Writing creatively is a really valuable skill to have when you’re a child. You open a lot of doors to your child’s reading, communication, listening and other key skills in a child’s general development. It also opens a child’s mind to their curiosity, which is great for exploring new themes, interests and passions.
To explore creative writing with your child further, here are some tips that this International School recommends.
Test them with a range of different words
When your child has mastered a selection of words, have them try to use synonyms of these words to explore their writing skills. A child’s more likely to try these new words if they’re given a range of contexts to use them in, so give them plenty of scenarios to test the waters and see where they can use them.
Get your child to write about their feelings
If your child doesn’t already keep a diary, you can start to have them write about their thoughts and feelings. Give them a list of prompts to work from and slowly encourage them to write regularly in their own book that is personal to them. They don’t have to share what they’ve been writing about necessarily, so long as they’re able to feel like they are seeing progress, which you can ask about in different ways.
Ask your child to write about what they’re interested in
Children can really enjoy writing about what they love and what they’re interested in. It gives them a heap of material to go on if they’re exploring things that make them happy. It also makes things a lot easier for children to write about if they’re able to write freely about things they want to write about. It’s easier to ask a child to start doing something if they know they’re going to enjoy the outcome.
