Practicing Creative Writing

Kids need to practice creative, free form writing. Why do I say this? It's not because kids aren't writing in school. They are and they are often asked to write informational, descriptive,  and short story pieces on a topic. There's a specific outline and I'm grading them according to a certain rubric. I believe to become a better overall writer, kids need to free write on a topic of their choice knowing they're not be graded. A fun way to practice this is give your child an interesting picture (real or cartoon) without a caption and have them write a story to explain what's going on. You can also find story starters that give you a picture and the start of a line and the child has to finish the story. The stories can be outrageous or realistic in content but either way, your child has an opportunity to use their imagination to construct a story without the stress of a grade. You can search "picture story starters" online for pictures. Enjoy the creative process!