Build Your Child"s Confidence with Free Writing Activity
What Is Free Writing
Free writing is basically any type of writing activity that has no set rules. A free writing activity usually is only done for a very short time, like 5 to 15 minutes. The free writing can be completely unstructured or based upon a simple topic that is given before the writing begins. There are no right or wrongs in free writing. The whole point of this type of writing exercise is to get the creativity flowing and to let the child really use their imagination and writing skills freely.
Jump Start Their Mind
Free writing gives a child a great start or introduction to writing. Through free writing a child will get to see what writing is like and learn how to put what is in their mind down on paper. Getting started is the hardest part of free writing. However, with practice a child will start to really love it.
You can start with a very short time limit of three minutes. The goal is not really what they write so much as that they write. There does not have to be a topic, but you can supply one to get them started. Staying on topic is not important. The child should just write whatever they want to.
Free writing should be done on a regular basis. You can slowly increase the amount of writing time, too. Just stick with it and soon your child will be more willing to work on more structured writing and may even start writing for fun.
Additional Benefits of Free Writing
Free writing provides so much more than just getting your child used to putting thoughts down on paper. For the younger children it is a great way for them to learn how to hold a pencil and how to form letters. They may not be writing anything, but they are exploring letters, shapes and using their creativity.
Free writing also allows a child to explore their imagination. Since free writing is very unstructured, your child can just write whatever is on their mind. They can really explore their own thoughts. This also makes free writing very therapeutic. Your child will learn to express themselves through the process, too.
Free writing activities are a lot of fun. It just needs to be something you start and stick with. Do it regularly and you will begin to notice how it changes your child's writing and encourages their creativity. This one activity can help your child to learn to write better, read better and express themselves better. It is, overall, a very stimulating activity that does nothing but benefit your child.