Writing stories that imitate a certain genre or type of fiction allows children to explore a book they love by imagining new twists for their favorite characters and plot lines.

In this activity, children look closely at living things in their natural environments and then make books about what they see.

Let children explore an interesting subject—themselves. An online tool will teach them to summarize and organize information as they write.

Use shape and theme poems, or poems that look like the things they describe, as a fun way to introduce children to poetry.

Use recipes to help children practice reading and writing step-by-step instructions. Have them sample the results to see how they did.

Use the online Trading Card Creator tool to have children make cards describing their favorite characters from the books on their reading list.

Invite teens to explore issues that are important to them, and then write a script and film a video public service announcement.

Explore how music can have an emotional impact on a scene in a movie, then help teens write and film a scene of their own.

Encourage children to spend a little time thinking and writing about just what makes a hero and who their personal heroes might be.

This activity invites children and teens to explore various careers and then write about what they might want to be when they grow up in a blog.

Let children practice using different types of words in a fill-in-the-blank-story game before making their own word list for a magnetic poetry set.

Explore fairy tales told in both old and new ways and use an online tool to help children create their own "fractured" version of a fairy tale.

Have children explore the different parts of mystery writing by making a puzzle about a favorite book. They can then invent and write their own mysteries using the online Mystery Cube tool.

While enjoying a book that features a journey, children write postcards from the perspective of the main character for each stop along the trip.

After reading about historical figures and other important people that have changed the world, children choose someone that they consider to be "amazing"—either someone they've heard about or someone they know—and create a book page that highlights this person.

Kids learn about weather sayings throughout history while writing and illustrating a book for younger children.

Brainstorm popular expressions with friends and family, then explore their meanings through game play and writing/drawing/cut-and-paste activities.

Create a treasure hunt out of word-puzzle clues hidden around the home or yard.

Everyone loves getting a greeting card, especially if it's homemade. Make a funny or thoughtful greeting card or invitation with pictures and a poem, joke, or riddle.

Children incorporate materials from outdoors with paints or crayons to create pieces of art to display on their clotheslines, fences, or porches for a neighborhood art show.