75 Excellent Elementary Writing Prompts

Yippee for elementary writing prompts! Writing skills are one of the most important lessons elementary students learn in school. Having the ability to write and communicate clearly will serve your students well throughout their entire lives, regardless of the paths they choose.

There are, of course, endless ways to teach kids how to write—but our favorite method will always be through journaling with guided writing ideas and prompts.

Yes!

You see…

Journaling is a fun and low-pressure way to ease into writing. Unlike a formal essay or a book report, there are no rules when it comes to journaling. Students can be as creative, silly, and expressive as they like.

Though it may sound counterintuitive, these looser boundaries can actually teach writing more effectively than some other traditional forms.

In-Class Writing, Homework Assignment or for Fun

In fact…

Journal writing helps students develop their explanatory skills, practice self-reflection, and solve problems in interesting ways.

As your students answer elementary school writing prompts, they’ll learn things about themselves they never knew before and they might just become fascinated by the way the words and ideas come together on paper.

Journaling is Fun for Kids!

Best of all, because journaling is so much fun for kids, you can easily integrate daily elementary writing prompts into your classroom routine in order to reinforce the habit of regular writing.

So…

Whether they’re writing about their favorite movie, their best friend, or summer vacation, when kids write consistently and frequently, their writing skills can improve dramatically.

Our favorite elementary writing prompts are those that encourage students to think about their own lives in new ways and to stretch their imaginations as they concoct new worlds. Journaling is full of endless possibilities, and we believe that a great writing prompt should serve simply as a starting point for inspiration! The best prompts are those that can be interpreted in a multitude of ways by students.

With that in mind, we’ve created 75 simple elementary writing prompts to help your students begin writing! With such active pens (and even more active minds), be prepared for the output of creativity that is sure to begin pouring from the inspired minds of your students.

75 Elementary Writing Prompts for Kids

Check out these fun writing prompts and use them as inspiration this school year for your 1st to 5th grade students. 

1. The best thing to do on a snow day
2. If I was in the circus, I would _______
3. The best place to play in my neighborhood
4. When I grow up
5. The most important thing I learned in kindergarten
6. Inside my backpack
7. If I could rename 10 different crayon colors
8. If I could be any animal, I would be…
9. Riding on Santa’s sleigh
10. If I were a sprinkle, I would go on _______ dessert
11. Running through the forest
12. Becoming tiny and exploring your bedroom
13. Living in an igloo
14. The best kinds of bugs
15. What makes a good treehouse?
16. Exploring a castle
17. Popping out of a toaster
18. If I could create a new creature…
19. My pets are like my family because…
20. Day at the beach
21. Living in candy land
22. My favorite dessert is…
23. My favorite thing to play at recess
24. If I could learn a new language
25. The best day of the week
26. If I could take any animal on a walk in the park…
27. The greatest present I ever received
    
28. My favorite game to play when I was younger
29. My hero
30. What I want to be for Halloween
31. I was proud when I __________
32. My favorite season
33. One day when I went to the park
34. I wish I knew more about _________
35. Something that is important to my family
36. My favorite board game
37. What I did last Saturday
38. A dream vacation
39. If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be _________
40. What makes a good playground
41. My favorite subject
42. Inside my backpack
43. The best joke I ever heard
44. A list of things that make me happy
45. If I could visit any planet
46. If dogs could talk
47. If I could have any superpower
48. What if there were no television?
49. If I won an award, it would be for _______
50. Jumping on giant sandwiches
51. The best field trip ever
52. My favorite cartoon character
53. If I could build anything out of legos…
54. Good manners are…
55. My grandparents
56. Five things I’m good at are…
57. Riding on dinosaurs
58. My favorite book character is __________
59. Something my parents used to do when I was little
60. My first memory
61. The greatest thing I’ve learned so far this year is…
62. If a genie granted me three wishes
63. Something that makes me unique
64. Something that always makes me feel better when I’m sad is…
65. My favorite holiday
66. If I had a thinking cap, it would look like…
67. If I was in charge of the weather
68. I use computers for…
69. My favorite thing about my family
70. If I was king or queen of the world for a day, I would…
71. I wish someone would build ______ by my house
72. Would I rather have three arms or three legs?
73. If I could make anything grow on trees, it would be…
74. My favorite thing to do outside
75. If I was invisible, I would…

I hope you enjoyed this list of prompts. Now, check out our…

Favorites Prompts List for Kids (27 Excellent Ideas!)

In addition to the list of kids writing prompts above, I have this excellent and simple list of journal ideas for you to use in your lesson plans and classroom instruction. You see…

For those reluctant writers or non-writers, we suggest you use the time-tested favorite writing prompts. They are simple ideas that nearly every writer can answer without much effort. Plus, they are an excellent way to get those creative juices flowing for writers of all skill levels.

Have kids of all ages write about their:

1. Favorite game
2. Favorite tv show
3. Favorite characters
4. Favorite place
5. Favorite book
6. Favorite toy
7. Favorite season
8. Favorite movie
9. Favorite animal
10. Favorite pet
11. Favorite food
12. Fav Celebrity
13. Superhero
14. Video game
15. Adventure
16. Sibling (or other relative)
17. School subject
18. Time of day
19. Season
20. Place to visit
21. Teacher
22. Hobby
23. Past time
24. Thing to think about
25. Thing to remember
26. Silly thing to do
27. Place to go

Bonus! 7 More Prompts for Kids

Ok, for those writers who are more inclined to writing fiction or making up their own stories, here are a some fun prompt ideas for them. Write about:

1. A secret that must be kept or else…
2. A time machine and a new planet
3. A detective solving a mystery about…
4. Elephants running a zoo for humans!
5. Write a story that includes a pirate, a witch, and an apple.
6. The crazy scientist decided to…
7. I hopped in my spaceship and took off from my backyard to…

From younger writers to older kids, journal writing is a fabulous way to reinforce writing practice with your students because it is creative, versatile, and easy to implement into lesson plans.

Moreover, elementary writing prompts and topics are a powerful and fun learning tool to help children practice the writing skills that will serve them beyond their school years and well into their adult lives. So have your writers grab their pencils and notebooks and get to down to the business of filling up a blank page during some writing time. Oh yeah!

Until next time, write on…

If you enjoyed these Elementary Writing Prompts & Ideas,
please share them on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest.
I appreciate it!

Sincerely,
Jill
journalbuddies.com
creator and curator

More Elementary Writing Resources

• 30 Fiction Writing Prompts for Elementary Students
• 30 Creative Journal Prompts for Elementary Kids
• Free printable elementary writing worksheets

We have a variety of journal writing prompts, story starters, creative writing prompts for all grade levels – with a little encouragement, writing can become your students’ favorite hobby!