A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

Today’s Try It activity is from the A Rover’s Story Arrow by Jasmine Warga.

Concise Colors!

1. Grab a big box of crayons, colored pencils, or markers. Or head online to find virtual paint chips!
   
2. Walk around the house and search for colorful items. Green walls, a blue couch, a kaleidoscope mug, or even your brown dog would work!
   
3. Using your color tools, zero in on the color that best matches your item. 

Perhaps that purple bedroom is violet. The gray cat might be manatee gray, while a red flower in the garden sports shades of vermillion.

Colors are a powerful descriptive writing tool!

Enjoy the color hunt alone, or play with the color words to create a poem or micro-story! 

P.S. Try it activities like this are found in each Dart (8-10), Arrow (11-12), Boomerang (13-14), and Slingshot (15-18)! Grab one of our Literature Singles and invite wordplay into your day! 

The Complete List of Try It Activities

Spot some sequences!

Today’s Try It activity is from the Ways to Grow Love Dart.

Where do you encounter a sequence of actions that must be followed in a specific order?

Your pantry might be full of examples. Take a look at the instructions on a box of macaroni and cheese or pancake mix—whatever you have handy.

• Notice the sequence of steps.
• Why are they in that order?
• What would happen if you mixed them up? 

You’ll find sequenced instructions in:

• LEGO sets
• IKEA furniture boxes
• board games
• shampoo bottles
• and lots of other household objects!

With your kids, go on a quest and see what kinds of sequencing shows up around your home. 

Level Up!

To level up this activity, ask your child to tell you the steps of brushing their teeth. Write each step down on an index card. Then mix the cards up and have them try to brush their teeth in the new, jumbled order.

Prepare for a minty-fresh giggle-fest!

P.S. Try it activities like this are found in each Dart (8-10), Arrow (11-12), Boomerang (13-14), and Slingshot (15-18)! Grab one of our Literature Singles and invite wordplay into your day! 

The Complete List of Try It Activities

Assign Family Members Terrific Titles!

Today’s Try It prompt is from Week Two of our Amari and the Great Game Arrow.

Think about your parents’ or siblings’ special talents. Is your brother a fabulous dog walker? Does your dad make magic in the kitchen?

Work with your kids to assign job titles to each person in your family. It’s okay if they’re zany!

Here are a few examples to get you thinking: 

• Mom, Chief Director of Fun Times
• Lydia, Director of Theatre Productions
• Baby Toby, President of Naps and Noises

Let us know how it goes (#bravewriterlifestyle)! 

The Complete List of Try It Activities

That’s amazing!

Imagine you’ve just seen an astonishing sight like a dolphin flying through the air.

• How would your body react? Try it! 
• How would you express that physical reaction in words?

Powerful Descriptions

Today’s Try It prompt is from Week Four of Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North Dart. Duane the polar bear and his friends are astonished at the actions of their friend Handsome!

Eyes widened as mouths and beaks fell open all at the same time.

(Oh, my! I could not believe what Handsome did either! I gasped!)

Choose another emotion to experiment with—keep it light and get bodies moving.

• Ask: How does your body react if something makes you angry or delighted or scared?
• Act out the feeling, noticing what your body does.
• Find words that capture that physical response. (Write them on a whiteboard—then play with them.)

The Complete List of Try It Activities