Whether you’re looking for a new way to keep your 4th-grade kids occupied on a rainy day or hoping to help your class branch out in their writing, journaling can be a wonderful tool to inspire and motivate kids to express their thoughts.

Journaling has many benefits for both children and adults, and the simple act of writing is a powerful way to express feelings, new ideas, and to instill creativity. Writing daily can translate into encouraging kids to find innovative ways of thinking, and will excite them endlessly with the prospect of possibility.

Here are a few brief points about the fabulous benefits of journaling. Check this out!  Journal writing can help students:

• Clarify their thoughts and feelings
• Know themselves better
• Reduce stress
• Solve problems more effectively
• Resolve disagreements with others

Those are some amazing journal keeping benefits if you ask me. I hope you agree!

But kids can be a tough audience and that’s why we’ve provided a list of seventy-three new 4th-grade writing prompts. These prompts are sure to help the wheels start turning and to brighten up any student’s day. Ok, without further ado, here are those exciting new journal starters for 4th-grade writers!

4th-Grade Writing Prompts to
Inspire and Ignite the Imagination

This listing of journal prompt ideas ranges from the silly to the reflective, and from practical to the impossible. This list of journal starters is sure to help your fourth-grader develop an entirely new outlook on writing and the opportunities that journaling can bring.

1. Finding an undiscovered planet
2. This year, I want to learn…
3. Hiking in the mountains
4. My favorite family tradition
5. My best friend is awesome because…
6. What my family does on the 4^th of July
7. A list of things on my desk
8. What America means to me
9. One of my best memories
10. Would I rather be rich or famous?
11. Time capsules are…
12. Something I’d like to be better at
13. Climbing the world’s largest tower
14. A secret garden
15. Finding a secret room in your house
16. Jumping on clouds
17. Diving undersea to find a hidden temple
18. Becoming a giant
19. Growing up with cousins
20. Taking an escalator to the moon
21. Underwater house
22. Having a food fight
23. Being in a video game
24. Race car driver
25. Making a new ice cream flavor
26. Exploring the pyramids
27. Do aliens exist?
28. Living on a farm
29. An epic game of hide and seek
30. Playing a professional sport
31. Life as a germ
32. Playing instruments
33. Being a rock singer
34. Write a letter to a pen-pal
35. If I could live in any state
36. If I could have any pet
37. The best compliment I ever received…
38. My favorite book
39. Television is…
40. Cooking with family
41. Someday, I want to be ________
42. If I could live in any time in history, I would choose ________
43. My favorite toy when I was younger
44. What 5 things would I want if I was stranded on a desert island?
45. I felt grown-up, when ______________
46. Brothers/sisters are important because…
47. If I could trade places with anyone for a day
48. The best April fool’s joke I ever played
49. A perfect day
50. My favorite month of the year
51. Walking on the ceiling
52. My favorite pair of shoes
53. Finding buried treasure
54. If dinosaurs still existed
55. My greatest talent
56. What if there were only 18 hours in a day?
57. Something that embarrasses me is…
58. The best restaurant I’ve ever been to
59. I like living in [city], because…
60. The most important thing I ever learned
61. If I were the principal, I would _______
62. Can wishes come true?
63. People who I couldn’t live without
64. My favorite thing in my bedroom
65. A list of states or countries I’ve been to
66. What would grow in my garden?
67. A day in the life of a superhero
68. Rules are important because…
69. If I were a color, I would be _______
70. My favorite thing about myself
71. I think tests are important/unimportant because…
72. Staying home alone
73. The best teacher I ever had

I hope that this listing of 4th-grade writing prompts was inspiring and useful to you and your students, children, and special kids.

BONUS: 11 Expository Writing Prompts for 4th Graders

1. Describe how things will be different for you in middle school when you have a locker to put your things in.  What will you put in your locker?  Will you decorate it in any way?
2. Explain the rules and requirements at your new middle school and where they differ from your current school.
3. Think about the homework you have in the 4^th grade and explain how homework might differ in middle school.
4. When you enter middle school, describe some ways that you can go about making new friends.
5. Define the characteristics that make a good friend.
6. Explain several ways that you might handle someone who is trying to bully you.
7. Define what being a good listener means to you, and explain ways you can be a good listener in your new middle school environment.
8. Define the term “time management” and describe ways you can make use of it in middle school.
9. Describe how you believe you have matured in the past year.
10. Mistakes are not all bad if you learn from them.  Think of a mistake you’ve made and explain what lesson you learned from it.
11. Define the term “dress code” and explain why a school might have a dress code.

Happy journaling and writing to you! Until next time, write on…

If you enjoyed these 4th Grade Writing Prompts,
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I appreciate it!

Sincerely,
Jill
journalbuddies.com
creator and curator

4th Grade Writing Resources

• Printable Writing Worksheets for 4th Grade
• 30 Expository Writing Prompts 4th Grade
• 4th Grade writing checklist (Printable PDF)