Coming up with a great story idea can be tricky, which is why we’ve gathered together four fun activities to spark your child’s imagination and help them overcome writer’s block.Ìę

Why not use these activities to inspire your child to create an exciting adventure for the BBC 500 Words short story competition, which opens on 26th September 2023?

1. Find inspirational objects at home

Unusual objects can be a great source of story inspiration. Raid your kitchen cupboards or hunt through the attic to find lost treasures. Anything from an old hat to a telescope will do the trick. Ask your child questions about the object to inspire different story ideas.

What could it be used for? Who might be looking for it? What secrets could it hold? Suggest different genres or types of story such as mystery or science fiction and discuss how the item might be used in this kind of story.

2. Turn facts into fiction

Fun facts from encyclopedias, museums, zoos, the internet and beyond can inspire astounding stories. Did you know a jumping flea can accelerate faster than a space rocket taking off into orbit? You could use this science fact to spark a story about an astronaut flea saving Tim Peake from bug-eyed alien invaders.

What is the craziest story idea your child can think of inspired by the facts they find?

Author Top Tip:
Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks: just write the story you would love to read.

3. Scour the headlines

Real-life events can often spark great story ideas. Have a look through a newspaper or find some news articles online. There are all sorts of interesting details in news stories that could inspire wild and wacky stories. Why not combine details from different reports to create a fresh and original story?

4. Have fun with our idea generator

Sometimes it’s the mix of ingredients that can give you a story idea that stands out from the crowd. Get your budding writer to choose different characters, settings and genres from the table below and mix them together. What kind of mystery would Sherlock Holmes solve on his visit to Hogwarts?

Author Top Tip:
Don’t just go with your first idea for a story. a) it might not be your best idea and b) the chances are, a lot of other people will think up that idea as their first idea too. So come up with at least three different ideas – and then choose the one you think is the best.

These activities should help your child get off to a flying start in writing an amazing tale. The only limit is their imagination!

More from Oxford Owl

• ”ț±ôŽÇČ”:Ìę4 top tips for writing great plots
• ”ț±ôŽÇČ”:Ìę4 fun ways to develop characters for a short story
• ”ț±ôŽÇČ”:ÌęHow to find the perfect words for your story
• Tips and activities: On ourÌęÌępage, children’s author Christopher Edge shares his top 10 tips to get your child writing, whilst free activity sheets will help them discover their inner author.
• Blog: Find out all you need to know about the BBC 500 Words short story competitionÌęright here.
• Blog: Find more inspiration in thisÌębreakdown of the 2017 500 Words competition,Ìęincluding excerpts from 2017’s stories.

Books to support creative writing

Queen is the Oxford Children’s Word of the Year 2022.

Children express overwhelming sadness at loss of Queen but remain hopeful about year aheadÌę

According to research conducted by 51șÚÁÏÍű, Queen is the children’s word of the year for 2022. Almost half of children surveyed chose Queen as their word of the year, followed by over a third selecting happy and more than one in ten choosing chaos.Ìę

When asked why they chose Queen, many children talked about sadness and loss as well as feelings of pride in relation to the late monarch. Girls were more likely than boys to relate to the late Queen, and analysis of the Oxford Children’s Corpus, the largest children’s English language database in the world, revealed Queen Elizabeth was regularly in the top-ten list of famous peopleÌęchildren have written about over the years.ÌęÌę

The Research

In order to find the Children’s word of the year 2022 4,000 children aged 6-14 across the country were asked for their suggested word of 2022 and based on the most common responses and themes in their answers, three words were shortlisted:Ìę

• Queen
• happy
• chaos

The three words were then put to vote by a further 1,000 children to decide their overall word of 2022.

“It comes as no surprise that Queen is Children’s Word of the Year for 2022. This not only reflects Her Majesty’s 70 years of incredible service, but over the past decade our research consistently reveals how attuned children are to the news and the impact current affairs have on their language. It’s vital we continue to invest in language development and ensure children have access to a wide range of vocabulary in order to feel equipped to process and discuss the news.”Ìę –Ìę Helen Freeman, Director of Oxford Childrens

“The choice of Queen highlights how affected children were by the emotions and sense of community and connection around the Jubilee and the Queen’s death. We always encourage teachers and parents not to shy away from discussing the news and the empathy issues of the day. Schools report that making brave book choices, and focusing on honest, empathetic talk really opens-up a new, deeper relationship, between teacher and pupil, and among children themselves.”Ìę –Ìę Miranda McKearney OBE, founder of EmpathyLab

