WRITE STUFF hoping to bring their Carpool of Imagination to the Toy Show
By Grainne McCool
The children from The WRITE STUFF Kids Club in Muff, Co. Donegal have embarked upon an online plea to Ryan Tubridy and The Late Late Toy Show.
Based on James Corden’s infamous Car Pool Karaoke, the children have put together an imaginary carpool to showcase their ability to use their imagination and encourage the use of language and words.
The WRITE STUFF Kids Club is a facility for children all over Inishowen, Derry and now Wexford, where children are encouraged to express themselves creatively in writing.
Books are never far from the fore and a little library is currently building up at Warrenview Manor in Muff, where the club is based.
Children are encouraged to read in order to enhance their writing ability. Reading also serves to develop the imagination.
I started this wee club just over a year ago with the goal of encouraging children to explore their creativity through writing. There are no hard and fast rules, just wording fun at the fore. There is no pressure to excel but each child is encouraged to fulfil their own individual potential with words.
Many of the children in the younger group are still not competent in reading and writing. And so they tell stories through pictures and art. Imagination fun is always encouraged and creativity consistently at the fore.
Children range in age from just six years to 13 at present. They all have the same goal. They strive to tell their stories in the best way that they can.
One of my favourite questions from the children is, “Grainne does it have to be real, or can we make it up?” Nothing has to be real in this environment except the firm belief in using the imagination.
Myself and a few of the children were invited on to the Eileen Walsh show on Drive 105 – a local radio station in the neighbouring city of Derry, recently. On finishing our interview one of the children said to me, “We should go on The Late Late Toy Show next.”
Her words stuck with me.
These children would be perfect to introduce something new to the Toy Show this year. They are determined to write a piece together about the importance of being creative with words and the importance of reading. They then want to showcase their written piece by performing it on this years Late Late Toy Show.
Just last weekend the children came together and made this imaginary car pool. The car (which turned out to be a bus load) used some coffee tables, a sofa and their imagination and they set out for The Late Late Toy Show.
They read a poem which they hope Ryan Tubridy might hear and maybe invite them to achieve their dream of performing on The Late Late Toy Show.
The WRITE STUFF Kids Club continues to put writing and reading at the fore. Language and words will always be at their core. Could The Late Late Toy Show be their next port of call? This #CarpoolOfImagination will just keep travelling and one day reach its destination.