Creative writing

Let your child’s imagination soar! For some children, just the suggestion of writing (or typing) a creative story is enough to get them running for paper or a keyboard. For others, though, you may need to be a bit more structured with this activity. First, let your child choose the topic and storyline. Depending upon previous writing experiences at school, free choice may be a welcome change from assigned writing projects. If, however, your child thrives on prompts or lacks the confidence to come up with a topic, there are a few story starters below (see box) to get you started.

For younger children, it may help to write or type as the child dictates. In fact, for the tech-savvy, there are voice recognition programs that will automatically translate the speaker’s voice into text on the screen. Dragon Dictation is a free app for your smartphone that allows you to dictate your ideas and then send them as an email. If your child is a storyteller (but balks at the idea of writing and typing), this may be a viable option.

With vacations, camps, and other summertime activities, you can encourage your child to keep lists. Here are some ideas to get you started: what to pack for camp/vacation, to-do lists, grocery lists, wish lists for things to do this summer, list of goals for next school year, lists of friends to keep in touch with over the summer, etc. Remember that even a simple activity such as this allows your child to organize his or her thoughts in a logical way and then express those thoughts in written form.