Creative Writing for Kids – Describe the Alien
Creative Writing for Kids - 5 FREE Worksheets
Describe the Alien - Creative Writing -
5 FREE Worksheets!
Who else loves teaching creative writing for kids? Not me that’s for sure! It’s why I’ve created these really fun worksheets.
Let’s just say creative writing was the one thing I struggled with. Considering my kids love to read, I really didn’t think that would be an issue!
These worksheets are great to add in when you are beginning your day.Â
While the kids are settling down to begin the day, this is a great creative writing exercise to have ready and waiting. It keeps them busy while you finish off the last bits before settling down to your homeschool.
The funny/cute pictures make a great prompt to get them started. Some words have been provided to help aid and guide your child during this activity.
I’ve found these kind of worksheets to be particularly helpful with those children who struggle to get creative with their writing.
Because this activity isn’t set as “work” and is just an addition to the day, it’s often not as intimidating and over time I’ve found my kids to really come into their own!
Need more inspo?
Click here to get your hands on these creative writing worksheets.
Creative writing is such a brilliant way to teach your child to add more detail into a story.
With the pictures. to help them visualise and a word bank to give them that little leg up they can really come into their own!
My personal experience:
As a home schooling mum of 6 I’ve had my fair share of crazies over the years.
Which means I’ve learnt a lot – A LOT! Mainly because I was completely clueless when I first started! 🤪
My kids have generally been into reading, some far more than others. But as a screen free home books were their go to form of entertainment.
I was always told that if my kids read a lot they, will naturally become good at writing. I can indeed confirm that has not been the case with us.
A few of my kids struggled with getting creative with their writing ( I do believe a lot of it was fear of imperfection – we’ll get into that another day).
One way to ensure they get their creative juices flowing was to incorporate creative writing worksheets into their day.
Did it work?
When I first added it into their day, we did it as part of our English lesson, which ended up causing more headache and stress! They wanted me to mark their work, and would compare to each other etc. So I did the only thing I could think of at the time. Scrapped it altogether.
Eventually I built up the courage to try again, only this time I decided to act like it was just a small task I’d like them to complete while I was tidying up the breakfast dishes, or while I got lunch started. I made it very clear I will be sticking it straight into the recycling once I’ve read over it so the focus isn’t neat handwriting or loads of work. I just wanted them to have a go.Â
Guess what?
It worked!!
Suddenly they were on a roll!
They went from not knowing where to begin, to being reluctant due to not enjoying it when first trying it. To finally trying it and loving it. And actually breezing right through it!
This experience taught me 2 things.
Firstly, it’s ok to stop if it’s not working for your kids/family.
And secondly, to try again at a different time and in a different way. Sometimes small changes is all we need!
Creative writing benefits:
Honestly there are so many benefits, a lot of which I have mentioned in my other posts (I don’t want to keep repeating myself, I know how boring that can be).
One major benefit is that writing creatively is more than just coming up with a good plot for your story. Or managing to keep the reader on the edge of their seats. There are so many skills to be gained by It encourages children to expand their vocabulary which in turn helps them articulate their feelings so they can express themselves without an issue.
This leads to a boost in confidence, including speaking publicly. A lot of the time the fear of public speaking stems from fear of embarrassing yourself if you mess up and don’t make sense. Having the ability to articulate yourself can sometimes make a huge difference to confidence levels.
Why is my avid reader struggling with writing creatively?
Surely if your child reads a lot, naturally they will be more creative with their writing since they are exposed to so many plots, scenarios, character traits etc right?
Honestly, not necessarily – although it can help massively, It doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee!
I absolutely LOVED reading when I was younger. But I struggled big time with coming up with my own story.
Why?
Although I was reading, enjoying and understanding the story, I was almost skimming over the words.
If there was a word I hadn’t seen before, rather than read the word, I would skip over it and hope that I could sort of make out what was happening in the story without having to look up the word. I also would even attempt to pronounce the word. Meaning if I ever heard someone pronounce it wouldn’t even know it’s the same word!
Because of this, I encourage my kids to read out loud. Even if it’s a whisper. As long as they can hear themselves.
I feel like this way they are much more likely to retain what they are reading as well as try to pronounce the word.
I also bought them this bookmark dictionary so they can look up any words they don’t understand. We all love this dictionary in our house. It no longer stays in one book. Everyone wants it in theirs so the kids just grab it when they are reading a more difficult book. OK wait, now that I’ve said that out loud, I realise it may be a sign for me to invest in some more now that I think about it!