This list includes a variety of journals that encourage young writers, from journals where they can explore their creativity to journals with prompts that encourage mindfulness and build emotional intelligence.

(Note: this post contains affiliate links that earn from qualifying purchases.)

Q & A a Day for Kids: A Three-Year Journal. I first saw this in the New York Public Library's gift store (a dangerous place for my wallet) and fell in love. It might be my favorite of all the journals collected here. Each page features a question with space below designated for a child to write his answer for three consecutive years. It will be so much fun to see the different answers as time passes, and children will get a sense of how their tastes, interests and lives have changed and grown.

TIP: I had one writer and one pre-writer when I first got this book. For the pre-writer I wrote down his answers myself. I love looking back at them!

Wreck This Journal. This one is not specifically for kids, but I they will love it, and is great for active kids who may not want to "sit down and write." Each page has instructions to get journalists to be destructively productive! Creative prompts include things like, "poke holes in this page with a pencil", "figure out a way to attach these two pages together", "draw a line while in motion." This journal would be great fun for kids who are full of restless energy.

Choose Kind Journal: Do One Wonderful Thing Every Day. Drawing on the popularity of the book, Wonder, this journal encourages children to write down their thoughts about showing compassion for others. Each day asks a question about showing kindness, or how the child has being on the receiving end of another's kind deed, and provides quotes from Wonder as inspiration.

642 Things to Write About: Young Writer's Edition. This is a writing journal that will last a long time! It is also a great choice for voracious writers. Creative writing prompts encourage kids to let their imagination run wild and the space allowed for writing varies from full to quarter pages.

Me: A Compendium: A Fill-in Journal for Kids This is an excellent writing journal for children who are daunted by the idea of writing large amounts of text. The journal's bold graphic design invites the young writer to answer simple, but creative questions, giving them the option to expand upon their thoughts or to illustrate their ideas. It is also a good choice for very young writers.

Reading Journal for Kids (Who Love to Read). This stellar reading journal is from Melissa Taylor, the educator and literacy specialist behind the blog, Imagination Soup. What sets this journal apart from other reading journals, and the reason why I've included it on this list of writing journals that encourage self-reflection, is the inventiveness and variety of the writing prompts which encourage kids to think creatively and critically about the books they have read. We know that reading builds emotional intelligence and being able to think critically about books can help kids understand their own emotional reactions to stories.

My Stuffed Animal Journal. Does your child have a huge collection of stuffed animals? The Stuffed Animal Journal is a clever way to keep track of soft friends and for kids to harness their imagination to write stories starring their favorite plushies. Each stuffed animal gets a dedicated two pages with space for kids to draw a portrait, record vitals, favorites and give a little background about the lives of their favorite friends.

This Smash Mini Folio is such a fun idea and a perfect way for kids to keep all those oh-so-important souvenirs and bits of ephemera they seem to be so good at collecting. Kids "smash" objects between the pages for safe keeping with the special glue tipped marker. It doesn't include extensive prompts like many of the other journals on this list, but it is great for kids who may prefer scrapbooking over writing.

My Travel Journal. If your children have trouble writing about their travel adventures without specific writing prompts, this is a good travel journal option.

Rip the Page!: Adventures in Creative Writing contains writing prompts and inspiration to get kids writing in unusual and creative ways. I highly recommend it for kids ages 7 and up (the publisher recommends ages 9 and up). The author also  wrote a companion book, Leap Write In!: Adventures in Creative Writing to Stretch and Surprise Your One-of-a-Kind Mind.

Journal Sparks: Fire Up Your Creativity with Spontaneous Art, Wild Writing, and Inventive Thinking. This is not actually a journal but a companion book to encourage journalist to combine writing with art to explore how to express themselves. The book contains extensive how-to instructions for interactive journaling, using poetry, collage, watercolor, free writing and more.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the economy standby composition book. You can buy the traditional black, ruled book for under $5, or you can even get 100% Recycled Paper version. If your kids decorate it with stickers, collage items or cover it with their art, it gives them a sense of ownership and encourages them to crack the spine and start writing.

