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22 Writing Activities To Help Kids Hone Their Writing Skills

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Written by Maria Kampen

Prodigy English is here! Get your students playing — and learning — today.

Fun writing activities

Creative writing activities, academic writing activities, at-home writing activities, daily writing activities, simple writing prompts for kids.

  • How writing activities can bring reluctant writers out of their shells

Try some other educational activities

When kids start writing, they’re unlocking a whole new world of imagination to explore. It’s a great way for them to be creative, express themselves and practice key reading and writing skills. 

But as most kids — and adults — will tell you, writing is hard! It can be intimidating to put pen to paper for the first time, and sometimes the challenge of a blank page seems like too much to overcome. 

Writing shouldn’t be scary for kids. These 22 fun writing activities can help them:

  • Use their imagination
  • Think up new stories and ideas
  • Share their writing with friends and family

Use them in your classroom or at home to get kids excited about writing!

Three students complete fun writing activities at school.

Writing is supposed to be fun! Use these activities to help kids stretch their imagination and record their thoughts on paper in a fun, low-stress environment.

1. Try online ELA games like Prodigy English

Great for: Grades 1 to 6

Online games are a great way to engage students in the learning process — and Prodigy English is bringing the power of game-based learning to language and reading skill practice!

As students build and create, they’re always practicing key reading and language skills that help them write clearly and effectively. Every correct answer gives players more energy to gather resources, complete daily tasks and earn Wishcoins.

Plus, you can send questions about the topics you want them to practice and collect insights about their learning.

2. Poetry scavenger hunt

Great for: Middle and high school students

Words are all around us, so encourage your students to take inspiration from the real-life writing they see every day. Have students collect printed words and phrases from the world around them, including:

  • Magazine ads
  • Graphic novels
  • Newspaper headlines
  • Social media captions

Students can collect and arrange their words on a piece of paper to make a unique piece of poetry. Encourage them to find a key idea and expand on it in creative ways, then have students share their work with the class. 

3. Create your own comic strip

Great for: Grades 4 to 10

Students learn in all sorts of ways. For visual learners, creating a comic strip to accompany their story can help them express themselves in a visual medium. 

Give students a set number of panels and challenge them to come up with a quick story — just a few sentences. Then, they can illustrate their scene in the style of comic books. 

Remind students the point isn’t to be the best artist — it’s to write a story that’s short and exciting. 

4. Create your own Madlib

Great for: Elementary and middle school students

Give students vocabulary practice and help them write a silly story at the same time!

Fill a sheet with the outline of the story, then remove key words like:

For younger students, add a word bank to get them started. As students fill in words, they’ll craft a unique story filled with unexpected twists and turns.

Young student sits at a table with pencil and paper during creative writing activities.

Once students start getting in the habit of writing, these creative writing activities can pull new ideas out of their heads and encourage them to experiment with different genres. 

5. Acrostics

Great for: Grades 3 to 8

Acrostic poems are a great way to introduce your students to poetry! Start with a meaningful word or name and use it as a theme for the poem. 

Writing the word vertically, students can go down the letters and write a short word or phrase that starts with each letter. Acrostic poems help students write within a structure and theme, so it’s easier for them to get started. 

6. A letter to your future self

Great for: Middle school and high school

Where do your students see themselves in a year? Five years? Ten years?

A letter to their future selves is a great way for students to explore their own story, and brainstorm what they want to achieve. Not only can students practice their letter-writing skills, they can use their imaginations to develop a growth mindset . 

For extra nostalgia, store the letters for students and mail them out once the right amount of time has passed. 

7. Write a “Choose your own adventure” story

Great for: Grades 5 and up

Whether it’s a fairy tale, detective story or drama, chances are you’ve had a student tell you they don’t know how their story is supposed to end. 

A “Choose-your-own-adventure” story lets students brainstorm different storylines and endings. Once they’re done, encourage them to share their stories with the class so their peers can go on the adventure too.

8. Write a fake advertisement

Great for: Grades 6 and up

Good writing doesn’t just happen in books — it’s all around us!

Whether students are writing advertisements on their own or as part of a project-based learning assignment , this activity helps them build key media literacy skills and practice their snappy storytelling. 

Have students make up a new product and advertisement, or encourage them to re-imagine an ad for something they love. It’s also a great way to bring media literacy and interdisciplinary learning to your classroom. 

9. Make a story map

Great for: Grades 2 to 8

Not every student is going to be comfortable putting pen to paper right away. Story maps can help students brainstorm details like plot, characters and setting in a way that makes sense for visual learners. 

Have students use charts to set out the beginning, middle and end of their stories. Mind maps can also help them plot out details about their characters or setting. 

Encourage students to present their story map as a finished product or use it to start writing!

Students works with a textbook, pencil and paper in the classroom.

Writing isn’t all fairy tales and short stories — it’s also an important part of learning in middle school, high school and college. Use these academic writing activities to help students understand proper essay structure, grammar and more. 

10. Story chains

Great for: Grades 4 to 8

Stories are better when they’re enjoyed with friends and classmates. And story chains encourage every student to get involved!

Put students in small groups of three to six. Give each student a blank piece of paper and have them write the beginning of a story. Then, pass it to the next student in the group so they can write what happens next. 

For extra educational value, have students work together to summarize a story from your lesson or an important historical event. 

11. Persuasive essays

Sometimes writing is about more than just telling a story. It’s about convincing your readers of your point of view. 

Have older students practice their debate skills with persuasive essays. Start with a prompt, then let students make their case. Some of our favorite prompts for this writing assignment include:

  • Is it more important to be right or to not hurt someone else’s feelings?
  • What important historical figure do you think belongs on the ten-dollar bill and why?
  • Do you think you’re born with your personality traits, or do you gain them as you grow up?

Most importantly, make sure students back up their opinions with solid facts and arguments that convince readers to care. 

12. Solve a real-world problem

Great for: Grade 6 and up

Climate change, litter, bullying, bad cafeteria food — no matter what students pick, there are lots of real-world problems for them to solve. 

Challenge students with a writing assignment that addresses a problem they see in their world. How would they fix it? Whether it’s a short paragraph or a longer essay, encourage them to find something they’re passionate about. After all, that’s where good writing comes from!

13. Vocabulary challenge

Great for: Elementary school students

Vocabulary challenges combine vocabulary strategies with student writing to make your next language arts lesson plan even more engaging. 

Give students a new word (or two or three). Once you’re done practicing it and they know what it means, challenge them to use it in a story as creatively as possible. 

14. Teach citations

Great for: Grades 1 to 12

Footnotes, endnotes and bibliographies are the least exciting part of writing, but they’re essential skills. As students write more complex research papers, they need to know how to give credit where credit is due. Thankfully, there are lots of online resources to help!

The Purdue Online Writing Lab offers teachers and students resources for all stages of the writing process, including citations. To practice, students can write an annotated bibliography as part of a project-based learning assignment or the first step in writing a longer research paper. 

Young girls works with her father on writing activities on their couch.

Writing isn’t just something happening in the classroom. These at-home writing ideas can help you support your child as they experiment with prose and poetry.

15. Write letters to a pen pal

Great for: Grades 3 and up

Everyone likes getting mail! Got a friend with kids in a different part of the country, or far-away family members? A pen pal can be a great way for kids to build friendships and practice their writing skills at the same time. 

16. Bring a home object to life

“It’s as big as a mountain!”

“That’s the fluffiest thing I’ve ever felt!”

The ways kids describe things can crack us up sometimes. Full of wonder and hyperbole, it’s the perfect spark for creative writing, too.

Encourage kids to practice their figurative language skills with a description of something in your home. Let them pack as much alliteration and exaggeration into the description as they can, then do a dramatic reading out loud.  

17. Write reading reactions

If you want to boost reading comprehension and writing skills at the same time, this is the perfect activity. After your child is done reading, encourage them to write a few sentences about what they just read. 

Did they like it? What do they think happens next? Which character was their favorite and why? Learning how to express opinions in writing is a valuable skill. 

18. Document family stories

Great for: Grades 4 and up

Every family has a unique story, including yours. Make memories with your child when you share stories about important family events or your childhood. 

Kids can even interview grandparents, aunts and uncles to record their memories. When you’re done, store them in a shared space so everyone can go back and reminisce.

A person sits at a desk with a notebook, paper, pen and coffee cup.

Writing is a muscle, and you have to flex it every day to get stronger. Use these daily writing activities to make writing part of your everyday routine. 

19. Journaling

Great for: Everyone

Sometimes, you’ve just gotta write it out. 

Whether you’re trying to make sense of life or just need a place to organize your thoughts, journaling is a great way to unwind, practice mindfulness and build social emotional skills . 

All kids need to get started is a notebook and a pen. Let them know you’re not going to read it, but they’re welcome to come to you if there’s something they want to talk about. 

20. Blog about your interests

Great for: High school and up

Everyone’s passionate about something. Whatever your students love, encourage them to share it with the world! Blogging is an accessible and fun way to express themselves, nerd out about the things that bring them joy and share their opinions with the world. 

Sites like WordPress and Wix offer free website builders to help students get started. This is a great way for kids to build computer skills and digital literacy .

21. Free writing

Write, write, write and don’t stop. That’s the premise behind free writing, a writing practice that can help unlock creativity, discover new ideas and take the pressure out of a blank page. 

Give students a five-minute timer and challenge them to write continuously, without worrying about formatting, spelling or grammar. They can write about whatever they want, but there’s only one rule: don’t stop. 

22. Answer daily writing prompts

Make time to exercise your brain with daily writing prompts! At the start of the day or as a quick brain break , set aside time for students to respond to a quick daily writing prompt. 

Students should have a dedicated journal or binder to make it a seamless part of your lessons. Whether or not you choose to read their writing is up to you, but it’s important to build good daily habits. 

Teacher and child sit in the classroom and work on writing activities together.

A blank page can be a scary sight for a student who doesn’t know what to write about. 

Use writing prompts to:

  • Kickstart a student’s imagination
  • Start your lesson with a fun writing activity
  • Give students a topic to debate in writing

Some of our favorite simple writing prompts include:

  • Write a story about a wooden door, a can of soda and a blue shoe. 
  • If you met a monster looking for new friends, what would you do?
  • What’s your favorite season? What makes it the best?
  • If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
  • Describe your dream birthday cake. 
  • Write a story about being cold without using the word “cold.”
  • If you could decorate your bedroom any way you wanted, what would it look like?
  • Is it better to have lots of friends or just a few really good friends?
  • Write a story in 10 words or less.
  • Write a story about the best surprise you’ve ever received. 

For more writing prompts you can use in and out of the classroom, check out our full list of 225 writing prompts for kids .

Writing activities can bring reluctant writers out of their shells

Writing is hard and can be intimidating for a lot of students. 

But even the quietest and most reluctant students have lots of stories to tell! You just have to encourage them to get their words out. 

