Think back to when you were a nine-year-old. What did you like to do for fun? I remember riding my bike around our neighborhood, riding up and down ramps and near electrical boxes, pretending I was working at a bank. I remember playing tag with my sisters as the sun went down, calling out our favorite TV show before someone could yell ‘you’re it’. I remember swinging on our swing set, or even better yet, going to the park to swing on the big swings, and swinging so high the alligators couldn’t bite my toes. 

So often today, when our children are looking for something to do, they turn straight to technology and miss out on the opportunity to let their imagination run free.  

In honor of National Encourage a Young Writer Day on April 10th, I challenge you to challenge your children, your grandchildren, your nieces and nephews, even your neighbor kids to unplug and get creative! Here are a few tips from waterford.org that may help you help them get their creative juices flowing: 

  1. Start a journal. This gives young writers a place to record their daily writing and create essays, poems, and stories. 
  2. Encourage writing exercises. Writing prompts and a little direction can help a child use their imagination to write a story. 
  3. Integrate reading activities. The more a child reads, the easier it is to develop writing skills. 
  4. Mix up the writing style. Give children different writing styles to help them see an idea or story from a new perspective. 

Young boy learning to become a writer at his deskIf that doesn’t help with inspiration, you can always just do what I did this week in preparation for writing this article. I reached out to PMG parents, as well as my own sisters, and asked them to ask their kids to be published authors for me. Let these kids help inspire your children as well – it doesn’t have to be hard to write, that’s the beauty of writing! 

Roses are red 
Violets are blue 
Dogs go bark 
Cows say moo. 
~ Ainsley, 8 

Roses are red 
Violets are blue 
Blossoms are sweet 
And so are you. 
~ Ainsley, 8   

I love you mom.
I will always keep you company.
I’m happy I have you.
~ Sawyer, 8  

Where I’m From 

I am from many places 
From coast to coast 
I am the leaf in the wind 
I am from the piece of the dandelion that you blew on  

I’m from the bowl of honeycomb 
and the blanket that gets dragged
From Benjamin & Evelyn 
I’m from the top of the mountain and I’m only halfway up 

Under my bed are the memories from the past 
They are the things I want to remember for the rest of my days 
And the things I want to forget about, but not before I can learn from them 

 I am from those moments. 
~ Landon, 16