Writing With Emotion

The different writing styles of boys and girls.

Today my children asked for one of their favorite writing projects, the story exchange. Basically to do a story exchange, each child starts a story and then after a certain time period we pass the story on to the person next to them. Each child then adds on to that story and so on until each child has added something to their sibling's story. 

This was my 6 year old daughter's first time to do this activity and she found it very distressing. She kept trying to add stories about happy princesses and little girls eating chocolate and then her brothers would take their turn on her story and add trolls and orks and goat headed men who discover that the pretty princess was actually Medusa. Needless to say, what has been a favorite writing activity was not well received by my sweet little girl.  She ended up sprawled across her bed with tears pouring from her eyes. 

Although I still think it is a good writing exercise, I may have to wait a few years, or break the groups into a boys group and a girls group. The boys want to write about adventure and excitement, while we ladies would rather write sweet stories with happy endings.  This is just one more example of how differently boys and girls learn when given the opportunity to express their God given design.

Adventure loving son.

Distressed princess.