This week at school our girls are learning the mechanics of proper writing. On the weekends we whisk them away to local coffee shops (with pencil and paper in hand) to imagine a world with dragons who eat broccoli, cats that fly, and lifetime supplies of confectioneries … candy continues to be a trending theme in their work.
Our children will live in a world where knowledge is simply not enough to succeed.
Foster creative thinking skills by encouraging your children to write outside of school.
Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
– Albert Einstein
Below are five tips to help you inspire your little author…
1. Life is better with whip cream and sprinkles.
Set aside special writing time. Make a hot cocoa and coffee writing date with your little one. They’ll treasure the special one-on-one time whether you go out on the town or hang out at your kitchen table.
My daughter and I headed to our favorite local coffee shop, chugged some cocoa, and got started.
2. Bring a number-two pencil.
Be prepare. Have a variety of supplies. We have a writing bag that has lined notebooks, markers, pens, rainbow Sharpies, pencils, erasers, and blank drawing paper. I always ask my daughter if she’d like to write in pencil (for easy erasing), but it really depends on her mood.
3. Starting with a blank page can be a challenge.
Provide inspiration. There is a wonderful new app out there for parents called Knoala [learn more]. The app offers tons of fun & development-boosting activities for young children. My favorite section of the app? Story Starters!
This is the writing prompt Rose got at the coffee shop:
Tell a story about the secret life of a brave little girl whose best friend is a bird.
Click here to download the app
and see additional story prompts.
How cool is that? Look at the image below to see how she’s propped the phone up with her writing supplies. The writing prompts offer a perfect balance of inspiration without being restrictive.
These prompts are, of course, great for a sit down writing session. They are equally as cool when you’re standing in a checkout lane a mile long with an ants-in-the-pants child.
Rose immediately dove into writing a story.
The words seemed to flow out of her. She handed me one page, two pages, three pages…
4. A picture is worth one thousand words.
Go with the flow. Children tells stories in many ways. Offer a positive response to any format: drawings, comic style, poems and so on.
5. One suggestion at a time. ONE.
When you read over your child’s work, be positive. If your little one asks for tips to improve their work, Melissa Taylor of Imagination Soup recommends finding three specific things to praise and ONE suggestion.
If you have older children, she also suggests using Post-it notes to make recommendations rather than writing directly on your child’s paper. This simple trick empowers young writers to be able to make changes on their own. Brilliant! [Read Full Post: Help Your Child With Writing Assignments]
The mug says it all my friends…
Be Kind. Be Silly. Be Nice. Be Happy.
Looking for additional inspiration for your little author?
Below are three awesome Pinterest resources:
A little more about Knoala…
Knoala is WAY MORE than just a story starter app. It is a smart app that finds activities that are most suitable for you and your family, based on your child’s age and local weather conditions. There are a wide variety of games and crafts that foster artistic, cognitive, emotional, motor, sensory and language skills. All content on Knoala is free, and always will be. What I like most about the app is the simplicity of the activities. It is full of ideas that parents can pull off in a pinch.
Want to learn more? Check out the app’s official website and find it here on iTunes. OR check out some additional information about Knoala from other bloggers:
- Mom with a Lesson Plan | Downtime: why you want it and how to get it
- Toddler Approved | Simple Play Activities for Babies
- Kid’s Activities Blog | 1000s of Kids Activities in Your Phone
- Hands as We Grow | Hop! Skip! Jump! with Paper Plates
How do you help encourage the little author in your life? I am always looking for new ideas. Let’s chat in the comments!
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Let’s Lasso the Moon is proud to work with Knoala as a partner for growing curiosity & creativity. This is a sponsored post; click here to read my full disclaimer.
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