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Newsroom Reporter Basket
Activity Basket

Newsroom Reporter Basket

A desk, a microphone, a weather map and a running order. The six o clock news, reported live from the living room, with a genuine weather forecast for tomorrow.

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Ages 6-1020 min prep

This came out of a rainy afternoon and one cardboard box with a screen cut out of it. Within an hour we had a news desk, a jingle and a very serious anchor.

The stories are always domestic. Breaking news: the cat has been sick on the stairs. Our correspondent is at the scene. I have never laughed harder at a piece of journalism.

The weather segment is the sneaky educational bit. They check the actual forecast, draw the symbols and present tomorrow properly - and now they check the weather every morning without being asked.

The running order on a clipboard: three stories, weather, goodbye.
The running order on a clipboard: three stories, weather, goodbye.
Tomorrow's real forecast, in cut-out symbols on a hand-drawn map.
Tomorrow's real forecast, in cut-out symbols on a hand-drawn map.
The news desk: a cardboard camera, a lamp and a microphone.
The news desk: a cardboard camera, a lamp and a microphone.

What you'll need

  • A small table for the desk, and a chair that swivels if you have one
  • A cardboard box with a rectangle cut out, for the camera or the screen
  • A kids karaoke microphone, or a hairbrush and a lot of commitment
  • Paper and markers for the running order and the scripts, on a clipboard
  • A large sheet of paper for the weather map, with cut-out sun, cloud and rain symbols
  • Sticky tack for putting the weather symbols on the map
  • A smart shirt or jacket, for the anchor - the costume matters more than you would think
  • A phone or tablet on a stand for filming, and a lamp pointed at the desk

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How to make it

  1. 1

    Build the desk first: table, chair, a jug of water and a stack of papers to shuffle importantly.

  2. 2

    Write the running order together on the clipboard - three stories, the weather, and a goodbye line.

  3. 3

    Gather the news. Walk around the house and find three things that happened today, however small.

  4. 4

    Write each story as three sentences only: what happened, where, and what someone said about it.

  5. 5

    Make the weather map: draw your area roughly, then check tomorrow's real forecast and cut out symbols to match.

  6. 6

    Rehearse the opening line and the sign-off. Those two are the only bits that need to be word perfect.

  7. 7

    Film it in one take, weather included. Interruptions from a passing sibling improve every broadcast.

  8. 8

    Watch it back together at dinner, then hand the desk over and let the reporter become the anchor.

Tip

Keep every story to three sentences. Long scripts get read in a mumble; three sentences get performed. Film in landscape and put the lamp behind the camera, not behind the desk, or your anchor becomes a silhouette.

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