I shall leave this post with a page from my son's journal from age 4. Its insanity still makes me smile.

The post Journals for Kids that Develop Emotional Intelligence appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

• Writing reinforces memory. When obtaining information is effortless, our brains do not work as hard.
• The journal page is a record of his interests over time. As a parent you will treasure these pages for years to come!
• Journaling creates a purposeful application for kids to practice their handwriting. Who wants to fill out handwriting worksheets all the time?
• Not going straight for a screen means they can't get distracted by other things online. This is especially important if you are trying to reduce your child's overall screen time.
• A journal offers opportunity for reflection and conversation in a way that search engines do not.

The post I Wonder Why? : Journal Page Idea for Kids appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

Kids who struggle with dysgraphia or other writing related learning disorders can still enjoy working on learning letter formation, spacing, and spelling, especially if teachers, occupational therapists and parents find alternatives to handwriting worksheets.

Pardon the pun, but these fun, hands-on handwriting activities will motivate even the most reluctant writer!

1. Encourage handwriting that doesn't look like schoolwork or homework. Write to each other on post-it notes, or set up a family mailbox system with shoeboxes and leave short letters for each other.

2. Make writing practical. When your child wants to remember something, have them write a note on a notepad, calendar or Post-it note.

3. Write cards or postcards. Writing thank you cards or birthday cards not only gives kids an opportunity to practice their handwriting, it teaches manners. Who knows, it might even lead to a penpal!

4. Engage your child's interest as motivation to practice handwriting.

• Write a letter to a favorite Disney character. Knowing they will get a postcard in return from that character is very motivating!
• Show them how to make a small booklet to write a story about Star Wars.
• Make their own Pokemon, baseball or other themed trading cards
• Print out this small coloring page booklet like the one in the video below so they can write their own story to go along with the illustrations!

Make a book.

5. Write in code.

• Teach your kids the pigpen cipher. They will love writing messages to others to decode!
• Create a scavenger hunt which requires them to decode messages. My kids thought a superhero decoding scavenger hunt I set up for them was the best after school activity ever!
• Learn how to write with invisible ink! Writing with something they can't see forces them to work carefully on letter formation and legibility.

6. Set out extra large paper sheets on the floor. Getting down on the floor engages the whole body and important muscles required for handwriting, and changes your child's perspective in more ways than one.

• Create a giant dot to dot like this one to start out with;
• then move on to making a giant comic strip. Both ideas were a big hit in our house.

7. Learn letter formation with alternative materials.

• For example, kids can learn how to form letters with magnet alphabet cards.
• Use a writing app, like Writing Wizard or Handwriting Without Tears and use a stylus instead of tracing letters with a finger. The stylus encourages proper pencil grip.

8. Make a sensory salt tray. This is great for kids who get frustrated when they don't feel their writing is perfect because they can give the tray a little shake to quickly erase. Alternatively use flour, cornmeal or sand or these other suggestions. Write with fingers, a chopstick, an unsharpened pencil. Just changing up the materials you use can make a big difference.

9. Write with window crayons on a glass window or door. This feels rebellious, which kids love!

10. Use copy work in place of handwriting worksheets/workbooks. Copy work can be as simple as one word (for a young writer) or a sentence from a favorite book or movie (for an older writer). Think, "Luke, I am your father." or a Harry Potter quote, or whatever your child finds inspirational.

11. Give your child bath tub paints in the tub or shower for handwriting practice. This is even more fun when it's the middle of the day and not the usual bath time. Invite them to get their swim suit on because school/homework is in the tub today. Use this easy recipe for bathtub paint from Nurture Store.

12.  Write "bathroom words." Seriously! I am not too uptight to let my son write the word "fart" (or worse!) 100 times, if it means he is writing. This is a great activity when kids are learning cursive!

