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Photo Essay Story

Preteen tells a story about their neighbourhood or day through a sequence of captioned photos.

Cartoon illustration of a parent and child at home doing Photo Essay Story.
  • Age10 to 13 years
  • Time30 to 60 minutes
  • EnergyModerate
  • CostFree
  • WhereIndoors or out
  • PrepNone

Your child tells a story about their day or their neighbourhood through a sequence of photos with short captions, arranged in an order that carries a message. A creative way to see the everyday with fresh eyes.

How to do it

  1. Help your child pick a simple theme for the essay, such as a morning at home, a walk nearby, or a favourite corner of the neighbourhood.
  2. Have them take a set of photos that show the story, thinking about what each one adds rather than snapping everything.
  3. Ask them to choose the strongest images and put them in an order that leads the viewer through the story.
  4. Have them write a short caption for each photo, a line that adds meaning rather than just describing.
  5. Let them share the finished essay with the family and explain the order and the message.

What you need

  • Device
  • Layout tool
  • Paper

Make it yours

Younger, 9-10 years: Fewer photos and one-word or short captions, with the story kept simple. Older, 12 years and up: Add a title and a short opening line that sets up the whole essay, and think about light and framing. Siblings: Each makes an essay on the same theme, then they compare how differently they saw it.

Try this with your child.

Tell PLAI™ about your child and this moment. It shapes the activity to fit.

Try it in the app