The power of play is a child’s basic right. I am a firm believer of more outdoors, interaction with people and doing things than spending time looking at a screen or fiddling with a device. Isn’t it great for children to play with their hands and use their imagination to spin stories?
So here is a story for you
Once upon a time, there lived a little girl. Her name was Vidya. She loved to make up stories through her drawings on the red floor of the living room. One day, her Mom noticed that she felt sad when it all had to be wiped off and decided to get her a drawing book. Of course the little girl was happy.
She loved to draw so much that she wanted to make little models with her stories. She got started with the covers of old notebooks, which were stiff enough to stand when turned into characters. She also treasured toothpaste cartons and other packaging to make her “projects”.
Her family was amused to see her finding so much joy in simple things. Later, in school, she found that she enjoyed making models and was quite creative with turning trash into useful stuff.
Decades later, when she became a Mom, she amused her son, telling him stories through cut-outs of characters. Needless to say, her son loved making them too and she was delighted to see him having fun illustrating his own stories. Why, he would even make paper cutouts of her favorite dishes, color them and pack them in a box for her lunch at work!
Fast forward a few years, and she continues to enjoy playing with a pair of scissors and paper/cartons. Her Mom continued to be amused at how her hands automatically picked up the pair of scissors and started cutting something or other out of a sheet while in the kitchen.
Recently, when she discovered that her beloved Colgate toothpaste carton had a whole story going on inside the carton, she was thrilled. She made these.
She was even more delighted when she received four exciting “stories” to play with. The new Colgate Strong Teeth packs come with interesting sea creatures & some trivia inside them. Kids can cut, play & learn.
Here they are.
How Blackbeard found his Buried Treasure
You see, it was a dark and stormy night (ah, a classic!). Lightning split the skies and the rain poured down in torrents. After trying his best to save his ship from the rolling waters and lashing waves, the wicked and notorious pirate Blackbeard heard a “snap” and realized that his strength and crew were no match for Mother Nature. In the flurry of activity that followed, Nature won and his ship collapsed, sinking to the bottom of the sea, with his precious treasure.
Then next morning, Mother Nature went back to knitting the sweater she was working on and when Blackbeard regained consciousness, all was calm.
He found that he had been washed ashore and his first thought was, “What happened to my treasure chest? I must find it!” and off he went, looking.
He was ready to brave the animals under the sea and knew that life underwater, in the ocean can also be fascinating with various aquatic species and quite distracting.
He had also heard rumors of a beautiful mermaid who lived in a castle under the sea, and came out on to the rock by the shore and sang in the sweetest voice known to man and thought to himself that he wouldn’t half-mind meeting her. Who knows, maybe she would even fall for his charming personality and marry him and they would live happily ever after?
But first things first. He had his treasure chest to find!
As he dived into the blue waters, a killer whale brushed past him. Did you know that the killer whale, also known as Orca is the largest member of the dolphin family? He got out of its way in a hurry, only to see a barracuda!
“I’d better be on my guard,” he thought, as he headed out. As he swam, looking hither and tither, he couldn’t help but admire the beauty around him. After all, he loved the sea! He could see stingrays, starfish, puffer fish, and even an octopus. He knew he had to watch out for the sharks and lion fish, which were quite dangerous, with their needle like spine and teeth. He had once been poisoned by the critters and had no intention of having that happen again!
A pod of dolphins swam by just then. They were quite friendly and smart! He missed his pet parrot, and wondering where it had got to.
As he continued looking for his treasure chest, he also saw crabs, sea turtles and sea horses and narrowly avoided the octopus. Why was it following him?
Then, he saw something twinkling in the depths and with renewed hope, and swam vigorously towards it. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a log-like object half buried in the sea bed. As he yanked it out, he realized it was hollow and quickly smashed it to discover a scroll inside. Wasn’t there a legend about the biggest treasure chest in the world buried in these waters?
His own loot forgotten, Blackbeard quickly swam ashore to inspect the scroll. Surely it wasn’t the treasure map that was believed to be lost forever?
But indeed it was! As his greedy eyes now scanned the sea, he heard a squawk and heard the flapping of wings! It was none other than his parrot Pepe. Today must be my lucky day, he thought as he plotted over how to find the treasure in the map.
He foraged for his lunch, because his Mom had told him everything is better on a full stomach. Then, making sure his dagger was in its sheath, he set off again into the water, following the directions on the map.
In the distance he could see the turrets of the famed underwater castle and made a mental note to explore it after he found the treasure, when his foot hit something hard. Instantly cautious, he tread water and a few feet below, saw something unbelievable. There it was, the legendary treasure chest, half open, its contents spilling out. Next to it was an ancient ship wreck.
It was the most beautiful sight Blackbeard had ever seen. He realized the treasure chest was far bigger than all the loot he had plundered put together.
