Showing posts with label wordles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wordles. Show all posts

Friday, July 6, 2012

Word Clouds

Have you ever head of Wordle.net's word cloud generator?

Here is an example of a Wordle word cloud that I made for my daughter:

These word clouds are fun gift or note card ideas (Christmas, birthdays, etc.). They can be framed and hung on the wall or pasted into a scrap book. And best of all, they are a fun way to trick your child into doing some writing.

The word cloud generator uses your text to create a pleasant looking jumble of words that can be tweaked until you are happy with it. All you need is a list of words! Once your child sees these fun, colorful word clouds, he will be itching to try it. So have him sit down and write a list of words that describe himself (this is great brainstorming practice for future writing projects, by the way). Then go to Wordle.net and have a blast!

Some tips to get the best experience from Wordle:
  • If you want a word to appear larger, input that word several times. The more times a word appears in your list, the bigger it will be in the word cloud.
  • To use a phrase, place a ~ between the two words in your list so that the generator will know not to separate them (like in "Spelling Bee Champ" in the sample).
  • Don't have a color printer? Wordle word clouds are just as awesome in black and white. And you could always have your child color them once they are printed.
  • Go beyond having your child write about himself. Create them for other people, pets, holidays, favorite places, etc.
Have fun with your word clouds!