Games for Writing

It's brilliant, really it is! Thanks to a great book I ordered, I found a fun way to challenge my reluctant writer. The book Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye, has given me dozens of way to engage and encourage my son to write.

Like many boys, he loves a good game and loves to try and bend the rules if he can get away with it. In this book, the author describes a game she calls "Word by Word".  You write a story with your child by taking turns adding the next words. The trick is you have to roll dice before each turn to see how many words you can use to continue the story.  So you start with a topic and then each take turns expanding the story.

At first my very controlling son refused to play because he didn't want me to change the direction of the story if he didn't have enough words to finish his thought. After a few tries as predicted, he was begging me to let him throw the dice again and use "more" words.

That's all it took (rules meant to be broken) for him to insist on writing. Brilliant I tell you, brilliant!
Half way through the story, we changed to me writing a full sentence and then him. He still threw the dice because he thought it was fun, but in no time we had completed a full page story.

I will be using this game again and again. There are many more examples in this book that will work for all types of children. However, if you have an intense, obsessive boy who likes to win games, give this a try!

*This is not a paid review. I purchased this book on my own and have never been contacted by the author