Are your kids beginning to drive you nuts? Turn them into writers!
Are they bored? Are you tired of watching Frozen for the 100th time? Have you begun to worry about your children’s academics? How far behind will they be?
Not to worry! There is a solution that quarantines academic success while having fun.
The solution is easy, spend 15 minutes a day writing with them!
Your first reaction may be, “I don’t know how and don’t have the time!” Not to worry.
This series of articles focuses on easy games that will help you children learn to see writing as fun. For too many children writing is a painful activity to be avoided. One of the most important gifts parents can give their children is to change this perspective and help them see the positive in writing. Help them become fluent writers.
As far as time, well writing with your children is like working out. You may think you are too tired and have too many other things to get done. But once you are 5 minutes into the workout, you’re glad you are there. It rejuvenates you so you are ready to tackle the long list of To-Dos. Within 5 minutes of starting these writing activities, you will find yourself grinning and not wanting to stop.
The Add On Game
The first game is Add On, one of our families favorites. All It requires is a large piece of paper and 2 different colored markers or pens. Tape the paper to the wall and have fun! You and your child or children take turns adding on to a picture. When the picture is done, you start a story. Each person adds a sentence. The power of this is in the positive associations your child makes with writing. They associate having fun with their parents and writing. Eventually the positive association will allow the child to see writing as something they want to do. From an academic perspective, the turn taking allows the child to see and hear someone more advanced than themselves. (That’s you.) “Writing on the wall,” requires standing and standing is a much easier position for writing. It also challenges the traditional concept of sitting at a table with paper and pencil. And in so doing, frees the mind of any negative associations.
For more information click the link below.
Bust through Writer’s Block
How many times have you heard, “I don’t have anything to write about!” Well those days are over. This game guarantees you will hear, “I have too many things to write about!”
At the beginning of each year a large portion of my students hate to write. They can never think of anything to write and spend a lot of time staring into space. Until we Bust through their Writer’s Block. The power of this activity is the fluency it develops.
80% of writing is the pre-write. 80% of this game is the pre-write. The first part is a step-by-step process that gives the child time and strategies to craft what they are going to write about before they even begin writing. In this activity, the child brainstorms and talks for the first ten minutes. So by the time they start their 3 minute freewrite, they know what they’re going to write. If after the pre-write they still don’t know what to write they can always write, “I will think of something to write.” This is magical. Sure enough writing this phrase over and over will trigger a thought in their head. Worst case, they spend three minutes writing the phrase. This usually results in kids getting bored so they think of something to write.
For more information click the link below.
The 3 Words Game
The 3 Words Game is a simple and fun game that can be played anywhere and anytime. It starts by choosing a word from three different categories like
- Favorite game – hopscotch
- Favorite Disney Character – Mickey Mouse
- Favorite number – 21
The objective of the game is to write a sentence using all three words. An important part of the game is the sharing of the sentences. Participants are challenged to use an idea from someone else’s sentence to write a new sentence. As you can guess, these sentences can be pretty silly. It is the silliness of this game that helps students tap into their imagination and write for fun, not letting their worry about conventions stifle their thinking.
For more information click the link below.
Dear Mr. Hatch
The love of reading and writing go hand and hand. This activity starts with a short video of the story Dear Mr. Hatch, a story about the power of letter writing. After watching the video you kids brainstorm a list of people they can write too. Writing these letters help kids understand the power of writing. Especially if they receive a letter in return. And yes, email works too. But, receiving an envelope with the treasure of a letter hidden inside is a lot more fun.
Letter writing can also include contacting various places like National Parks. The great thing about writing to these places, is they usually write back. Another favorite is to write to an author. Again, most authors will respond with something.
Youtube has an entire series of stories read by actors and actresses. Tapping into this resource can provide you with some much needed quiet time before jumping into a writing activity.
For more information click the link below.
