Writing activities for gifted children

Quizzes are the perfect activity for a rainy day or family road trip. And homemade quizzes tend to get even more chuckles! Why not ask your gifted child to create a quiz for the whole family? Here are some suggestions to help them get started:

• Choose a theme and do some research (use an encyclopedia, books, etc.)
• Come up with factual questions based on what you’ve read (e.g., Bears scratch their backs on trees. How do bears scratch their backs?)
• Write down all possible correct answers
• Etc.

Children often stumble across words they don’t know when they read or watch television. If your child likes looking up words, you can encourage their sense of curiosity by suggesting they share what they learn with the rest of the family. How? By making their own dictionary of difficult words! Have your child follow these steps:

• Staple a few sheets of paper together
• Write a word and the definition (using your own words) on each page
• Include an illustration whenever possible
• Each day, read out a new word and definition to the rest of the family
• Etc.

Does your child have an uncanny ability to grasp abstract concepts such as the spread of viruses or the greenhouse effect? Have them put their synthesis skills to work by creating a comic strip about a phenomenon of their choosing. Give your child the following instructions:

• Choose a topic
• Do some research
• Illustrate and write the story for your own comic strip
• Etc.

If your child has a vivid imagination, they’ll love this fun and challenging activity. Ask them to write a story by following these instructions:

• Flip though the dictionary and choose random words
• Keep doing this until you have a long list of words
• Now write a story using all the words on your list
• Don’t forget to add illustrations
• Etc.

Who says that the ending to a story can’t be changed? If your child doesn’t like the way a story ends because they feel it is unfair or too sad, ask them to write a new ending.

There are lots of words, such as bundle, that have smaller words hidden within them. Get your kid to grab a book and see how many of these words they can find. Here are some things you can ask them to do next:

• Make a list of all the words you find
• Come up with silly definitions using both words (e.g., A bundle is a parcel of buns)
• Etc.

Get your child to write their own story using the illustrations from one of their favourite books. This will teach them that images can be interpreted in different ways.

Search through your music collection for a song that your kid likes. Now ask them to write an exciting story using the first line of the first verse.

Have your child investigate a news headline and write their own article. Here are some questions you can ask them to up the challenge:

• What’s the best scoop you can find?
• Can you spot any inconsistencies in news from different sources?
• Can you find an example of fake news?
• Etc.

Here are some activities that you can do with a newspaper article or a page from your kid’s favourite book:

• Turn negative sentences into positive sentences
• Turn positive sentences into negative sentences
• Make the text inclusive
• Change the verb tense
• Etc.