Have you ever thought of making your own family newspaper or magazine? Yes, it is time-consuming, and you probably have no idea of what to start with, but consider all the rewards! You will build precious memories, help your children to develop their creativity, and the newspapers (which I suggest to keep through the years) will always bring tons of fun later, when your kids are grown.
You will be the Editor in Chief. At the beginning, you will probably have to do most of the work yourself – thinking of stories to include, writing articles, making sure the newspaper is out in time. Don’t worry, it is not so much work as it may sound. Your articles will be short, one or two paragraphs, and it shouldn’t take long to come up with a subject. You can write about anything: your kids’ school activities and achievements, spending a weekend at Grandma’s, getting a new puppy, your little daughter helping you to cook dinner, or your son getting his first bike. Children enjoy attention; if the newspaper is about them, they’ll read it!
In our age of personal computers, it is pretty easy to make an almost professional-looking paper, nicely printed, with headlines and columns. You can do it that way if you like, but you don’t have to. In fact, a hand-written, “home-made” paper will look much more special. You can begin to involve your children as illustrators, then promote them to journalists if they are willing to try their hand at writing for the newspaper.
When the paper is done, read it together as a family. Have all the laughs you can, and then you might want to put it up on the wall somewhere in the living room so that your visitors can see it – until the next issue is out.
In Conclusion
These are just a few creative ideas that can help your children to find their way into the world of books and literature. It will require some time and effort on your part, but you know it’s worth it, especially if you are a booklover yourself and you hate to see your children missing out on something so wonderful as getting lost in a good book.