Parents often complained about why their children show little interest in writing. To get to the cause of the problem, the main reason is that children lack life experiences and are unable to relate to their surroundings, so there is nothing in particular that they want to write about. Children at a primary school age are in their prime state of curiosity, but by being trapped in a tiny classroom daily, their freedom to associate or space to imagine are also restricted, no wonder they cry out “Boring!” when they are asked to write.  Hence many creative writing teachers advocate stepping outside the classroom for children to see, touch and experience their surrounding environment to fire up their imagination.

I recall the Chinese writing classes in high school, the most memorable moment was the time when we were learning about writing modern poetry and the teacher played this popular children’s song :

"The sun like a hibiscus flower, hanging on the eastern horizon;

Round face shy like dawn, just smiling without words;

The sun like a big pumpkin, hanging high in the sky;

Sunshine brings happiness to the mountain, new sprout to the grass"

                             ( Song: Joseph Koo / words: Cheng Kok )

Since ancient times, much of art, photography, poetry and literary content has been to depict and praise nature , to express mankind’s observation of nature and the association made to its beauty. These are all very good teaching material that will bring out the desire for children to be creative. The above children’s songs is a good example , and I believe most people have witnessed sunrise and sunset, so this song uses the sun as its natural theme, the playwright personifying the subject with imagination and emotions to bring it to life. Children’s songs are poetic, and popular songs contain strong rhyme and rhythm that touch on content familiar to children’s daily lives to attract their interest. Children’s songs utilize rhetorical techniques such as metaphor and personification that are fun and interesting. Children that do not like writing long prose can start from imitating this writing style to begin with.

Therefore, to spark the creative interest of children, parents can take them out of the house altogether to become familiar with parks, the flowers and trees of the wilderness or observe the change in seasons and weather. A flower, a blade of grass, a tree , a cloud or a small insect can also be very good themes to encourage children to think, write or draw from the sight, sound, smell and touch that they experience. Parents can also try to write down some short poems with their children, adding writing techniques, imagination and personal experience and perhaps create an unexpected masterpiece!

However, as part of the process parents should be conscious about trying to interact with the child and create a fun, appreciative and encouraging atmosphere. This would also make for ideal parent-child activities! With these additional life experiences, when children write about “going to the park”, “outdoor adventures” and other topics in the classroom the writing will not be dull and unoriginal.