I remember writing a poem back in school. The only memory I have of writing poetry. I remember I wrote it, because I won the third prize for it. I have zero recollection about the topic or what I wrote.I never thought writing was my ‘thing’.Ever.

It’s a difficult art form for me and I still feel surprised that I could rhyme!

Now my daughter loves rhyming stuff both in Bengali and English.

Watching her enjoy herself drawing,writing crafting I realize the art forms are very fluid.Using one, opens up portals to the others.Its like a portkey to creative life.

My daughter likes to  draw and scribbles stories about what she draws.

Last Wednesday she was asked to find five leaves , stick them on a paper and write a poem about the  five leaves .This is what she wrote.

7 Steps to make kids love Creative Writing

1) If  you want them to write better stories, you better help them read more.

Reading habits are crucial for writing better.

When you want your kids to read a book.Start reading with them.If you want them to write better, read with them

Read stories together.Reading and writing go together.If you don’t find the time to read you just don’t have the resources to write.Or even if you do write, you run the risk of running dry!

All creative wells need refilling.Reading is a sure fire way to help kids write better.The better stories they read ,the more their imagination flowers.They definitely write better .Happens with me , happens with my daughter.

Don’t believe it it Read this

https://healthwealthbridge.com/why-reading-makes-you-smart/

2)Kindle their imagination.My daughter told me that watching me draw makes her hungry for “art”. That’s a super clue.The trick to make things more interesting is if kids see you having fun with it.There’s nothing more contagious than having fun!

Don’t force them to write in a certain way.Let their imagination go wild.

3) Get rid of the fear that arts and science don’t go together.Its a man made difference.Your brain has two parts and you can learn to use both.There’s an art to science and a science of arts. It’s all a matter of perspective. Excelling in everything according to preset parameters,is not the objective here.The plan is to learn to think out of the box, be creative and learn to write freely.

4) Free writing:It is liberating for the soul.Its a gift you would want to give your child.The more she learns to think objectively while expressing , the better equipped she will be to find solutions .Creative writing needs to start with her zone of interest and push her boundaries.????

If she likes drawing more,ask her to draw a picture and then tell a story about what she drew.This will help her plan her pictures better.????

If she already likes writing, ask her to draw pictures depicting her writing.This will help her make her stories and poems more visual.

5) Teach them to self edit.

This one is hard for you and me and tougher for kids .Eight and older kids can learn to use Grammarly too. Its that easy.The best part, is when it’s an AI they are less likely to feel bad being critiqued.

Kids expect all their work to be masterpieces and they are.That’s the secret ingredient behind parents loving all the magic they create.But in the real world improvement comes from self improvement.As parents you can teach them to edit and correct without feeling sad.When they learn to correct themselves , they start learning to write better.

6)Use the cartoon or graphic novel method.

They are popular  for a reason.My little girl didn’t want to read some of my favourite famous five because they lacked pictures.Young children needs pictures to imagine.So if you want them to learn to write better,draw pictures with them and then write stories about those pictures .The words will flow better.

7) Take inspiration from nature.Watch birds together.Having a bird feeder on the balcony helped us watch mommy birds feeding baby birds and that’s part of many stories we told each other.????

Looking at seeds germinate????, buds flower????,butterflies play hide and seek????,????ants crawl and our goldfish swim???? were stories which happened.

8 )Take inspiration from science projects.Ask them to make a cartoon story about a concept they learned.Teach them about gravity and then weave a story out if it.The apple did fall from the tree! ????

8)Practice writing together .If you  write with them, they will enjoy it more.Write different stories with the same prompt.Play a story antakshsri on paper and see how much fun writing becomes. I guarantee, it  helps. ????

9) Travel stories.????

When you travel ask them to keep notes in a small journal.Coming back or when on  the train or plane talk about the journey.Then ask them to write about it and doodle along.

You will enjoy their version of travel stories about the food they liked and hated about the hits and misses.

10) Exercise or play just before sitting down to write. ????

Exercise held improve levels of endorphins in your brain.This feel good chemical will help get those words out.When you teach them the connection between walking or exercising with writing,you are building super life skills.Helping their brain and improves cognitive skills at the same time.

Creative writing helps your brain do somersaults.They help you build better connections .Brain wellbeing means exercising your brain .Doing something difficult, which challenges your brain is a great way to do just that.

As parents when you teach your child to use their Creative writing skills, you help them develop their right brain.STEM education and left brain thinking plus supercharging the right brain helps kids become better thinkers.Creative at problem-solving,and design thinking. When you give them habits for the real world and improve their cognitive skills, there’s no downside.

This blog post is not just for COVID times but for all time !

This is a part of #CauseAchatter by Blogchatter.