While some children are natural writers and storytellers, others struggle when it comes to writing. You can help your child with her writing by coming up with activities that encourage her to learn. Activities should make learning fun, or it could push her even farther from writing. Below are some ideas of activities you can have your child do to help them learn to love writing.
Write a Story
Children often complain that they can't think of anything to write. It can be tough for some kids who don't think they have an imagination. They feel weighted down with expectations. You can suggest that there are no limitations to what your child can write. Let her write about anything, or give her writing prompts. Even having her relate a true story that happened to her in her own words can get her creative juices flowing.
Make a Comic
At times, it's easier to write when there are visuals involved. Have your child take an old drawing and add a story to it, or have her draw a cartoon based on a story that she’ll fill in after she’s made the picture.
List Things They Like or Dislike
When you have your child create a list of things she likes, the child will start the writing process without realizing that it's writing at all. Have her explain why she likes her favorite TV show, or what foods she doesn't like to eat. Words will start to flow when she's passionate about the subject.
Write a Poem
One of the best ways to encourage a child to write a poem is to read her poems, especially funny ones. Rhyming is a great way to teach kids new words, and while she’s giggling along to a much-loved poem, she could be thinking about ways to write her own. Poetry a great choice for a child who might not like other types of writing.
Play Mad Libs with Them
As a parent, you can encourage language, reading, and writing by playing Mad Libs with your child. She’ll learn how to add nouns, verbs, and adjectives to the story you present to make it hilarious. You can play the same story multiple times to show her how different words can change the feel of a story. It'll foster a love of creating fun stories.
Enroll Her in Contests
Your local newspaper most likely has story or poetry contests around Mother's Day, Father's Day and the holidays to inspire children to write. Your child can talk about their favorite holiday or why they love their family. Contests complete with prizes are a good motivator for a reluctant writer.
Writing is an important skill that you want to encourage in your child—one that will help them throughout their personal and career life as they grow up. Giving them fun activities to work on will help them realize how much fun writing can really be.
Dixie Somers is a freelance writer from Arizona. She enjoys writing for family, home, and business niches. Dixie has three beautiful daughters who inspire much of her writing. An expert at Creative Communication was consulted for this article.