Bring your children’s stories to life with now>press>play.

Over the coming weeks, chances are that the children in school and at home will be writing dozens of stories, or perhaps they have a story they’ve already written and are very proud of.

But what to do with all these wonderful creations?

Writing for a purpose - We have a clever idea for you to turn the written word into an audio story! Now your children have an audience and a context that is beyond the page. Once they record their story it can be shared with friends, family or another school. Plus, if you share your audio adventures with us, we will be happy to comment and give feedback.

Children will learn valuable skills during the process:

• Story writing
• Editing skills
• Recording skills
• The pleasure of writing for a purpose

Below are 4 simple steps that you can follow to make it happen...

1. Simplify
2. Story
3. Sound (Record)
4. Share

Keep It Simple!

All the way through the process, remind yourself to “Keep It Simple”. A 2-3 minute long story would be a good target.

1. Story

If you don’t have a pre-existing story and you are starting from scratch, then you can use a tool like a Story Mountain to help you plan what will happen.

Here is an example that you can use, courtesy of Mark W. Jones. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/free-blank-story-mountain-planning-template-11747240

Or visit Twinkl-Story Mountains.

Younger children can draw what will happen in the boxes and older children can use the boxes to write their ideas. Don’t forget to Keep It Simple.

Once you are finished you will move onto recording!

2. Record

There are two ways of recording sound either using a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) or simply with a smartphone or laptop. Both are fun ways to record your story. DAW means using sound production software like GarageBand, Logic, Audacity or Final Cut. You can search on YouTube for tutorials on how to use this software.

If you don’t have access to a DAW, we suggest you use the voice memo on your smartphone, tablet/iPad or laptop.

Recording without a DAW

• Record your voice on a laptop, tablet or even “voice memo” on a phone.
• Record in sections to keep it simple
• You can add sound effects (SFX) live! So as your ‘actor’ is reading, they, or another person, does the sound simultaneously (see sound effects/foley below)
• Or perhaps you just want to record without SFX and simply have the author's voice reading aloud

With a DAW

• You can still record voiceover on a phone/tablet, then upload it into your DAW (via USB/email)
• Or record straight into your DAW,
• In your DAW, lay voiceover at the top (use different tracks for different actors)
• Do you want to add any effects to the voiceover? (e.g. Reverb, Delay for an echoey moment)
• Below your voiceover, you can add sound effects i.e. ambiences and music (see below).

Sound Effects (SFX) & Music

• Foley is when you make SFX yourselves, e.g. crackling crisp packets when someone’s walking on leaves...or blowing with your mouths for wind. Consider using percussion etc
• Or you can find existing sound effects. Most DAWs come with lots. Or look on Youtube or plenty of other free sound effects online.

See this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNhRdK14_ds

• “Ambient FX” are longer ambiences that create an environment (e.g. wind, traffic, the sea)
• “Underscore” usually refers to music. You could create your own music or use existing music
• Actors - decide who will read which part.

Share Your Audio Story!

Congratulations! You’ve recorded your story. Now share it with your friends and family.

Share your audio stories with using #nppAtHome on Twitter and Facebook.