Writing activities help remove some of the pressure and give students:

  • A fun way to approach writing 
  • A starting point for their stories
  • Chances to share their writing with students

No two stories are the same, just like your students. Every story can start in a different way, and that’s the beauty of writing prompts.

Whether it’s writing activities or math problems, there are lots of ways to get reluctant learners excited about your lessons with educational activities. 

Here are some of our favorites:

  • 37 Quick & Easy Brain Breaks for Kids
  • 30 Virtual School Activities Students & Educators Love  
  • 27 Best Educational Games for Kids to Play Sorted by Subject  
  • 15 Geometry Activities to Engage Students Across Grade Levels
  • 36 Fun Word Games for Kids To Help with Vocabulary & Literacy
  • 15 Fun, Free & Effective Multiplication Games For Your Classroom
  • 20 Exciting Math Games for Kids to Skyrocket New Math Skills On-The-Go
  • 21 Classroom Games to Boost Teacher Effectiveness and Student Learning
  • 25 Social Emotional Learning Activities & How They Promote Student Well-Being

Which ones can you use in your next lesson?

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Sign up for your free teacher account and get access to teacher tools that help you differentiate learning and track student progress as they play.

  • Grades 6-12
  • School Leaders

Black History Month for Kids: Google Slides, Resources, and More!

10 Creative Writing Activities That Help Students Tell Their Stories

Lower the stakes and help them get started.

Share your story message written on three post it notes

“I don’t have a story. There’s nothing interesting about my life!” Sound familiar? I don’t know a teacher who hasn’t heard students say this. When we ask our students to write about themselves, they get stuck. We know how important it is for them to tell their own stories. It’s how we explore our identities and keep our histories and cultures alive. It can even be dangerous when we don’t tell our stories (check out this Ted Talk given by novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and share it with your students for more on that). Storytelling is essential for every subject, not just English Language Arts; students dive deeper and engage when they practice thinking about how their own stories intersect with historical events, civic engagement, and the real-world implications of STEM. These 10 creative writing activities can work in every subject you teach:

Here are 10 of our favorite story telling activities that inspire students:

1. write an “i am from” poem.

A students I Am From creative writing activities

Students read the poem “I am From” by George Ella Lyon. Then, they draft a poem about their own identity in the same format Lyon used. Finally, students create a video to publish their poems. We love this one because the mentor text gives a clear structure and example that students can follow. But the end result is truly unique, just like their story.

2. Design a social media post to share an important memory

collage of historical images creative writing activities

How can you use your unique perspective to tell a story? We want our students to learn that they are truly unique and have stories that only they can tell that other people want to hear or could relate to or learn from. In this activity, students watch two Pixar-in-a-Box videos on Khan Academy to learn about storytelling and perspective. Then, they identify an interesting or poignant memory and design a social media post.

3. Create an image using a line to chart an emotional journey

story writing fun activities

How do you show emotion using a single line? In this activity, students watch a Pixar in a Box video on Khan Academy to learn about how lines communicate character, emotion, and tension. Then they experiment with these aspects as they write their story. We love using this for pre-writing and to help students explore their story arc. Also, for students who love to draw or learn visually, this can help them get started telling their story and show them that there are many different ways to tell a story.

4. Tell the story behind your name

story writing fun activities

Sharing the story behind our name is a way to tell a story about ourselves, our culture, and our family history. And if there isn’t a story behind it, we can talk about how we feel about it and describe what it sounds like. In this activity, students use video to introduce themselves to their classmates by discussing the origin of their name. This project asks students to connect their names (and identities) to their personal and familial histories and to larger historical forces. If you’re looking for a mentor text that pairs well with this one, try “My Name” by Sandra Cisneros .

5. Develop a visual character sketch

Give students the time to create a character sketch of themselves. This will help them see how they fit into their story. In this lesson, students create a visual character sketch. They’ll treat themselves like a character and learn to see themselves objectively.

6. Create a webpage to outline the story of your movie

story writing fun activities

Building a story spine is a great way to show students how to put the parts of their story in an order that makes sense. It’s an exercise in making choices about structure. We like this activity because it gives students a chance to see different examples of structure in storytelling. Then, they consider the question: how can you use structure to set your story up for success? Finally, they design and illustrate an outline for their story.

7. Respond to a variety of writing prompts

Sometimes our students get stuck because they aren’t inspired or need a different entry point into telling their story. Give them a lot of writing prompts that they can choose from. Pass out paper and pencils. Set a timer for fifteen minutes. Then, write 3-4 writing prompts on the board. Encourage students to free-write and not worry about whether their ideas are good or right. Some of our favorite prompts to encourage students to tell their story are:

  • I don’t know why I remember…
  • What’s your favorite place and why?
  • What objects tell the story of your life?
  • What might surprise someone to learn about you?

8. Create a self-portrait exploring identity and self-expression

story writing fun activities

Part of what makes writing your own story so difficult for students is that they are just building their identity. In this activity, students explore how they and others define their identity. What role does identity play in determining how they are perceived and treated by others? What remains hidden and what is shown publicly?

9. Film a video to share an important story from your life

story writing fun activities

Encourage students to think about how to tell the story of a day they faced their fears. Students consider the question: How can you use different shot types to tell your story? They watch a video from Pixar in a Box on Khan Academy to learn about different camera shots and their use in storytelling. Then, they use Adobe Spark Post or Photoshop and choose three moments from their story to make into shots. We love using this to help students think about pace and perspective. Sometimes what we leave out of our story is just as important as what we include.

10. Try wild writing

Laurie Powers created a process where you read a poem and then select two lines from it. Students start their own writing with one of those lines. Anytime that they get stuck, they repeat their jump-off line again. This is a standalone activity or a daily writing warm-up, and it works with any poem. We love how it lowers the stakes. Can’t think of anything to write? Repeat the jump-off line and start again. Here are some of our favorite jump-off lines:

  • The truth is…
  • Some people say…
  • Here’s what I forgot to tell you…
  • Some questions have no answers…
  • Here’s what I’m afraid to write about…

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story writing fun activities

55 Creative Writing Activities and Exercises

Creating writing activities

Have you ever heard these questions or statements from your students?

  • I don’t know where to begin.
  • How can I make my story interesting?
  • I’m just not creative.
  • What should my story be about?

If so, you won’t want to miss these creative writing activities. 

What Are Creative Writing Activities?

Activities that teach creative writing serve as drills to exercise your student’s writing muscle. When used effectively, they help reluctant writers get past that intimidating blank paper and encourage the words to flow. 

When I think of creative writing exercises , writing prompts immediately come to mind. And, yes, writing from a prompt is certainly an example of a creative writing activity (a highly effective one). 

However, writing prompts are only one way to teach creative writing. Other types of activities include games, collaboration with others, sensory activities, and comic strip creation to name a few.

Unlike writing assignments, creative writing activities aren’t necessarily meant to create a perfectly polished finished project. 

Instead, they serve as more of a warmup and imagination boost.

Picture-based writing exercises are especially fun. You can download one for free below!

Creative Writing Exercises

get this picture prompt printable for free!

How to use creative writing exercises effectively.

When teaching creative writing , the most effective exercises inspire and engage the student. 

Remember that worn-out prompt your teacher probably hauled out every year? 

“What I Did This Summer…” 

Cue the groaning. 

Instead of presenting your student with lackluster topics like that one, let’s talk about ways to engage and excite them. 

For Kids or Beginners

Early writers tend to possess misconceptions about writing. Many picture sitting down for hours straight, polishing a story from beginning to end. 

Even for experienced writers, this is next-to-impossible to do. It’s preconceived ideas like these that overwhelm and discourage students before they’ve even started. 

Instead of assigning an essay to complete, start with simple, short writing exercises for elementary students such as:

  • Creating comic strips using a template
  • Talking out loud about a recent dream
  • Writing a poem using rhyming words you provide
  • Creating an acrostic from a special word

Creative writing exercises don’t have to end in a finished piece of work. If the exercise encouraged creative thinking and helped the student put pen to paper, it’s done its job. 

For Middle School

Creative writing activities for middle school can be a little more inventive. They now have the fundamental reading and writing skills to wield their words properly. 

Here are some ideas for middle school writing exercises you can try at home:

  • Creating Mad Lib-style stories by changing out nouns, verbs, and adjectives in their favorite tales
  • Storyboarding a short film
  • Writing a family newsletter
  • Creating crossword puzzles

For High School 

Your high school student may be starting to prepare for college essays and other important creative writing assignments. 

It’s more critical than ever for her to exercise her writing skills on a regular basis. 

One great way to keep your high schooler’s mind thinking creatively is to have her make “listicles” of tips or facts about something she’s interested in already. 

Another fun and effective creative writing exercise for high school is to have your student retell classic stories with a twist. 

List of 55 Creative Writing Activities for Students of All Ages

No matter what age range your students may be, I think you’ll find something that suits their personality and interests in this list of creative writing ideas. Enjoy! 

