Since schools are currently closed, parents are being forced to find ways to keep their kids busy and also help them with their learning. One great option is to explore creative writing. It’s great fun for kids and helps expand their imagination, improve their handwriting and broaden their vocabulary. If you’re unsure where to start, I have teamed up with an independent school in London to offer the following advice.
Firstly, it’s worth bearing in mind that the more your child reads, the better they will be at writing. This is because they will become used to various sentence structures, the typical aspects of certain genres and their spelling and grammar will become more advanced. With that in mind, try and encourage your child to read as much as possible and explore lots of different types of books. Ask them plenty of questions about their books and encourage them to use various adjectives when they are telling you about it.
In fact, you could even suggest to your child that they write a review of each of the books they read, rating it out of five and describing what was good or bad about it. Ask them to write about how the book made them feel; was it funny? Did it have a sad ending? Perhaps it was scary? This type of activity will help your child comprehend all the different elements of a good story so that when it comes to writing their own story, they will be more prepared.
Another great idea is to encourage your child to re-write the ending to one of their books. This will be less challenging than starting a story from scratch because the characters have already been developed. It’s worth sitting with your child while they do this so that you can help inspire them if they feel a bit stuck.
