Writing is a magical medium. It's a vehicle for communication, connection and creativity. It's an opportunity to learn and grow, have fun and sharpen your senses.

Kids need to start writing early because writing helps to cultivate emotional growth, develop critical thinking skills and improve school performance.

Being able to express yourself is a skill and gift. By cultivating this capability in your child, you are giving him the priceless power to share his thoughts and ideas with the world in a meaningful way.

Here are the five key points to inspire your kids to write.

- Word Power. Children love learning new words, and they typically pick them up very quickly. In fact, before kids even know how to read, they learn at least nine words a day, on average. Start teaching your kids new words regularly. These might be words you read in a magazine, newspaper or on the Internet. Also, share with them words that involve their interests.

- Reading Life. There are many benefits to reading aloud to your child, including indirectly teaching them about grammar and syntax and how stories are. Reading books from all genres, even using picture books to create your own stories is a good start. Remember to pick books based on your child's interests and passions. Keep rereading books to your kids; this helps them develop a writer's ear. Look for heart-stopping moments of beautiful language, or the just right phrase, or simply an unbelievably perfect turn of the plot, or a glorious description of a character.

- Identity. Writing identity encompassed two parts: 1) how your child likes to write, such as where they like to write, using what tools and during what time of day and 2) €what she sounds like when she writes and the modes she prefers.€ Writing identity takes time to develop. As kids develop their unique identity, start praising distinctiveness in their writing. Other ways to encourage your child's identity are by sharing their work with others, displaying it and keeping earlier pieces.

- Time. Between school and extracurricular activities, you probably feel like there's little time left to add another activity to an already overflowing pile. But making time for your child to write gives them the opportunity to express themself and to practice. This gives your child the gift of an outlet for all of the thoughts, ideas, questions and creations that fill his or her mind. Parents should create a writing centre with different writing tools, and keep a notebook and tools in the car, too. This way your child can write whenever he or she wants.

- Environment. The essentials for a writing environment are a surface, writing tools, good lighting and inspiration. Have inspiring books within reach (and ones that match their interests), also helps. Try to help your kids create a space that complements their interests and passions. Make your child part of the process as much as possible. And be sure to listen to these preferences without making judgements.

Writing Prompts for Kids
So what do you suggest your kids actually write? Use these four prompts to kick start your kid's storytelling. You can ask your kids to write, draw or talk in response.
€What he remembers (use baby photos, artifacts, your own stories to get him going)
€What he observes (everything around him, something he noticed on his way to school or on a class trip)
€What he wonders about (this is a fun one; find out what your child is thinking by asking about his thoughts. These will change on a daily basis!)
€What he imagines (about the future, by creating a pretend universe, by inventing a news story)

Many of us have a negative reaction to writing. We associate it with painstaking research papers, anxiety producing exams and a whole lot of hard, gut-wrenching work. Now, don't get me wrong. Sometimes writing is hard and emotional and exhausting. But it's also a lot of fun.

Like many of us, children have come to equate writing with hard, laborious work. But the pleasure and excitement of writing something that matters to you personally is uplifting and often really energizing.