  • Using only the sense of hearing, describe your surroundings. 
  • Write a paragraph from your shoes’ point of view. How do they view the world? What does a “day in the life of a shoe” look like?
  • Imagine what the world will be like in 200 years. Describe it. 
  • Write a letter to someone you know who moved away. What has he or she missed? Should he or she move back? Why? 
  • Make up an imaginary friend. What does he or she look like? What does he or she like to do?
  • Create a story about a person you know. Use as many details as possible.
  • Write a poem that describes a place you have been.
  • Soak up the season you’re in with seasonal creative writing prompts. Here are some ideas for fall and winter .
  • Write a song where each line starts with the next letter in the alphabet. 
  • Create a list of words related to something you love.
  • Write a short story based on a true event in your life.
  • Rewrite a chapter of your favorite book from the antagonist’s point of view. 
  • Write a letter to your future self. What do you want to make sure you remember?
  • Go on a five-senses scavenger hunt. Find three items for each sense. Create a story using the items you found. 
  • Create a story around an interesting picture ( try these fun picture writing prompts! )
  • Find an ad in a magazine or elsewhere and rewrite the description to convince people NOT to buy the advertised item.
  • Write a story using the last word of each sentence as the first word of the next.
  • Describe everything you’re sensing right now, using all five senses.
  • Write a list of animals A to Z with a one-sentence description of each one. Feel free to include imaginary animals.
  • Design your dream room in detail.
  • Write a script of yourself interviewing a famous person. Include his or her answers.
  • Describe what high school would be like if you lived on the moon. What would you be learning about? How would you be learning it?
  • Describe a day in the life of a famous person in history. Include both mundane and exciting details of things they may have experienced on a normal day.
  • Pick up something on a bookshelf or end table nearby. Now write a commercial script for it to convince your audience that they absolutely must own this thing.
  • Plan a birthday party for your best friend. Describe the decorations, food, and everything else.
  • Write a very short story about three siblings fighting over a toy. Now rewrite it twice, each time from a different character’s perspective.
  • Tell a story from the point of view of a pigeon on a city street.
  • Create a menu for a deli you’ll be opening soon. Name each sandwich after something or someone in real life and list the fillings and type of bread.
  • Pretend you just became famous for something. Write 3 exciting newspaper headlines about the topic or reason behind your newfound fame.
  • Keep a one-line-a-day journal. Every day, write down one thought or sentence about something that happened that day or how you felt about the day.
  • Have you ever had a nightmare? Write what happened but with a new ending where everything turns out okay (perhaps the monster was your dad in a costume, preparing to surprise you at your birthday party).
  • Write a “tweet” about something that happened to you recently, using only 140 characters. 
  • Take an important event in your life or the life of someone in your family. Write one sentence answering each of the 6 journalistic questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.
  • Set a timer for 5 minutes and write nonstop, starting with the words “I remember.” If you get stuck, write “I remember” again until you get unstuck.
  • Pick something you use often (a toothbrush, your desk, etc). Then tell the story of how it was invented. If you don’t know, make something up.
  • Choose a princess or hero and write a one-paragraph story about him or her traveling to a distant land.
  • Pretend you are a tour guide for a local attraction. It can be a library, a park, or a museum, but it could also be a place that wouldn’t normally hold tours (such as an arcade). Write a speech about what you tell your tour group as you walk around the attraction.
  • Create a marketing brochure for your favorite activity or fun place to go.
  • Make a list of 10 future story settings. Write one sentence describing each. For example, “ in the dark, musty cellar of my grandmother’s house, surrounded by dried-up jars of canned peaches… ”
  • Make a list of foods included in a dinner party catered by the world’s worst cook, describing how each course looks, smells, and tastes. Include your reactions while eating it.
  • Write out your own version of instructions for playing your favorite game.
  • Pretend you’ve lost your sight for one night. Describe going out to eat at a restaurant, using smells, textures, and sounds to tell your story.
  • Write a script for an interesting phone conversation in which the reader can only hear one side. 
  • Tell the story of an object someone threw away from the perspective of the person who tossed it out. Then tell the story of that same object from the perspective of a person who finds it and deems it a treasure.
  • List your 3 least favorite chores. Pick one and write a one paragraph detailing why you can’t possibly complete that chore ever again.
  • Write an excerpt from your dog’s diary (pretend he keeps one).
  • Write the script for a movie trailer—real or imagined.
  • Create an acrostic for a holiday of your choice. 
  • Pretend you’re the master of a role-playing game, describing a sticky situation in which the other players now find themselves. Describe the scenario in writing.
  • Compose a funny or dramatic caption for a photo.
  • Parents, place a textured object in a box without letting your student see it. Have him or her reach in, touch the object, and then describe how it feels.
  • Write lyrics for a parody of a song.
  • Make a list of 10-20 songs that would be played if a movie was made about your life.
  • Describe the sounds, smells, sights, and textures you’d experience if you went to the beach for the day.
  • Write an election speech with ludicrous and impossible campaign promises.

One of the best ways to encourage students to write regularly is by providing fun creative writing activities . 

They serve to encourage both the habit and mindset of writing with imagination. If you need extra help with that, check out Creative Freewriting Adventure :

Creative Freewriting Adventure

bring excitement into your student’s writing – no prep required!

About the author.

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Jordan Mitchell

Looking for strategies or have questions about how to support your child’s education? Ask our AI-powered assistant.

Parent Resources for Learning > Core Skills > 12 Fun Writing Games for Kids to Improve Writing Skills

12 Fun Writing Games for Kids to Improve Writing Skills

by Dr. Jody LeVos | Aug 10, 2023 | Core Skills

Child writing in an open journal on a table

You know that it’s important for your child to develop writing skills, but you may be wondering why you should incorporate games into their learning.

Why can’t your child just sit down with a pen and paper to practice writing?

Less Stressful Learning

Being asked to sit down and practice writing skills can be daunting for some kids. It can also be frustrating when they come across letters or words they struggle with. Reach back in your own memories and you might find some frustration there—it’s no different for your own kids.

Games, on the other hand, decrease stress levels and get children excited about learning.

While playing learning games, your child will not only be practicing their writing skills, but they’ll also be more focused on completing the fun activity than getting frustrated that they can’t write the uppercase Q, Z, or J.

When children see that learning doesn’t have to be tense or highly stressful, it can also change their perception of educational activities. In fact, they may be more willing to participate in future educational games.

Providing natural motivation is one of the biggest advantages of playing writing games.

Kids are more likely to pay attention to the instructions and participate when they see the activity is fun. This is much more effective for teaching writing (and other) skills than simply handing them a worksheet.

Some educational games also allow children to play in pairs or groups. Interacting with peers or family members in this way is an excellent opportunity to develop critical social skills , such as listening to others, communicating effectively, and taking turns.

Friendly Competition

Kids can be very competitive—with their friends, siblings, and sometimes even with mom and dad. Playing writing games can foster a spirit of fun, healthy competition that helps kids learn by tapping into their desire to win.

Plus, if you involve multiple children in these activities, the child who wins can learn to congratulate their fellow competitors and not just brag about their accomplishment. And the one who loses can learn to celebrate another person’s win and keep trying.

Critical Thinking Skills

By nature, most games require participants to incorporate Critical Thinking skills (another of the 5 C’s), planning, and Creativity (yet another of the 5 C’s!). That’s a lot of mental work.

Writing—and other types of educational—games can help your child develop these essential life skills.

Now that we’re clear on why writing games are important, let’s get into the activities you can introduce to your child today.

We’ve divided these into three sections—writing games for preschoolers and kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders. So, feel free to scroll to the relevant section for your family, and let the games begin!

Writing Games for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners

Kid doing writing games

1. Disappearing Letters

What you’ll need.

  • A chalkboard
  • A paintbrush
  • A cup of water

Start this activity by writing a repeated letter, word, or your child’s name on the chalkboard using your chalk. If you’re writing a single letter, start by writing it five times in a row.

Dip the paintbrush in the cup of water and have your child trace over each of the letters, erasing them one by one.

Once your child has mastered one letter, move on to multiple letters until they’re comfortable using this activity to “write” their name and short CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words like dog and cat.

This activity is great for working on developing your child’s fine motor skills as well as their spelling abilities , which will aid them as they take pencil to paper!

2. Hands-On Writing

  • A tray or bin
  • A fun material such as sand, flour, or shaving cream—anything that can hold a shape
  • A pen and piece of paper (optional)

To start this activity, grab a tray or bin that’s deep enough to hold your chosen material.

Fill your tray and bin with sand, flour, shaving cream, or anything else that can be used to form a shape. This is what your child will use to develop their writing skills!

Say a letter to your child (or write the letter on a piece of paper for them to copy, if needed) and have them write the letter in the sand, flour, or shaving cream with their finger.

Eventually, you can work your way up to having your child write whole words, like their name, or people and things they love (favorite foods or toys, friend and family names, etc).

Don’t worry too much about what the letters look like—even scribbles are OK! Whatever your child writes to produce a letter or word is great progress.

This activity lets you make writing a fun, sensory experience! Try using different materials to keep your child engaged and to learn more about the world around them while they practice their writing skills.

You could also use a fingerpainting method for this writing game to work in some colorful fun!

3. Yarn Letters

  • Blank sheets of paper
  • Child-safe scissors

Grab the blank sheet of paper and help your child draw a letter of the alphabet with a pencil. Then hand them the yarn, scissors, and glue, and help them trace the letter by cutting and gluing the string onto its shape.

Performing this task is an effective way for your child to develop their fine motor skills, a key component of writing. In addition, this hands-on activity allows children to continue learning their letters.

Writing Games for First Graders

Two kids playing writing games

4. Roll the Dice

  • A piece of paper
  • A pen or pencil

This writing game is all about creating a fun story with your child using dice to determine how many words you get to add each turn!

Start by having your child choose a main character, a setting, and a problem. For example, your character might be a cat, your setting might be a garden, and the problem might be that the cat needs to find some food.

Write the first sentence of your story based on the character, setting, and problem you’ve chosen with your child. Using our example above, the first sentence might be, “Once, there was a cat in a garden who couldn’t find any food.”

After you write the first sentence, have your child roll the dice. Whatever number the dice lands on is the number of words they’ll add to the story—not one word more or less!

You can assist your child by sounding out tricky words and helping them write if needed. Once they’ve added their words, it’s your turn to roll the dice and write your next round of words based on the dice number.

Take up to five turns each before finishing your story together by choosing an ending. Then read your story aloud to see how it all flows!

5. Speech Bubbles

  • A piece of paper for drawing, or a printed cartoon

For this activity, start by having your child draw a picture with a character or two. You could draw this scene together or use character printables to color and decorate together.

Once you’ve finished creating your characters, it’s time for each of you to draw and fill in a speech bubble for your character’s thoughts (or a conversation bubble, if you drew more than one character).

For example, if your character is a dog, maybe he’s standing by an empty bowl. What might a hungry dog say? Some options could be, “Where’s my food?” or “I hope they bring pizza!”

Let your child’s imagination run wild when filling in the speech bubbles and make this activity even more enjoyable by writing down all suggestions, including the silly ones!

Speech bubbles are some of the most fun options for writing games as they’re quick, easy, and short for young writers.

This may help your child feel less intimidated as they explore more words to add to their vocabulary and practice forming their letters correctly.

6. Birthday Cards

Kids doing arts and crafts

  • Colored pens or crayons
  • Blank birthday card

Birthdays are a day most people look forward to. For kids, this day usually means lots of gifts, games, a birthday cake, and, of course, birthday cards.

Help your child create a unique birthday card for their friend, neighbor, cousin, sibling, mom, or dad—whoever they want! Once they select the recipient, get the supplies you need and help them write a sweet message for their loved one.

This is a wonderful activity for your child to practice putting their thoughts on paper. They can also add flowers, hearts, stickers, or anything else that will help to make the card extra special.

Note: This activity can be used for any occasion, not just birthdays. Is it the holidays? Has the family been invited to a graduation party? Do you have a family member who’s not feeling well?

All of these are excellent opportunities to create a special card for a loved one and practice writing at the same time!

7. Map Out the Story

  • A blank sheet of paper
  • Colored pencils (or crayons)

The aim of this writing game is simple: create a setting for a story.

Children love when a book they’re reading includes pictures and a map to bring the story to life. With this activity, they get to create their own!

All your child needs to do is draw a map of the story setting of their choosing, labeling the different areas. This can be a story they’ve read or one that’s just popped into their head. It really doesn’t matter as long as they’re excited about it.

To help them get started, you can ask prompting questions, like:

  • Does your story take place on land or in water?
  • If it’s on land, what and who lives on that land?
  • If it takes place in water, what types of interesting creatures are there?
  • What’s the weather like?
  • How many characters are there?
  • Where do these characters live?
  • What do the characters do?
  • Are there any landmarks?

