Set up pen pal correspondence for children. Contact a school in another town, county, state or even country to arrange a pen pal program for children; or, if this task proves to be difficult, arrange pen pals with students in another classroom in your own school. Encourage children to write letters back and forth to one another. Show them the proper way of writing a friendly letter; the salutation, the body and the closing. After teaching them how to write a friendly letter, allow them to write anything they want to their pen pals; provide examples of topics, for those who are exhibiting difficulty thinking of things to write. Topics may include interests, hobbies, what life is like where they live and so forth. Through this activity, children learn that writing is an important form of communication.
Encourage children to put their creativity to use to write one-of-a-kind stories. Share a creative writing piece you have composed yourself to serve as an example of creative writing; your story may also serve as a motivating tool for children. After reading your piece, encourage children to brainstorm a list of topics to write about; if they seem to be struggling with finding ideas, offer a few examples. Ask students to pick a topic to write about and let them get to work writing their pieces using the writing process. After children have composed their pieces, invite them to share their stories with one another.
Children may be more motivated to write if they are able to see their ideas come to life. Read a play with children and after reading it, encourage children to think of their own play to write. Encourage them to select a topic, a plot, a setting and characters. Instruct them to write the dialogue between the characters and to develop the plot. Encourage children to enlist actors to bring their play to life and you can even prompt them to create a set and props for their plays.
Children may be inspired to write if they are encouraged to share their opinions. Read a product review to students; a restaurant, a movie or even a toy review. Discuss how the author of the review shared her opinion on a topic and explain that this opinion may help others make a decision about purchasing or using what the review is written about. Have kids create their own product review. Allow them to watch a movie, play with a toy or even read a book and then encourage them to write a review that illustrates their opinion.