How to Write A Captivating Script for Kids

Writing for kids is one of the many joys in life. It is an opportunity to glorify God and let your imagination run wild. If we aren’t careful, it is easy to get lost in all the fun and games and lose sight of the simple truths of the Gospel. But take heart, here are a few tips and tricks that may just help you to stay on task when writing your next script!

The Writing Process

When you begin to write your script, do not worry about editing or perfection first. Just get it out on the paper. Write, write, write! You can always go back and perfect later, but make sure you get all your ideas on the paper. Make sure you are in an environment that works for you creatively too. For me, turning on the new age music and turning off anything that could break my concentration is critical. (My whole family makes fun of me for the new age music thing, but hey, do what works, right?)

The Black Box

Then I go into something called the black box, which is like a blank canvas in your mind. I close my eyes and think to myself, What do I see? And then I allow my imagination to fill in the blanks there. What do I hear? Am I in a marketplace? A garden? What do those places sound like? What do I smell? Fresh-cut grass? Cow manure? What do I feel? A cool night breeze? The hot sun? Am I terrified, at peace? Do I feel sweat dripping from my chin or cool water splashing on my face? This is the time when the senses take center stage and draw me into the story. After becoming part of the story, it is much easier for me to write because it feels like it is happening to me.

Interaction

For kids, this concept is vital. Why do kids dream of going to Disneyworld? Because there, they become part of the adventure. They become the Princess or the monster; they ride the rides they saw in the movie. Your Large Group is where children can experience being inside the Bible and becoming a part of the story. What better way to make an impression? That being said, they do not need to be professional actors either. They can be puppets, and you are the puppet master; they can become trees, waves, or a ship; they can be the sound effects of a story; they can be the narrator; the list goes on and on! In whatever way you can draw them into the adventure of knowing Jesus!

Wonder

Why? Because God Is Wondrous. If we try to rationalize and explain every piece of the puzzle that is God, we are doing two things: pretending we understand God, which none of us do, and robbing kids of their natural tendency to believe in God's divine awesomeness. Kids do not need everything explained; they believe in magic. They believe that Santa leaves presents and the Easter bunny leaves candy; the only difference is that God's timeless wonder never runs out; it only gets bigger.

Characters

Commit to your characters, people! If you are a science nerd you better have white crazy hair, a weird accent, googly glasses and a white lab coat! If you are a princess, you'd better have a poofy dress, sparkly tiara and be able to sing! If you are Methuselah you'd better have an old-man voice, a hunched back, a long white beard and not be able to hear a thing anyone says! This is where comedy happens. In whatever script you are writing, DEVELOP your characters and choose actors that will COMMIT!

For example, Methuselah keeps repeating things back incorrectly because he cannot hear a dang thing, the crazy Scientist keeps changing accents from German to Russian to Irish to Minnesota, and the audience and narrator know it, but the Scientist will never admit it. The Princess keeps singing everything she says and imagining musical numbers are happening, which only makes her look like she needs to be medicated. POOF! Church becomes a fun, funny place to learn about God.

Keep It Linear

I cannot stress this enough. Many of us creative types have minds like popcorn: when we have an idea, connected ideas pop into our heads in non-connected ways - like popcorn. If you are one of these creative types, you must stop and have someone read your script (or a few people) to see if they understand it; this process is called peer review. After a while, you will know what to look for and do this yourself; however, having another set of eyes on your work is usually a great idea. Even though your thoughts may come to you in fragments and bounce around in your mind like popcorn, you must tame them and put them into a linear stream of consciousnesses.

Why? Because although other adults in your life might be able to connect the dots when you jump from A to F to C to B and in between - kids cannot. You have to explain things linearly: "A + B means C, and if that is true, then D, E, and F are also true!"

Proofread your scripts, not only for creativity, character development, interaction, wonder but also for a clear, linear form of communicating God's truth..