Creative writing for kids is a great form of expression. It helps develop their imagination and also allows them to see the world in a different way. Countless people encouraged me to write in a journal when I was little and it really helped me discover a lot of things about myself. I believe that placing a journal in your child's life will be one of the best things you can do. The most important thing is to make it fun!
First you will want to shop for the perfect journal.
Take your child to a Barnes & Noble, an art shop, or to Target and let them pick out a journal they like. When shopping, talk to your kids about what they can do with a journal. Or if you're feeling crafty, try making some DIY Journals like these from The Artful Parent.
Below are some examples to try!
1. Take along a Travel Journal
Travel journals are great for trips. When you travel with your kids, encourage them to write and draw about the things, people, and places they see, and also about what they have learned.
Help them collect tickets, postcards, and stubs from different events and places. They can paste them into their travel journal and have special keepsakes from all of their destinations.
It will greatly enrich your child's life. Years later, it will be a ton of fun for them to look back over.
2. Create a Daily Pages Journal or a Feelings Journal
This is the kind of journal that your kids would write in every day. They can write about their dreams, goals, or even their feelings.
Writing prompt ideas:
• I remember when I was...
• Today I...
• My favorite memory...
• I feel...
• I hate when...
Continued on page 2...
3. Creative Writing Journal
3. Creative Writing Journal
Do your kids enjoy making up stories and drawing? Encourage them to write stories and illustrate them with this kind of a journal.
Make prompts like the ones below and sit back to enjoy the stories they spin.
Prompts:
• Unicorn/castle/sword fight
• Bear/woods/alien
Get creative making your own writing prompts. You can do this for your children by picking a setting, character, and a problem or you can get this awesome game, Rory's Story Cubes that works wonderfully for building imagination and story telling skills.
For more creative writing prompts check out Scholastic's prompt generator.
Creative and reflective writing helps children grow their minds. It improves imagination, communication, story telling, spelling and grammar. A journal can also act as a safe place for kids to write about anything they want, so respect that. Help your kids go on the biggest adventure of their lives by starting a journal. It will build them into who they are, by allowing them to find out who they are.
Here are more tips to help ignite your child's love of learning.