13. Take handwriting practice outside with sidewalk chalk. Tip: If you have a brick patio or a deck, they can act like lines on paper.

14. Write on an easel. This encourages muscle development of all the muscles kids need to strengthen for handwriting from their fingers, and hands to their wrists, arms and shoulders (yes, all those muscles are engaged in handwriting tasks). Don't have an easel? Hang a piece of paper up on a wall or window. A new set of markers added to this activity makes it even more enticing.

15. Dip cotton swabs in water and write on a chalkboard, or dip them in paint and write on paper. This is sort of amazing. Try it and see.

16. Paint on a chalkboard easel with water and a paintbrush. There's no chalk dust to worry about and the water creates a fun handwriting experience. When my son painted with water on the chalkboard he got his whole body moving!

17. Keep a nature journal. Use these nature journalling tips for kids hate writing but love to be outdoors. Be sure to add an "I Wonder Why?" journal page. In fact, any kind of creative journal will do!

18. Draw and label maps! Making maps, whether they are of imaginary landscapes or familiar neighborhoods is a fun handwriting activity because it frees children up from worrying about sentence structure and grammar. Plus, the drawing of lines and shapes is also great writing practice.

Julie Kirkwood, of the blog, Creekside Learning, contributed to this post.

The post 18 Fun Handwriting Activities for Kids (Even the Reluctant Ones) appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

Writing this letter to Olaf from Frozen was even more exciting for my son than putting together the pop up book we made and this past weekend!

If you child is also dancing and singing the songs from Frozen, they may want to write to one of that movie's characters. Whichever character they choose, kids can write to a Disney character and Disney will send a return postcard! I knew immediately that my 5-year-old would love to write a letter to Olaf. (Olaf is the snowman, in case you are one of the 15 people who has yet to see the movie.)

If your child is still a pre-reader but knows his alphabet, have them dictate the letter to you, and then model the letters on a separate piece of paper. My son copied out the letter in his own handwriting. He drew a little snowman at the bottom and signed the letter.

When handwriting is still under development the goal is to make writing and enjoyable experience and to show that writing serves a purpose. For this activity, there is no need to correct handwriting mistakes. Allow your child to take ownership of their writing, to build their self-confidence.

This post contains affiliate links below.

Further Resources:

My absolute favorite resource for playful writing ideas for kids of all ages is The Write Start: A Guide to Nurturing Writing at Every Stage, from Scribbling to Forming Letters and Writing Stories. If you support your child's writing development at home, this is a must for your bookshelf.

Address for Letter to Disney Character

To send your letter to Disney and get a standard postcard in return, address the envelope to:

Walt Disney World Communications
P.O. Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040

The post Write a Letter to a Disney Character appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

How is a Cipher Different than a Code? 

If you think "cipher" and "code" are synonymous, you are not alone. I'll let the experts at Khan Academy explain,

A code is a mapping from some meaningful unit [emphasis mine]—such as a word, sentence, or phrase— into something else—usually a shorter group of symbols. 

Codes can be numbers like writing 55 every time you mean "bread," but you can also think of codes as substitutions of one group of words for another. For example, "The blue horse has left the zoo," may be code for "I took the blueberries out of the fridge."

A cipher on the other hand, is the system, or algorithm that is used for making substitutions. The cipher has no inherent meaning. The most common cipher kids start experimenting with is the Caesar cipher, in which one number stands in for one letter, like 1 for A, 2 for B, and so on.

History of Pigpen Cipher 

The  cipher is centuries old, and therefore there are several variations of the pigpen cipher. The exact origins are unknown, but starting in the 18th century, it was frequently used by the Freemasons, you might sometimes hear it referred to as the Freemasons cipher, or masonic cipher.

How Pigpen Cipher Works

Each letter of the alphabet is substituted with a simple geometric picture symbol. Symbols are created using grids and crosses so that each letter is represented by fragments of a grid or cross with or without a dot. The name "pigpen" refers to this grid pattern.