The Highlights

• The research suggests that children are very aware of wider global, political and economic issues: themes including the war in Ukraine, cost of living crisis and the climate emergency were frequently mentioned in early surveys. Responses also show that many are taking stock at a pivitol point in time and recognising a point of transition, both after the Covid-19 pandemic and that “we have a king now instead of a queen”.
• 39% of boys and 52% of girls in the final survey chose the word Queen, suggesting girls were more likely than boys to choose this word. There are also some newly-emerging word senses that the research uncovered, with participants revealing that they were using the word ‘queen’ as a compliment, saying:
  • “I always say ‘yes queen’ to every woman/girl I know I want them to feel empower[e]d. Every woman/girl I know is a queen in my eyes”
  • “Because we girls are queens”
• Cool was voted as the children’s colloquial word of the year, chosen by 40% of children in the final survey. Sick and slay were also popular choices identified as words used by children and teenagers but not adults.
• Overall, there was a very hopeful feeling about children’s suggested words. Happy was the most popular chice from the shortlist with 36% of the votes. Both happy and happiness were poular suggestions and xhildren frequently contrasted the difficult years they have experienced with a sense that better times are to come.

Empathy and Vocabulary

A strong theme in the research is children’s capacity for empathy, particularly in looking beyond events in their own lives to bigger picture things like the Queen’s death and conflict in Ukraine. IfÌę you are looking to explore topics in the world around you with your child at home, the following links may help:

• Blog: Mindfulness and mental health: top five tips for parents
• Blog: Building kids’ resilience and confidence
• Books: Big Words for Little People

Books to build Vocabulary

Anxiety is the 2021 Oxford Children’s Word of the Year.

It’s probably not suprising there’s been a significant growth in the vocabulary of mental health and wellbeing, with teachers finding young people more able to express their feelings in the classroom in the wake of the pandemic, school closures and isolation.

“Children are familiar with a lot more vocabulary linked to health and wellbeing and are able to describe their feelings and thoughts in more detail than before lockdowns”
– Classroom Teacher.

This positive sign shows children competently finding words to confidently share and explore their feelings, with teaches supporting in this by giving students positive direction, and encouraging adaptability and resilience.

The Research

For over a decade lexicographers, publishers and editors from 51șÚÁÏÍű have been tracking changes in children’s vocabulary and self-expression. This year the Children’s Language team selected wellbeing as a focus area for vocabulary and language research.

8,000 pupils from Year 3 to Year 9 discussed wellbeing with their teachers and chose the words they would be most likely to use when talking about health and wellbeing and their experiences of lockdown and the coronavirus pandemic:

• • Anxiety was the top children’s choice with 21%
  • Challenging was a close second with 19%
  • Isolate was the next most popular word with 14%

85 teachers were asked for the word they would use most when talking to their pupils about health and wellbeing in the context of the last two years:

• • Resilience was the top teachers’ choice with 31%
  • Challenging was the second choice with 19%
  • Wellbeing was the next most chosen word with 18%

“I think that sometimes the language we use can increase anxiety, so we have to be very clear about how we address language and difficult topics with students.” – Nicola Kind, Head of Philosophy and Ethics, Ifield Community College, West Sussex

The Highlights

• Language is key to self-expression, learning and wellbeing. It is a positive sign that children are comfortable and confident about sharing their feelings in the classroom – that they feel it is OK to express anxiety.
• Teachers feel children are better equipped with the vocabulary they need to express and explore their feelings than before lockdowns.
• The Oxford Children’s Corpus shows a threefold increase in use of the word anxiety from 2012 to 2020 with a move away from using anxiety in the context of perils in fantasy and adventure stories, to the realities of social anxiety and ‘stress about schoolwork’.
• Teachers have chosen resilience as the top word they use, demonstrating the crucial role they have in providing that positive direction and language modelling for students.
• The findings demonstrate the role we all play in making sure children have the words they need, and the importance of being aware of the language adults use around young people and how that can influence their learning and wellbeing. – This latest research supports findings from Oxford’s ongoing research into the “word gap” (when vocabulary falls below age related expectations) which highlights the huge role teachers and parents play in modelling language, and giving young people all the words they need in life, not just in school.

