We’ve all experienced it. The blank page seems more foe than friend, whether we’re the ones facing that expanse of white or whether we’re encouraging our children to break through writer’s block.
Sometimes oral descriptions can pave the way to written descriptions, gently opening kids to their own creativity. Try the following thinking game the next time your young ones protest, “But I don’t know what to say!”
See how many answers each child can think of for each item below. Keep an informal score for a friendly competition.
1. Describe one thing you might see in a…
- Refrigerator
- Living room
- Closet
- Car
2. Describe two things you might find…
- At the library
- In a craft-supply store
- On the playground
- At an amusement park
3. Describe something you see…
- In the autumn
- In the winter
- At the beach
- In a restaurant
4. Describe something you might wear…
- In a rainstorm
- To a costume party
- On a snowy day
- To play a sport
Now, have your children choose one of their oral responses and elaborate on it in written words. (If they struggle to write independently, let them talk while you do the actual writing.)
“Writer’s block? What writer’s block?” you’ll be mumbling to yourself, as the kids scribble away!
How else do you encourage your children to break through writer’s block?
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Janet Wagner has been a regular contributor to In Our Write Minds. For over two decades, Janet was an elementary and middle school teacher in two Christian academies, a public district school, and a public charter school. She also had the honor of helping to homeschool her two nieces. Janet and her husband Dean live on the family farm in the Piedmont region of north central North Carolina. Currently, she enjoys a flexible life of homemaking, volunteering, reading, writing, tutoring students and training dogs, and learning how to build websites. You can view her web work-in-progress at www.creative-writing-ideas-and-activities.com.
