Ways To Get Children Interested In Writing

There are many ways to spark imagination in a child. Here are a few ways to get those creative juices flowing even in the youngest children.

“What if”
Start by asking a “What if” type question and see what they say. Example:What if it really did rain cats and dogs?
What if you could fly? (Where would you go? What would you see?)

Give them a fill-in-the-blanks sentence. Example:
The ________ _______ down in a ________.
animal action word place
___________ put a _________ in the __________ and it _______________.
name object place action


“What happened next?”
Start telling a story. Then have each child in turn add to the story.
These are fun, especially when you have several children. Go around the circle continually adding to the story.

Take it a step further...
Record the story. You can type it out and have the children illustrate it.

Hope these ideas got your creative juices flowing. Have fun, and if you have any other ideas, please share. I promise to give you full credit.

posted by Joy Delgado
We go Beyond Reading
Laughing Zebra – Books for Children
Check out what’s going on at the zoo!
Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa blog

Go Beyond Reading: Take it one step further

Need another idea to take a book beyond reading? Try taking it one step further. For example, you’ve just finished reading a book about moving to a new place. Ask your child or students to pick a city and research the area as if they are going to move there. What does the new city have for children to do? Do they have a library? Parks? Museums? Is there a lake or a river nearby? Are there any amusement parks? Mountains?

Next have them pick a different country to move to. What would be different there? What kind of money would they need? What language would they have to learn to speak? Is the country inland or on the sea? What do the houses look like there? What are the traditional foods? Holidays?

This can lend itself to all kinds of ideas and get the children excited about learning about new places.

posted by Joy Delgado
We go Beyond Reading
Laughing Zebra – Books for Children
Check out what’s going on at the zoo!
Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa blog

Tip #30 Make up Songs to go Along With the Story

We are on the last of my 30 Tips to take a Book Beyond Reading. Today’s tip will get all your children or students laughing.

Using the story line, make up songs. You can use the tunes from other songs, like Row Row Row Your Boat, or I’m a Little Teapot, or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Anyway, try it. Here’s mine.

Sing to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Mori, Mori why so blue?
It’s your birthday all day through.

Have some cake,
And ice cream too,
It’s not time to say boo hoo.

Mori, Mori why so blue?
It’s your birthday all day through.

Have fun making up songs. (I bet you won’t get this little ditty out of your head any time soon.)

See you back here Monday as we continue to explore ways to take Books Beyond Reading.

Tip# 29 What happens AFTER the story ends

Today’s tip comes once again from Terri Main. Terri says:

One I like is to have kids tell me what they think happened after the story to the characters.

Thanks Terri. This is a great way to get children really thinking about the story they just read. What happened to the seven dwarfs once Snow White went away with her prince? What happened the next time Nemo’s class when on a field trip? What kind of adventures did Pinocchio have after he became a real boy? The list of ideas for this one are endless.

You can read more from Terri at her sites:
Wayfares Journalblog
Wayfares Journal
Creative Calisthenics

Okay, your assignment, put on your thinking caps and come up with a few of your own. Then read the story to your children and ask your questions at the end. I bet you’ll have a very lively discussion result.

Only one more tip, and it’s coming your way on Friday. See you then.

Tip #28 Help for Reluctant Readers

Today’s tip comes from Max Elliot Anderson. He says:
I grew up as a reluctant reader. And my father was the author of over 70 books. Now I write action-adventure and mystery books especially for tween boys.

Author James Patterson has a ten year-old son who doesn’t like to read. So Patterson has established Read Kiddo Read to help other reluctant readers.

Thanks for sharing Max.

I’m sure there are lots of sites out there that can help children who don’t like to read. I suggest start by reading with them every day. Let them pick the book and even if you don’t like the subject, sit down and read it with them. You can also try any number of the other tips shared here to jump start their reading habit.

You can read more about how to motivate reluctant readers at Max’s two blogs,Books for boys, and Confessions of a Reluctant Reader.

* * * * *
See you Tomorrow. I know it’s not my usual day, but I’m hosting “Prairie Dog Cowboy” on both of my blogs as part of their book tour. See you then.

Tip #27 Act out the Story

This fun tip today comes from Terri Main.

Terri says: "Acting out the story with friends is good too. Each taking a character and making their oun story."

Thanks Terri.

You can read more from Terri at her sites:
Wayfares Journal blog
Wayfares Journal
Creative Calisthenics

This can be lots of fun. Hey, maybe you can even get costumes, backdrops and take it "on the road."

