Visiting literacy expert and best-selling children’s author Louise Park said the benefits of putting pen to paper for youngsters, was “mind-blowing”.

“So many studies show handwriting can improve muscle memory, literacy and spelling accuracy,” Ms Park said. “Memory retention of forming the letters by hand can be much more powerful.”

Ms Park led a creative workshop with grade three to six pupils on Thursday morning and an intense class with grade threes on how best to write a story by hand. This includes brainstorming, plotting and drafting a story before moving to computer.

She said writing it out was a particularly important tool for youngsters in what was a crucial time for cognitive skills and development.

The act of writing engaged one side of the brain, leaving the other open to more room for creativity, Ms Park said, compared to using both hands to type on a computer.

“While there are many modern tools that teachers and parents can use to teach writing, when a child handwrites the brain is stimulated and lights up in such a way that cannot be replicated by any other means,” Ms Park said.

“In story writing, it’s best if a child brainstorms, plots and drafts their story by hand before moving to the computer.”

Ms Park believed writing was not a lost art, especially in Victoria.

The best-selling children’s author said most Victorian teachers seemed to strike a good balance between handwriting and computer-based work, which was not always the case in New South Wales.

She hoped her Ballarat visit would inspire more children and their parents to pick up a pen to write or jot things down more, to have fun with handwriting and explore a little more individuality and creativity in plotting things out by pen.

Ms Park is a Sydney-based children’s author and a BIC Australia Bright Futures Are Written By Hand ambassador, encouraging more people to experience the benefits and power of the pen.