What is Imaginative Writing?

What is Imaginative Writing? + 20 Prompt Ideas — With imaginative writing prompts, you can create a safe space in your classroom where your students are willing to open up and write pieces that are serious, silly, emotional, compelling, or downright funny. Keep scrolling to discover more now.

Table of Contents

Powerful Imagination is the Pathway to Great Fiction
Use Your Personal Experience to Inspire Your Writers
20 Imaginative Writing Prompts for Elementary Students
A Few Final Thoughts
More Imaginative Writing Resources

Powerful Imagination is the Pathway to Great Fiction

Children of all ages have vivid imaginations. From the time children can begin to express themselves, the adults around them can tell that they are dreaming big dreams and conjuring up exciting ideas that they will one day share with the world.

As children grow from preschoolers who play pretend into kids who can read, write, and express themselves, it’s important for teachers and parents to encourage them to use their imaginations while they write.

Imaginative writing allows children to think creatively and express themselves freely.

Now…

When they are writing a story, some poetry, or a journal entry that encourages them to use their imagination, they are given free rein to write about the things that they love and the ideas that they are considering. Bonus: They are also learning specific writing skills and having fun at the same time!

Use Your Personal Experience to Inspire Your Writers

The style of imaginative writing will vary based on the age of the students and the writing skills that they are focusing on in the classroom environment. If you want to introduce the concept of imaginative writing in your class, then the first thing you should do is provide students with imaginative writing and creative writing examples.

For instance…

You could write an imaginative writing piece yourself and really allow yourself to stretch your imagination. By showing the students that you are confident in your own ideas, they will feel more comfortable using their own imaginations as they write!

Imaginative writing in the elementary classroom is one of the best ways to make writing fun for young students. When they enjoy the writing process, they will be more open and willing to try new writing techniques and styles in the future.

20 Imaginative Writing Prompts for Elementary Students

Use our list of topic ideas and imaginative writing prompts in your classroom to get those creative juices flowing!

Write a story in which the main character is a purple, one-eyed monster.
Write a journal entry about an imaginary friend that you had as a child. How did you picture this friend? When did you talk to your imaginary friend? Do you still spend time with your imaginary friend?
Close your eyes and picture a beautiful vacation destination. Write a story that takes place in this spot, and don’t forget to use a lot of describing words.
Write a fictional adventure story that features both you and your best friend as the main characters.
Think about the animals that live at the farm. Do you think they ever talk to one another? What sorts of things do you think they do together when the farmers go to sleep at night? Write a story about how you imagine life at the farm to be like for the animals.
Imagine that you traveled through time and landed in the future. You meet your future grandchildren, and they take you to their school. What is it like? How is their futuristic school the same as yours? How is it different?
Imagine that the main character in your story shrank to the size of an ant. What would happen to your character? How would life be different now that they were so small?
Write a story about an astronaut who is taking their first rocket trip into space. Where are they heading? What is it like to be catapulting into space and leaving Earth behind?
What do you want to be when you grow up? Write about what you imagine a day in the life would be like if you had this job.
Imagine that you landed on a deserted island, and you find a treasure map. Where does the map lead you? What sort of treasure do you find at the end? What do you do with it?
Write a story about a character who can make themselves invisible whenever they want.
Imagine that you got left behind on your class field trip to the museum. What do you do overnight?
Imagine that you became a character in your favorite movie. What do you do? Do you change the outcome of the film?
Write a story about two characters who lived on another planet and are just discovering Earth for the first time.
Write a poem from the perspective of your favorite animal.
Imagine that it’s the middle of the summer, and you can do whatever you want. How would you spend your day?
Imagine that you are an arctic explorer, and write a journal entry that is similar to a daily log.
Write a story about someone who attends a concert and ends up meeting their favorite band.
Think about a major decision that you made. Now, write a story imagining what life would be like if you had made a different choice at that time.
Imagine that one day you wake up, and you are the most famous person in the world. What is it like to be famous? Do you like it?

I hope you enjoyed this list of imaginative writing ideas. May they inspire loads of creative writing text and ideas in your young writers.

A Few Final Thoughts

From the first draft to the last, a piece of imaginative writing is a form of personal genius, and your classroom is no doubt full of creative writing geniuses.

That’s why I suggest…

When your students have completed their imaginary writing pieces, encourage them to share their stories and entries with the class.

By sharing their own ideas and hearing those of their classmates, they will see just how far the imagination can reach when it is put to the test. They will know that when they keep on writing, they will always come up with new and innovative ideas!