National Writing Day, is a day which focuses its attention on celebrating everything which is great about creative writing.
This national awareness day has set a clear aim, to get everyone, for one day, writing their very own poem, letter, story, song and much more.
National Writing Day is still a relatively new awareness day, however after the success of it’s first year, they want to keep going in the aims that it will become a well-known annual occurrence.
At Hand Made Places we have a wide range of play equipment which you can use to aid the creative mind and the practical art of writing, so why not join us in promoting such a special day.
Why should we encourage creative writing?
Though many people see creative writing as a fun task, there is a lot more to it than just fun. Creative writing comes with a whole host of both social and academic benefits especially when practised at a young age.
Creative writing is a great way to help children develop their ability to express themselves, and their emotions. When writing about different scenarios children have the opportunity to explore how the character might be feeling.
Children will then be able to identify feelings and change both their vocabulary and the tone of their writing to suit this emotional situation.
Children will also be required to explore new vocabulary tailored to these emotions.
Therefore encouraging them to broaden their lexical range.
Children will move on from using phrases such as ‘said’ and instead use emotional responses, e.g. ‘sighed.’
By using this vocabulary in their writing they will become accustomed to using it in speech, as well as being able to recognise when others use terms like these.
In addition to a wider understanding of language, children who practice creative writing regularly will also improve both their communication and literary skills.
Practice makes perfect, and what better way to practice certain literary skills than with a creative piece?
Children will be able to practice a range of different writing techniques, from speech to descriptive writing, it is all involved when writing a creative piece.
On top of this, when participating in creative writing children must also plan their pieces. Thus practising yet another form of writing and another skill.
Children will learn to follow plans which will in turn teach them about structure.
The simple act of having a beginning, middle and an end demonstrates a skill set. One that can again be enhanced through creative writing.
Where does Hand Made Places come in?
At Hand Made Places we enjoy anything which can help to improve both childhood development and skills.
All of our playground equipment is expertly designed to help develop childhood skills in some way, whether that be the climbing frames which focus solely on physical development, through to finger mazes which can help to develop skills in both maths and science.
We also have a range of creative products which can bring stories to life.
Children can write their creative stories outside, in a Hand Made Places outdoor classroom.
Creating stories amongst natural surroundings should give them inspiration for new and interesting settings and characters.
They can then go on to read their stories aloud on one of our Super Star Stages.
This is a great way to encourage children to explore new creative ideas, and express themselves.
Performing their stories and getting visible praise will allow a child’s self-confidence to grow.
Something which is extremely beneficial for young children.