Learning how to read and write are important milestones for children. At St Peter’s Prep we like to nurture your child’s creative development, whilst furthering their academic performance. Creative writing increases a whole host of cognitive skills such as critical thinking, memory and processing emotion. If you’re looking for ways to inspire your child to enjoy creative writing, take a look at our top five suggestions:
Map Out Your Story
Mapping out a story doesn’t have to take the traditional route of using pen and paper. Try using a story mountain or story hand to plot out the points of your creative writing idea.
Creating a visual representation of your children’s ideas can bring their stories to life. Use a whiteboard or corkboard to plot your story points following your chosen ‘map’ format. You could even custom-make stickers, tokens or pinpoints which stand for structures such as actions, obstacles and resolutions along the way.
Keep an Ideas Journal
There’s something lovely and nostalgic about looking back at writing we did as children. Why not encourage your children to create a scrapbook or journal with their creative writing ideas penned safely inside? Keeping their ideas and stories in one place will not only be a nice keepsake but it could also be an important artefact for the future authors among us!
The journal can also be a source of inspiration for creative writing prompts, and can help encourage children to get back into the swing of creative writing.
Draw Your Characters
Thinking up wonderful characters is half of the fun when it comes to creative writing. Whether your child is inspired by Roald Dahl or Jacqueline Wilson’s heroes and heroines, helping them to create their own characters can provide hours of entertainment.
Get the paintbrushes and felt tip pens ready to draw some of their creations which can add a richer understanding of who their character is.
Travel to Distant Worlds
Sometimes inspiration can strike on our doorstep and at other times we have to travel a little further to find it. Launch your child’s imagination off into space, dive into treasure chests beneath the deep blue sea or encourage them to think of what superpower they would like to have for a day. If you’re struggling to think of prompts, creating a creative writing prompt jar can be a handy way to reach for inspiration when needed.
Perform a Play
What better way to see how amazing your child’s creative writing ideas are than to watch a live performance of them? Dressing up, creating scenery or being the stage manager for the cast can all be fun ways for your child to showcase their dazzling new ideas. If they have siblings, why not get them involved in the fun too?
Transforming a creative writing piece into a play is also a great way to introduce your child to new literary genres. Perhaps they’ll even take inspiration from theatre productions they’ve seen or rehearsed before? At St Peter’s Prep, each class has one hour of drama in our dedicated Performing Arts space a week, so they’ll be no stranger to getting up on stage in the living room!
If you’re still looking for inspiring creative writing ideas for children, take a look at our storytelling guide for parents.
At St Peter’s Prep, we encourage children to explore educational opportunities both within and outside the classroom. For more information on our educational prospects, including our opportunities as a flexi boarding school in Devon, please call Rachel Elliott, Director of Admissions & Marketing, on 01395 280335 or email rachel.elliott@stpetersprepschool.co.uk.
