LAB DIARY · 02 · FROM PAGE TO STORY

A dragon, a friend,
a story.

The drawing is a beginning. You choose what happens next.

· M.N.Popa’s VALENELYA project diary

Who joins the dragon?

A little dragon looks up from the page. Its wings are open, its tail is long and there is an empty box below it. Who would you draw there? A snail with a backpack? A bird afraid of flying? Or someone who does not have a name yet?

That is the starting point of page four in the Travel and Restaurant Kit. The dragon is already drawn; its colours, friend and first meeting are yours to imagine. This workshop dragon is a character you can make your own.

The kit’s fourth page, with a dragon to colour and a space to draw its friend
A ready-made starting point, with room for your own idea.

A clear invitation makes room for imagination.

When reviewing the Italian worksheet, we noticed that its title was confusing. It said “A dragon to invent”, although the dragon was already on the page. What was left to invent?

BEFORE · ITALIAN TITLE, TRANSLATED

A dragon to invent

It sounded as though the reader should draw the dragon from scratch.

NOW

Colour the dragon, invent a friend

It tells you where to start and which part is yours to imagine.

We changed the title while keeping the drawing and spaces on the sheet. A clear instruction can help an idea take flight.

Three questions, one little adventure.

  1. What does the dragon want? A place to rest, someone to play with, or something you choose.
  2. Who can help? Draw its friend in the box. Give the friend a curious quality: listening to stones, knowing every path or laughing when it rains.
  3. What happens when they first meet? Finish “They meet when…”. On another sheet, draw the moment they decide to do something together.

For example, a dragon wants to mend a tent, but its paws are too big to tie knots. Along comes a little spider who knows how to weave. Their first meeting begins with a thread.

This is a new example for the activity. You can change every part of it: your story belongs to you.

NOW TRY IT

The next meeting starts on your page.

Open the English kit and choose page four. Colour, draw and tell a story in a few words. You do not have to finish it all at once.

Open the free English kit →

Want to invent the dragon’s appearance too? Try Draw your dragon.

Another friendship begins in the woods.

For Roxana and Rex, it starts with a sneeze. Meet the two friends and discover a little of Draconia.

Meet Roxana and Rex →