Once your child is clear about the world of the story, it’s time to draw and create it. Now you can also help your child write a story that takes place in their invented world.

For this activity, we’re not expecting incredible artwork or penmanship. Instead, the main focus is to have kids practice gripping pens or pencils, and of course writing.

Writing Games for Second Graders

Young girl in class playing writing games

8. Grocery List Writing

  • A piece of paper for making your list

Turn the task of writing your grocery list into a game!

You can do this as part of a make-believe or role-playing game with your child, or you can create a real grocery list together before the shopping gets done.

Try planning out some meals for the week ahead, and then make a list with your child for each of the ingredients needed. Explain that writing a list helps us to remember all the things we need to buy, and discuss what items you might need to purchase.

Keep it simple and help your child by sounding out words as they write. Once the list is written, your child can enjoy checking off each item one by one after it’s been put in the cart!

9. Household I-Spy

  • Two pieces of paper (one for you and one for your child)
  • Two pens or pencils (one for you and one for your child)
  • A timer or timer app

One of our favorite writing games is this version of I-Spy with a twist!

Grab your paper and write each letter of the alphabet down the left-hand side. Once you and your child have each written the alphabet on your respective papers, set your timer for 10 minutes.

You’ll then race from room to room to find and write down as many objects as possible that begin with each letter of the alphabet. Write each object next to its corresponding letter and fill in as many as you can within the time limit.

You could also set a handicap for this writing game to raise the stakes! For example, if your child’s time limit is 10 minutes, cut yours in half so that you have to find as many objects as possible in five minutes.

10. Accordion Storytelling

  • A sheet of paper

The first player will start the story at the top of your clean sheet of paper by writing two sentences on separate lines. They can write about any topic they want.

When they’re done writing, they’ll need to fold the paper over the first sentence and pass the paper on to the next player. This means that the first sentence won’t be seen. The next writer will only be able to see the second sentence on the page.

This player will need to write their own two sentences based on the line they can see. After that, they’ll fold down the first line of what they wrote and pass it on to the next player, too. The paper will continue to be passed around and folded like an accordion.

The round ends once all the paper has been folded up, and there’s no space left to write. Once you’ve reached this stage, open it up and read the story aloud together.

What interesting story did you come up with? Get ready to have a good laugh!

Note: You can take turns reading one sentence each, or you can nominate one person to read the whole story to everyone.

This is a great game to play with the whole family or even just two people, although it is the most fun with at least three players. It will encourage both creativity and writing skills!

11. Pen Pal Writing

Boy playing writing games

  • Pens or pencils

Writing letters to pen pals is very traditional. In a nutshell, it involves two people in a long-distance friendship who communicate by writing letters to each other.

Now, with the advancement of technology, very few people still do this via snail mail. But it can be a great way to encourage children to write!

Who can your child write to? They can choose a friend who’s moved schools, a cousin who lives in another state, or their grandparents. It can be anyone they’d like to send a message to!

This is a fun way to help children learn about mailing letters and how the postal system works. They also get to create memories and can keep the letters their pen pal writes to reflect on for years to come!

12. Rewrite the Ending

  • Pen or pencils

Children will need to exercise their imaginations to play this game.

To get started, read a book out loud to your child. (This can be an old favorite or a new story.) Once you’ve finished reading, encourage them to create their own version of the ending.

It can be challenging for children to imagine their favorite stories in a different way, so you might need to help your child think outside the box:

  • What if the frog never turned into a prince but into a big elephant instead?
  • What if the three little pigs learned karate and decided to fight the wolf?
  • Could the little mermaid have a twin sister she just discovered?

This activity lets your child exercise their imagination while also practicing their writing skills. If this is done with multiple kids, it will be fun to see what exciting versions of the script each child comes up with.

Enjoy Learning to Write with Begin!

Mom helping daughter with writing games

From creating sensory play activities with sand and fingerpaints to writing a grocery list together, there are so many ways to get creative with your child and make writing a fun shared activity. We hope this guide inspires you with some new favorite writing games!

For even more writing fun, check out the fun digital games in our award-winning HOMER early learning app or unbox a learning adventure with our HOMER Explore Letters Kit . Watch your child build their literacy skills, using their imagination to lead them through a variety of writing and spelling activities!

Dr. Jody LeVos

As our Chief Learning Officer, Jody leads a highly knowledgeable team of early learning experts at Begin. She has a Ph.D. in Developmental Science, focused on children’s mathematical and cognitive development.

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Dr. Jody LeVos

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8 activities for making writing fun in the upper elementary classroom

8 Ideas and Activities for Making Writing Fun in Upper Elementary

8 activities / ideas for making writing fun in upper elementary (3rd, 4th, 5th grade)

Making Writing Fun Activities Written by Guest Blogger Jessica Thompson, 4th Grade Teacher

Writing. The minute the word is mentioned there is an audible, in-sync sigh from the students. Of course, there are a few super excited students who cannot get their ideas down quick enough. For every handful of excited writers, there is a large portion of the class that “has nothing to write about.”

The struggle is real, y’all. For both teachers and students.

The big question for teachers is not only how to make writing fun and engaging, but how do we get students excited about writing?

Fun Writing Activities To Try

Here are 8 Activities to try with third, fourth, and fifth grade students. These activities are to get our young writers excited about writing which will make formal writing tasks less daunting.

1. Think-Write-Pass:

This is always a favorite that gets lots of laughs. 

Put students in groups of four.  Give each student a piece of paper and have them write their name on the top. 

Have students write for 2-3 minutes.  You can give them a topic, or simply have them write about whatever they want.   

When the time is up, students pass their paper to another student in their group.   Each student in the group will have to read, continue the writing, and pass the paper again 2-3 minutes later.

When each student gets their own paper back they get a few minutes to complete the story. If time allows: let the groups choose their favorite one to share. 

2.  Sticky Note Stories:

Students want to share stories with us. There are so many stories - from their weekend, the ball game, recess, at their Aunt Barb’s birthday party 5 years ago - they have so much that they want to tell us!

It’s usually the same students ones who are constantly trying to tell us stories that, come writing time, same they have nothing to write about.   Sticky Note Stories are an easy solution.

A sticky post it note is not nearly as intimidating as a piece of notebook paper.

When a student has a story to share, tell them how much you want to hear it - but they have to write it down on the sticky note.

A holiday weekend? A school event?  A birthday party?  A football game?  Write it on a sticky note.

Monitoring Comprehension Practice for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade

This is one of my favorite ways to practice comprehension! Students read passages with intentional mistakes that do not make sense based on the context of the passage. Students must read carefully to find the mistakes.

It's fun, engaging, and best of all - no prep! Check out this Monitoring Comprehension Resource here. 

3.  Found Poetry

Make copies of text from a book you are reading and have them find words or groups of words throughout the text to create a poem.

They can circle these words and draw pictures or designs around everything else to make the poem pop.  See some examples of found poetry here.   

Or, check out these other ways to help students enjoy writing poetry. 

4.  Go Outside!

A change of scenery makes everything more fun.  Take the notebooks and pencils to the outdoors for 10-15 minutes. Have students sit and use their 5 senses to write observations.

You can stop there, or take this activity a little further and have students write some poetry!

Give them free rein, or add some guidelines for structure.

This free cinquain writing template is perfect for an activity like this!

Or, have students write a short haiku!  This no prep resource gives students a chance to read and write haiku, as well as answer comprehension questions!

You might also like some of these other outdoor lesson ideas.

5.  This or That

Sometimes all students need is a little bit of choice and control.  Give them that control with This or That.  

This is easy - simply provide them with 2 writing prompts and let them choose!

It can be time consuming to create choice boards with 9 options, but with This or That you only need to create two.  You can use these example discussion questions as writing prompts if you need help coming up with options!   

6.  Silly Pictures

This is an easy way to make writing fun!

There are millions of funny pictures without captions on the internet. The key is to find appropriate ones and save them for later use.

Put the picture up on a projector, mirror it to a screen, or print it out. Have students write about what is happening in that picture.

This is great to practice skills such as predicting, inferring, cause and effect, and problem and solution.

Or, inspire even more creativity by having students create their own silly drawings to write about using these Squiggle Drawing Story Starters! 

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7.  Persuasive Letters

Two birds, one writing piece.  The key to making this writing activity fun is choosing a topic that is sure to of interest of students.  

What student wouldn't love to try to convince their teacher that recess should be longer?  Or that they should be able to skip homework one night?  Or that they should have a pizza party?

The list of ideas is endless.  They could write to their parents on why they should have a later bedtime or get a dog. They could write to the principal on why donuts should be served with breakfast. They could write to an author on why they should write another book in their favorite series.  You could also let students choose the topic. 

3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students have fun arguing their point and they will learn quickly the importance of supporting their claim. 

8.  Quick Writes

Quick Writes are a timed writing. The idea is not to scare the students, but for them to get their ideas on paper as quickly as possibly and to be writing or thinking the entire time.

Give students a prompt, and then tell them to write down whatever comes to mind over the next 5 - 10 minutes.  Make sure students aren't worried about spelling or a grade - the goal is to just spend some time writing.

If you are looking for a more polished piece, you can have students do this daily for 3-5 days.  Then, have them choose their favorite quick write to revise, edit, and turn in.

9.  BONUS - Secret Descriptive Writing Activity

Make writing a descriptive paper fun!  Have your students secretly draw a picture and use describe with vivid descriptive language.  Then, students read their descriptions aloud while their classmates try and figure out which drawing is theirs!

This works best if students are all drawing something similar.  This is an easy activity to create on your own, but you could also try out one of these secret descriptive writing activities for a no prep way to walk your students through the entire writing process:

  • Alien Descriptive Writing Activity
  • Snowman Descriptive Writing Activity
  • Monster Descriptive Writing Activity

An Extra Tip for Making Writing Fun

A personalized writing notebook can be an easy way to motivate students to write. This is something that is theirs and they have more ownership over.

Composition books can easily be decorated with pictures, stickers, photographs, etc. and covered with contact paper.  Letting them take the time to decorate a notebook with things that are important to them can give them more ownership over their writing - as well as help stir up ideas for writing!

Bonus: Writing will not get lost easily! Make one yourself as a teacher and use it! Let the students see you write. Read your writing to them and make time for students to share too. 

Sometimes it's not about making writing fun - it's about your mindset as the teacher.  Check out these 7 tips for rethinking your writing instruction. 

Or, you might find these other writing tips and ideas helpful.   

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43 Creative Writing Exercises

Creative writing exercises for adults

Welcome to our treasure trove of creative writing exercises. Get inspired with new story ideas, have fun mastering essential writing skills, and find everything you need whether you're flying solo, or running each exercise with a group.

Table of contents

A note on running exercises remotely

A letter from your character to you, the opening sentence, make your protagonist act, overcoming writer's block, writing character arcs, sewing seeds in your writing, giving feedback to authors, the five senses, show don't tell, world building.

