Adding Senses to Your Story

Now combine this with what you already practiced: take a made-up story with a beginning, middle, and end, and add one sense-detail to it. A story that says "the dog got scared" is fine; a story that says "the dog got scared — the thunder was so loud it shook the windows" lets a listener feel the same moment the character did.

Try this: go back to a character your child has already invented, or make up a new one, and ask: "What did this character hear, see, or feel at the scariest or most exciting part?" Add just that one detail to the story you already have. One good sense-detail, placed at the most important moment, does more work than five scattered everywhere.

This is also a good moment to notice out loud when your child adds a detail on their own without being asked — that's the habit actually taking hold, not just the game being played correctly.