Writing Activities for Kids

In this mix and match story activity, kids can jumble their stories' beginning, middle and end.

What You'll Need:

Using a ruler, take 10 pieces of paper and divide each into six even sections.

Have kids write a very simple story, using six sentences, with a sentence in each section. Make the first sentence a "Once upon a time" character introduction, such as "Once upon a time, there was a green tree frog."

The second describes where the character lived: "He lived in the wilds of a South American rain forest." The third sentence describes the character's special talent: "He was able to hop better than any animal in the realm."

The fourth sentence describes the character's feelings: "But he was sad." The fifth tells why the character felt that way: "He was a very lonely frog." The last line tells how the character solved the problem: "So he found a friend in the pond."

Write a story for each of the pieces of paper. Now cut the sections of each page, and mix and match the lines of the stories. See what wacky combinations come out.

Learn more about the pass it on writing activity on our next page.

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Writing is a team event with this pass it on story activity. Most writers work alone. But in this activity, storytelling can be friendly fun.

What You'll Need:

Have kids go through a stack of old magazines and find a picture that really makes them think twice. Write a paragraph about the person, animal, place, or thing in the picture.

Then have the first writer pass the picture and the first paragraph on to a friend. Ask them to add to the paragraph and pass it on to another friend. The next person adds a few sentences and passes it along, and so on, and so on, until they've built a whole story around the photo.

Gather together and read the story aloud. You can play this game on the Internet via e-mail. Just find a picture on a Web site. Pass the Web address to your friends, along with your story.

Kids can become well-versed in poetry with the next activity -- keep reading to find out more!

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Poetry is like painting pictures with words. Try this writing poetry activity and let kids see for themselves.

What You'll Need:

Encourage kids to think of sights they've seen that interested them or made them feel something. Maybe it was a bird flying, a dog chasing its tail, or a horse galloping across a field.

Why not take a stab at writing a poem about it? Suggest they use powerful words -- words that say more than they might think. For example, instead of using "big" to describe that Clydesdale horse, use "monumental."

Why say the dog was brown when you could say he was the color of chocolate? And remember, poetry doesn't have to rhyme to be good.

Teach kids the value of keeping a record of their lives with the next activity.

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Kids can document their young lives when they try this journal writing activity.

For generations, diaries and journals have not only helped writers understand their world, it has also given readers in later times a chance to know what life was like in the past.

What You'll Need:

Encourage kids to keep a daily or weekly journal of thoughts about their lives. Have them write about what they like to do, to eat, to see, to enjoy. Put in details likely to change in coming years, including what things cost, political leaders, and popular styles of clothing.

Years later, kids will find it interesting to read through their old journals. And who knows? Maybe future generations will be grateful for the records of kids' impressions of today.

The wild and crazy monsters writing activity on the next page is sure to send a chill down kids' spines.

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Try this wild and crazy monsters writing activity, you'll begin with a good story and make it even better. It's a test for your imagination.

What You'll Need:

Read a book about imaginary monsters such as "Where the Wild Things Are" and then create your own make-believe creatures.

Sketch a fun or scary monster on a piece of paper and color it in. Or use a tracing drawing technique to create an outline of a shape, such as a bear.

Turn it into a monster by adding horns, sharp teeth, and a tail. Then color it in.

Make all kinds of monsters -- a giant one, a ghostlike creature, or a dragon-like animal -- to create your own picture book.

Continue reading to the next page to learn more about our silly poem writing exercise.

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Have kids try this silly poem writing exercise and change the key words of old nursery rhymes or a favorite story to make a new, funny poem. Then draw pictures to match your new story.

What You'll Need:

Have kids cut several sheets of drawing paper in half, depending on how many pages they want their books to be. Then have them write a silly story on a page, and draw matching illustrations.

For example, instead of Mary having a little lamb, she could have a giant ham. Encourage kids to make themselves, their family, or their friends the characters in the story.

Kids can rewrite and illustrate several stories for their storybooks. If they want, they can add a table of contents and dedication page.

After kids have finished the inside pages, they can bind their new book. To make the front and back covers, fold a sheet of construction paper in half and punch four holes near the fold. Decorate the front page.

Then punch four holes in each page, making sure they line up with the holes on the covers. Place the pages inside the covers. Cut a piece of yarn, thread it through the holes, and tie it in a bow.

Jam with a journal in our next writing activity!

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This journal jam writing exercise shows kids firsthand how writing in a journal can benefit them -- not just now, but for years to come.

What You'll Need:

For ages, people have explored their feelings and their ancestry by writing and reading personal journals. Young people, such as the second World War's famous heroine Anne Frank, have left behind important messages for future generations.

Your kids can join in this proud tradition by writing their own journal. Once a week, or once a day if they're really anxious to speak their minds, have them sit down and write out what they've done, what they've seen, and how they feel.

Date each page with the month, day, and year. Be sure to mention how much things cost; popular trends; and troubling, interesting, and exciting things they hear about in the news.

Glue in family pictures or images from magazines and newspapers to verify what they say. Five, ten, even a hundred years from now, people could be using your journal to better understand the times in which they lived.

Dress up the letters of kids' names with the activity on the next page.

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Kids turn their names into works of art with this name art activity!

What You'll Need:

Step One: Print your first name in large, neat letters. Now take a long look at them. What does the shape of each letter remind you of? A small letter b might be a baseball with a bat standing next to it.

Step Two: A capital S might be a snake or a pair of monkey arms. Kids can try turning each letter into an object or animal so that their names look like the things that interest them.

Step Three: Encourage kids to do the same thing with your their last names, and even other people's names.

Create cards of wonder with your kids that they can send to their favorite authors. Read about this writing activity on the next page.

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Cards of wonder help kids reach out to their favorite authors in a time-honored fashion. Teach your children to send homemade thank-you cards to their favorite authors.

How to Make Cards of Wonder

What You'll Need:

Step One: A good book is like a good friend. Reading about people in other countries can make you feel like you're actually in that place. Make a homemade thank-you card to send to a favorite author of a story set in another place or about people of a nationality different from yours.

Step Two: Fold a piece of construction paper into quarters to make a greeting card shape. With markers, draw characters and scenes from the story on the outside of the card.

Step Three: Inside the card, write down all the things you liked about the story and how glad you are that the author wrote it.

Step Four: You can send your card to the author in care of the company that published the book. Did the book surprise you? Teach you something new? Let the author know!

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ABOUT THE CRAFT DESIGNERS

Cards of Wonder by Lisa Lerner and Kersten Hamilton