Easy gossiping exercise

Degrees of Emotion Game

Three birds, one line, blind date on valentine's day (exercise for adults), a success (works best for online groups), your dream holiday, time travel - child, adult, senior, focus on faces.

Onomatopeai, rhyme and alliteration

The alphabet story - creating a story as a group

A question or two, murder mystery game, the obscure movie exercise, how to hint at romantic feelings, a novel idea, creative writing prompts, creative story cards / dice, alternative christmas story, murder mystery mind map.

New Year's resolutions for a fictional character

Stephen King - Using verbs & nouns in fiction

It's the end of the world

Other Content:

7 Editing exercises  (for your first draft)

How to run the writing exercises

I run a  Creative Writing Meetup  for adults and teens in Montpellier or online every week. We start with a 5 to 20 minute exercise, followed by an hour and a half of silent writing, during which each participant focuses on their own project. Every exercise listed below has been run with the group and had any kinks ironed out.  Where the exercises specify a number of people, if you have a larger group, simply split everyone up into smaller groups as appropriate.

The solo exercises are ideal to help stimulate your mind before working on a larger project, to overcome writer’s block, or as stand-alone prompts in their own right. If a solo exercise inspires you and you wish to use it with a larger group, give every member ten minutes to complete the exercise, then ask anyone who wishes to share their work to do so in groups of 3 or 4 afterwards.

Looking for something quick to fire your imagination? Check out these  creative writing prompts for adults .

While you can enjoy the exercises solo, they are also designed for online writing groups using Zoom, WhatsApp, or Discord.

If you're running a group and follow a ' Shut Up and Write ' structure, I recommend connecting on WhatsApp (for example) first, doing the exercise together, sharing writing samples as needed. Next, write in silence for an hour and a half on your own projects, before reconnecting for a brief informal chat at the end. This works great with small remote groups and is a way to learn new techniques, gain online support, and have a productive session.

If you have a larger online group, it's worth looking into Zoom, as this has a feature called  Breakout Rooms . Breakout Rooms let you split different writers into separate rooms, which is great for group activities. The free version of Zoom has a 40 minute limit, which can be restrictive, but Zoom Pro is well worth it if you're going to use it on a regular basis. In my experience, Zoom has a better connection than Facebook chat or WhatsApp.

Letter from fictional character to the author

Spend ten minutes writing a letter from a character in your novel to  you , the author, explaining why you should write about them. This serves three purposes:

  • As you write, it helps you get into the mindset of the character. Ask yourself how they would language this letter and what they would consider important.
  • It's motivating to know that your character wants you to write about them.
  • If your goal is to publish a complete work of fiction one day, whether it be a novel, a play or a movie script, you will want to contact an agent or publisher. This helps you practice in an easy, safe way.

If you're doing this exercise with a group of teens or adults, and some of the group haven't already started working on their masterpiece, they can instead choose any fictional novel they love. Ask participants to imagine that a character within the book wrote to the author in the first place to ask them to write their story. How did they plead their case?

First sentence of books

The opening sentence has to grab the reader's attention and make them want to keep reading. Many authors achieve this by starting with an action scene. In modern literature, it's best to avoid starting with someone waking up, or a description of the weather. In this exercise the task is to write an opening sentence either to a book you're currently writing, or simply for an imaginary piece of literature.  Here are some of my favourite opening sentences to get you going:

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

George Orwell , 1984

The Golem's life began in the hold of a steamship.

Helene Wecker , The Golem and the Djinni

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Leo Tolstoy , Anna Karenina

It wasn't a very likely place for disappearances, at least at first glance.

Diana Gabaldon , Outlander

You better not never tell nobody but God.

Alice Walker , The Color Purple

The cage was finished.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez ,  Balthazar’s Marvelous Afternoon

Imagine that you are living your life out of order: Lunch before breakfast, marriage before your first kiss.

Audrey Niffenegger ,  The Time Traveler's Wife

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

Douglas Adams ,  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

There are a plethora of ways you can start a book, however two ways that help engage the reader immediately are:

  • Set the scene in as few words as possible, so the reader immediately knows what's happening and wants to know what happens next.  The scene must be original and create a vivid image in the reader's mind.
  • Surprise the reader with an unusual event or usual point of view.

Spend 5 minutes working on your own opening sentence, then share it with the other participants.

Exercise for 2 writers, or can be done solo.

Make your characters act

According to John Gardner:

"Failure to recognise that the central character must act, not simply be acted upon, is the single most common mistake in the fiction of beginners."

Spend 5 minutes writing a scene where the protagonist is passive in a conversation with one other character. It could be that the other character says something dramatic, and the protagonist just listens, or it could be anything else of your choice!

Once the 5 minutes is up, swap papers with another writer. If you're using Zoom, or working online, send it to each other in a private chat. Now the other person spends 8 minutes rewriting the scene to make the protagonist as active as possible. This might include:

Read both scenes together. Which makes you want to keep on reading?

If you're doing this as a solo writing exercise, simply complete both parts yourself.

  • Showing the emotion this evokes.
  • Getting them to disagree with the other character.
  • Showing how they respond physically (whether it's as a physical manifestation of how they feel, or a dramatic gesture to make a point).

Overcoming writer's block

Are you staring at a blank page or stuck for any story ideas? This exercise will help anyone who's experiencing writer's block with a particular piece of writing. If this isn't you, that's great, others will value your input!

If anyone has a particular scene they're stuck with (a pool of blood on the floor they have no explanation for, a reason why the rich lady just walked into a particular pub, etc.) then at the start of the exercise everyone briefly describes their scenes (if working online with a large group, typing it into the chat might be best). Everyone then chooses one scene to use as a writing prompt to write a short story for 10-15 minutes.

Afterwards, split into small groups if necessary, and read out how you completed someone else's writing prompt. As everyone listens to everyone else's ideas, this can be a wonderful source of inspiration and also improves your writing. As an alternative solo exercise, try free writing. With free writing, simply write as quickly as you can on the topic without editing or censoring yourself - just let your creative juices flow. If you're not sure what happens next, brainstorm options on the page, jot down story ideas, or just put, "I don't know what happens next." Keep going and ideas will come.

Character arc

There are several different types of character arc in a novel, the 3 most common being:

For this exercise choose either a positive or negative character arc. Spend 8 minutes writing a scene from the start of a novel, then 8 minutes writing a scene towards the end of a novel showing how the character has developed between the two points. Don't worry about including how the character has changed, you can leave that to the imagination.

The point here is to capture the essence of a character, as they will be the same, but show their development.

  • Positive  - Where a character develops and grows during the novel. Perhaps they start unhappy or weak and end happy or powerful.
  • Negative  - Where a character gets worse during a novel. Perhaps they become ill or give in to evil tendencies as the novel progresses.
  • Flat  - In a flat character arc the character themself doesn't change much, however the world around them does. This could be overthrowing a great injustice, for example.

Sewing seeds in writing

In this exercise, we will look at how to sew seeds. No, not in your garden, but in your story. Seeds are the tiny hints and indicators that something is going on, which influence a reader's perceptions on an often unconscious level. They're important, as if you spring a surprise twist on your readers without any warning, it can seem unbelievable. Sew seeds that lead up to the event, so the twists and turns are still surprising, but make intuitive sense. Groups : Brainstorm major plot twists that might happen towards the end of the novel and share it in a Zoom chat, or on pieces of paper. Choose one twist each. Individuals : Choose one of the following plot twists:   -  Your friend is actually the secret son of the king.   -  Unreliable narrator - the narrator turns out to be villain.   -  The monster turns out to be the missing woman the narrator is seeking.   -  The man she is about to marry happens to already have a wife and three kids.

Write for ten minutes and give subtle hints as to what the plot twist is. This is an exercise in subtlety. Remember, when the twist occurs, it should still come as a surprise.

Animal exercise

This is a fun writing activity for a small group. You’ve found a magic potion labelled ‘Cat Chat’ and when you drink it, you turn into whichever animal you’re thinking about; but there’s a problem, it also picks up on the brainwaves of other people near you!

Everyone writes down an animal in secret and then reveals it to the other writers.  The spell will turn you into a creature that combines elements of all the animals.  Each person then spends 5 minutes writing down what happens when they drink the potion.

After the 5 minutes is up, everyone shares their story with the other participants.

If you enjoy this exercise, then you may also want to check out our  Fantasy and Sci-Fi writing prompts  full of world building, magic, and character development prompts..

I remember

Joe Brainard wrote a novel called:  I Remember It contains a collection of paragraphs all starting with “I remember”.  This is the inspiration for this exercise, and if you’re stuck for what to write, is a great way to get the mental gears turning.  Simply write “I remember” and continue with the first thing that pops into your head.

Spend 5 minutes writing a short collection of “I remember” stories.

Here are a couple of examples from Joe Brainard’s novel:

“I remember not understanding why people on the other side of the world didn't fall off.”

“I remember waking up somewhere once and there was a horse staring me in the face.”

Giving constructive feedback to authors

If you're running a workshop for more experienced adult authors and have at least an hour, this is a good one to use. This is the longest exercise on this page, but I felt it important enough to include.

Give each author the option to bring a piece of their own work. This should be double spaced and a maximum of 3 pages long. If you're running a workshop where not everyone is likely to bring a manuscript, ask everyone who wants to bring one to print two copies each. If someone forgets but has a laptop with them, the reader can always use their laptop.

Print out a few copies and hand them around to everyone in the workshop of the guide on: 'How to give constructive feedback to writers'

Each author who brought a sample with them then gives them to one other person to review. They write their name on the manuscript in a certain colour pen, then add any comments to it before passing it to a second person who does the same (commenting on the comments if they agree or disagree).

Then allow 5 minutes for everyone to discuss the feedback they've received, ensuring they are giving constructive feedback.

Giovanni Battista Manerius - The Five Senses

Painting by Giovanni Battista Manerius -  The Five Senses

Choose a scene and write it for 5 minutes focusing on one sense, NOT sight. Choose between:

Hearing  Taste Smell Touch

This can be internal as well as external (I heard my heartbeat thudding in my ears, or I smelt my own adrenaline).

After the 5 minutes stop and everyone reads it out loud to each other. Now write for another 5 minutes and continue the other person's story, but do NOT use sight OR the sense they used.

You can use any sense to communicate the essentials, just focus on creating emotions and conveying the story with the specific sense(s).

If you need some writing prompts, here are possible scenes that involve several senses:

  • Climbing through an exotic jungle
  • Having an argument that becomes a fight
  • A cat's morning
  • Talking to someone you're attracted to

2 or 3 people

Show don't tell your story

A lot of writing guides will advise you to, "Show, don't tell". What does this actually mean?