Anxiety and Wellbeing

If your child is feeling anxious, or you are looking at ways to talk about mental health and wellbeing with you child at home, the following links may help:

• Blog: What to do if you’re worried about your child’s mental health
• Blog: Mindfulness and mental health: top five tips for parents
• Blog: Building kids’ resilience and confidence
• Books: Big Words for Little People

Books to build Vocabulary

51șÚÁÏÍű is a proud partner of the 500 Words: Black Lives Matter story-writing competition. It launched on 29th June 2020 and invited children aged 5–13 to write 500 words on the themes and issues emerging from the Black Lives Matter movement.

Almost 6,000 children submitted entries, and, as part of ongoing research, the Oxford Children’s Dictionaries & Language Data team at 51șÚÁÏÍű analyzed all of the entries received to better understand children’s language, shining a light on children’s insight, empathy, and imagination when writing about race.

Read on for a selection of highlights from the findings, and with examples from many of the submissions.

Top names . . .

Given the theme and timing of the 500 Words: Black Lives Matter 2020 (500 Words: BLM 2020) competition, it is perhaps unsurprising that George Floyd is the top name mentioned in the children’s writing (compared to Santa and Cinderella, the two names that have topped the 500 Words name list for the past eight years). But as we go down the list, there are other differences too. Many more names in the 500 Words: BLM 2020 entries belong to real people associated with contemporary racist incidents or from anti-racism movements throughout history.

“So why are we protesting? Because in America a lovely man called George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer who knelt on his neck for 8 minutes and 36 seconds.”
‘Black Lives Matter – My Perspective’, boy aged 12

Sports people remain popular with Usain Bolt, Michael Jordan, and Muhammad Ali all making an appearance. And what of fictional characters? Children transform narratives on a serious subject with references to their favourite characters – in the top 500 we see references to Tiana from The Princess and the Frog and to the superhero film Black Panther. We also see the appearance of ‘Snow Black’:

“They named her Snow Black because her skin was as dark and beautiful as ebony and as smooth as snow. At a young age, her mother was shot by a police officer.”
‘Snow Black and the Seven Dwarfs’, boy aged 12

Top ten names

1. George Floyd

2. Martin Luther King

3. Rosa Parks

4. Martin Luther King Jr

5. Nelson Mandela

6. Derek Chauvin

7. Breonna Taylor

8. Donald Trump

9. Boris Johnson

10. Harriet Tubman

“Our treasured heroes, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela and many more, have relentlessly fought for equality and freedom.”
‘No Lives Matter until Black Lives Matter’, girl aged 11

Next, to a choice of words . . .

Some words appeared significantly more frequently in the 500 Words: BLM 2020 competition than in previous 500 Words submissions. These include protest (3,834 times), racism (3,785 times), racist (1,651 times), equal (1,110 times) and rights (971 times), with justice, equality, protester, discrimination, and slavery following closely behind. When asked to write on the theme of Black Lives Matter, children tended to draw on a specific range of vocabulary.

There was also an increase in non-fictional writing with realistic descriptions and accurate historical knowledge.

“A black man was killed. A police officer in America knelt on his neck for 9 minutes and even though the man, George Floyd, was saying ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,’ he kept kneeling. George Floyd died, and the riots started happening.”
‘The First Half of 2020’, girl aged 12

5,785 uses of the word colour . . .

The word colour was used ten times more in the 500 Words: BLM 2020 stories than in 500 Words 2020 stories, mainly in the context of skin. The two top colours mentioned are black and white, with the word black appearing 16,733 times and the word white appearing 6,569 times. The words black and white were also used in other imaginative ways, including ‘as black as a cave’ to ‘as white as snow’, ‘as black as coal’ to ‘as white as marshmallow fluff’.

“Dr Zaptum’s evil plan did not work, people are proud of their colour and would never want to be the same.”
‘Superheroes Save Colour’, girl aged 10

Positivity wins . . .

When analysing language of sentiment in the 500 Words: BLM 2020 stories, 62% are ‘happy’ words, 38% ‘sad’. The word happy itself saw 1,377 mentions versus 831 mentions of sad.

â€Àá’m proud to be black and I don’t believe it should divide us.”
‘Raising My Voice’, girl aged 11

What’s in a title . . . ?

The titles children use reflect the insight, empathy, and imagination seen in all pieces of writing, whether fiction or non-fiction, realism or fantasy. There are diaries and letters, references to literature and to superheroes. Many titles reference animals (giraffes, buffalo, octopus, jellyfish, hedgehogs, ducks, penguins, pandas), with children often using animals as metaphors in their writing to illustrate how it is possible to be different but live symbiotically.

