By Katie Harrison

Writing is a wonderful way to spend QualAuntie Time with a niece or nephew of just about any age. While the writing process may be difficult for young children, working with them to develop their stories into something you can read back to them may inspire them to keep writing. And for older kids, writing is a great way to stretch those imagination muscles while supporting their self-expression.

Want to get started? Here a five simple tips to help inspire your niece or nephew to get writing:

1. Tell them that all of the ideas that they have can easily be written down into a short story, poem, or some either piece of writing. Explain that other people who have written stories or books once had ideas in their minds, too, but worked hard, wrote, and made it something others could read and enjoy, too.

2. Give your niece or nephew an opening line to a piece. Simply feed them one simple line—an opening of a story—and ask them to continue to write from there.

3. One way to really grab hold of some inspiration is to read the words of someone who inspires you. Encourage your niece or nephew to continue to read their favorite authors’ writing. This is a fantastic way to help inspire ideas—plus, reading is the best way to increase vocabulary helping to make them even better writers.

4. Writing does not necessarily mean beginning a draft of the next greatest novel. Even if your niece or nephew wants to start a journal and write about their day (e.g. school, homework, playtime, etc.) writing is writing. Journaling about personal experiences can be a great stepping-stone to writing fiction and nonfiction alike.

5. If you and your niece or nephew have written a story together, or they’ve written one on their own, encourage them to illustrate it. This imaginative activity not only boosts creativity, it’s also a great way to incorporate some art into their final work.

Photo: monkeybusinessimages
Published: February 10, 2016