If you want to evoke an emotional reaction from your reader, showing them what is happening is a great way to do so.  You can approach this in several ways:

Split up into pairs and each person writes down a short scene from a story where they "tell" it.  After this, pass the description of the scene to your partner and they then have 5 minutes to rewrite it to "show" what happened.  If there are an odd number of participants, make one group of three, with each person passing their scene clockwise, so everyone has a new scene to show.  After the 5 minutes, for small groups everyone reads their new description to everyone else, or for large groups, each person just reads their new scene to their partner.

  • Avoid internal dialogue (thinking), instead have your protagonist interact with other people, or have a physical reaction to something that shows how s/he feels.  Does their heart beat faster?  Do they notice the smell of their own adrenaline?  Do they step backwards, or lean forwards?
  • Instead of using an adjective like creepy, e.g. "Mary entered the creepy house", show why the house is creepy through description and in the way the protagonist responds - "The light streamed through the filthy skylight, highlighting the decomposing body of a rat resting on top of it.  As Mary stepped instead, she felt a gust of freezing air brush past her, she turned, but there was nothing there..."

Visual writing prompts

World building is the art of conveying the magic of living in a different world, whether it's a spaceship, a medieval castle, a boat, or simply someone's living room. To master world building, it's not necessary to know every intricate detail, rather to convey the experience of what it would be like to live there.

Choose one of the above images as a prompt and spend 10 minutes writing a scene from the perspective of someone who is seeing it for the first time. Now, move your character six months forward and imagine they've spent the last six months living or working there. Write another scene (perhaps with an additional character) using the image as a background, with the events of the scene as the main action.

Click the above image for a close-up.

Gossiping about a character as if they're a friend.

Easy to gossip with friends about a character

Judy Blume says that she tells her family about her characters as if they’re real people. 

Chris Claremont said, "For me, writing the 'X-Men' was easy - is easy. I know these people, they're my friends." 

Today’s exercise has 2 parts. First, spend 5 minutes jotting down some facts about a character you’ve invented that might come up if you were telling your friends about them. Either choose a character in something you’ve already written, or invent one from scratch now.

Answer the questions:

What are they up to? How are they? What would you say if you were gossiping about them?

Then split up into groups of 4 to 6 writers. 2 volunteers from each group then role-play talking about their character as if they were a friend (perhaps another character in the story).  The other participants will role-play a group of friends gossiping about the character behind their back and ask questions. If you don’t know the answer, invent it!

Degrees of emotion

This is based on an acting game, to help actors understand how to perform with different degrees of emotion.

Ask everyone to write the following 4 emotions:

For groups of 5 or less, write down numbers starting with 1 and going up until everyone has a number, then give them out in order. For groups of 6 or more, divide groups into 3's, 4's or 5's.

Each person has to write a scene where the protagonist is alone and is only allowed to say a single word, e.g. "Banana".  The writer with number 1 should write the scene with a very low level of the emotion (e.g. happiness), number 2 increases the intensity a bit and the highest number writes a scene with the most intense emotion you can possibly imagine.

Once each writer has written about happiness, rotate the numbers one or two spaces, then move onto anger, then fear, then sadness.

It can help to give everyone numbers showing the intensity of the emotions to write about at the start of the exercise, in which case you may wish to print either the Word or PDF file, then use the ones corresponding to 3, 4 or 5 writers.

PDF

Everyone shares their scene with the other course participants.

Kill three birds with one stone

The first paragraph of a surprising number of best-selling novels serves multiple purposes. These are to:

Nearly every chapter in a novel also serves all three purposes. Instead of establishing a goal though, the protagonist either moves towards it, or encounters an obstacle that hinders them from achieving it.

Some books manage to meet all three purposes with their opening lines, for example:  

Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

J.K. Rowling ,  Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone  

A little more than one hundred days into the fortieth year of her confinement, Dajeil Gelian was visited in her lonely tower overlooking the sea by an avatar of the great ship that was her home.

Iain M. Banks ,  Excession  

"We should start back," Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them.

George R.R. Martin ,  A Game of Thrones

For this exercise write a sentence or short paragraph that serves all three purposes. If you're already writing a novel, then see if you can do this for the first line in a chapter. If not, choose any combination from the following table:

  • Establish a goal
  • Set the scene
  • Develop a character

Valentine's Day Book

In pairs one writer spends a minute or two describing a character they're writing about, or alternatively they can describe a celebrity or someone from a work of fiction.  The next writer then describes their character.

The story is that these 2 characters (or in my case, person and alien, as I'm writing a sci-fi) have accidentally ended up on a blind date with each other. Perhaps the waiter seated them in the wrong location, perhaps it's an actual blind date, or perhaps they met in some other fashion the writers can determine.

Now spend 10 minutes discussing what happens next!

Winning a race

This exercise works best for online groups, via Zoom, for example.  The instructions to give are:

"In a few words describe a success in your life and what it felt like to achieve it. It can be a small victory or a large one."

Share a personal example of your own (mine was watching my homeschooled sons sing in an opera together).

"Once you have one (small or large), write it in the chat.

The writing exercise is then to choose someone else's victory to write about for 10 minutes, as if it was the end of your own book.

If you want to write for longer, imagine how that book would start. Write the first part of the book with the ending in mind."

This is great for reminding people of a success in their lives, and also helps everyone connect and discover something about each other.

Dream holiday in France

You’re going on a dream holiday together, but always disagree with each other. To avoid conflict, rather than discuss what you want to do, you’ve decided that each of you will choose a different aspect of the holiday as follows:

Decide who gets to choose what at random. Each of you then writes down your dream holiday destination/activity/travel/food & clothes in secret.  Next spend 5 minutes discussing your dream holiday and add any other details you’d like to include, particularly if you’re passionate about doing something in real life.

Finally, everyone spends another 5 minutes writing down a description of the holiday, then shares it with the others.

  • Choose where you’ll be going – your favourite holiday destination.
  • Choose what your main fun activity will be on the holiday.
  • Decide what mode of travel you’ll use to get there.
  • If there’s a 4 th  person, choose what you’ll eat on the holiday and what you’ll be wearing.

Writing haiku

A haiku is a traditional Japanese form of non-rhyming poetry whose short form makes it ideal for a simple writing exercise.

They are traditionally structured in 3 lines, where the first line is 5 syllables, the second line is 7 syllables, and the third line is 5 syllables again. Haiku tend to focus on themes of nature and deep concepts that can be expressed simply.

A couple of examples:

A summer river being crossed how pleasing with sandals in my hands! Yosa Buson , a haiku master poet from the 18 th  Century.

And one of mine:

When night-time arrives Stars come out, breaking the dark You can see the most

Martin Woods

Spend up to 10 minutes writing a haiku.  If you get stuck with the 5-7-5 syllable rule, then don’t worry, the overall concept is more important!

See  How to write a haiku  for more details and examples.

Writing a limerick

Unlike a haiku, which is profound and sombre, a limerick is a light-hearted, fun rhyming verse.

Here are a couple of examples:

A wonderful bird is the pelican. His bill can hold more than his beli-can He can take in his beak Food enough for a week But I'm damned if I see how the heli-can.

Dixon Lanier Merritt, 1910

There was a young lady named Bright, Whose speed was far faster than light; She started one day In a relative way, And returned on the previous night.

Arthur Henry Reginald Buller in  Punch,  1923

The 1 st , 2 nd  and 5 th  line all rhyme, as do the 3 rd  and 4 th  line.  The overall number of syllables isn’t important, but the 3 rd  and 4 th  lines should be shorter than the others.

Typically, the 1 st  line introduces the character, often with “There was”, or “There once was”. The rest of the verse tells their story.

Spend 10 minutes writing a limerick.

Adult time travel

Imagine that your future self as an old man/woman travels back in time to meet you, the adult you are today.  Alternatively, you as a child travels forward in time to meet yourself as an adult.  Or perhaps both happen, so the child you, adult you, and senior you are all together at the same time.  In story form write down what happens next.

Participants then share their story with other writers either in small groups, or to the whole group.

Solo exercise

Describing a character

One challenge writers face is describing a character. A common mistake is to focus too much on the physical features, e.g. "She had brown eyes, curly brown hair and was five foot six inches tall."

The problem with this is it doesn't reveal anything about the character's personality, or the relationship between your protagonist and the character. Your reader is therefore likely to quickly forget what someone looks like.  When describing characters, it's therefore best to:

  • Animate them - it's rare that someone's sitting for a portrait when your protagonist first meets them and whether they're talking or walking, it's likely that they're moving in some way.
  • Use metaphors or similes  - comparing physical features to emotionally charged items conjures both an image and a sense of who someone is.
  • Involve your protagonist  - if your protagonist is interacting with a character, make it personal.  How does your protagonist view this person?  Incorporate the description as part of the description.
  • Only give information your protagonist knows  - they may know if someone is an adult, or a teenager, but they won't know that someone is 37 years old, for example.

Here are three examples of character descriptions that leave no doubt how the protagonist feels.

“If girls could spit venom, it'd be through their eyes.” S.D. Lawendowski,  Snapped

"And Ronan was everything that was left: molten eyes and a smile made for war." Maggie Stiefvater,  The Dream Thieves

"His mouth was such a post office of a mouth that he had a mechanical appearance of smiling." Charles Dickens

Spend 5 minutes writing a character introduction that is animated, uses metaphors or similes and involves your protagonist.

If working with a group, then form small groups of 3 or 4 and share your description with the rest of the group.

Onomatopeai, rhyme and alliteration

Onomatopeai, rhyme or alliteration.

Today's session is all about sound.

Several authors recommend reading your writing out loud after you've written it to be sure it sounds natural.   Philip Pullman  even goes as far as to say:

"When I’m writing, I’m more conscious of the sound, actually, than the meaning. I know what the rhythm of the sentence is going to be before I know what the words are going to be in it."

For today's exercise, choose the name of a song and write for 10 minutes as if that's the title for a short story. Focus on how your writing sounds and aim to include at least one onomatopoeia, rhyme or alliteration.  At the end of the 10 minutes, read it out loud to yourself, or to the group.

Alliterations

An alliteration example from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea.

Onomatopoeias

Buzz, woof, quack, baa, crash, purr, beep, belch,...

alphabet story

This is a novel way to write a story as a group, one word at a time.  The first person starts the story that begins with any word starting with “A”, the next person continues the story with a word starting with “B”, and so on.

Keep going round until you have completed the alphabet.  Ideally it will all be one sentence, but if you get stuck, start a new sentence.  Don’t worry if it doesn’t make complete sense!

It can be tricky to remember the alphabet when under pressure, so you may wish to print it out a couple of times, so the storytellers can see it if they need to, this is particularly helpful if you have dyslexics in the group.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Here’s an example of an alphabet story:

A Band Can Dance Each Friday, Ghostly Hauntings In Jail Kill Lucky Men, Nobody Or Perhaps Quiet Rats, Still That Unifies Villains Who X-Ray Your Zebras.

