inspiration for some creative storytelling for elementary school writers. They watch a clip from Toy Story (you'll need to bring this), and examine the life-sized painting, actually a toy under many layers of paint. Encourage kids to think of a back story describing how this happened to the toy. Older kids write individual accounts, while younger classes can create a group story. Encourage them to share, using effective story-telling techniques. There is some background information provided as well as images.