Pigpen is easy to learn and fun to decipher so anyone can quickly flex their cryptography skills! Even kids who don't like writing will enjoy composing messages to friends and family, perhaps even sending grandma a coded postcard in the mail.

Kids who love to engage in pretend play will get a kick out of practicing their spy and detective work using secret codes. Writing secret messages in the pigpen cipher is also a great spy party game! Be sure to check out all our spy activities for kids.

How to Write in Pigpen Cipher

Have your child draw the following decoder before attempting to write a coded message:

The letters are distributed over two tic-tac-toe grids and two crosses. One grid and one cross also contain dots in each space.

Now, practice writing letters individually. Each letter is surrounded by 2 or more lines of the grid and may include a dot.

For example, "E" is written as a box, "N" is written as a box with a dot inside. "W" is written as a "V" with a dot at the inside low point.

Here is an example of a message in the process of being decoded:

Now kids are ready to write in secret code and be professional codebreakers!

Can they decode this message?

How about this one?

Be careful! A good spy never lets the cipher fall into the wrong hands!

Pigpen Cipher Variations

Creating pigpen cipher variations is a great cryptography challenge for kids. They can experiment with the placement of different letters in grid spaces, the order of the grids and crosses or the location of the dot.  

More Fun for Budding Spies:

Now that your children have mastered writing in code they will want to learn more about the history of cryptanalysis, spy work, as well as practice their new 

• Spy books for kids:novels and how-to books for young detectives and secret agents with more examples of secret writing
• Compute and Find: a secret code scavenger hunt with superheroes. My boys loved this after school activity which combines math with code breaking!

The post Pigpen Cipher: A Secret Algorithm That's Fun for Kids appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

Although April is National Poetry Month (and I always make a big deal of it), anytime of the year is a good time to learn how to write poetry.  

Note: this post contains affiliate links. Purchases made through affiliate links may earn commission.

How to Begin

Before you sit down to write your first line of a poem, you must first learn how to read poetry! If you haven't already done so, complete this easy Poetry Reading Challenge that will introduce kids to different poetry forms and have them eager to created their very own poem. 

Next, laugh yourself silly while completing in this Poetry Writing Challenge in which kids learn to write poetry the easy way. 

Finally, use the poem ideas and prompts in this article to start experimenting with form and language. 

Coming Up with Good Poem Ideas

Lots of new poets wonder how they can get ideas for poem. The good news is that poetry ideas don't have to be complicated. When kids harness their creativity and start to brainstorm about topics they are interested in, writer's block will fade away!  

When young writers explore different types of poetry like the ones below, they will practice their writing skills as well as learn about the essential characteristics of poetry such as rhyme and rhythm, meter, figurative language and metaphor, form and mood. 

Poem Starters

Sometimes writing the first line that grabs the attention of the reader is the hardest. When you have a little guidance about what form your poem will take, it gets easier. These poem starters and prompts are excellent jumping off points! 

Write a spine poem using the books on your shelves.

Try writing a color poem. This is a good easy poem writing idea for younger kids and helps them learn about creating images and emotions with words. (via The Measured Mom)

Young poets will love experimenting by looking at things from a new perspective when they write a "never" poem. This particular version of the Never Poem harnesses the power of alliteration. Plus, kids love it when they can be silly. (via The Write Shop)

Some poetry writing ideas can be more challenging than others, but don't shy away. You'll be surprised how your kids rise to the occasion. Write a reverso poem (via Mama Smiles, inspired by Marilyn Singer's Mirror Mirror)

One of the most commonly assigned school poems is a haiku! How to write haiku, an article by Bob Raczka, poet and author of one of my favorite haiku books, GUYKU: A Year of Haiku for Boys. (via Imagination Soup)

Creative poem ideas can take many forms. What about a puzzling rhyme? Try writing a riddle poem. (via Imagination Soup)

Ditch the pen and paper and compose poetry using magnetic words. We have a set of really big magnetic poetry words and the boys love them. Having a limited selection of words to chose from helps take the pressure off writing.