Here’s a small selection:

• The Black Superhero and the Yeti and the Buttercups
• We Bleed the Same Blood
• Dear Donald J. Trump
• The Story of Rosie Parks
• Clyde and Prejudice
• The Yellow Penguins and the Blue Penguins
• Dragon Racism
• I Love My Skin

Explore the results

For more information on the findings and insights into children’s language in 2020, .

Writing tips and advice

• Web page: Creative writing
• Blog: How to plan your 500 words story
• Blog: How to write your 500 words story
• Blog: How to edit your 500 words story
• YouTube playlist:

You may be interested in:

Coronavirus is the 2020 Oxford Children’s Word of the Year.

2020 marks the 10th anniversary of story writing competition, and saw more than 134,000 children submit entries. That means that there have been over a million stories submitted to the 500 Words competition since it began!

Every year, the Oxford Children’s Dictionaries & Language Data team at 51șÚÁÏÍű analyse the short stories entered into the competition to find fascinating insights into children’s evolving use of language. Once again, children have shown themselves to be witty, inventive, and astute.

Why coronavirus?

Previous Children’s Word of the Year include Brexit (2019), plastic (2018), Trump (2017), and refugee (2016), indicating the influence of global affairs on children’s creativity. Standing out this year was the first appearance of the word coronavirus and related names or words, such as Covid-19 and Wuhan.

In many stories, the word is specifically associated with China, and lots of realistic physiological and medical details associated with the coronavirus are included. However, the young writers also show a delightful blend of humour and creativity as they write about searching for cures and dive into fantasy and science fiction:

‘That night I had an interesting dream, a magical sparkling unicorn came and whispered to me the secret ingredients of the cure for the coronavirus.’

One child (aged 12) even wrote about Salmonella, Flu, and Legionnaire’s Disease joining forces against coronavirus, whilst others enlisted the help of Smurfs, unicorns, drones, and magic potions!

The competition closed on 27th February – before the UK recorded its first coronavirus case and weeks before the lockdown – meaning that many of the children’s science fiction stories reflect real life in the UK today.

‘Back to 2020 is where we are heading where everything is wrong! The corona virus is taking over the integrity of China and trust me on this China is huge. Without warning it came to America, France and Portugal. Terrified people are covering their mouths with masks to prevent spreading it. It is also infecting the young of our world kids the next generation of people. It is sad because they are not getting to live their life to the fullest.’

Climate change, current affairs, and activism

The terrible bush fires in Australia and ongoing fears of the effects of climate change also feature strongly this year. These stories show how children today are very much in touch with the most pressing issues of our time and respond to them with sensitivity, compassion, and a desire to find positive, practical solutions.

Since plastic was the Oxford Children’s Word of the Year in 2018, use of the word has increased by 32% year-on-year, and phrases such as global warming, save the planet, and climate change have jumped in use:

‘She drew posters and handed out flyers to people to let them know what all the plastic that we are discarding was causing to ocean life and asked if they could just make one small change to help us save our sea creatures.’

Swedish teenagerÌęGreta ThunbergÌęhas seen her appearance in stories increase 1755% on last year, stimulating themes based on campaigning and activism. In one wonderful, feminist mash-up – notably written by an 11-year-old boy – Thunberg is working with three other iconic women to bring about political and societal change:

‘The P.O.W (Protectors Of Women) Brigade were having a meeting in their secret cellar beneath the magnificent Buckingham Palace. The head of the team Emmeline Pankhurst was leading the meeting
 “Now down to business. Rosa Parks, Greta Thunberg and Marie Curie – I would like you three to take this one: a man in America doesn’t believe that world problems and gender inequality is happening.’

Children also wrote stories about the Australian bush fires and their impact on wild animals, especially kangaroos and koalas:

‘What caught their eyes was the poor kangaroo in front of them crying, looking at the fire rapidly moving towards her joey.’

Helen Freeman, Director of Oxford Children’s Dictionaries and Language Data at 51șÚÁÏÍű, says:Ìę“Once again, the analysis of the children’s writing has revealed how tuned in young people are to global events and how real-world events can inspire such a variety of stories and writing styles, from apocalyptic science fiction, to fairy tales, to humour. It’s striking that so many children are choosing to explore these themes and ideas in their writing, and it’s a complete delight for us to read their stories in this special 10th anniversary year.”

