Children have a limitless imagination. Growing up in today’s world where everything is at the tip of your fingers, where you can read, watch or buy anything from any part of the world with a little time spent on the internet, it is important for today’s kids to exercise their creativity and craftsmanship. Harnessing this creativity to create extended pieces of creative writing needs guided input from both parents and teachers. 

Encouraging children to write a story of their very own can give them an enormous confidence boost, as well as help them improve upon their literacy learning by putting their phonics, grammar and reading skills into practice. 

The way writing and literacy is taught has changed a lot in the last couple of decades. From teaching with a blackboard and having whole hours of handwriting practice and learning spellings without any idea of phonics, the children today are being taught in ways that make today’s learning more fun and interesting.

Here are some ways you can help children to write creatively:

• Get children to use their senses: When you ask a child to write something or begin the story, ask them to use their senses – taste, touch, smell and sight and imagine describing the setting of the story to someone. Children can also use a method of writing called “show not tell” where one must describe the character or the situations without spoon feeding the reader, for example, if a character is sick, then you can write that “he felt chilly and his head was throbbing” and not just state that he is sick.

• Urge them to notice the world around them: Many children often have trouble setting off on an idea. Creativity is organically achieved and sitting in your room for a long time while wanting to write about new worlds and places and people can be met with its challenges in some time. Ask the children to go out into their neighborhood or their favorite spot in the town and watch things unfold and to note down anything that interests them. Noting down interesting things will create a bank of ideas which might prove to be of use even in the future.

• Get them to tap into their interests and hobbies: If your child is interested in BMX bikes or Dinosaurs or Space or Music or other things, ask them to tap into their love and interest about it and try to implement it into their story. Doing this will create attachment to the characters and further his understanding of the plot and the story altogether. You may want to organize a visit to the museum, skate parks, concerts or some other place depending upon the child’s interests in specific things and places. Writing about places that they may have visited before on vacation and pulling from real experiences may better their chances of writing a more well-rounded and successful story.

• Explore genres: Urge your children to read from a wide variety of genres. This expands their understanding of writing styles and topics while also building their reading knowledge of classic novels or other such works. This ensures that your child has a better understanding of the world around and what they could possibly make of it.

Reading Eggs is a multi-award winning online programme for kids aged 2-13, with eager users in cities like Dubai, including GCC Countries, that offers children easy and effective learning. It is an excellent way to help children build essential reading skills. Over 91% of parents in the Middle East or the UAE noted improvement in their child’s reading ability within weeks. It is designed to get kids reading fast and has been met with a high satisfaction rate.

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