Do you have a reluctant writer? Does your child have a hard time getting their thoughts on paper? Is it possible that your child is right-brain dominant and struggles to organize their thoughts for written work but is creative and can see the big picture? Then you might want to try Word Trees!

We started with a standard paper plate and had the child cut out the center circle. You can use any type of paper available.

Then we had our child pick a theme word and write it in the center of the circle. The theme word for this one is “Fall”. We gathered as many colored pencils, crayons, and/or markers as he wanted and we used each one to write a word that supports, describes, or goes along with the theme word. Encourage creativity in letters, decorations, and associations! When they are finished writing words, let them cut out the blank areas around the edges for more fine motor practice and a FUNky look to the tree. Cut a trunk out of the edges of the paper plate, scrap paper, or whatever you have available and glue it on.

The theme word for this one is “Winter”. Notice that he drew icicles on the word “icicels” (spelling did not count for this project) and he drew cookies for the “o’s” in “cookies”! And since his theme word was “Winter”, he said his tree should be white and the branches (sticking out of the tree) were bare. How creative!

Our young friend (who happens to dislike writing tasks), enjoyed this so much that he asked his Mom if he, she, and Dad could do a family version of this at home! I love that this sparked his creativity and interest, and he now has an enthusiasm for writing in a format that works with his strengths!