I believe that reading and writing are the two most important things our children can learn these days; and both complement each other. Once in school these skills will play a major role in acquiring knowledge and improving grades. Therefore it is a good idea to encourage both early on. There are many ways of doing just that.

Some of the best tools to teach writing:

Journaling

No matter if you have your child create a diary to express feelings or write a trip journal when traveling during summer vacation to capture experiences and jot down what will become favorite memories, it will be a great way to improve you kids’ writing skills.

Pen Pals

Friends and family may not remain close by all the time due to moves and vacations. Writing letters and post cards can be great fun and help retain friendships and close family ties.

Poetry and Song Writing

Poetry is an age-old practice to put deepest feelings, which cannot be expressed in conventional ways, into words. Early rhyming sessions can prepare your child to become a great little poet by the time he or she reaches puberty and emotions start running high. Poetry provides a very artistic way of dealing with those emotions. If your kid likes music, writing song lyrics work just about as well, or better. What else is a song than poetry combined with a melody?! Framed poems and songs make great kids wall decorations and customized gifts, too!

Holiday Cards, Birthday Cards and Kids Party Invitations

Just like writing letters and post cards, birthday cards and invitations should be written in person by your children. It’s a great way to celebrate growing older. Holiday cards are a nice alternative during the holiday season.

School Newsletters

When your kids go to middle school, chances are that they can get involved with the school newspaper and contribute articles and poems. It might even give them an early start into journalism. They could also be encouraged to conduct a greater amount of research and gain interview skills that will further enhance their writing abilities.

Creative Use of Words

I love anagrams. Have your kid use a loved one’s name to write something good about them, using each letter of their first name as a starting point for a sentence describing that special person in their life. Maybe you want to include the result on a birthday card and give it to that person. I am sure they will enjoy it greatly!

Visual Aids

Let your kids pick a beautiful picture and ask them to write down all the impressions and emotions that come to mind when looking at it. Have them write a poem or a story about that picture. You can even frame it, either to give as a gift or use as kids bedroom décor, for example.

Hobbies and Interests

What could be better than having your child tell others about their favorite interests and hobbies? They already like to engage in those things, therefore writing a story or how-to instructions might be just as much fun for them. Your kids may even learn more about their favorite subject in doing research for their writing piece.

Writing Games

One of the games my family likes to do, is creating “adlibs”. Basically you use an existing story and remove certain verbs and nouns. Then you fill in the blanks by just asking for a word that matches the type and tense of the words that were originally used. The stories often end up being extremely funny. Another game that is similar to the one above is what we call the “story game”. You play it in a group setting where each person adds a sentence to progress a story in the most interesting and usually funny way. The more people, the merrier it will be! Have the children write down the story and keep it as a wonderful memory they will love to recall later in life.

Fun Writing Tools

Last but not least, provide fun writing tools such as fancy pens and pencils, pencil cases, maybe even a notebook computer for teenagers, which can be a tool as well as a reward for writing accomplishments. Personalised stationery is awesome for writing letters, as well!

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