As I mentioned, it doesn’t need to make sense!

Small or large groups

1 or 2 questions

The standard format in our group is a short writing exercise followed by an hour and a half of silent writing on our projects.

At one point I felt like we'd done a lot of small group exercises, and wanted to gain an insight into what everyone was working on, so we did the following exercise instead:

Go round the table and ask everyone to briefly talk about their writing.  Each person then asks one or two yes/no questions.

Everyone responds either by raising their hand for 'yes' or shaking their heads for 'no'. You can also leap up and down to indicate a very strong 'yes'.

Questions can be about anything, and you can use them either to help guide your writing or to help find other people in the group who have similar interests.

Here are some random examples you might ask:

  • I want to write a romance novel and am considering setting it in Paris, a traditional romantic setting, or Liverpool which is a less obvious setting. Who thinks Liverpool would be best?
  • I need to know more about the life of a farmer. Has anyone got farming experience who I can interview in exchange for a drink?
  • My character gets fired and that night goes back to his office and steals 35 computers. Does that sound realistic as the premise of a story?

This works best when you give participants some advance notice, so they have time to think of a question.

Groups of 3 or 4

Murder mystery

This exercise takes 20-30 minutes and allows participants to create a murder mystery outline together.

Phase 1 (3 minutes)

  • Split into groups of 3 or 4
  • Decide as a group where the murder occurs (e.g. the opera house, a bar, a casino)
  • Decide one person who will write the details of the victim and the murder itself.  Everyone else writes the details of one suspect each.
  • The ‘victim author’ then invents a few extra details about the scene of the crime, who the victim was (a teenage punk, an adult opera singer, etc.) and the murder weapon and summarises this to the others.

Phase 2 (10 minutes)

Each person then writes a police report as if they are either describing the scene of the crime, or recording the notes from their interview with a single suspect:

Write the following:

  • 1 line description of the victim.
  • When they were last seen by a group of witnesses (and what they were doing).
  • How the murder occurred in more detail based on the evidence available.

Write the following (from the perspective of the investigator):

  • 1 line description of the suspect
  • What they said during the interview (including what they claim to have doing when the murder occurs).
  • A possible motivation (as determined by the police from other witnesses).

Phase 3 (5 minutes)

  • Each person reads out their police reports to the other members of their small group
  • As a group, decide who the murderer was and what actually happened

See more ideas on  creating murder mystery party games

Obscure movie

Pick a famous movie and spend 5 minutes writing a scene from it from an unusual perspective.  Your aim is to achieve a balance between being too obscure and making it too obvious.  Feel free to add internal dialogue.

At the end of the 5 minutes, everyone reads their movie scene to the others and all the other participants see if they can guess what the movie is.

How to hint at romantic feelings

Write a scene with two people in a group, where you hint that one is romantically interested in the other, but the feelings aren’t reciprocated.

The goal of this exercise is to practice subtlety. Imagine you are setting a scene for the future where the characters feelings will become more important. Choose a situation like a work conference, meeting with a group of friends, etc. How do you indicate how the characters feel without them saying it in words?

Some tips for hinting at romantic feelings:

  • Make the characters nervous and shy.
  • Your protagonist leans forward.
  • Asks deeper questions and listens intently.
  • Finds ways to be close together.
  • Mirrors their gestures.
  • Gives lots of compliments.
  • Makes eye contact, then looks away.
  • Other people seem invisible to your protagonist.

Novel idea

Take it in turns to tell everyone else about a current project you’re working on (a book, screenplay, short story, etc.)

The other writers then brainstorm ideas for related stories you could write, or directions your project could take.  There are no right or wrong suggestions and the intention is to focus on big concepts, not little details.

This whole exercise takes around 15 minutes.

Exercise for groups of 3-5

Creative writing

If you're in larger group, split up into groups of 3 or 4 people.

Everyone writes the first line of a story in the Zoom chat, or on paper. Other people can then choose this line as a writing prompt.

For this exercise:

  • Say who the protagonist is.
  • Reveal their motivation.
  • Introduce any other characters

Once everyone's written a prompt, each author chooses a prompt (preferably someone eles's, but it can be your own if you feel really inspired by it.)  Then write for 10 minutes using this prompt. See if you can reveal who the protagonist is, what their motivation is (it can be a small motivation for a particular scene, it doesn't have to be a huge life goal), and introduce at least one new character.

Take turns reading out your stories to each other.

  • Write in the first person.
  • Have the protagonist interacting with an object or something in nature.
  • The challenge is to create intrigue that makes the reader want to know more with just a single line.

Creative story cards for students

Cut up a piece of paper and write one word on each of the pieces of paper, as follows:

Give each participant a couple of pieces of paper at random.  The first person says the first sentence of a story and they must use their first word as part of that sentence.  The second person then continues the story and must include their word in it, and so on.  Go round the group twice to complete the story.

You can also do this creative writing exercise with story dice, your own choice of words, or by asking participants to write random words down themselves, then shuffling all the cards together.

Alternative Christmas Story

Every Christmas adults tell kids stories about Santa Claus. In this exercise you write a Christmas story from an alternative dimension.

What if every Christmas Santa didn't fly around the world delivering presents on his sleigh pulled by reindeer? What if gnomes or aliens delivered the presents? Or perhaps it was the gnomes who are trying to emulate the humans? Or some other Christmas tradition entirely that we humans have never heard of!

Group writing exercise

If you're working with a group, give everyone a couple of minutes to write two possible themes for the new Christmas story. Each theme should be 5 words or less.

Shuffle the paper and distribute them at random. If you're working online, everyone types the themes into the Zoom or group chat. Each writer then spends 10 minutes writing a short story for children based on one of the two themes, or their own theme if they really want to.

If working alone, choose your own theme and spend 15 minutes writing a short story on it. See if you can create the magic of Christmas from another world!

Murder Mystery mind map

In a murder mystery story or courtroom drama, there's often conflicting information and lots of links between characters. A mind map is an ideal way to illustrate how everything ties together.

Split into groups of 3 or 4 people each and place a blank piece of A3 paper (double the size of A4) in the middle of each group. Discuss between you who the victim is and write their name in the middle of the piece of paper. Then brainstorm information about the murder, for example:

Feel free to expand out from any of these, e.g. to include more information on the different characters involved.

The idea is that  everyone writes at the same time!   Obviously, you can discuss ideas, but anyone can dive in and write their ideas on the mind map.

  • Who was the victim? (job, appearance, hobbies, etc.)
  • Who did the victim know?
  • What were their possible motivations?
  • What was the murder weapon?
  • What locations are significant to the plot?

New Year’s resolutions for a fictional character

List of ideas for a fictional character

If you’re writing a piece of fiction, ask yourself how your protagonist would react to an everyday situation. This can help you to gain a deeper insight into who they are.

One way to do this is to imagine what their New Year’s resolutions would be.

If completing this exercise with a group, limit it to 3 to 5 resolutions per person. If some participants are historical fiction or non-fiction writers, they instead pick a celebrity and either write what their resolutions  will  be, or what their resolutions  should  be, their choice.

Verb Noun Fiction Exercise (Inspired by Stephen King)

List of ideas for a fictional character

Stephen King said, "I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops."

He also said, "Take any noun, put it with any verb, and you have a sentence. It never fails. Rocks explode. Jane transmits. Mountains float. These are all perfect sentences. Many such thoughts make little rational sense, but even the stranger ones (Plums deify!) have a kind of poetic weight that’s nice."

In this fiction writing exercise, start by brainstorming (either individually or collectively) seven verbs on seven different pieces of paper. Put those aside for later. Now brainstorm seven nouns. Randomly match the nouns and verbs so you have seven pairs. Choose a pair and write a piece of fiction for ten minutes. Avoid using any adverbs.

It’s the end of the world

End of the world

It’s the end of the world!  For 5 minutes either:

If working as a team, then after the 5 minutes is up each writer reads their description out to the other participants.

  • Describe how the world’s going to end, creating evocative images using similes or metaphors as you wish and tell the story from a global perspective, or
  • Describe how you spend your final day before the world is destroyed.  Combine emotion and action to engage the reader.

7 Editing Exercises

For use after your first draft

Editing first draft

I’ve listened to a lot of masterclasses on writing by successful authors and they all say variants of your first draft won’t be good and that’s fine. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman summarise it the best:

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”  

Terry Pratchett

“For me, it’s always been a process of trying to convince myself that what I’m doing in a first draft isn’t important. One way you get through the wall is by convincing yourself that it doesn’t matter. No one is ever going to see your first draft. Nobody cares about your first draft. And that’s the thing that you may be agonising over, but honestly, whatever you’re doing can be fixed… For now, just get the words out. Get the story down however you can get it down, then fix it.”

Neil Gaiman

Once you’ve written your first draft, it will need editing to develop the plot, enhance the characters, and improve each scene in a myriad of ways – small and large. These seven creative editing exercises are designed to help with this stage of the process.

The First Sentence

Read the first paragraph of the novel, in particular the first sentence. Does it launch the reader straight into the action? According to  On Writing and Worldbuilding  by Timothy Hickson,  “The most persuasive opening lines are succinct, and not superfluous. To do this, it is often effective to limit it to a single central idea… This does not need to be the most important element, but it should be a central element that is interesting.” Ask yourself what element your opening sentence encapsulates and whether it’s the best one to capture your readers’ attention.

Consistency

Consistency is crucial in creative writing, whether it’s in relation to location, objects, or people.

It’s also crucial for personality, emotions and motivation.

Look at scenes where your protagonist makes an important decision. Are their motivations clear? Do any scenes force them to choose between two conflicting morals? If so, do you explore this? Do their emotions fit with what’s happened in previous scenes?

As you edit your manuscript, keep the characters’ personality, emotions and motivation in mind. If their behaviour is inconsistent, either edit it for consistency, or have someone comment on their strange behaviour or be surprised by it. Inconsistent behaviour can reveal that a character is keeping a secret, or is under stress, so characters don’t always need to be consistent. But when they’re not, there has to be a reason.  

Show Don’t Tell One

This exercise is the first in  The Emotional Craft of Fiction  by Donald Maass. It’s a writing guide with a plethora of editing exercises designed to help you reenergize your writing by thinking of what your character is feeling, and giving you the tools to make your reader feel something.  

  • Select a moment in your story when your protagonist is moved, unsettled, or disturbed… Write down all the emotions inherent in this moment, both obvious and hidden.
  • Next, considering what he is feeling, write down how your protagonist can act out. What is the biggest thing your protagonist can do? What would be explosive, out of bounds, or offensive? What would be symbolic? … Go sideways, underneath, or ahead. How can your protagonist show us a feeling we don’t expect to see?
  • Finally, go back and delete all the emotions you wrote down at the beginning of this exercise. Let actions and spoken words do the work. Do they feel too big, dangerous, or over-the-top? Use them anyway. Others will tell you if you’ve gone too far, but more likely, you haven’t gone far enough.

