I recently ran a series of story writing workshops for children between the ages of seven and ten.
The challenge I set was to design a series of characters around fruit and vegetables and to use these characters in a short story that a very young child (aged about two or three) would enjoy. 
The first workshop centred on looking at picture books designed for younger children. We disused the language, the use of rhyme and repetition and the use of illustrations to help tell the story.
During the second workshop the children drew and described their characters using pencil crayons.
The third workshop was about writing an introduction.
The fourth and fifth workshop covered the development of the plot.
The sixth workshop was about writing a good conclusion.
The seventh workshop concentrated on illustration.
During the eighth and ninth workshop we published our stories using the ‘Book Creator’ app.
The tenth and last workshop gave everyone the opportunity to share their story to the rest of the group.
In order to guide the children through the whole story writing and illustrating process I followed the challenge myself and during the ten week period wrote five stories myself about the little folk who lived on ‘ Five a Day Hill’
The illustrations of all five books are in Pencil Crayon as this was the medium used by the children during the workshops. It is also the medium available in most homes. One of the books also uses digital images created using free apps easily manipulated by seven year olds.
You can listen to the narrated story of PEDRO PEAR using the link below. I chose this story because it was and still is, one of my granddaughter Maia’s favourite. (Aged three).
She loves joining in with the many repetitions especially the ‘BOO’ and ‘YIKES’!!
Creative Learning for Young Children 