All the fun we had with Squiggles (read all about it here) led to the creation of something else–the cousin of the Squiggle, affectionately known as the Wiggle. I picked up the basic idea at a writer’s circle but came up with the name Wiggle myself. You see, it is like a Squiggle–kind of–but involves writing, so it starts with a “w.” I’ve always had quite the knack for naming things (I called our minivan Vanny, the toaster Toasty…you get the idea.) But you have to admit that it does roll off the tongue nicely. Squiggles and Wiggles. Wiggles and Squiggles. Doesn’t it kind of make you giggle? But wait, a Giggle is something else…we’ll get to that in the next post.
Anyway, a Wiggle finds its way into the world when four words are chosen– they could be chosen randomly by opening a dictionary and plopping your finger down, or they could be chosen by, say, the mom who is looking to incorporate certain vocabulary or at least ensure a variety of parts of speech are represented. In the end, it doesn’t really matter how the words are chosen. What matters is that the writers then set off to incorporate all four words in a short writing piece. The goal is to use them correctly and seamlessly.
Just like Squiggles, Wiggles were a hit with all the kids. When it came time to read the Wiggles aloud, my husband–unaware of the words of the day–would listen and try to pick out the four words that each writing piece had in common. Sometimes it was obvious since it would be unlikely that all five kids would use words like percolate or metamorphosis on their own. But he had to be on guard for trickery–kids purposefully added big vocab words that they hoped would distract their dad from the correct words. Do you think they were aware of all the learning that was happening as they poured over the dictionary looking for decoy words? Nope. And therein lies the secret superpower of Wiggles. All kinds of excellent wordsmithing goes on, not because the teacher made them or to get a grade, but for the poetry, the trickery, and the plain old fun of it.
Like Squiggles, Wiggles were filed in the “Great Minds Think DIFFERENTLY” binder, our ever growing anthology of wonderfully wacky tales that were spun from a few common threads.
Both Squiggles and Wiggles provide motivation to really press into a project and pursue one’s creative best. Show and tell is always just around the corner. And the best part is always in discovering just how differently we see things, think, and create. Squiggles and Wiggles are both fantastic ways to celebrate that great minds do in fact think differently.
And there is more. Next up, the final installment of the creative prompt trilogy…the Giggle. Stay tuned.
This article first appeared on Season of Wonder
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