如何把玩積木和看視頻完美結合

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小孩喜歡玩積木，更喜歡看視頻。如何將兩者結合，再加上創意、想象力和說故事能力的鍛練？今天我跟我的二個小孩玩了以下遊戲，大家不妨在家試試。

1. 播放一個兒童故事的視頻，在關鍵情節暫停視頻。今天我播放了「大野狼與七隻小綿羊」的故事，在野狼成功進入了羊家的時候暫停。

2. 小孩把到目前為止的故事用積木砌出來，然後簡單介紹一下。砌的過程無需拘泥於積木的選擇和砌出來的效果是否跟故事一致。我家的積木沒有狼，也沒有綿羊。結果兒子選擇用鯨魚代替狼，小孩人偶和小動物代替綿羊，不影響故事的內容。

3. 我叫小孩想象一下故事的發展是怎樣的，而結局又是如何？羊媽媽會回來嗎？小羊是否注定成為野狼的午餐？孩子用積木把故事延續，然後說出來。我兒子説羊媽媽最後找到野狼，用刀割開其肚皮，救出所有小羊(如此殘暴？！)

4. 最後，當然是觀賞原著的結局。

心得分享

這個活動要成功，有數個要點：

1. 選擇的故事視頻不要太長，最好不要超過5分鐘，否則太長、太多內容小孩記不了，也砌不了。

2. 選擇適當的轉折位暫停視頻。轉折位應該是故事的關鍵時刻，而後面的情節容許不同的可能性發生。

3. 多讚賞孩子的故事和創意，不論其是否合理。孩子們編的故事精彩與否，合理與否，統統不是重點。重點是孩子的創意和投入。世上沒有比父母的一句「這怎麼可能？」，「這結局也太爛了吧！」更能扼殺創意。父母應該做的，是全程投入的聆聽，並利用發問引導孩子說出更多：

「為什麼他會這樣做？」，

「你覺得他的心情是怎樣的？」

而且不要吝嗇讚賞：

「你的故事很特別呢！」，

「我很喜歡這個結局。」，

「你的想像力挺豐富的。」

4. 看完原著結局後，千萬不要和孩子的結局作比較。這個活動並不是以做到正確答案為目的，所以不要說「你的故事還差很遠呢！」之類的話。可以說「一個故事可以有不同的結局，我很喜歡你編的故事！」

試試跟孩子玩玩吧！期待你的分享。

How to perfectly combine bricks building and video watching for your kids

Kids love playing with bricks and watching videos. How do you combine both activities, and at the same time develop their creativity and storytelling muscles? I tried the following activity with my kids today and you can do the same!

1. Play a video of a kids’ story, and pause the video at the critical moment of the plot. I played the video “The Wolf and Seven Little Sheep” and paused when the big bad wolf entered the sheep’s house.

2. Ask the kids to use bricks to build the story up to this point. Then ask them to tell it as it. Don’t worry if you don’t have the proper bricks. I didn’t have any wolf or sheep bricks at home. My boy used a whale to represent wolf and bunch of mini-figures and small animals to represent the little sheep. That doesn’t matter.

3. Ask the kids to imagine what the story will look like moving forward, and use the bricks to continue the story and eventually build the ending of the story. Will the sheep mother come back? Are the little sheep destined to be the feast for the wolf? My little boy said the sheep mom found the wolf, and use a knife to cut its belly and rescue the little sheep (I can’t believe my boy is so cruel!)

4. Last but not least, watch the “official” ending of the story.

To make this activity successful, there are a few points to note:

1. The duration of the video should not be too long, preferably less than 5 minutes. Videos that are too long have too much contents that kids won’t be able to remember or build.

2. Pick the right moment to pause. The ideal moment should be a critical point in the plot and it allows different possibilities moving forward.

3. Recognize the kids’ creativity and engagement, not the “greatness” of their stories. This activity is not about how great of a story they can come up or how much of a plot twist they can pull off. It is about their creativity and storytelling. Facilitate your kids to tell more by asking skilful questions, “Tell me why he does that”, “What does he feel right now?”, “Tell me more”. In addition, be generous with your compliment, “I like the ending of your story”, “Your story is truly special”, “Your imagination is spectacular”. Nothing is more destructive than saying “Your ending is absurd”, “Oh goodness! How can he do that? That is impossible!”.

4. Never compare the true ending with the one created by your kids. Remember, this activity is not about getting to the “model answer”. Don’t say something like “Boy your story is way off”. Instead you could say “Every story could have multiple endings. I like the one you created.”

Try this activity, and let me know how it goes.