Some kids find writing exacerbating, so here are some fun ways to put pen to paper so kids can find writing enjoyable. Here are 11 ideas to make writing fun!
1. Buy Fancy Pens and Markers
It’s fun to try some fancy pens or markers to write with. My son is always confiscating my colorful gel pens, which I don’t mind as long as he writes or draws with them!
2. Write on Large Surfaces
A lot of kids prefer writing on larger surfaces. Dry-erase boards and chalkboards have worked wonders for us. There is more space for drawing bigger letters, words, and sentences.
Try using an LCD writing pad! These tablets are great for sitting in church, waiting rooms, and road trips.
Etsy always has awesome stuff for homeschoolers, and I found these handwriting primer printouts for print and cursive (above in pic). I laminated these to reuse and my son actually enjoys practicing on these cards.
3. Start a Me Journal
In kindergarten we staring writing in this Me journal, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It has more pictures and drawing pages with just a little writing with short prompts, and my son actually looked forward filling out the pages! And it’s a nice keepsake that down the road we might enjoy looking back on – kind of like a time capsule journal. For a kid who loves writing, they could finish this in 20 minutes. But we just did a page or two, a couple of days a week, and it took about a month to complete.
4. Coloring Books
Using the hands to color primes them for more fine motor detailed writing later on. Boys are sure to love this military tank coloring book. My kiddo is not a fan of coloring, but he did color every page in this book. A train coloring book was also a hit! Find a coloring book that will pique your child’s interest.
5. Handwriting Joke Books
This handwriting joke book was awesome! The jokes are actually really funny and this particular book was perfect for 1-2nd graders.
You could also have your kiddo make up their own silly sentences. Some kids might get more excited to write about things that they get to think up or choose, versus copying something someone else thought of. Make up some silly sentences to write out and help with spelling and punctuation if needed.
6. 1,000 Hours Outside Journal
We started the 1,000 hours outside challenge mid-way through second grade and purchased the 1,000 Hours Outside Journey to track our outside hours. It’s just a bit of writing each day, and it’s nice to look back each week and reflect on what activities we did and what he learned. My son enjoys the coloring part too. I think this is another journal we will enjoy looking back on.
7. Draw. Write. Now. Books
This year I also bought a Draw. Write. Now book. There is a whole series of them, so there are a couple to choose from. It’s a book on how to draw animals or structures step-by-step and copywork for handwriting. You do have to buy a separate book for actually drawing the pictures and writing, as this is a how-to book, and not a workbook. This book has boosted my son’s confidence with drawing because his pictures come out looking nice. It’s a perfect activity during afternoon quiet time.
8. Mad Libs or Funny Fill-Ins
At the back of the National Geographic magazine, there are these “Funny Fill-Ins” that we can’t get enough of. You write in a noun, adjective, name, or whatever it asks and fill in a pre-written funny story. (My son admittedly uses the word “poo poo” and “pooping” an excessive amount but at least he knows one is a noun and one is a verb!) In addition to writing, he loves to read these over and over. These are the same as Mad Libs, so I bought some Mad Libs books too, and we love these!
9. Hangman
Who can say, “no” to a game?! We recently started playing Hangman on the dry-erase board. Spelling and writing all in one fun game! Kids won’t realize they are practicing writing because it’s fun!
10. Start a Diary
After watching the “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” my son decided he wanted to start a diary. Thanks to Eustace, this is something he did all on his own, without any prompting from me. He just writes the date and a sentence or two on something he thought was super fun that day, in a small composition journal. A diary could be a fun way to encourage your kiddo to write, even if it’s just sharing their favorite event of that week, or something new they learned.
11. Birthday Cards and Thank You Notes
Making cards for loved ones is a thoughtful way to practice writing. It’s more special than buying a card, and there’s the bonus that they get to decorate it with pictures and stickers too. We buy packs of blank cards which is great so they’re always on hand, and we can use them for any occasion.
12. Minecraft books
My son rebels against workbooks, but I recently bought this Minecraft Writing Book, and he loves it! If you have a Minecraft fan, definitely try these out. They offer these books for each grade level for elementary and they align with Common Core for grammar, spelling, and writing. So this wouldn’t necessarily be for handwriting but for writing overall.
Writing Games
I recently came across this book called Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye. I didn’t really think you could make writing into a fun game, until I read her book. She has so many fun and creative ideas for reluctant writers. We’ve done some of these, and they have been hits! For example, one of her games was having your kiddo come up with their perfect day, and have them write it down in a scheduled-type list with their favorite activities. My son was smiling the whole time whilst writing everything down!
She also mentions that for these writing games the goal is to just have fun putting pen to paper and for kids to experience the power of writing. She recommends to not worry about handwriting and spelling, and making everything perfect. Handwriting, spelling, and grammar could be taught separately or even later once they have come to enjoy writing again.
Strong Arms & Hands
As an aside, it’s also good to make sure kids have strong arms and hands to be able to write well. Enough time playing with Play-Doh and climbing on monkey bars and trees, is important for hand strength and for nice writing.
Retained reflexes can also affect writing. Some kids may have retained primitive reflexes that can affect handwriting; some examples are the ATNR (Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex), the Spinal-Galant reflex, and the Hands-grasping reflex. It might be something worth looking into if they are having an especially difficult time with writing or are older and haven’t made much progress through the years.
“Just a bit every day in a fun way,” is my mantra with learning and writing at this stage. Why not make writing fun, especially when they’re little?
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Check out my LifeandLogic Etsy shop if you’re looking for homeschool unit studies, planning pages, and hands-on printables!
