How To Find Interesting Writing Prompts to Engage Your Kids

Whether you have been homeschooling for years or are just getting started, there will come times when you simply need a little help. Sometimes that means you buy the big boxed curriculum for the year or hire out your least favorite subject. Sometimes though, you just need a little help with ideas.

When it comes to helping your child find their writer’s voice, the best way to teach them is with free-flowing thoughts about subjects they are interested in. However, if you’ve ever actually taught a kid to write, you most often get a look of complete fear or bewilderment. This is where writing prompts come in handy. They not only give you ideas for topics, but they help your kids by inspiring creativity. Here are some tips for finding interesting writing prompts to engage your kids.

Find Websites About Writing

Websites that discuss writing and journaling tend to offer some great prompts for writing. Start by considering sites you already follow that occasionally offer prompts, either free or for a nominal fee. Shoot, you’ve already completed this step by popping in here today.

Looking for sites that offer writing ideas and encouragement can help you in more ways than most, but here are some great articles that will you get started:

• Journaling ~ Inspiring Your Child To Find Their Writing Voice
• How to Use Story Starters to Get Kids Writing

Find Writing Prompts on Pinterest

One of the easiest ways to search for interesting ideas is through Pinterest. You can create a writing prompts board on Pinterest, then just save every pin related to prompts. This is a good idea if you want to save a large collection of prompts and aren’t necessarily just going to use one list and print it out. Whenever you need a new writing idea, open up your board, and you have lots to choose from.

Here are a couple of boards for writing and journaling:

• Journaling For Children
• iHN Writing for Homeschool
• Homeschool Grammar & Writing
• Writing Prompts for Kids
• Creative Writing Activities for Kids
• Homeschool Writing Programs

Are you looking for specific prompts for the holidays, a specific season, or a particular month? Those are available as well! Most of them are separated into categories: January Prompts, Christmas Prompts, Prompts for Teens, or Prompts for Young Kids. There is an endless amount out there – so have fun searching.

Find a Great Writing Prompt Book

There are plenty of free writing prompt downloads available. Some are specific to age, like middle school or high school. Others are specific to a particular genre, like fantasy or journaling. If all of those sound appealing, you might be interested in purchasing a book with writing prompts for all ages and genres of writing simply for ease of finding what you want at a moment’s notice.

One I would recommend is the Big Book of Writing Prompts for Kids, Vol. 1. This book has:

• over 500 writing prompts for kids in elementary all the way through high school,
• 5 different types of prompts, including “What if?” prompts, “Story Starters,” “Picture This” scenarios, Journal prompts, and even Non-fiction prompts,
• an easy to follow teacher lesson plan,
• bonus Photographic prompts (pictures to jog those creative writing thoughts),
• and a Story Planner, that is probably my favorite part of the book.

Buying a writing prompt book or finding free writing prompts won’t solve all your “teaching writing worries.” Your kids are still going to stare at you like you’ve asked them to cut off a body part when you ask them to write. But, using strategies like freewriting, journaling, and using writing prompts can help inspire a little creativity and maybe even spark a little joy in your homeschool.