I did that once when I was an Activity Director in a nursing home/sanitarium. My patients made had puppets, designed the sets and then we tape recorded them reading their part of the story. (This was becuase when they would read their part, they'd put the puppet face down on the table.) We then went to several other nursing homes and performed. It was great fun for everyone. Thanks Terri for triggering this fun memory for me.

So, what are you waiting for? Go have some fun. When you get your troupe together, take pictures and send them to me. I'll post them with a blurb from you about what you did and all the details of how you did it.

See you Friday with more fun ideas on how to take a book beyond reading.

Tip #26 Word Hunt

Today I've got another great tip from one of our readers, Helen Ginger to share.

She says, “If the kids are old enough, have them count how many times they find a certain word in a book.”

Thanks Helen.

This can be a fun challenge. Write several word on the board and have your students count how many times that each word is in the story. Try simple words like: a, and, the, and then some that are more specific to the story. I’m going to try this with my story and see how many times ‘the’ and ‘Mori’ are used.

You can read more from Helen at her blog .

Have fun with this and I'll see you back here Wenesday with another great tip.

Tip #25 Recipes that go with the story

This tip is yummy! It’s brought to us courtesy of Christina Rodriguez. She says,
“Some of the Hispanic bilingual books I've illustrated include recipes of the ethnic food that is featured in the book. This is something that I'm taking further by making recipe cards for kids to download from my site when it relaunches in the future.”

Thanks Christina. You can read more about Chrisitna and see her great illustrations at her blog.

Check out what types of food the people or animals in your story eat. Find recipes that go along with this and try them out. You can also hop over to Laughing Zebra - Books for Children and check out our yummy carrot birthday cake recipes.

See you Friday with some things that make me happy.

Tip #24 Interactive play

Today’s tip comes from Barbara Techel.

She says, “I take my book beyond reading when I do presentations at school with children. Frankie (my dachshund) is in a wheelchair, which is what the book is about. This teaches some powerful lessons.

“I get the kids involved by having a volunteer help me take Frankie out of her wheelchair so it shows them how easy it is and not to be afraid. I also show them how I do physical therapy for her and then have the practice. It goes over quite well. Instills in them that animals are REAL and they do get hurt and they do need help and teaches them responsibility.”

Thanks Barbara.

This is a great way to teach more and reinforce the story. So, what can you do with your child or students favorite books? Have fun and please do share your ideas here.

You can visit more with Barbara and Frankie at Joyful Paws.

See you Wednesday with another great tip from one of our readers.

Tip #23 Vocabulary Words

Today’s tip comes from Morgan Mandel. She says:

“When I read a Dean Koontz novel, I always find one or two words I never heard of before, so he increases my vocabulary. I don't recommend doing too many of those words in a book, because not everyone wants to take the time to figure them out.”

Thanks Morgan. You can catch up with Morgan at her blog Double M's take on books, blogs, dogs, networking & life.

So, look up with your students any new words you come across as you’re reading. You can then do vocabulary lists and have them come up with sentences using those words.

Have fun with words today. I’ll see you tomorrow with another award we’ve won here at the Books go Beyond Reading blog.

Tip #22 Reading with sound effects

Another guest of mine, Jane Kennedy Sutton says,

“I have a two-year-old grandson who loves books. He enjoys sound effects as we read. I have to admit his grandfather is much better at that than I am.”

Thanks Jane. You can follow Jane at her blog Jane's Ride.

Sound effects are a great way to make a child remember the story long after you’ve put it back on the shelf.

But be careful, if your children are like mine were, they will remember and remind you if you read it differently the next time around!

Tip #21 Try your hand at drawing the characters

From comments I’ve received, I’d like to share some of my readers ideas.

The first guest idea is from Christina Rodriguez. She says,

“When I visit schools, I'll often show kids how I painted a certain part of the book and let them try it on their own. It builds up their hand-eye coordination and interest in the arts.”

Thanks Christina.

You can check out her blog at Christina Rodriguez, Children's Book Illustrator

So, have your child or student look at the pictures in the story and try their hand at drawing one of the characters or the whole page. You try it too and have some fun!

Tip #19 Research, the fun kind

Are you ever curious about the people, animals and places you read about?

Can you remember reading a book when you were a child and wondering what it was like to be there?

Did you ever look up a place you read about to learn more?

This is something you can do with your child or student. With the internet it’s much easier than when we were kids. Literally there is a world of knowledge at your fingertips.