Other highlights

• Children are writing about social media and technology more than ever, and were inspired to create new words, including Instabone, Instafly, Instapoo, cyberocracy, cybersaurus, and cybersnake.
• YouTube continues to be the most-mentioned social media platform, but mentions of Instagram are not far behind, increasing 99% in 2020.
• VSCO girl, a new phrase for 2020, was mentioned 52 times.
• Minecraft is the most-mentioned game with 947 hits.
• Donald Trump topped the list of famous people with 1,049 mentions.

Writing tips

500 Words might be over for another year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s time to put down your pens!Ìę

• Web page: Creative writing
• Blog: How to plan your 500 words story
• Blog: How to write your 500 words story
• Blog: How to edit your 500 words story
• YouTube playlist:

Creative writing books

Parents, teachers and researchers all know how important language is to children’s education and life chances. We want our children to enjoy their learning and to be able to express themselves in speech and writing. Having a good vocabulary plays an essential part in this and resources such as dictionaries are designed to help. But how can we help children get the most out of them?

Why a new dictionary and thesaurus?

At OUP, we are always working to update our dictionaries and keep them relevant. When we wrote the new and , we wanted to create brand new books for primary-age (8+) children that would not only help them with school work but would also encourage their own reading and writing, and ideally spark a love of language that continues throughout their lives.

Everything, from definitions and examples to the extra features and fabulous, full-colour illustrations that pack the pages, is chosen to be appealing, fun and easy to use. The books are written by lexicographers with input from teachers and educational experts and based on evidence from corpus, so you can trust them to be accurate as well as age-appropriate.

Five ways to get the most out of a dictionary or thesaurus

1. Discover together

Show your child that it’s fine not to know what a word means, or that you sometimes know a word but aren’t sure how to use or spell it – you can find out. Your child might enjoy challenging you with words that you don’t know – for example, grammar terms used at school, which are all listed in the back of the Dictionary.

2. Alphabet games

The Dictionary and Thesaurus both have alphabet tabs along the side of each page and ‘catchwords’ at the top to help you find the word you’re looking for. Games that practise alphabetical order can be very useful in finding information more easily (and are also good for practising spelling). You could put groceries into alphabetical order when you unpack them, or try to say all the number words one to ten in alphabetical order (this is quite difficult!).

3. Happy accidents and treasure hunts

Browsing the pages of a book leads to accidental discoveries. Try opening a page at random with your child and looking for the most interesting fact you can find on there. This might be a Word Story about where a word such as bonfire or bungalow comes from, or a picture that shows you what a samurai or a scarab looks like!

Encourage your child to follow trails from one word to another in the , by looking up the words in blue in the ‘Build Your Vocabulary’ boxes. Try the Treasure Hunt at the back of the dictionary.

In the , each letter begins with a challenge and encourages you to use the book to help find answers, for example ‘Can you think of 5 different words for ‘frightened’?’ or ‘Can you think of 3 adjectives for describing a bad storm?’

Through activities like this, children will not only learn interesting facts and build their vocabulary, but become confident users of reference books, a skill that will help them as they move through secondary school and beyond.

4. The confidence to create

Developing a love of language means more than just getting spelling and grammar right. It’s also about becoming confidently creative in the way you express your ideas.

Encourage your child to play with words. Lots of jokes that you probably already enjoy with your child depend on world play and double meanings.

Why couldn’t the pony sing? – Because he was a little hoarse.
What do you call an alligator in a vest? – An investigator.

The Dictionary and Thesaurus include activities on inventing your own words – and the Thesaurus has lots of tips on how to write brilliant stories and non-fiction.

5. Reading together

Shared reading (either by reading to your child or listening to audiobooks together) is something you probably already do, and it’s a key way of trying to close the ‘word gap’ by introducing children to texts that might be above their reading age. We include some more challenging words and meanings in the Dictionary that you can look up together if you come across them, such as mass the verb (as in ‘Dark clouds were massing’).

Both the Dictionary and Thesaurus include lots of quotations from children’s authors. These can help explain a word, and give models of good writing, but above all they are intended to inspire children to read more, so they can grow up experiencing all the excitement, interest, and wonder that the world of books has to offer.

