Encouraging creative writing

[NeilYoungCrazyHorse]

My DC is at the end of year 6. For a couple of years now my DS's English teacher has been telling me that my child is very good at creative writing. They just sat exams and DC scored a very high mark in this.

I would like to encourage DC in this area but haven't got a clue myself as he hasn't inherited it from me or DH. Can anyone share some age-appropriate ideas (nearly 12) that I can use to encourage this?

Compete to see who can create the best simile:

He was as old and wrinkled as...

With the sun beating down on them, it felt as though...

From a distance the bus looked like...

Also, play verbal tennis. Start with a boring verb or adjective e.g. walk. Then she has to think of a verb that also means walk e.g. amble. Then you come up with another e.g. saunter. Last one standing wins.

If you don't already have a good thesaurus, then it's a brilliant resource for her. My DD is in Yr 7 and still benefits from the Oxford Primary Thesaurus. It's not so big that she finds it too daunting to use and it's well laid out.

Scrabble ? Banana grams ? Boggle ?
Entering short story competitions ?
Just general reading helps improve comprehension and vocabulary without even realising it.
My DD likes reading on kindle as you can look up the definitions of words you don't know ( too lazy to look in a dictionary )

There are books of short writing challenges you can buy.

• Write about a time when you regretted something
• If you were a colour, which colour would you be and why?

Pretty much any question can be turned into a piece of writing.