Write a concrete poem.  Concrete poems are poems (rhyming or free verse) in which the words on the page take on a shape that relates to the imagery in the poem's meaning (via Poetry 4 Kids)

MORE: Concrete Poetry Books for Kids

Need a poem starter kids will love? Give them a topic they boosts self-esteem. Write an "I'm so smart" poem. I think my kid might like this idea a little too much.

Write an acrostic poem. Acrostics are often the first poems kids learn how to write in school. (This post also teaches about similes.)

Write a limerick to make everyone laugh!  A limerick uses a very specific AABBA rhyme scheme, convey a humorous and whimsical mood, and frequently veer into the realm of nonsense poetry! (via Power Poetry)

MORE: Funny Poetry Books for Kids

Focus on imagery and write a poem using the 5 senses. This is another excellent easy poem idea for kids. (via This Reading Mama)

Create a rhyme using word families. This is an great idea for kids still learning how to read and are working on learning the parts of speech like adjectives and adverbs. (via This Reading Mama)

Not all poems have to rhyme. A diamante poem has seven lines. The shape of the poem is a diamond, with the first and last lines containing a single word. Learn how to write a diamante poem. (via Write Shop)

MORE: Children's Poets Your Kids Should Know

Poetry books for inspiration:

• Haiku poetry books
• Diverse poetry books
• Non-boring poetry books to make you love poetry

Need more convincing that writing poems is fun?

• 8 ways poetry calms kids and brings joy to family life

The post 14 Poem Ideas for Kids: Creative Writing Prompts appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, it may earn commission for this blog.

Kids can also make their own journal. Recycling kids' old artwork is a great way to make a personalized nature journal. You can get the instructions to make your own journal here.

Printable journal pages are a perfectly respectable way to go, especially if you want to use a nature journal as part of a class project or to complement a particular line of nature study. Here are some fun, free printable journal page ideas:

• This is a tree - writing and drawing page
• Seeds to flowers - a time lapse project
• Charlotte Mason homeschooling inspired printable nature journal
• A butterfly observation journal
• Montessori inspired journal pages

Nature Journal Prompts

A single leaf or a noisy woodpecker can inspire kids to write in their journal.

Although you don't necessarily need specific prompts, they can come in handy! Here are some nature journal prompts for kids:

• Find animal tracks. Draw them and record your observations about who they belong to and where they are leading. Write a short paragraph from the animal's point of view.
• Collect some seed pods. Identify, open, and draw them. Tape some to your pages.
• Write a poem about the nature that surrounds you.
• Press flowers, leaves, stems, or feathers between journal pages.
• Find five different leaves and describe them using your 5 senses.
• Take rubbings of bark or craggy rocks.
• Go birdwatching and record your sightings. Here are some great tips for birding with kids and here's how my bird-loving son recorded his bird observations in a hobby journal.
• Observe and record the behavior of butterflies or another insect of choice.
• Go for a color walk and take notice of all the hues and shades of foliage. As Crafty Moms Share demonstrates, this can be done even if all you have time for is a walk around the neighborhood. It's also an excellent idea for toddlers and preschoolers who still have developing drawing skills as you can see in her kids' journal pages.
• This mom demonstrates how she uses nature prompts when she goes nature journaling with kids.

Out-of-the-box nature journal ideas

Natural journaling doesn't even need an actual journal! Let that idea blow your mind. Now go check out this super cool nature journey stick from Growing Family.

Can you journal with homemade slime? You may not think so, but this family will convince you otherwise.

Books for Nature Journal Inspiration

Your kids will love hearing you read aloud some of our book recommendations for picture books to inspire a love of nature! In addition, the following titles will give them some more ideas about observing the great outdoors.

It's a Jungle Out There!: 52 Nature Adventures for City Kids by Jennifer Ward. This book is divine inspiration if you think you can't go on nature walks when you live in an urban environment!

