Tips For Parents To Help Develop Creative Writing Skills In Kids

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Children have an imagination that runs free and wild, and writing is the easiest way to channelize it and make them express their thoughts or ideas in a sentence, a paragraph, or an entire diary. Writing skills can be fostered in your children from a young age and can help them through adulthood. 

Creative writing in kids is not just any skill; it stimulates the brain and empowers it. It also helps in the cognitive growth and organizational abilities of your child. Research says that children who practice writing do academically well in subjects like science, language, and math. Therefore, it is vital that you help your child develop creative writing skills much early in their lives.

Parents, follow these tips on how to develop creative writing skills in kids to help build your child’s writing skills in no time.

1. Encourage reading to nurture writing skills 

Good writers are avid readers. The more your child will read, the more words they will learn and the more exposed they will be to new vocabulary in context. Also, reading exposes the kid to the different ways of using words and different sentence structures they can construct.

2. Create a schedule for reading and writing

Reading and writing take a lot of time and mental energy. It’s not fair to expect your child to do creative writing in between their dancing class and football practice. They need to breathe, relax, contemplate and think freely to write creatively. Therefore, ensure that your child’s schedule is not packed with too many activities.

3. Use story starters to practice 

Story starters are a fun way to get your child to write short stories. For example, you cut out pictures (different characters or locations) from a magazine or write down different words. Put them in a bowl or paste them onto cards and then use them as writing prompts for creating a unique story.

4. Keep an age-appropriate dictionary handy

When your child has finished writing, you can review their work. Underline the words they have misspelt. Don’t give away the correct spellings; rather, ask them to look them up in the dictionary.  Another way you can make use of a dictionary is by making a list of dictionary words that your child randomly points at. Brainstorm with your child on how to use all these words in a story. 

5. Encourage your child to maintain a journal

Writing a journal is an excellent way to practice writing and also a good outlet for thoughts, ideas and feelings. Encourage your child to write about things that happen at school and at home. You can also ask your child to record all their outings and trips(descriptions, experiences, learnings, etc.) in the journal.

6. Develop a habit of writing letters

Writing letters is old-school, but it still helps in developing creative writing skills in children. Writing letters to friends and family helps your child to hunt for more words to express their love and feelings, which eventually boosts their creative writing skills.

In Conclusion

Writing is an important practical life skill, and it requires a lot of time and patience. That said, your child will eventually develop good writing skills with plenty of practice over time. But you can help them develop good creative writing skills early in life by encouraging them to talk and read about everything they’re interested in—and then making them write it down. Don’t be critical of their creative writing efforts; rather, make the process fun for them, and they will foster a love for writing from an early age.

Author Bio:
Samidha Raj works as part of the content marketing team at Planet Spark, a platform that provides online classes to K8 learners on “New Age Skills” like, English Communication, Public Speaking, Grammar, Creative Writing, Debating, etc. She is passionate about empowering the youth by educating parents about the importance of 21st-century skills. In her free time, you can find her watching documentaries or animated movies and organizing game nights (board games are her thing)!

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