Summertime Kids: Writing

May 22, 2012

written by Cathy Baker, mom of two amazing girls, from Missouri

 

We’ve come to week three in our summertime kids series! The last two weeks we’ve looked at sneaking reading and math into summer routine, and this week, we’ll focus on writing! Here are some ways our family has had ‘fun’ with writing in our home over the summertime months.

• Write letters to friends. Several friends they don’t get to see much over the summer, so it’s been a fun way to help them keep in touch and to write! Hint, if  you include an envelope with your  own child’s address and a postage stamp already on it, this greatly increases the likelihood that your child will get a letter sent back to them. Also, encourage your kids to get addresses from friends during the last week of school.

• When you are on vacation, have your children send postcards to friends, neighbors, and/or family members! Hint: Before we leave, I put addresses on labels (so we can just peel and stick them onto the postcards) and purchase postage stamps ahead of time too!

• This year, or maybe next year, I’m thinking of having my girls start their own blog. I think this would be a fun, modern way for them to creatively write about what’s happening over the summer!

• I’ve often picked up small notebooks (or just stapled a few blank pieces of paper together and printed up a cute a cover) prior to a trip so they had a blank journal to write about what we did and saw on the trip. When they were younger, I encouraged drawing pictures. I’ve also done a blank journal for just summertime experiences and I’ve encouraged them to get it out from time to time to write in.

• Write letters to each other. You can always get a blank notebook and write letters back in forth to your kids.

 

Additionally, my daughter’s third grade teacher also sent home these ideas for writing over the summer:

• Write descriptive clues for a treasure hunt game.
• Write a movie review.
• Write a book review (a lot library websites let you post reviews)
• Write a persuasive letter to mom or dad to give you something you really want.
• Create a brochure about a special place visited over the summer.
• Write 10 questions to ask your teacher on the first day of school.
• Pick an object (or food item) – write a description and then see if someone can guess what it is.
• Write an acrostic poem, using the word ‘summer’

Do your kids write over the summertime months? Have you found a way for them to enjoy the practice of writing without it feeling like a ‘chore’ or ‘work’?

Share this post

You might like...

• Frecklebox (Giveaway)
• Back to School 101
• Portrait of a Princess...
• A Cold By Any Other Name

Category: For Kids
Tags: Summertime Kids, Writing |