Education Tips: 15 Ideas That Will Encourage Kids to Write

1) SCRAPBOOKING. Kids tend to enjoy pictures, and working on their own scrapbook can be fun. Allow them to create a scrapbook of their own, in which they are the star, and encourage journaling- or writing a tidbit of information about the picture or a story that goes along with it- on each page.

2) NEVER-ENDING STORY. Everyone in the family should participate in this. Get a notebook or a blank journal and someone starts a story on the first page, leaving off on a cliffhanger. Pass the book to someone else, and they have to put in their own installment and pass it off again. Let the book go around between all members of the family, making the story as outrageous or as funny as you like.

3) FUN SHAPE BOOK REPORTS. After choosing a book to read for a book report, create a fun shape on colored paper and cut it out, making lines for the report to be written on. For example, if reading a western, make the page in the shape of a cowboy boot; if reading a Halloween story, make it in the shape of a pumpkin or bat.

4) WRITING PROMPTS. If your child goes blank when it comes to keeping a journal, try pre-printing writing prompts on the top of lined paper to spark his imagination. Things like, "If I were president..." or "My best birthday party ever..." or "If I could go anywhere in the world I would go to...". Offer additional who, what, when, where, and how questions to help draw out some ideas.

5) MAKE YOUR OWN MAD LIBS. Great not only for writing but for learning parts of speech, have everyone in the family make up their own Mad Libs stories- two or three paragraph stories where certain nouns, verbs, adjectives, numbers, etc. are missing. Have the writer ask the other people involved for words to fill in, then read the story back with the amusing additions.

6) PEN PALS or E-MAIL PALS. Seek out pen pals or e-mail pals from around the world for your child to correspond with, exchanging information about where they live, their culture, hobbies, etc.

7) DEAR (CHARACTER). Have your child write letters from the perspective of their favorite fiction characters. Alternately, have them write letters TO their favorite characters as if they were friends.

8) FAN MAIL. Your child probably has a favorite sports hero, musician or television star, whether it is an actress on a family show or favorite chef on the food network. Have them write fan letters to these people and look up the best place to send it online- sometimes they might even get answers!

9) DAY OF SILENCE. Have a day, or part of a day, where no one talks... put out lots of pads and paper, or a big chalk board or dry erase board, and everyone has to write everything for the specified time.

10) CREATE YOUR OWN GREETING CARDS. Make a family holiday project of making your own greeting cards, and have your child write a little poem or friendly note for the inside of the cards.

11) FAMILY NEWS LETTER. Make a family news letter to come out once a month or quarterly and assign everyone a column of their own. Create a name for it, design a lay-out, add some of the children's artwork or photographs, and print it out. Send it to friends and family to keep in touch and update them on your lives.

12) CREATE A COOKBOOK. If your family likes to cook together, have your kids make their own family cookbook. Have them copy down their favorite recipes, and add some pictures as well as some stories about times you have cooked together or favorite meals. Put it all together and print it out, you can share with friends or hand out copies as gifts.

13) NATURE JOURNAL. If your child likes to go out and observe the natural world, have him keep a nature journal. When you go out for a walk, take some time to sit and write down things you're observing, describing the creepy-crawlies found or animals you pass on the way, or interesting plants and trees.

14) GARDENING JOURNAL. If your child likes gardening, have her keep the records for your garden- a garden design, what was planted, how it is growing, how it is being cared for, etc. Have her note changes in the plants and success and failures.

15) PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS. Find a funny or strange picture and have your child write a story about it. If you have more than one child,, pass out several funny pictures and have the children share the stories they invent with each other.