How Writing A Story can help your Child connect to the person they want to be
By: Robin Johnson
Tags: Character Development, Creative, Life Lessons, Kids Activities, Parenting

How Writing A Story can help your Child connect to the person they want to be

As a parent, you want nothing more than to see your child or children know themselves. Whether this is when they are alone, in school, with friends or with peers, I know you want your child to have the choice to be comfortable with the kind of person they want to be, and rightfully so.

Continuing to help your child build character is important. The subject of a child connecting or reconnecting with the kind of person they are can seem simple and may accidentally get taken for granted, but it carries more weight than you might realize, and is a topic that you are wise not to ignore.

You already know that in many instances, it can be a challenge for your child to be the person they want to be on their own. Especially when they are surrounded by peers whose personalities aren’t the same as your child’s. So, what can you do?

Here’s a suggestion. You could have your child write a story where they are the hero because they make their own choices. For example, your child could write a scenario where peers tried to force them to make the same choice. Instead, they decided to make the choice that mirrors the outcome they want to see happen in real life. Afterwards, you could have them elaborate on how they felt about making the choices they wrote about.

Writing a story can be a fun activity. I’m sure what they come up with will amaze the both of you. After all, children are budding with creative and imaginative ideas and are always excited to share them.

The interest they have in a story is different for every child of course. Whether it be the fact that they can immerse themselves in the characters or write about the way they want to continue to see themselves, but in this case, they could write a story to help them get a glimpse of the type of person they want to become.

It can be difficult for a child to open up and talk about the burden of negative influences, so they may try and continue to deal with it internally which could keep them falling victim to an insensible stress they don’t have to endure.

When your child opens up to you, they want to be heard. One thing I learned as a parent is that when you listen to your child it can help them continue to open up and help you be on the same page with them (no pun intended), which is what you both want to happen.

A child loves it when their parent or parents listen, hears them out and offers encouragement. I’ve also learned that when a child receives encouragement it helps them flourish when it comes to being the person they want to be, and can help in other areas they may struggle with.

Having them work on an activity like this, while they’re at home and away from distractions and the negative influences of peers, can allow them much-needed time to re-focus on how important it is to be their own person and remember to put making their own choices first.

Writing a story can be a perfect motivator too. It can give your child a chance to see themselves in control of who they want to be, which can help them continue to silence peer pressure attempting to constantly sway them away from the person they want to be.

As with any story, there can be an important lesson to learn. One lesson can be for your child to remember that much like the hero of their story, every time they are faced with making a choice that isn’t the one they want to make, they can remember to think for themselves. This lesson can be an effective way for them to continue to gain a clear picture of who they want to be.

Here is how the story can help further. You can encourage your child to implement the strategies they used in the story into real-life scenarios that they face so they can begin to make the choices they want to make, the same way they are doing so in their story.

This strategy can make a big difference between making the choices they want to make instead of enduring continuous pressure to make a choice different from the one they do not want to make.

Give the activity a try- have them write a story. It is worth the effort for your child to move towards the direction of becoming the person they choose to be.