Mumsnet users share their top tips for encouraging their children to write, with Premier League

[EllieMumsnet]

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Writing, be it in a diary, a poem, a short story or even a letter can be a great way to help children explore their creativity whilst inspiring them to write more. With that being said the Premier League would like to know your top tips for encouraging you DC to write more and explore their creative side.

Here’s what the Premier League have to say: “Our Premier League Primary Stars education programme uses the appeal of football to inspire kids to learn, be active and develop important life skills. More than 15,000 primary schools use the free teaching resources for maths, English, PSHE and PE and take advantage of incentives and competitions available for their school. However, sometimes young writers need a little extra boost and that’s why we are proud to bring back our Writing Stars poetry competition, which last year inspired more than 25,000 children to write a poem. This year’s competition theme is diversity and, with the support of a fantastic judging panel including singer Olly Murs, former footballer Rio Ferdinand, Children’s Laureate Lauren Child and poet Joseph Coelho, we are encouraging children to pick up a pen and explore what it means to be beautifully different and wonderfully the same. To read some of the poems already submitted by celebrities, please click here.”

Do you find that reading to your children frequently helps develop their imagination and also inspires them to write stories too? How about encouraging your children to keep a diary to write their everyday experiences in? Do you make sure that your DC write thank you letters after their birthday and Christmas in order to help them practice writing? Do you go on days out that will help them explore the things around them and develop their imagination?

Whatever your top tips are, share them on the thread below and you will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!
MNHQ

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After reading Harry Potter together, we wrote a book of spells. After reading Percy Jackson, we wrote about the Greek Gods. Find something your child is excited about. Encyclopaedias are great for research.

Buy nice fancy pens and paper and they do it themselves. This time of year is useful as they get into writing cards for christmas. And is near dd birthday so she writes birthday invites and thank you cards.

I think reading bedtime stories helps them build an imagination and learn about writing stories - even if they reappear in schoolwork. Story tapes are good too - possibly better as lying in the dark on your own definitely helps the imagination fly.

My children write thank you letters but I'm not convinced it has really improved their letter writing skills.

The biggest thing you can do is modelling being creative - make up silly stories as you go, act out a pretend thing, write down things yourself. Kids will keep doing what they see their parents doing imo, and if neither parent reads and is imaginative, they won't either

My Son loves his smiggle diary with a luck and key. We make up and write down silly stories. I always ask for more adjectives when he tells me about things.

DD is a reluctant writer, I don't know why as she's an avid reader but she's never been keen.

There are some lovely books to encourage writing, Usborne do some good ones but my favourite is Descriptosaurus.

Get creative alongside them, let them see you enjoy being creative too

He''s really into making up jokes and finding creative uses for words using puns and he loves making elaborate drawings with scenes full of lots of detail.

p.s. I think children should always write thank you notes but I wouldn't say it's creative - my sister and I were brought up to - it's the right thing to do - all my friends' children do to with one exception and as she got older and into her teens she stopped thanking me so eventually I stopped sending her any presents!

Read lots of stories together and do creative things like painting, messy play etc

They have a notebook wheree they can write whatever they want!

My dd is only 3 but she is fascinated by reading and writing and loves to take books to bed. We are starting to go over letters and simple words and seeing the joy she gets from this is great! I want to encourage her to be like me and write whatever stories down that come to mind, as it is the best way to encourage imagination and a sense of wonder.

My 15yo told me the best thing recently. She said "I used to think you were being too fussy and controlling restricting our screen time. But now I see that it was a good thing, because I never struggle with a narrative when I'm writing. Restricting our screen time and nudging us towards creative play nurtured my imagination."

She's on track for 8s in English GCSE and wants to take it at A-level.

I always keep an art stash & plenty of paper around the house so when they feel like being creative they can access what they need quickly and that means they tend to doodle/draw or write stories quite often, even if it is only for 5 minutes at a time.

Ive always made sure they have access to paper and pencils/pens/crayons. I read to them daily every night before bed.
We write shopping lists together. Even if theirs are unreadable its all about the making the list rather than reading it. Right now my not tired 3 year old DD is currently scribbling in her notebook.
I dont pressure my children to read/write but encourage them alongside school using school methods. I dont force it if they dont want to one day but pick it up the next day and try again. We are a household of readers though so we are surrounded by books.

I do think, as others have said, access to paper and pens/pencils/crayons - I try to take them on my bag for whenever a boring wait occurs. We also try and talk about what’s good and bad in various books, so they engage and critique

My DS absolutely loves writing! He says he wants to be an author when he grows up and is always making his own books, writing stories & reading.
We've read to him since hexwas a baby and he just seems to have a natural interest in writing - just hope it stays!

My dc are quite young but I prefer giving them blank paper rather than colouring books which is better for their imagination and creativity. They also get a lot of enjoyment out of loose parts play and playing with card board boxes etc. My dc still love stuff like the ipad and tv but I think giving them less doing toys teaches them creativity.

Mine find handwriting a bit of a chore but can both type well, so I put them in front of Microsoft Word and tell them to go for it - DS1 in particular can rattle off pages of stories much faster than if he wrote by hand. DS2 is more of a visual artist so enjoys laying out pages in an interesting way!

Reading, playing games, story telling, more reading!

Lots of reading and encouraging them to write about what they are interested in. I have one writing out names of Egyptian gods at the moment! Fancy notebooks and nice pens too.

We often go for walks and make up fabulous stories about anything we see, we have created underground communities under the floor of country paths, and in the trees of forests, we have creatures, fairies and nymphs who live all around us, and we give animals voices and decide what they are thinking when in their field. Their stories at school are SO imaginative.

Reading lots of different books for inspiration, making sure they see parents and other family members reading/writing/ drawing for fun and relaxation, and making sure we make time for it - TV free days/evenings etc - encouraging creativity is really important for helping them entertain themselves!

My dd does an art diary which combines painting/drawing/collage with words.
It's very therapeutic.

Engender a love of reading and encourage them to enter writing and poetry competitions, by suggesting ideas. And talking to them a lot about all sorts of things as well as trying to broaden their outlook by taking them to stay in interesting places like on boats, trains, yurts etc.

Involve them when very young by getting them to write their names, or draw, in birthday and Christmas cards, thank you notes, to help with shopping lists and reminder notes. Send postcards to friends and relatives with a few words by the child. Write them notes and leave them on their pillow. Sooner or later you may get a reply! It's all about communication!

Let them write on chalk boards, chalk on paving stones and patios, the rain will soon wash it off! Provide thick 'toddler' chalks, crayons and pencils.

Listen to their jokes and stories, encourage them to retell stories they've heard. Let them caption photographs and drawings. Make scrap books about outings, holidays, family celebrations. Make sure they're aware of menus, recipes, and instructions - and suggest they write some themselves.

Later encourage creative writing by providing note books, plain as well as lined, and a variety of pencils, pens, felt tips. Writing on screens is fine too. Children often enjoy writing the type of story that they most like to read or something for a younger sibling which can be in a simple book format. This can be 2 sheets of A4 folded in half and stapled or tied together.

Children love rhyme and rhythms. Birmingham poet Benjamin Zephaniah recalls in his autobiography that his Jamaican mother often spoke to her children in rhyme. If they are familiar with the idea of poetry they will be confident to try writing their own.

Any imaginative game is the foundation of a play, it just needs recording in some way. Creative writing is all around and if a child is encouraged without criticism he or she will soon be involved.