Share your children's made-up worlds and stories to win a gorgeous red ukulele, signed picture book and limited edition print

[SorchaMumsnet]

Children are natural storytellers. To celebrate the publication of fantastical picture book Also an Octopus, we're asking you to share the stories your children create.

Also an Octopus is a story about... how to build a story! Every story needs a character, so why not a ukulele-playing octopus who wants to build a spaceship out of glitter and waffles? From award-winning illustrator Benji Davies and author Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Also an Octopus is a funny, warm-hearted tale all about storytelling; the perfect picture book for imaginative readers.

Walker Books have teamed up with Octopus Ukulele to offer Mumsnetters the chance to win a tentacle-tastic prize that will set imaginations soaring! Octopus Ukulele create the best beginner instruments around, perfect for creative play. Their ukuleles come in lots of different colours and we’ve got a gorgeous red one to give away.

For a chance to win a signed copy of Also an Octopus, a limited edition print AND an Octopus Ukulele just tell us: what imaginative worlds do your children dream up? Five runners-up will win a copy of Also an Octopus and a limited edition print.

This discussion is sponsored by Walker Books and will close end of day, Wednesday 1 March

Books T&Cs apply

My daughter's fairy land full of princesses ;D

My boys love pretending the gruffalo is in the back garden

My 5 little ones like to pretend they have their own Theme Park they use the bunk beds as the carts on a roller coaster, the dining room chairs as bumper cars and they line the ride on toys behind each other and scoot round like they are on the ghost train. It gets very messy with lots of scrap pieces of paper as the ride tickets and very noisy !!

My eldest lived in a world of cars when he was younger - he set up races between his favourites, used the ipad to time himself shooting around the floor with them and wrote 'statistics' about their performance down in a note book for years!
My daughter acts out 'Annie' all the time. Perhaps she is secretly hoping she will be rescued from the life she has by a rich billionaire...

My daughter is into dragons, she reads about dragons, makes habitats in her bedroom, makes paper worlds, writes stories, draws pictures.Everything is dragons

DD (7) loves all things magical, so her imaginary worlds consist of fairies, unicorns and cheeky pixies (who steal anything sparkly)

DS (2 almost 3) Loves all things dino, so his imagination tends to take him off to a world where dinosaurs are still around today, we go hunting for various dinos, or find ourselves deep in the ocean searching for prehistoric marine reptiles and battling sharks and whales.

DD 7 lives in a land of fairy dust and Trolls! She is obsessed by the film and loves anything glittery and sparkly! Love to live in her world :)

My son has a great imagination - unfortunately though, at the moment, all stories/imaginative play currently ends in talking about poo, bums &/or willies.
For example - Once there was a little girl called Rosie. One day she went to school, she won a prize for spelling & then she pooed all over the floor. Then a big bottom came along & they got married.
Queue much hilarity - seriously, it never gets old for him!
I look forward to the day when he might complete a story without bums or poo getting a mention!

My DS (almost 3) absolutely loves making up stories while he's in the bath. They generally revolve around a hippo and giraffe and at some point everyone will go swimming. He's also, recently found an imaginary friend so she gets involved in the stories as she comes everywhere with us! The stories tend to be quite fantastical but set in mundane places like Waitrose or Wickes!

She loves making up special worlds with her toys, and often changes the endings of stories we read if she thinks it could have gone better which I love!

We play shops and salons with dolls and I think it's great that she imagines things so well

My DD (5) has a great imagination and has just written her first book!
It is about a lost owl (he has lost his family), he meets a variety of different animals along the way but they aren't suitable to be his family. Eventually he meets another owl and they live happily ever after.

I swear she has been here before! Bless her she is always making up adventures. Super proud mum

My 3 year old like to pretend to be batman and I am a witch (not too big a stretch of the imagination!), and I have to try and turn him and other characters in to frogs!

My two granddaughters invent midnight feasts in school dorms! Neither go to boarding school!

My DD had the most amazing world in which her imaginary friend Colbie was l
always just around the corner. He had done everything we had done and always bigger and better. He came to see her when we were away and then dashed home to Australia. He provided such a rich imaginary life - now 8 years on I so miss him. He was around for about 2 years when DD was 3-5. He lived amongst sparkle and endless mountains of marshmallows.

DD1 loves to play 'wilderness explorer' games right on the sitting room floor (it began one rainy day when she was feeling unwell). Our rug is an island, the floor around it choppy seas, her rucksack filled with essential adventuring gear. We have to 'forage' for food and 'light campfires' and 'build shelters' for the stormy weather. One day the 'storm' meant that foraging finds were slim -- and DD1 was very anxious. So she invented not only a canoe to enable her to search further afield, but a well stocked village just down the river. Crisis averted, and now we can play wilderness explorers every day without fear of privation!

Dd had lots of imaginary friends and pets...And told her reception teacher she had twin sisters who she wasn't allowed to talk about???? She would also routinely explain in great detail that mummy was pregnant again... I have only been pregnant twice, with her and her brothers (twins). She would also say that the brothers were leaving home soon... Not that keen on them.

Would lead to some very interesting chats at pick up as the school were also keen to support a family in need....

Now she 11 she writes amazing stories and has mellowed a bit on her brothers.

My favorite words were sper-doid-dor and when in the car 'good in-ber'cation' with a thumbs up :)

Our favourite from DD was when she would dash off to fetch something from her room happily announcing she would be 'back in a chippy!'.

DS enjoys pretending he's moving out (I assume to live with his grandma) he will pick up his bag and tell me "bye bye".

They put on shows acting out stories and use a wardrobe as a time machine.

My granddaughter has a menagerie of imaginary animal pets. She's in reception and at the end of the first term, walking home with her mum she started crying saying she had left her spider at school. Thinking it was something she had made and seeing how upset she was, her mum walked back to school, bereft of teachers by this time. She looked round the cloakroom area with the caretaker and after seeing nothing, her mum was trying to comfort her by saying the teacher will be looking after it over the holidays when my granddaughter went over to a peg and said here he is and returned triumphantly with an invisible spider!

My youngest pretends he has two dolphin friends that are in the bath with him. It's his latest thing. The noises they all make in there are hilarious.

My 4 year old pretends he is a Pokemon trainer and throws foil made balls around the house catching Pokemon

the boys' main made up world is one where they go to work as builders. they think they are building the best funfair ever. they are always shouting 'have you made my pieces, i need to go to work'

My two love playing with 'play-doh' and that sets their imaginary world for that day.
Their favourite is either a café / restaurant / bakery / shop etc.
So they make cakes / biscuits, decorate them, place on trays and make price labels.
So we have tables, order pads, plates, money and so on.

The role play will be about a recent experience, are they a chef ? a customer ? a waitress ? a check out person etc. it also helps them practice what they have learnt in school.

We write out menu posters, some are kept, others improved upon.
Often the 'world' is repeated, improved etc.

At the moment they use knowledge to make their worlds, but how will we get to the moon, fly a plane ............................

My son who is 3 loves to pay shop/cafe and pretends his scooter is his car for making deliveries and picking up shopping. But the cutest is just watching the little storylines he comes up with playing with his toys. He will either loosely follow a story he knows or make up something totally random. Like when out cat watches him play trains and suddenly a giant cat has invaded and sheriff woody needs to rescue Thomas. I love watching him and joining in.