Ways To Explore Writing With Kids
by Amanda on July 20, 2010
Today I’m taking off the photographer hat and snuggling on my teacher hat. In my many years as a primary educator, my greatest love in the classroom came every morning when the kids and I would get out our writing books and create new worlds with our imaginations.
For me, writing is one of the greatest ways to get kids using their imaginations and creating. Every little kiddie is a natural born author waiting to have their ideas and stories explode onto the page.
It’s currently summer holidays in the Northern Hemisphere and the mid year holidays are wrapping up down under. Unfortunately, kids will lose some of their learning over a big holiday break, so it’s really great if parents can continue with activities to keep those little minds ticking over.
Here are some ideas to get kids writing:
This is just a tiny sampling of ideas to get kids writing. As a parent, I wouldn’t be too concerned about their spelling and grammar. Definitely help them out if they ask you, but at pre and infants ages (2-7) it’s far more important to just let them write. Their teachers will have set ways in which they teach them about spelling and grammar. The teacher’s job is to teach them strategies to figure out spelling and grammar when stuck on unfamiliar words.
You can of course remind them of these four rules:
Every sentence must have; a capital letter to begin, full stop at the end, spaces between the words and it must make sense. Obviously Pre schoolers and even some Kindergarten children are not going to be familiar with sentence structure, so helping them to simply write familiar words is more than enough.
As I mentioned in the Ways to Inspire Kids to Love Books post, the best way to get kids excited about learning is through being excited yourself. Use yourself as a model and show them that you love to write. Call them “writers” and “authors” to make them feel proud of their accomplishments. A little praise and encouragement is the best gift you can ever give a child.
Photograph taken with a Holga using black and white Ilford film- this was a love note given to me by one of my Kindergarten students. She and her dad left it on my car one afternoon. It made my day.
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Fantastic post, definitely something I should do with my three children.
Thanks so much Kelly. :)
I’m not a parent nor a primary teacher, but I still think this is a great post. In fact, I feel like I should print this and keep it as a reference so I know what to do when I have a child.
Aw thanks Jackie. I’m glad it’s helpful for future kiddies!
no kids & my kitties aren’t so good at writing but i love this post & so i had to blog about it …
http://lauraevansphotography.blogspot.com/2010/07/ways-to-explore-writing-with-kids.html
it’s a wonderful idea especially the grocery list part … it would make the whole writing of one so much more interesting & fun!
These are wonderful writing ideas – I could have used some of these yesterday while watching Andre. I ran out of activities – writing would have been great fun.
Loved this! Really great ideas. I agree with Jackie – I will keep this in mind when I’m around kiddos more one day :)
When I was little I made family mail boxes (really more like folders) out of construction paper and taped them to each bedroom door in our house. Writing/delivering mail to my fam was so fun, and I’m pretty sure they got a kick out of it too since they still tease me about it!
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great post, Amanda!
Thanks Laura.
WilB, there’s always another day. Thanks :)
Leslie, I love the mailbox idea. I’ve used it in my classroom and the kids love it.
Thanks Karen, love xx
i loved all my primary school teachers and i love this post so much! xo.
What great ideas! I think it’s so very important to inspire creativity in children.
Before I was old enough to write, I would sometimes sit next to my mom at her typewriter and tell stories. She would type them out and read them to me later. We still have some of them.
This is such a great post for keepsake! When my little girl grows up will take your advice and write together (hopefully in our sailboat while traveling around the world). Oops! i just had to sneak that in there ;)
Lovely post! I am very thankful for the people who allowed me to be creative and write as a child. I was shy and books became my best friends for many many years. Every child should have the chance to be inspired by words.
I shared this with some of my homeschooling friends who have younger kids. Do you have any ideas for older kids? My son is 8th-9th grade and hates writing.
my daughter just started kindergarten last week. she’s been “telling stories” and having us (grandparents included) write them since she was four. now that she’s practicing her own writing skills, these ideas are especially useful. most especially since homework can still feel a lot like “homework.” thanks for the great ideas~