As he contemplated how to possess it, he heard a sweet singing voice. Realizing it came from the direction of the castle, he decided that the treasure wasn’t going anywhere and went to see who it was. The voice grew louder and mesmerized by it, he saw the lovely form of the mermaid, brushing her tresses and singing to herself. Sea horses floated around her.
Lulled by the sound of her voice and her beauty, Blackbeard fell asleep… and did not see the octopus stealthily spread its tentacles over the treasure chest…
What do you think happened next?
Do share in the comments!
♥
When my son was young, we would love giving him a sentence around which to build a story. Even now, when we travel, one of us starts a story and each one adds a sentence to build it up. We time ourselves and see what we can come up with. So much fun!
Here are some facts you might enjoy!
15 comments
What an absolutely delightful post. This Blackbeard certainly had clear priorities – treasure chest first, mermaid later :-). Maybe the octopus will get the treasure and Blackbeard will fall in love with the mermaid and have a change of heart and not mind losing the treasure. And then perhaps he would discover the octopus was the mermaid’s pet and get the girl and the treasure. What say? I do like happy endings.
Obsessivemom recently posted…A basket of tomatoes and some life lessons
This is such a lovely narration and only you can put this all so creatively. Little girl, Vidya still weaves stories and her readers love her 🙂
Parul Thakur recently posted…Step into my shoes
Awww! Hugs Parul. You say the sweetest things!
Vidya Sury recently posted…Buried Treasure
Thank you Parul. Hehehe. In my mind, yes, I am a child when it comes to play!
A delightful read, as always. 🙂 I especially loved your ending note. I am going try that with my son. He loves telling stories. Giving him a line to work with and then building on it together would be so much fun. Thank you for sharing that. 🙂
Shantala recently posted…July Wrap Up – Books and #HarryPotter fever!
Hehehe. Children love that nudge, Shantala. Of course, one must be prepared to listen! 🙂 When I couldn’t, I made my son write it the moment he learned to. Hugs! Thank you!
Delightful! I would have been thrilled with these cut-outs as a child. My mother once made me a parking garage and gasoline station for my beloved Matchbox cars. What joy I got from recycled cardboard and hand-me-down toys.
I won’t conjecture on what happens next, but I do have another fact about lionfish. They have infiltrated waters off of the United States’ Florida coast. Some surmise they are released pets that bred prolifically in the warm saltwater and became invasive due to their dangerous protections. Now ecologically invested divers converge periodically to dwindle their population. The fish are tasty, I understand, so that’s one plus.
Thank you for sharing this. Be well, my dear.
Darla M Sands recently posted…Tilly Before and After – A Feline Transformation
I have always played with cutouts and during my childhood, a pair of scissors kept me happy for a long time. Of course, I also got tempted to snip off my hair and never heard the end of it from Mom. Interesting about the lion fish. 🙂 Thank you Darla! Hugs!
Very clever, enchanting.
Thank you, Simon! 🙂 I love your second name – just because I love Peter Falk! (post coming up about him!)
I am not so much of a storyteller. I like reading from the books though. That was a charming story and I was imagining the little girl Vidya who still has a sparkle in her eyes. 🙂
Rachna recently posted…A Jungle on Indian Roads
Thank you Rachna! Actually, I don’t really consider myself a good storyteller, but I enjoy trying!. I think I got better thanks to my Mom, Sury and Vidur. Sury is amazingly creative in keeping kids charged! And Vidur is a natural. My Mom? Oh boy, could she spin one! My Uncles were wonderful too! I have heard much longer versions of fairy tales from them than what’s in the actual stories.
Vidya Sury recently posted…Why health insurance is more than a tax saving tool
Hi Vidya – what a wonderful post – and story! What happened next? Well, I think the octopus grabbed the treasure, eloped with the mermaid and they lived happily ever after. And as to Bluebeard, he had a terrible dream that he was strangled by a giant octopus while trying to steal treasure. On awakening, he was so relieved that it had all been a dream that he realized that money and pirating would never make him happy. So he decided to become a blogger and spread happiness around the seven seas, (once he’d invented the internet that is…)
I am giggling so hard here, Mark! I love that ending to the story because I love happy endings! Now I’ll never get the image of Blackbeard sitting and inventing the internet out of my head! Thank you so much for coming by! Hugs!
Vidya Sury recently posted…How to teach your kids to play Pokemon Go safely
What a great way to bring forth a child’s imagination. This will get them thinking and adults as well actually. Love the story and I will say the Octopus steals his treasure and brings it to the mermaid who used her special power of singing to put the pirate to sleep. When he wakes, she tells him she has the treasure but I order to get it back he will have to save her parents from the evil clutches of the scorpion fish. He must embark on an adventure making sure not to be stung by the scorpion fish. He saves her parents and realizes how much love the parents have for their daughter and how much she has for them. The mermaid is happy to see her parents and gives the treasure to the pirate. The pirate realizes that the treasure is not as valuable as love and by giving the treasure back to the sea, he transforms into a merman and realizes his place is with her and her family. He is now richer than he ever thought he would be.
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