Expressing your thoughts and ideas in written words is an essential skill that can be easily developed in a child at an early age. Developing kids’ creative writing skills is important because it helps boost innovation, problem-solving and resourcefulness. Plus, it gives them an outlet for their creative ideas.
Parents can use the following tips to develop and improve writing skills in children through playful means without making it seem like work.
1. Encourage Your Child to Write
Most children are predisposed to the feeling of wanting to write. If your child has this feeling, nurture it. If your child doesn’t like the physical act of writing, don’t pressurize them to write. Instead, you can use apps with a talk-to-text feature or you can become his scribe. This will help him worry less about writing and pay more attention to his ideas and thoughts.
2. Encourage Your Child to Read
Introduce variety in your child’s reading habits. While your child can continue reading the genres and authors she likes, ensure that she also explores others.
Allow your child to watch age-appropriate TV programs. Regularly discuss the book your child has been reading or the programs she has been watching. Ask what she finds most appealing in the story. When your child learns to appreciate the creative work of others, she will automatically open up her own creative channels.
3. Introduce Simple and Interesting Exercises Using Prompts
One way to practice creative writing skills is to give your child a series of words or pictures and ask him to use them to write an interesting story. You can encourage him to explore different forms of writing (prose, short stories, plays and poetry) and different genres (fantasy, thriller, suspense, humor, horror and so on). Pay attention to what form of writing and what genre your child enjoys the best, and then help him build on his strengths.
4. Encourage Your Child to Be Creative and Authentic
Give your child the confidence to develop an individual voice and style and bring originality into her ideas. This won’t happen overnight; it will come gradually with sufficient reading and writing practice. Help her develop the habit of attention to detail. The more your child observes and understands, the more creative and authentic her writing.
5. Ask Your Child to Write Letters
If you want to get him excited about writing, ask him to write letters to his favorite fictional characters. You can also ask him to write a letter to his grandparents with a birthday wish list.
6. Help Your Child Practice Storytelling
Most creative writers write stories because they love writing them. If you want your child to build creative writing skills, foster that love. Allow your child’s imagination to go free and wild as she pieces it all together to make a complete story.
Follow these tips and watch your child’s creative writing skills improve. However, don’t forget to keep it fun, so he will want to keep trying until he becomes better.
If your child has fantastic ideas but struggles with handwriting, we have some tips for Improving Handwriting.
