Sight
fenced-in playground, slides, swings, jungle gyms, chalk-colored sidewalks, walls covered with artwork, office, restrooms, janitorial closets, classrooms, tiled or carpeted floors, cubbies, lunchboxes, backpacks, jackets hanging on coat hooks, pencil sharpeners…
Sounds
Children laughing/yelling/talking/singing/crying/playing, teachers talking/yelling/reading, children speaking in chorus, phones ringing, shoes slapping on sidewalk, doors slamming, the snick of scissors, happy music playing, squeaky swings, slap…
Smells
Snacks (crackers, granola bars, cookies, chips, fruit), juice, milk, coffee, glue, paint, disinfectant, sweat, urine, air fresheners, freshly-copied paper, rain
Tastes
Snacks, juice, water, milk, coffee, sand
Touch
Heated/Cooled air blowing from vents, a child’s hug, sticky hands, sweaty hair, soft tissues, smooth table surfaces, cracker crumbs on your chair, the scratch of a pencil or crayon on paper, fuzzy carpets, hard plastic chairs, backpack pulling on your shoulders…
Helpful hints:
–The words you choose can convey atmosphere and mood.
Example 1: Sarah let the teacher push her kindly out the door, then ran to peek through the window. The class sat in the reading corner, whispering, giggling, pulling on rug fibers to play with them. Molly, her little girl, shuffled to the circle of kids, the fan blowing her hair as she crossed its path. After the longest five seconds of Sarah’s life, a little boy in the circle scooted over so Molly could sit next to him. He held out a baggy of cheese crackers. Molly took one and smiled at her new friend. Swallowing tears, Sarah pushed herself off the cinder block wall and went to work, her shoes making a lonely clacking sound on the tile…
–Similes and metaphors create strong imagery when used sparingly.
Example 1: (Simile) She wrinkled her nose and turned the fan to blow directly in her face. The four-year-old class after recess smelled like a high-school locker room…
Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.
Good blog and very well written, Becca. It is really very similar to daycare.
Cool blog! I found it via someone else’s blog 🙂
disinfectant, sweat, urine
Yep, yep, yep. Your suggestions are so vivid they made me want to hide under my pillow!
Oh this brings back memories. As always, love your setting thesaurus. Will be living here for the next month or so. 😉