A creative way to spend time during the holidays with your children is to write together a beautiful Christmas story based on their own experiences. With these tips, you will set the first bases and then the imagination of the children will take over!

1. Before you start writing, think about the story and the characters. They may be your relatives, e.g. grandmother and grandfather or friends of your children. It is important that there are not many characters so you will be able to develop them.

2. Once you've found the characters, it helps to start thinking about the story by describing the first scene of the fairy tale. Where are our heroes? In which country, city, part of the house they are located?

3. Once you find the first scene, add details such as smells, flavors, texture. Since our story is Christmas based ... what do Christmas “smell” like? Your kids have images, smells and flavors in mind. These images will be used for your fairy tale. Ask them to tell you details of Christmas is like to them.

4. Conflict is essential in a child's story. Without Big Bad Wolf, the history of Red Riding Hood would not be interesting. Think about traditional fairy tales, for example, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio. They are full of emotions! Love, hate, revenge. Do the same yourself. Do not be afraid to use intense feelings. Maybe a moral dilemma for Santa Claus? Ask your children to tell you ... what would trouble them?

5. If you want to help them with the story, you can say the first sentence of a scene and let them continue the story. For example, "On Christmas Eve, Grandma sat in front of the fireplace…" You can also do this when a scene ends and the location changes or a new hero enters the story.

6. Let them use their imagination. If the Christmas story includes aliens, why not!

7. Ask them to describe the scene in detail and also describe the feelings of their heroes. This will help create the next scene.

8. For the end, try to locate how the story reaches a peak e.g. a problem. After finding the solution, guide your children to complete the story.