10 Wonderful Ways to Encourage Your Child to Write

Writing is one of the greatest joys of self-expression and imagination. Join Jaques of London, as we look to turn Mini Minds into literary leaders and pose the all-important question of how to inspire children to write. Get your pen and paper ready, for 10 Wonderful Ways to Encourage Your Child to Write.

1. Read with Them

Reading and writing are partners in creative crime. Reading to your children from an early age is the perfect jumping-off point for a lifelong love affair with words. Be sure to spread the silk of sentence structure and you are sure to see your baby bookworms revel in the joys of reading. Writing wizardry is bound to follow.

2. Write a List of Story Ideas

As any keen writer will know, there is nothing worse than stumbling your way into a writer’s block. Afterall, it would hurt! So, what better way to beat the fiction friction, than to create a list of your latest and greatest literary ideas? Remember, no idea is too silly. In fact, when it comes to inspiring kids to write, the sillier the better. Don’t be a writer slighter, get out your easels, write a list and make the most of childhood imagination.

3. Don’t be a Grammar Grumbler

We all know that spelling and grammar are an important part of writing. After all, commas are companions to structure and full stops give sentences a well-deserved break. But they can also be a hurdle to creativity when fretting and fussing over perfectly formed stanzas. When it comes to getting your children to feel inspired by writing, leave the red pen at home. Once the ideas begin to flow, the punctuation is sure to follow.

4. Create Characters

Sometimes, knowing what we want to write is half the battle. So, what do you do when storytelling stalls? Here at Jaques, we love colourful characters. Having fascinating folk to write about is a sure-fire way to get the creative juices flowing and encourage your child to write with freedom. Don’t be afraid to encourage children to delve deep into their characters – once they begin to learn who their character is and where they have been, they may begin to imagine where they are going… And thus, their story has begun.

5. Create a Personal Diary

Dear Diary, did you know that one of the biggest obstacles to new writers is knowing exactly what to write on the page? Many of our greatest literary ideas come from the experiences we have had in our own lives. This makes writing a diary the ideal way to spark more creative concepts of fictional fascination. Better still, diaries function as a marvellous means of helping developing children to express their thoughts. This provides youngsters with the chance to build upon their own emotional confidence, leading to better mental well-being and increased confidence in their thoughts and ideas.

6. Enter Writing Competitions

Nothing gets mini minds creating quite like the possibility of a victorious prize. At Jaques, we love to learn about the wild imaginations of our newest novelists. So, be sure to get your child even more passionate about penmanship and keep an eye out for some wonderful competitions - open to all entrants at our family friendly Jaques of London Instagram

7. Praise and Critique

Criticising our children’s work is never an ideal path to perfect prose. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t feel free to offer as much critique as we do praise. Guidance from others is a vital part of the writing process. It makes us re-think our ideas and consider the ways in which we can become better at writing. Of course, be sure to scatter plenty of parental praise into your feedback… Positivity breeds paragraphs!

8. Write with Colour

When learning to write creatively, familiarity breeds content over contempt. When sitting your child down to knock out the next Harry Potter, make sure that they feel comfortable with their tools of the trade. Whether this means tip-tapping away at the digital typewriter or giving colour to imagination with a rainbow of colourful crayons, all writers revel in their own particular writing superstitions. So, make sure your kids have the perfect writing environment to let their ideas shine through.

9. Voice Writing Tools

Sometimes, getting ideas onto the page fast enough can be half the battle. If your child struggles with this, they may enjoy the freedom of 21^st century voice writing tools. Gone are the days of Alexa struggling to identify a single instruction. Today’s voice to text tools are incredibly accurate and allow ideas to flow straight from baby brains and onto the page.

10. Practice Word Play

No matter what you’ve previously heard, its always fun to play with words. Sit your little learner down, with pen in hand, prepare some nouns. For one thing we know is exciting, is having joy with playful writing. So let your words alliterate and rhyme away, don’t hesitate. And once your writing is all done, you’ll find wordplay’s tremendous fun.

We hope you enjoyed our top 10 Wonderful Ways to Encourage Your Child to Write. Getting children to write can be a truly magical thing for paternal bibliophiles. Spark your child’s creativity today. All you need is a pen and paper.

For more fabulous educational resources, come and pay a visit to us at the Mini Minds Hub, today!