37 Fantastic Writing Prompts about Family

Writing Prompts about Family that Celebrate DNA and More— A little-known holiday is approaching: International DNA Day. On April 25th, there are so many different ways that you could celebrate DNA Day with your class.

Read on to discover how to have fun with our newest list of DNA-Themed, family prompt ideas!

Fresh New Topics and Writing Prompts About Family

Yeppers…

Our list of DNA and Writing Prompts about Family will take your writers in all different directions, from science to hypothetical questions to questions about family. This means writers of all ages will be able to refine their writing skills while exploring their families.

And… who knows, perhaps writing about DNA will become a favorite subject for your students (stranger things have happened).

You can add any of these writing prompts about family to your lesson plan to create thought-provoking discussions about your students’ thoughts around DNA. The silly ones can get your class’s creative juices flowing, and there are some heavier prompts about family, which can open up an awesome discourse about the cathartic nature of journaling.

Encourage your writers to delve deep into these new ideas and learn about a new piece of information about their family, write an interesting story, or, perhaps, discover a long-lost relative while scouring the internet for family DNA information.

37 Writing Prompts about Family and Journal Prompts about Family (DNA-Themed and More)

A writing prompt is the best thing to get young people thinking through common questions, important concepts, or zany creative endeavors!

Do you know very much about your family ancestry? Has your family done DNA testing? How does your understanding of your ancestry impact your daily life?
What countries did your family come from? What is the culture like in those countries, and how do you see and celebrate those things in your family?
If you could be born and raised in any other country, which one would you choose, and why?
If you could be born and raised in any other state, which one would you choose, and why?
Does your family celebrate any cultural holidays the people around you don’t celebrate? What is the best way to celebrate them?
You and your siblings may share genetic factors, but you might be very different people. What makes you different from your siblings?
They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! (Meaning, you are probably pretty similar to your parents.) What are some good traits you’ve gotten from your parents?
If you could hang out with one of your parents when they were a kid, what would you do together? Do you think you would get along?
Write out a short letter you’ll never send to your parents or siblings, then rip it up and throw it in the trash. It’s good to get those feelings out through writing!
If you don’t live with your birth parents, write about that experience. Is there anything you wish other people knew about what it’s like?
Which of your family members do you get along with the best? Why?
Write a fictional perfect day with your family– the best one you can imagine.
If you haven’t met your birth parents, do you want to meet them someday? What do you think (or hope) they’re like?
Are you closer to your friends or family, and why?
Have you moved a lot in your life so far, or grown up in the same place? How does that make you different from kids who lived the opposite?
If you could pick whoever you wanted out of your friends and family to spend a holiday or vacation with, who would you choose and why?
Talk about the meaning of the word “family” to you. Is it more about blood relations or chosen loved ones for you? How has your parents’ perspective impacted or shaped your perspective?
What is the most important thing you’ve learned from your parents? How has it had a positive impact on your life, and how will you teach it to future generations?
What is your favorite memory with your family? What makes it so meaningful to you?
If you’re an older sibling, do you remember the first time you met your little sibling? What was that like?
What is your favorite activity to do with your family? What were some of the best memories from it?
Is there something you wish you never did to someone in your family? Write about that experience and what you would do differently now.
How well do you know your grandparents? What is similar and different between you and them?
If your parents have siblings, write about what you think they would have been like as kids growing up together.
In Jurassic Park, they use advanced technology to make new dinosaurs. Write a story where your science teachers use DNA to create an animal.
Write a story where you’re in Jurassic Park living with the dinosaurs. Are the dinosaurs nice or evil? How do you survive?
Write a story where you meet your doppelganger, and decide to do something mischievous together.
If you could clone yourself but change one thing about your personality by changing your DNA sequences, what would it be and why?
Write a story where someone uses DNA replication to clone a celebrity or politician without public awareness of the situation and explore how it impacts the general public.
Write a story where people mix up two identical twins.
If you don’t have a twin, do you think you’d like to have one? Why or why not?
If you do have a twin, what are the things you do and don’t like about being a twin?
How do you feel about the way you look? How does it impact your perception of yourself?
If you could re-work your double helix to change your eye color, which eye color would you choose, and why? How would your family and friends react to your new look?
Do you want to have kids when you grow up? What would you do differently than your parents did while they were raising you?
Do you share a room with anyone? How do you feel about sharing or not sharing your room?
Do you think everyone should do genetic testing to find out their family ancestry? Why do you think it’s a good thing or a bad thing?

I hope you enjoyed this collection of journal prompts about family.

Whew… that was a fun and crazy adventure. One we hope was filled with a memorable thing or two and some memorable experiences, too!

Different Hopes, Yet One Family

This list of Writing Prompts about Family is a great starting point for your students to learn about their families all while improving the quality of their writing.

It’s also a wonderful opportunity for some deep self-reflection and personal growth. I sure hope you and your writers enjoy and use this list of family writing prompts ideas.

Now, if you’d like to see even more family-related prompts for middle school students and high school students, you can check out the free resources on the following lists:

Family Fun Month prompts
National Stress-Free Family Holiday Month prompts
Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Writing Prompts and Activity Ideas
For something completely different, see our creative writing prompts collection

A Few Final Thoughts…

From the younger members of your family to the older generations — learning about one’s family and the exploration of their family’s culture is the best gift for everyone in a family. Doing so will not only teach some valuable life lessons but also cultivate much gratitude and appreciation for where you have come from and where you are going.

It can be so helpful for your students to work through their thoughts and feelings about their relationships with their families, and think through various topics for World DNA Day! Plus, the insight one can learn about family dynamics is an added bonus.

One of our best tips for you and your writers today is to get to it and use these Writing Prompts about Family, DNA, and more right now with your young writers in (or writers of of grades, really). I know you’ll be glad you did.

Until next time.

If you enjoyed these DNA-themed Journal Prompts and Writing Prompts about Family,
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I appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Jill
journalbuddies.com
creator and curator