Maybe you just finished a book about dinosaurs or the pyramids. Looking it up in places like Wikipedia and other online encyclopedias can lead you down paths of learning some very interesting facts. Or you can always just google it.

Try it. You might just learn something you can use at the next party you go to and impress your friends.

Tip #18 Draw the story

A good way to help your child or student remember parts of the story is to have them draw part of it. Ask them:

What was your favorite part? Or, What part scared you, made you sad, happy?

Using their answer as a springboard, have them draw their memory of that part of the story. You can sit with them and draw a different part of the story.

Now if you can’t draw worth beans, you can at least draw stick figures. You might be amazed at what you both draw.

Don’t forget to fill in the details (trees, rocks, houses, cars, boats, etc) that are in the background.

Have fun. Find that little kid inside you, (you know he/she is still in there somewhere) and Enjoy!

Tip #17 Coloring pages

All kids love to color.

Coloring pages that go with the story you’re reading are the best. I know, I know, you’re thinking “Great Joy, where am I going to find ones that go with my story?”

Thanks for the internet. Many authors now a days have coloring pages available on their web sites or blogs.

If you have a favorite book, look up the author and see if they have them.

You can also check out the illustrator’s site, they might have even more coloring pages you can printout for your child or student to color.

Worse comes to worse, trace over the pages in the story and let your little ones color them in.

Tip #16 Mix and match memory game

Another fun game is a Mix and Match Memory game. Like the flashcards, the fun is in the making of them.

Have your child or student help find pictures of things in the story. Remember, they need to find two identical pictures of each one.

Cut them out and glue them onto 3x5 cards.

Turn them upside down on the table and mix them up.

Now have your child or student find the matching pairs.

An easier version of this is to place the cards face up on the table, let them study the pictures and where they are for one minute.

Turn them over where they are.

Have the child or student turn over the pairs as fast as they can.

Here’s one sheet from mine for “Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa”. You can find this complete game and other things to take my book beyond reading at Laughing Zebra - Books for Children

See you tomorrow!

Tip #15 Playing “What If”

Play “What if” with your child or students. For example:

* What if Mori heard Lito and Elvis planning his surprise birthday party. How would the story be different?

* What if the hunter had told Little Red Riding Hood that there was a wolf inside her grandmother’s cabin. What would be different in the story?

* What if instead of Snow White finding the home of the 7 dwarfs, she found a bridge that a family of beavers lived under?

Get the idea? See what great story tellers your little ones are, and remember to have fun.

Tip #14 Picture hunt

Today we’re going on a picture hunt. What’s that, you ask? Remember the “Where’s Waldo?” books? Like that.

In most picture books, the illustrator ‘hides’ things inside the pictures. It might be other animals, a squirrel in a tree for example, or a bunny peaking out from behind a bush.
This makes the story more alive for children and shows what else is going on, besides what the words might say.

When you read a story to your child or students, have them study the pictures. What else do they see there? Younger children can tell you what they see. (They may even make up a story about what they see that’s totally different from the story.)

With older children you can make a game out of it. One game can be to write down everything they see in the picture. Who ever has the longest, most accurate list wins.

Another game you can play is a relay race, of sorts. Divide the class into two groups. Line them up. Have one team member from each team race to the board and write one thing they see in the picture. As they tag the child up next, that child races to the board and writes another thing. When both teams have finished (one round each) see how many different things they saw. Any duplicates? The team that wrote it first gets the point.

Have fun! See you tomorrow with another great tip.

Tip #13 Flashcards

A great way to teach a child to read is by using flashcards. The fun is in the making of them.

Have your child or student help find pictures of things in the story.

Cut them out and glue them onto 3x5 cards.

Next write the name of the object on the card back.

Show them the word, have them read it and then turn it over to see if they were right.

This is one variation, you can also write the word under the picture.

Here's one pages I made to go along with “Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa”. (of course I have the advantage of having the art work that goes with the book)

Tip #12 Charades

Charades is always a fun game. As an adult it allows you to act like a kid again. As a child it gives you a chance to show off your skills at portraying something without speaking.

To bring this back to taking a book beyond reading, act out things that happened in the story.

Write clues for older children, or if children are too young to read, whisper in their ear what they are to act out.

This works best with a group of at least two children. Don’t have two children? Invite a neighborhood child over and read the story to both of them. They will have fun and their mom will appreciate the alone time. Maybe she’ll even do the same for you one day and you can start a weekly story time with the kids in the neighborhood.

Have fun. See you tomorrow with another fun tip.