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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We have always kept a diary, of our day, what we had for lunch, and what we did, it's only a page per day, and some are more detailed than others, we have grey clouds for bad days, and sunshine for good days, parks, ducks, and people we have met, with a few sentences on what we did, it's a start, but they are really lovely to look back on, and to see how spelling, writing and drawing are improving week on week.

We read stories, make books, menus, lists and draw a lot, my eldest in secondary school so my youngest helps with his interpretations.

I always ask them to write thank you letters to grandparents and aunts when presents are sent - I did this when I was small and I think it's so kind when someone has gone out of their way to think of you. We have a large whiteboard in the dining room and whilst I use part of it for shopping lists, it us used for drawing, and practising letters an spellings, I love when my whiteboard is covered with impromptu farm animals, and 'tricky' words (because, would and thoughtful are there at the moment). I have a box which contains old ends or wallpaper and an array of crayons and felt tip pens, and we use that to spend a morning drawing a holiday scene or a Christmas scene.

I read with and to my dcs every single day. When my dsc was younger he loved writing stories. So me and his dad used to take turns with him to each write a line of a story and then the next person had to carry it on. Dss would then draw pictures to go with it. It was a good way to get him to practice his handwriting too!

My son really likes drawing but it’s hard to get him to actually sit down to do it. I’ve found that if it’s a competition he’s always enthusiastic so sometimes I make competitions up!

My dc are too young to write a story but my dd who is 4.5 can tell a story she has made up, I think it's just from being read so many different stories so she has good ideas. And she gets good ideas from TV too tbh!

Creative play in find fules their imagination, especially outside

My children are avid readers - they have free access to books and can read whatever they want (within reason obvs). This means they see lots of examples of good writing in a variety of genres. They also get lots of ideas. As a result of this, they are better able to write. They have free access to writing materials and to paper of different colours, styles, shapes and sizes and can write or draw whenever they want.

Another thing is to give them plenty of exciting experiences. If they have interesting and exciting things to do, they have interesting and exciting things to write about.

I model writing too for a range of purposes such as shopping lists, letters, cards, recipes, short stories, notes, little poems etc because I believe that if children see real people writing for real reasons, they understand that it has a place in real life and are therefore more likely to want to do it.

I read to my DC’s every night and they like to draw a lot. We make things together from old boxes and thread beads. Between them they go through yards of sellotape every week. I think they’re much more creative than I am.

We always have masses of paper and pens and pencils about. Lots of drawing and story making. I love reading their crazy stories!

My top tip for encouraging children to write is to join a library and expose them to as many high quality texts as possible. Providing children with good models of writing and encouraging them to explore different genres gives them the inspiration and tools from which to work.

My husband reads to the kids everyday, they love to use their imagination and make up stories and write down short stories as a result of this.

Yes I think that reading to them lots helps a lot, both fiction and non fiction. I also give them cute and fun notebooks that they will enjoy writing in.

Sometimes we share a story and I ask them to write a different ending, or a different adventure for the same characters.

Loads of reading and library trips. Art projects. Entering competitions. Doing family projects like 'American Day' or 'Roman Day'. Getting ideas from Pinterest. Going outside a lot for inspiration. Books everywhere.

We regularly send postcards to family and friends who live away. DD loves it and it's really encouraging her to write

Dd reads loads of books, and we encourage her to write her own stories. She loves fabulous notebooks and pens to write with.
She always makes cards for grans, teachers, neighbours etc and I ask her to write a little paragraph in them.

neither of my DC (both boys) were very keen on writing. But they did like playing make believe so they'd happily write a menu for a restaurant or notes about exhibits at their museum.
I also taught them how to write secret messages in lemon juice or milk and then iron them so that the ink turned brown and revealed the message. They loved that. And they'd happily write to Santa.
And they loved writing comic books. I found some the other day when I was clearing out an old chest of drawers. they are sixteen now and their superhero comics drawn and written when they were about 6-7 are priceless.

We make up stories together. Each person takes turns to make up a line, adding to the story.
It often leads to some unusual tales especially as my 10 year old likes to make her line a bizarre as possible and tricky for the next person to follow, but it gets their imaginations going.

I find when I put toys away then my older children are more likely to find writing and creative things to do.
I always encourage thankyou cards and give extra praise when they do something like story writing for fun.

Make sure there are lots of writing and drawing materials available.

Limit screen time so they don’t have that to fall back on as an easy option for amusing themselves.

Just let them get on with it rather than saying ‘right, now you’re doing some writing’. Different approaches work for different children, of course!

My 8 year old is a complete bookworm and gets through books at a pace that we can barely keep up with. For the past 2 years she's been leaving notes with Fruitpip, the fairy that lives in her room. She regularly writes notes and leaves pictures for Fruitpip and notes are returned. It's a cute pretence and she loves the magic of it. Plus it gets her writing and drawing lots!

Giving them vocabulary helps, so making conversations with them. talking about the books they read helps too. encouraging them to illustrate their story.

Reading has always been a constant through my child's life, from colourful first books, pointing out animals and buses and cars. When my DS's grew up, we have story time before bed, it's either a chapter of a Harry Potter, or a Ladybird book, when we are out and about (forests, picnics by rivers in the summer) we will often make up silly stories about what lives in the rivers (a hidden community of fish who talk) or tree dwellers and what they get up to. I love to see what my children pull from their imagination. Maybe I am bringing up some budding authors - hope so.

All of the ways mentioned in the OP and above, plus:

When my grand daughter was three or four, she was already making up amazing stories, and one day, I just wrote down what she was saying. It was a proper story, a bit rambling and stream-of-consciousness (!), but it had a beginning, a middle and an end, and some characterisation. Then we drew pictures to illustrate it. I have just started doing the same with my grandson, aged 5, and although some of his themes are very derivative of TV shows, they are still his. I think the thing is not to worry about forcing them to write correctly, just get it down on paper, whatever way they tell it.

My son (aged 4 at the time) once opened a book about birds, and copied them beautifully, so that they are instantly recognisable as an owl, toucan, etc. He spent a couple of years during his childhood drawing epic battles between stickmen with weapons and lots of blood (his father and I were at war too) - but then he stopped, and has only now, aged 23, decided that he would like to do more drawing.

Children can be extraordinarily creative and imaginative, imo, but I think you have to catch them at the right time. Another grand daughter virtually stopped drawing pictures when she was about 7, as she started to focus more on sport and sums, and she just didn't have time.

I used to send my children to bed early, telling them they were only allowed to read for 10 minutes, but knowing that they would be reading for much longer. Stolen pleasures are so much sweeter ...

MakeTea, you have reminded me of another grand daughter who was writing 'poems', secretly, on tissue paper at night, when she was supposed to go to sleep. I haven't read these 'poems', as she calls them, but she showed them to me. I think they might be about her troubles, as her mother died after a long illness, five months ago. What is good about it is that she had this outlet. I don't think she is still writing them, but she is gradually, now, speaking more about her mum.