Laura resides in central Arkansas, and has been writing books and plays with children for 26 years. She has written fourteen plays and four books with children, plus a radio script for a fund raiser with the Portland Downtown Beautification Community Organization.

"Writing with children, and adults enriches team skills, expands imagination and opens up a path wrapped and bundled into a lasting keepsake. There is something truly wonderful about holding a book in one's hands that you know you were a part of; it is the quintessential time capsule of a special passage in a child's life." - Laura Botsford Her United Imaginations Workshops provides children of all ages with collaborative writing and illustration skills.

Her mellifluous approach to teaching theater craft and literature is infused with well being and moral lessons. She is also available for speaking engagements and Arts in Education workshops for teachers, PTO's and administrators in the Art of Writing with Children.

  "This is a fantastic concept - having children create their own books within a structured program that, nevertheless, permits them to utilize every aspect of their imagination and then experiences the great satisfaction of seeing their creations materialize to be shared by others.”

          - Lois Duncan, Author

The classroom hours for a class of up to 30, is from 5 to 10 hours that can fit into your own class times on different days, with a minimum of 45 minutes at a time. Plays are written with the children and can be performed for the school in three weeks. The hours depend on the size of the cast and the length of the production, but average estimate is one thousand dollars for each project. Call me for details at 501-733-6629 or visit my website. http://www.laurabotsfordaie.org.

Education: Early Childhood Development - Kennedy Center Workshops, Making the Marriage Work: Best Practices for School and Arts Organization Partnerships - Teaching Challenged Students in Theater Hearing and Autistic Impaired Workshop. Kassie Misiewicz Workshop - Comprehend, Collaborate and Connect: Teaching CCSS through Drama Strategies.

Completed the professional development workshop, Arts Inclusion: Engaging Special Needs Students in Your Residencies, presented by Richard Jenkins on May 19-2012. Participated in the professional development workshop," Building Communities Through Drama," on July 25, 2013. Completed the webinar: "Teach Them How to Fly - How Storytelling Gives Wings to Primary Children with Disabilities," Sherry Norfolk, Kennedy Center, May-2015

When writing a book, we start by choosing a theme, and then watch a storyboard video to illustrate the process. We then engage in a lively democratic collaborative process to write an outline for their book in columns of character, plot, action and dialog. Their stories are written, and read as they decide what illustrations are to be drawn that highlight the story line. I then scan the pictures, correcting any pencil lines to make them book ready, and then insert them into each of their stories. Every child has a black and white illustration that can be colored in the 8 x 10 published books when it is finished.

They are for sale on Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, and lulu.com. The classroom hours for a class of up to 30, is from 5 to 10 hours that can fit into your own class times on different days, with a minimum of 45 minutes at a time. Plays are written with the children and can be performed for the school in two weeks. The hours depend on the size of the cast and the length of the production, but average estimate is one thousand dollars for each project.

Completed the professional development workshop, Arts Inclusion: Engaging Special Needs Students in Your Residencies, presented by Richard Jenkins on May 19, 2012.

Participated in the professional development workshop," Building Communities Through Drama," on July 25, 2013.

Completed the webinar: "Teach Them How to Fly - How Storytelling Gives Wings to Primary Children with Disabilities," Sherry Norfolk, Kennedy Center, May 2015