National Geographic Kids Get Outside Guide: All Things Adventure, Exploration, and Fun! by Nancy Honovich and Julie Beer. Although this book has way more to it than just

The Kid's Guide to Exploring Nature. This book is put out by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Education Team and teaches kids how to observe nature that helps them see the complexity of the ecosystem.

Now get outdoors!

The post Nature Journaling with Kids appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

You know you want to do it.

First, download the printable. (It's free, as always!)

Download and print: (By clicking on link you agree to our terms of service, *see below) KITE BOOK COLORING PAGES 

After your kids have colored the kite storybook (inside or outside the lines, there are no rules, here), fold each paper in half so that pages 1 and 4 are on the outside of the fold and 2 and 3 are on the inside of the fold. Slip pages 2 and 3 inside 1 and 4. I'm pretty sure you are smart enough to figure all this out, but still. You might not have had your morning coffee yet, so just in case.

If desired, you can glue the blank pages together (a glue stick will work best). The blank sides did not bother my son, which meant less work. That's good, too. Alternatively, you can add a staple at the binding to hold it together. Again, my kid didn't seem to care about these details, so I enjoyed a cup of tea instead.

Kids can write their own story in the space underneath the picture.  (I bet you figured that part out, too. Smarty pants.)

If your child isn't writing yet try one of the following:

• Pre-writers can scribble underneath the pictures as they narrate the story to you. Encourage them to "read" their story again later and you will probably get a new wonderful tale! This is a terrific way to encourage literacy skills and kids will learn that writing is fun. (Very important!)
• Your child can dictate a story to you and you can write it down.

Maybe this book will even get you outdoors on a windy spring day with a kite of your own!

If your child makes a kite storybook you can share it with Melanie and me on facebook. We would LOVE to see it.

My son and I even made a video of his book just for you. It is less than one minute, so why not just watch it?

More literacy enhancing coloring pages:

• Spring garden page and rhyming activity
• Leaves coloring page and rhyming activity
• Back to school bookmarks to color
• Reading log coloring page

See all of Melanie’s coloring pages:

Meet the illustrator:

Melanie Hope Greenberg is an award winning author and illustrator of more than 15 children’s books. Her cheerful, vibrant illustrations can be found in books such as Good Morning, Digger, Down in the Subway and A City Is. Her very popular Mermaids on Parade  was selected as a Bank Street Best Book, and for the Texas Reading Club and PBS Kids Summer Reading Lists.

Melanie is currently illustrating a non-fiction picture book due to be published fall 2016 and would love to  to connect with teachers and librarians. She conducts sought after author-illustrator visits and workshops in schools or via Skype. You can learn more on her website, and read about her love of connecting with children at Huffington Post.

(Book covers and titles are affiliate links.)

I’m sure you know a kid who likes diggers. Or mermaids? Or subways? Melanie signs all copies of her books purchased through her Amazon vendor link.

 *Terms of Service: this coloring page is used with permission from Melanie Hope Greenberg and is for non-commercial use ONLY. You many print out as many copies as you like for personal, library or classroom use. If you would like to share this coloring page, you MUST link to this blog page. It is expressly forbidden to link directly to the coloring page pdf file. 

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The purpose of this poetry writing challenge is to expose kids to different kinds of poetic forms and to make the prospect of writing poetry totally un-scary. At the end of 4 weeks, they will be amazed at how easy it was to learn to write poetry.

Each challenge has two parts. The first is to learn about a type of poetic speech, and the second part is to compose a simple poem. I've organized the challenge so parents (and teachers and librarians!) can be relaxed about following the guidelines. It's called a poetry writing challenge, but kids don't actually have to pick up a pencil if they don't want to!

Each weekly challenge includes extension activity suggestions for the ambitious among you, as well as books to read.

No more stalling! On to the challenge!

Week 1:

Exercise 1: Learn about similes and create your own.

Exercise 2: Write an acrostic poem

Extras: Find books and make art!

Get the Details: Simile and Acrostic 

Week 2:

Exercise 1: Learn about alliteration and practice creating your own.

