Primary Writing Activities
Try these fun activities at home:
*Let your child keep a journal. Even very young children can do this. You may want to start slowly. Give your child a sentence starter such as, My favorite part of the day was _______. Have your child write the sentence completely and draw a picture to illustrate his/her writing. Don't underestimate the importance of illustrations! Just like a writer adds details to his/her writing, a picture should have plenty of details as well. As children become better at keeping a journal, you may not want to provide the sentence starter for them. Let your child write about his/her day.
*Look through magazines with your child. Cut out pictures that you like. Let your child label what you see in the picture. Ask your child to tell you what is happening in the picture. As children become better writers, your child may want to write a story about the picture. A fun twist on this is for the parent to join in the fun as well. Let your child write a story and you write a story about the same picture. How were they alike? How were they different?
*On a warm day, allow your child to take a pail of water and a paintbrush outside to the driveway. Encourage them to write anything that they wish. Talk about what they have written.
*Use comic strips to help with writing. Cut apart the segments of a comic strip and ask your child to put them in order. Children can then make up their own story to go along with the pictures (orally or written).
*Before going to the grocery store, sit down with your child and make a list of things that you need to purchase. Try organizing the list into categories. While shopping for the items on your list, talk about the way a grocery store is organized.
*While reading to your child, stop before you get to the end of the story. Ask your child how the story will turn out. As children get better at writing, they may wish to write their own ending to the story. Don't forget to finish reading the ending to see if the story turned out the way your child thought.
*Allow your child to help in the kitchen. Show your child how a recipe is step by step instructions to make something. After several nights of following someone else's recipes, allow your child to write his/her own recipe and follow it step by step.
*Don't just allow your child to write with a pencil. Let them write a story using watercolors, chalk, shaving cream (best in the bathtub), etc. Let your imagination run wild!
*Create a puppet show! Allow your child to use puppets to retell a story that he/she already knows or to create a brand new story. Try using a tape recorder or camcorder to record the puppet show. Discuss the story. Was it easy to understand? Were the characters introduced? Was there a clear beginning, middle and end? How can it be better the next time?
*Create a family story. Have one member of the family start the story, the next member adds to the story, and so on. Depending on the size of your family, you may need to go around several times before the story is finished. This is a great idea for a trip in the car. Discuss the beginning, (was it bold and did it make the reader/listener want to hear more?) the middle, (was it mighty and did all the details flow?) the end (was it excellent and did you include a conclusion sentence to wrap everything up?