Books

Please note: all book links lead to more information on Amazon.co.uk

More from Oxford Owl

• Find out about the Oxford Children’s Corpus >
• Read more on how dictionaries are specially designed for particular age groups >
• Read more about the wonder of words >
• Read more about the ‘word gap’ >
• Find tips on encouraging reluctant readers >

BrexitÌęis the 2019 Oxford Children’s Word of the Year.

Each year, the Oxford Children’s Dictionaries and Children’s Language Data team at 51șÚÁÏÍű analyses the short stories entered into BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words competition to reveal a wealth of fascinating insights into children’s evolving use of language.

A whopping 112,986 children entered the competition this year, and British children have once again shown themselves to be witty, inventive, and astute.

Why Brexit?

The national focus on Brexit has been a major topic for young writers to address, and while it may seem unsurprising in a year of news dominated by the issue, the stories that used it as a hook were anything but!

Brexit was identified as our Children’s Word of the Year not only because of its significant increase in use (a total rise of 464% since 2018), but also because of the political and social awareness that children demonstrated in their stories and the incredibly inventive hooks and ways in which it inspired children to write about finding solutions to Brexit.

A number of children reference Brexit as a boring subject adults “bang on about” in their stories:

They had had enough of politicians arguing about Brexit. The boring subject that invaded every news channel.

But, this year, many more were inspired to swoop in and become proactive problem-solvers, with imaginative story titles – replete with weird and wonderful plot lines – such as:

• The Cat Who Solved Brexit
• The Three Little Politicians and the Big Bad Brexit Monsters
• Henry VIII negotiates Brexit!
• How I Solved the Brexit Problem for the Prime Minister

What I might do is help Mrs. May sort out Brexit. No need to recall parliament, I’ll sort out a deal. I’ll discover what the Irish backstop actually is – job done! Everyone’s happy.

Words and political figures associated with Brexit also show an increase in usage, demonstrating children’s engagement with the news and the media. Mentions of European Union, backstop, trade deal, and prime minister all increased, and Theresa May made the list of top 10 famous people for the very first time.

‘You can have your Brexit deal’, said Tusk nibbling at his cake, ‘but please, can I be in the Great British Bake Off? Baking has really been my only passion! I don’t know why I became the European Union leader!’

Children have also been playing with blends to create new words improvised around Brexit such as clexit (the class leaving the school), frexit, wexit, and plexit (the ‘exit’ of fruit, wood, and plastic)!

Brexit is, unsurprisingly, a huge theme in the stories this year. What is an extremely complex and difficult issue for some of the finest political minds has inspired children’s creativity and inventiveness in a really interesting and smart way. In 2017 and 2018, Brexit was mostly referred to as a boring subject parents talked about in the background. This year, however, it is a very different picture: Brexit is front and centre of the action, with children swooping in to help Theresa May in a proactive, empowered, and fun way. This year’s stories show an overwhelming desire among children to take action and create positive change at home, at school, and in society more generally. Agency and empowerment are massive themes.

Environmental activism

Concern for the environment seems to have grown again in 2019, with an increase in mentions of climate change, global warming, deforestation, vegan, pollution, and plastic (the Children’s Word of the Year in 2018). Many stories are set in the future and imagine a planet that has suffered catastrophic environmental damage as a result of climate change.

The year was 2356. A lot had changed since your time. The world was collapsing, decaying. Climate change spread over our planet like a deadly disease, and then all that remained was one city.

Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg also emerged as a role model after she initiated a global campaign of school protests in February 2019 (right in the middle of the writing period), stimulating themes based on campaigning and activism.

With wide open-eyes, Poppy watched as the children who were not that much older than her marched to preserve the future of the Earth.

Increased use of the words veggie, vegetarian, and vegan also reflect the national trend towards adopting a more plant-based diet:

But the truth is, I actually like being helpful and I don’t like eating grannies or blowing down houses. You might be surprised to hear that I don’t even like eating meat – I am a vegan wolf!

Other key findings

• Fortnite has overtaken Minecraft as the most popular game, with a 79% increase in mentions.
• Watching games being played, rather than actively participating, is a notable new trend.
• TikTok, an app for creating and sharing short music videos, emerged as this year’s most popular social media platform with a whopping 745% increase in mentions.
• Mentions of more established platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube all declined.
• ŽĄłŸČčłúŽÇČÔ’s Alexa and Google Assistant also show an increase in frequency, particularly in contexts such as the narrator being sucked into the device, devices rebelling, and life from a smart device’s point of view.
• Heroes and villains have gone from strength to strength with a 53% and 54% increase in mentions respectively. The terms superhero and villain appear a total of 6,052 times in 2019.
• Gummy Bears appeared for the first time as the second most popular character mentioned in stories.
• Sloths are emerging as the next big thing in children’s imaginations with a 61% increase in mentions since 2018.

