Your Three-Year-Old Can Write, part 2: Examples

We’ve established the fact that teaching writing to your children from an early age is important. Today, I’d like to give you a few examples of what my young brothers write about, and how your youngsters can write too.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay/Efraimstochter | License: CC0 1.0

Tip #1: Ask Them to Tell You About a Recent Experience

Sometimes, a story can spring from a simple life experience. In the following story, my brother was telling what he saw when we went to visit a local zoo called Willowbank.

We going to Willowbank and we go into the office. We see eels at Willowbank. I see ducks. I feed ducks bread. They ate it all gone. The monkey was going up to the branch and up to another one branch, one, two branches. That long branch! There were chickens in the chicken pen. —J, two and a half years old

Tip #2: Write Down Their Imagined Stories

Sometimes, my brother will come through with a story to tell to whoever will listen to him. This was a product of one of those occasions—when Mom was able to write it down. Obviously, she did not edit—she just wrote it as he told her. Right now, it may not make a whole lot of sense—but it will definitely be fun to read in years to come!

A man was taking a walk with his dog and he was walking on the road with his dog and he was going to motels and he was going into motels watching motel clean the living room up with the vacuum and vacuum his garden up and taking a walk with his dog and the daddy dog died and humongous bushes and there was a lion in the bushes. —N, three years old

Just for fun, here’s another example:

I was walking through the woods one day. A bear jumped out of the forest, and I speared it. I had flint and steel in my pocket, and I started a fire. I had forked sticks up on top so I could dry the meat and the skin. I made metal forked sticks out of flat sticks of steel. And I had that bear for my tea. It tasted like cow meat.

I went out diving one day, and speared a shark. I had a string so I could tie it onto the tail. I pulled it to shore. Then I speared a seal. I chucked it into the sea, and the other sharks ate it. I washed my hands, and I went back to the forest.

Another bear jumped out at me. I was dragging the whale still. I speared the bear, and I put it in my small freezer. It wasn’t very small. I chopped off feet. I was close to a sea. I chucked them in the sea, and the sharks ate them. —J, four and a half years old

Tip #3: Let Them Tell About Their Daily Life!

In this next example, my brother reiterated his daily life. Obviously, this was how he said it then–fun to compare with how he talks now.

… Sheep is going in paddocks when I chase them. I chase your cow, Mom. I chase Mom’s cows when they go in cow’s water. I go home. I am sweating over the place. I go in the house. Daddy is coming home after lunch. When I come I eat glue. … I can taste really good. I not taste it. I go to the pen and wait for the boys to get done getting the cows. When they come they go running. They go running lot of times. They scream. —J, two and a half years old

Tip #4: Ask Them What They’d Like to Write About

In the following example, my brother asked to watch a video about lions. Mom found one on Youtube for him, and he based this piece on that.

I want to write about lions. They jump. And they jump onto the rocks. They eat animals. They save baby lions. They play with little lions. They sleep a lot and baby lions sleep a lot. They eat giraffes and zebras. And kill animals. —N, three years old

Tip #5: Encourage the Different Forms of Writing They May Choose

This poem was not an assignment at all—my brother just decided to make his story into a poem of sorts. Definitely something you want to encourage if you see your child wants to do something like this!

Pick up trash.
Pick up trash.
Pick up trash.
On the beach.
Rolling, rolling sea.
With the picked-up trash go on the rolling, rolling sea.
With the hat on the rolling, rolling sea.
Pick up trash.
Pick up trash.
Pick up trash on the rocks.
—J, three and a half years old

Tip #6: When They’re Ready, Give Them Assignments

The following was an assignment that came from our science course. After several years of writing, he was ready to do something a bit more intensive than just retelling his life or telling a story. For this particular assignment, he had to pick a bird, do a bit of research about it (with some help, of course), and then write a few sentences about the bird.

Bald eagles go high up in trees to have a nest. They migrate from north to south in North America. Their favorite food is fish. They are big. They are a meter long. They are two meters wide, from one tip of the wing to the other one. They live in North America, close to the sea. They aren’t actually bald. They are black and white. Their beaks are yellow. —J, five and a half years old

One of the beauties of starting early is that you get to watch them slowly get better at turning their thoughts into coherent words, sentences, and eventually, paragraphs. While it may be hard to start your youngsters writing at an early age—especially if you have a baby or toddler to watch at the same time!—don’t despair. If you can do it, wonderful! If not, they’ll learn later. Either way, you’re doing great—have fun!