Character mapping is a simple way to implement imaginative writing activities in the classroom or even at home. Depending on the student's age and ability, the basic premise simply entails a child organize a visual layout of already existing characters (examples: people from books, TV shows or movies) to help them recognize how they are interrelated. Using a flow-chart diagram written on a sheet of paper, younger students may write a character name inside a shape of some kind to visually connect the characters together.
Games such as play acting, pretending or even show-and-tell, are ways to facilitate the imagination of kids of virtually any age. It is also a method whereby students can recount an event in more detail. You can have them write about a particular experience or detail individually or in groups. Role-reversal is also a common classroom writing activity used by elementary, middle and high school teachers to help promote cultural diversity.
Free writing is a common imaginative writing activity that may help students who have trouble coming up with subject ideas. Kds simply write down everything that comes across their minds at that particular point in time. Educators often refer to this process as "stream of consciousness" writing. Be sure to tell students that it doesn't matter if what they write makes sense, only that they keep writing. Statements such as "I don't know what to write" or "My shoes are untied," are quite acceptable.
Different Ways of Knowing or "DWOK" is a teaching method designed for collaborative and active learning. The aim is to have students essentially organize, with the help of their instructor, the process of their own learning. For example, you can use imaginative writing activities to address a common problem that a group of students have. This exercise works for virtually any age. Have them write about solutions to an issue either individually or collectively.