Half Term Hack-tivities: Here's how AI can keep kids entertained for hours! The Daily Dose of Digital - 31/05/23

Let's be honest, being a busy professional parent is a freakin' juggling act, and finding ways to keep your children entertained and engaged can sometimes feel like an uphill battle (especially during the school holidays). But fear not! In this rapidly developing digital age, we have amazing new tools at our disposal that can stimulate your children's creativity and imagination. Consider this "Digital Crafting" to the max! (Oh, and there won't be a f*cktonne of glitter and offcuts of crepe paper everywhere, either!)

I am going to be "briefing" my kids on this tomorrow as the weather looks a bit pants where I am and the kids are going to be stuck indoors whilst I try to work.

Let's explore how you can use ChatGPT and MidJourney to set your children up for an exciting storytelling adventure!

Step 1: Introduce ChatGPT for Story Writing:

First, introduce your children to ChatGPT, which we know is an incredible language model designed to assist with various tasks, including storytelling. Explain that they can interact with ChatGPT by typing in their ideas, and it will respond with suggestions and continue the story based on their input.

Give the kids a structure for crafting prompts which will generate solid responses and prime the ChatGPT tab with the fact all responses need to be safe for kids etc.

Step 2: Set the Scene:

Encourage your children to think of a unique story concept. It could be about a fantastical adventure, a magical creature, or even a thrilling mystery. Once they have a general idea in mind, have them start the story by typing a captivating opening sentence or paragraph into ChatGPT.

Step 3: Collaborate with ChatGPT:

Invite your children to take turns with ChatGPT, each adding a sentence or two to build the story collaboratively. As ChatGPT generates responses, guide your children to read them aloud and decide which direction the story should take. Encourage them to be creative, allowing their imagination to run wild!

Remember, ChatGPT is designed to be conversational - so encourage the children to prompt through questions and ask for more detail or to 'try again' if the next part of the story doesn't align with the kids' expectations. ChatGPT will usually finish the initial part of the story asking your kid "Would you like me to continue with the story", where you can say yes, and add the next creative idea!

Step 4: Enhance the Story with MidJourney:

Now, it's time to add visual elements to the story using MidJourney, which we all know is an incredible image generation tool. Explain to your children that MidJourney can bring their story to life by creating stunning, original artwork based on their descriptions.

Step 5: Describe the Scene to MidJourney:

With the story progressing, ask your children to choose a specific scene or character they'd like to illustrate.

When prompting, encourage them to vividly describe the details, colours, and emotions associated with the scene. Remind the kids that the more descriptive they are, the better MidJourney can visualise their vision. So get creative!

You could even ask ChatGPT to help you write the prompt for MidJourney (although, you may want to amend the response, as you can see below):

Step 6: Generate Images with MidJourney & Marvel at the Artistic Results:

Using the descriptions provided by your children, you can use MidJourney to generate beautiful images that match the story's atmosphere and characters. Prompt MidJourney by providing the details shared by your children, and let it work its magic.

Once MidJourney generates the images, watch their faces light up as they see their words come to life through stunning visuals! Encourage them to discuss how well the images align with their imagination and how they might inspire the next part of the story.

With MidJourney, you can iterate beyond the initial 4 variants provided, so explain or demonstrate to the kids how to create different versions of the output, and how to upscale and save their works of art!

Step 7: Combine the Creative:

Now you've got the story, and the supporting images, help your child to combine them! Could this become a comic book? A graphic novel? Or maybe even a book! If you've got access to Photoshop, InDesign or any other publishing tools, get stuck in and help your child learn new skills but if not, there's plenty of free software that can be used to combine these (Google Docs and Slides being readily available).

Incorporating ChatGPT and MidJourney into your children's entertainment routine this half term can foster creativity, enhance storytelling skills, and provide an immersive experience. By allowing your children to write a story with ChatGPT and then generating visual support with MidJourney, you're opening up a world of possibilities and nurturing their imagination in the process.

I hope this idea helps keep your little ones entertained during the holidays! So, sit back (yeah right), relax (yeah right), and enjoy the enchanting tales your little ones will create using these amazing digital tools!