I love how the analysis of Radio 2’s 500 Words entries is able to uncover so much fascinating information about the stories. The research shows just how aware and engaged kids are with history and the world around them today, and how amazing they are at bringing these subjects to life in inventive and entertaining ways.

OUP’s findings are such a unique insight into the creative minds of children today, showing the many points of reference and the different themes that inspire them each year. I’d like to thank OUP for their brilliant work analysing the language in the almost 113,000 stories submitted to 500 Words this year.

Explore the results

For more information on the findings and a unique insight into children’s language in 2019, download the full report and take a look at the infographics on the

More from Oxford Owl

500 Words might be over for another year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s time to put down your pens!

• How to plan your 500 words story
• How to write your 500 words story

You may be interested in:

So you’ve finished your story, but are you sure it’s the best it can be? Editing your first draft can help you to make sure that every line of your story keeps a reader glued to the edge of their seat. Here are my top tips for polishing your story to perfection.

When your story is ready, why not enter it in the

1. Take a break

Before you begin to edit, leave your story to one side for a while. Go for a bike ride, take a trip to the cinema or just play with your friends. Doing something different will help you look at your story with a fresh pair of eyes when you pick it up again.

2. Plot holes and problems

When you read your story again, first you need to check if everything makes sense. Are there any scenes where characters act in illogical ways, or can you find any loose ends of the plot that you haven’t wrapped up? Whatever plot holes you find, think about ways you can fix these. This might be by adding some dialogue or action that helps the scene make sense.

3. Checklist

As you read, use the following checklist to help you correct any mistakes and let your story shine:

• Viewpoint and voice: Who is telling your story? Have you written it in the first or third person? Make sure you keep the voice telling the story the same all the way through – unless you’ve got a good reason to change it!
• Repetition and clichĂ©s: Are there any words or phrases that you find you use too many times? Try to avoid clichĂ©s such as ‘fit as a fiddle’ or ‘frightened to death’ and instead express these ideas in new and interesting ways.
• Spelling and punctuation: Have you got your capital letters in the correct places and remembered to punctuate your sentences? Keep an eye out for any spelling mistakes you know you sometimes make and use a dictionary to correct these.

When you’re happy with your finished story, then all you need to do is type it up. Happy editing!

Activity sheet

More from Oxford Owl

• Christopher Edge’s creative writing books
• Harriet Muncaster’s creative writing challenge >
• How to plan your 500 Words story >
• How to write your 500 Words story >
• 4 tips to inspire children’s creative writing >
• 4 fun ways to develop characters for a short story >
• 4 top tips for writing great plots >
• How to find the perfect words for your story >

Is your child going to enter Author and creative writing expert Christopher Edge shares his tips for planning a top-tier tale.

1. Planning your story

Some authors plot their stories in intricate detail while others like to fly by the seat of their pants, making up the whole story as they go along! However, to make sure you know where your 500 Words story is heading, it can be helpful to come up with a plan.

2. Making a start

Think about the event that starts your story. This should be a scene or situation that kick-starts the plot. Maybe the hero of your story will discover a strange object or you could throw them into the middle of an exciting event like an alien invasion! Whatever idea you choose, make sure it grabs the reader’s attention.

Now think about what happens next. How will your character get out of this situation? What other problems might they face? Make a list of the things that you want to include in your story. You could draw a flow chart with arrows to help you think about how these different events link together. Remember, you want to keep your readers on the edge of their seats so try and turn up the excitement factor as your story progresses.

3. Wrapping it up

Think about the different ways you could end your story. This might be the moment where your hero solves the mystery or a final confrontation with her deadliest foe. Brainstorm different ideas and think about which works best. You might even want to try a twist ending which reveals a secret that the reader never sees coming


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More from Oxford Owl

• Christopher Edge’s creative writing books
• Harriet Muncaster’s creative writing challenge
• Story sparks: find inspiration for your short story
• 4 tips to inspire children’s creative writing
• 4 fun ways to develop characters for a short story
• 4 top tips for writing great plots
• How to find the perfect words for your story

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