Exercise 2: Write a 5 senses color poem.

Extras: Find books, make art and learn about other types of color poetry.

Get the Details: Alliteration and Sense Poetry 

Week 3:

Exercise 1: Learn about onomatopoeia.

Exercise 2: Write a rhyming couplet.

Extras: Learn about other types of rhyming poetry, find books, and get physical!

Get the Details: Onomatopoeia and Couplets

Week 4:

Exercise 1: Learn about hyberbole and laugh yourself silly.

Exercise 2: Write a haiku.

Extras: Make art, have a contest, create books, and more.

Get the Details: Hyberbole and Haiku

But that's not all! After this challenge you and your kids will want to immerse yourself in poetry for the rest of their lives and never stop reading it. (Bonus points if you can identify the type of speech I just used.) Writing poetry will be like drinking water. So here are some further resources for pure and precise poetic perfection. (Do you see what I'm doing here? I'm a cheese ball, I know.)

• 8 ways poetry calms kids and brings joy to daily life
• Poetry writing: 14 ideas for inspiration
• Have a poetry snack time! (via Sunlit Pages)
• Poetry reading challenge
• How to memorize poetry with kids
• Create a spine poem
• Poetry books that will make you love poetry
• Diverse poetry books 
• Haiku books
• Chapter books written in verse
• Use art to unlock poetry (via Imagination Soup)
• Try writing reverso poems (via Mama Smiles)
• 6 poetry types your kids should master (via Planet Smarty)

Happy Writing!

The post Learn to Write Poetry: 4 Week Challenge for Kids appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

I have two kids. One who has loved to write since the age of three. The other.... Well, let's just say we are working on it. Some might say it doesn't matter, that in this technological age, typing is more important than handwriting. I disagree! Not only has there been a lot of research showing how  handwriting skills are linked to other areas of cognitive development and academic achievement, a child's success at handwriting is also linked to their self-esteem.

I know, because this is very true for my 6 year old. A continual refrain last year was "I hate writing." Despite occupational therapy, his handwriting skills are developing very slowly and it has a big effect on his confidence in all areas of school.

My son loves to make up stories, but getting him to write them down is another story altogether. This summer, I have been working on encouraging him to write about himself and his own experiences. Since he loves comics, I whipped up some comic book sheet templates for him and he has been writing comics about himself and his dreams. In the story below he relates his own success as a hitter for the New York Yankees! (See end of post for a short video and a link to the printable.)

He loved writing the comics, although he told me that he prefers when I don't take pictures of him writing!

My hope is that writing stories in which he is the hero will boost his confidence about the process of handwriting.

Writing down his own story also encourages him to reflect, focus on details, re-tell others his experience. He focuses less on the frustration of forming letters, and more on the fun of the storytelling.

Other ideas to help kids who hate writing:

• Create a giant comic strip.
• Make a Funny Flip word game
• Encourage them to draw.
• Create secret codes for them to decipher.
• Encourage them to write notes to friends and neighbors to pass under the door.
• When they say "I want that toy", ask them to write it down.
• Have them keep track of their allowance and savings in a ledger. This is good for kids who enjoy math and counting but would rather do problem solving in their heads.
• Write a letter to a favorite character.
• Just like reading, handwriting should be part of every day. Aim for at least 15 minutes a day.

Want the printable for our comic book pages? CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Here my son narrates as he writes. You can hear him try to sound out words. Usually he hates that, but when he works on his own story he is more determined.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bic. The opinions and text are all mine.
Comments submitted may be displayed on other websites owned by the sponsoring brand

Whether your child hates or loves writing, take the pledge to save handwriting by visiting BIC Fight for Your Write. Share the #BICFightForYourWrite message about the importance of handwriting, even in the age of touch screens. BIC's mission is save handwriting and help kids learn how awesome and confidence-boosting writing can be.

The post My Son Hates Writing (And How I'm Changing That) appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.