Creative writing shares many of the same benefits for children as visual arts. It is a wonderful way for your child to use their creative mind and use their imagination. But, it can be difficult for visual kids to know where to start.

Most visual kids struggle with writing. They have a lot of ideas happening all the time- but they’re pictures in their head. Writing requires them to translate their rich multi-dimensional images into words and get them on paper. It’s an overwhelming challenge that can feel impossible. Visual thinkers may not have words for what they can see. They’re less experienced and less comfortable with words, and words are much slower than images.

If all that isn’t hard enough, our non-linear, visual thinkers need to organize, edit and sequence their thoughts to tell a story or explain a position. But, visual thinkers often lack the sequencing skills needed to separate and to organize their thoughts. They can also struggle to create context, use comparisons and provide supporting detail because they’re used to the immediacy and holistic nature of visual thinking. All the more reason to keep them writing this summer, they need the practice.

The key to summer writing is to keep it fun and light. Just a few sentences a day about a topic that interests your children is all it takes. We have created a printable list of some story starting ideas to get those creative juices flowing. Notice we’ve done our writing prompts a little bit different than most. Instead of an open-ended idea or topic that can overwhelm kids that don’t like to write, we’ve given the start of a first sentence. This helps them get past the defeating “where do I start” feeling and into the flow of their story.