Exploring Creative Writing with Your Child

**Collaborative post**

Most school subjects test a child’s knowledge, but creative writing is more about who they are as a person, as opposed to what they know. Despite this point, there are still several skills that can be learned through creative writing, such as improved spelling and grammar and better communication. That’s why it’s a good idea for parents to explore creative writing activities with their child at home. Here are some tips from an independent school in Somerset.

The first step is to ignite a passion for writing within your youngster. Set up a dedicated writing station within your home, with lots of stationery and lined paper. Take them to art galleries and museums and encourage creative pursuits. Essentially the idea is to inspire your child so that they have more ideas when it comes to creative writing. 

You should also encourage them to read regularly. Reading will help them learn about different genres, sentence structures, character development and the basic composition of a decent story; every book has a beginning, middle and an end. Perhaps you could also encourage them to read poetry, to show them that creative writing comes in many forms. 

Use writing prompts to help your child overcome “writer’s block”. Photos work well because they allow your child to visualise a particular setting. You could also help them come up with a few sentence starters so that they have a good place to start. 

If your child isn’t ready to take on the challenge of writing their very own story from scratch, start by encouraging them to re-write the final chapter of a book they’ve already read. This will be easier because the characters and plot will have already been established. Before they begin, help them plan. Without a sense of direction, they will be more likely to give up. Get them in the right zone by asking questions about the book, like; Which is your favourite character? How did the story make you feel? Did it make you laugh? Did you cry? How do you think the ending could’ve been better?

Get them to jot their thoughts down as part of a mind map, as this will help them think of some appropriate words and phrases that they could incorporate into their writing project. Keep a thesaurus nearby so that they can look up some synonyms and expand their vocabulary. 

Another way to encourage your child to write is to ask them to pretend to be a book reviewer and write an analysis of a recent book they’ve read. Ask them to consider what they liked or disliked about it and whether or not they would recommend it to other people to read.