Show Don’t Tell Two

Search for the following words in your book:

Whenever these words occur, ask yourself if you can demonstrate how your characters feel, rather than simply stating it. For each occasion, can you use physiological descriptors (a racing heart), actions (taking a step backwards) or dialogue to express what’s just happened instead? Will this enhance the scene and engage the reader more?

After The Action

Find a scene where your characters disagree – in particular a scene where your protagonist argues with friends or allies. What happens next?

It can be tempting to wrap up the action with a quick resolution. But what if a resentment lingers and mistrust builds? This creates a more interesting story arc and means a resolution can occur later, giving the character development a real dynamic.

Review how you resolve the action and see if you can stretch out the emotions for a more satisfying read.

Eliminating the Fluff

Ensure that the words used don’t detract from the enormity of the events your character is going through. Can you delete words like, “Quite”, “Little”, or “Rather”? 

Of “Very” Florence King once wrote: “ 'Very' is the most useless word in the English language and can always come out. More than useless, it is treacherous because it invariably weakens what it is intended to strengthen .” Delete it, or replace the word after it with a stronger word, which makes “Very” redundant.

“That,” is another common word used in creative writing which can often be deleted. Read a sentence as is, then reread it as if you deleted, “That”. If the meaning is the same, delete it.

Chapter Endings

When talking about chapter endings, James Patterson said,  “At the end, something has to propel you into the next chapter.”

Read how each of your chapters finish and ask yourself does it either:

  • End on a cliff hanger? (R.L. Stine likes to finish every chapter in this method).
  • End on a natural pause (for example, you’re changing point of view or location).

Review how you wrap up each of your chapters. Do you end at the best point in your story? Can you add anticipation to cliff hangers? Will you leave your readers wanting more?  

The editing exercises are designed to be completed individually.

With the others, I've always run them as part of a creative writing group, where there's no teacher and we're all equal participants, therefore I keep any 'teaching' aspect to a minimum, preferring them to be prompts to generate ideas before everyone settles down to do the silent writing. We've recently gone online and if you run a group yourself, whether online or in person, you're welcome to use these exercises for free!

The times given are suggestions only and I normally get a feel for how everyone's doing when time's up and if it's obvious that everyone's still in the middle of a discussion, then I give them longer.  Where one group's in the middle of a discussion, but everyone else has finished, I sometimes have a 'soft start' to the silent writing, and say, "We're about to start the hour and a half of silent writing now, but if you're in the middle of a discussion, feel free to finish it first".

This way everyone gets to complete the discussion, but no-one's waiting for ages.  It's also important to emphasise that there's no wrong answers when being creative.

Still looking for more? Check out these  creative writing prompts , or our dedicated  Sci-Fi and Fantasy creative writing prompts .

If you've enjoyed these creative writing exercises, please share them on social media, or link to them from your blog.

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5 Fun Creative Writing Activities

5 Fun Creative Writing Activities

We’ve gathered five fun creative writing activities you can assign to spark a love for writing. Our hope is that these activities will create a workshop-like environment that fosters feedback and collaboration in your writing classroom.

You’ll notice that none of the activities focuses on the technical aspects of writing. Instead, the activities encourage creativity, reflection, and self-expression—hallmarks of meaningful writing.

Minilesson 1: InstaMemory

  • Imagine a favorite memory as a cellphone picture.
  • Finish this sentence starter: My memory snapshot shows . . .
  • Keep writing until you’ve described your memory snapshot in full. Make sure to include who is in it, what is happening, where it is happening, and when it is happening. Note colors, emotions, facial expressions, and other visual details about the moment.
  • Read your memory snapshot. Does your writing create a clear picture?

View Minilesson for Classroom Presentation

Minilesson 2: Back-and-Forth Stories

Writing back-and-forth stories takes a little creativity and a lot of flexibility. How long can you and a partner keep this story going?

An abandoned home sat at the top of the hill. Matt and Brianna knew the rumors about it, but they had to see it for themselves. They tiptoed their way up the steps, and when they reached the door, it swung open. Inside . . .

  • Continue the story. Write for two minutes.
  • Pass the story to a writing partner.
  • The partner continues the story where you left off and writes for two minutes before passing the story back.
  • Continue writing and passing the story every two minutes.
  • How long can you keep the story going? What happens inside the house?

Minilesson 3: Four-Star Food Review

  • List the food items that would make up your ideal fall meal. Include one main dish, one side dish, one dessert, and one drink.
  • Describe the looks, smells, and tastes associated with the meal.
  • Finish this sentence: My meal reminds me of fall, because . . .
  • Use the details you’ve collected to write a review of your meal in one or two paragraphs. Exchange your review with a partner to see how your meals compare.

Minilesson 4: Now how do I get out of this one?

  • List ten chores or tasks you hate doing. Cleaning my room is an example of a chore you might not like.
  • Select four tasks from your list and write a creative excuse explaining why you can’t or haven’t completed each one. Make your excuses as original and wild as possible.
  • When you’ve finished, exchange your work with a classmate. Read and discuss each other’s excuses.

Minilesson 5: Diary of a Famous Figure

  • List three famous people or characters you like or admire.
  • Imagine you are one of the famous figures from your list.
  • As that person, think of what you would do on a summer day.
  • Write a diary entry (or blog post) about your special day as the famous person.
  • Then write additional entries as you so choose.

Want more creative writing ideas? Check out these creative activities.

Teacher Support:

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Standards Correlations:

The State Standards provide a way to evaluate your students' performance.

  • 110.5.b.12.A
  • LAFS.3.W.1.3
  • 110.5.b.11.B.i
  • 110.5.b.11.B.ii
  • 110.6.b.11.B
  • 110.6.b.12.A
  • LAFS.4.W.1.3
  • 110.6.b.11.B.i
  • 110.6.b.11.B.ii
  • 110.7.b.12.A
  • LAFS.5.W.1.3
  • 110.7.b.11.B.i
  • 110.7.b.11.B.ii
  • 110.22.b.10
  • 110.22.b.11.A
  • LAFS.6.W.1.3
  • 110.22.b.10.A
  • 110.22.b.10.B.i
  • 110.23.b.10
  • 110.23.b.11.A
  • LAFS.7.W.1.3
  • 110.23.b.10.B.i
  • 110.23.b.10.B.ii
  • 110.24.b.10
  • 110.24.b.11.A
  • LAFS.8.W.1.3
  • 110.24.b.10.B.i
  • 110.24.b.10.B.ii

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  • Inquire Online Middle School Classroom Set
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Literacy Ideas

Top 7 Narrative Writing Exercises for Students

Narrative Writing Exercises

What are the essential narrative writing skills?

Narrative writing demands a lot from our students.    It requires them not just to come up with a story worth telling but also to develop the necessary skills to make that story come alive through the written word.

No mean feat when we consider the diverse challenges of creating a compelling narrative within the two dimensions of the printed word.

 In this article, we’ll look at some of the most important skills your students will require to excel in narrative writing .

We’ll look at each of these skills in turn.

First, we’ll explore why each skill is important for narrative writing ability.

Then, we’ll suggest an activity or two you can use in the classroom to help your students develop each specific skill.

 Narrative writing Skills covered:

  • Reading Widely
  • Believable Characters
  • Cause and Effect
  • Effective Dialogue
  • Ending Well

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING NARRATIVE WRITING

narrative writing exercises | narrative writing unit 1 2 | Top 7 Narrative Writing Exercises for Students | literacyideas.com

Teach your students to become skilled story writers with this HUGE   NARRATIVE & CREATIVE STORY WRITING UNIT . Offering a  COMPLETE SOLUTION  to teaching students how to craft  CREATIVE CHARACTERS, SUPERB SETTINGS, and PERFECT PLOTS .

Over 192 PAGES of materials, including:

Engaging students in narrative writing exercises offers a myriad of educational and developmental benefits. Firstly, these exercises cultivate creativity by encouraging students to explore their imagination and construct compelling stories. The process of inventing characters, designing plots, and crafting settings foster a creative mindset that extends beyond the confines of writing, influencing problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

Moreover, narrative writing exercises enhance language proficiency. Students refine their vocabulary, experiment with sentence structure, and learn to express complex ideas coherently. As they construct narratives, students naturally improve their communication skills, both written and verbal.

Narrative Writing Skill 1: Reading Widely

narrative_skills.jpg

This may seem a strange place to start. This article’s about writing skills after all.

Our students’ first experience of the written word is usually through reading. It is through reading well-written texts that they first begin to absorb the rules of language and structure.

After a time, they begin to apply some of the knowledge gained from their reading into their own early attempts at independent writing.

From the early focus on using phonics to decode unfamiliar words to building a diverse and expressive vocabulary, reading is where students begin to develop their writing chops. It’s where they see how it’s done.

Not only can students absorb some of the craft of narrative writing by reading fiction, but reading nonfiction can also serve to enhance their narrative writing too.

Reading nonfiction books helps students to understand the world around them.

This, in turn, helps them to create more plausible fictional worlds as they fill it with details and knowledge drawn from their nonfiction reading.

Suggested Narrative Writing Exercises:

There are many reading strategies to help students to develop higher-level reading skills that will inform their writing of narratives.

It’s impossible to cover everything here, but there are several comprehensive articles on this site-directed specifically at helping students to develop their reading comprehension skills.

However, one simple strategy you can use to assess student understanding of any text is The Retell strategy.

In The Retell , you simply ask the student to retell the story they have just read in their own words.

Obviously, students can’t be expected to recall the entirety of something they’ve read word for word.

Asking them to retell the story forces them to reconstruct the events from memory, put them in order, and express them in their own words. Something they’ll only be able to do if they’ve understood what they’ve read.

Narrative Writing Skill 2: Believable Characters

click to read article

One of the most common failings, when our students write stories, is to people their fictional worlds with flat characters.

You know the types (or stereotypes!) – A square-jawed hunk who can do no wrong, alongside the helpless damsel in distress waiting to be saved.

Save for writing fairy stories and the like, our students should strive to create believable characters that seem to live and breathe inside the pages of their stories.

To do this effectively our students need to do the following 2 things:

●      Create a Backstory

It may not be necessary to share the backstory with their readers, but students should have at least some idea about their main characters’ lives before the events of their narrative.

The backstory goes beyond the details of a physical description. It allows the writer to explore the character’s goals, motivations, and beliefs.

Suggested Narrative Writing Activity:

A simple way to explore a character’s backstory is to have the student write a short biography on the character’s life.

This needn’t be extensive. It could just be in the form of bullet points, for example. The aim here is to provide some depth to the character.

Another effective way to bring depth to a character is for the student to base them on someone famous or someone they know personally.

●      Make Characters Complex

The problem with the impeccable hero or defenseless damsel caricatures is that they don’t correspond to what we know of people in real life.

In real life, we are more than a single characteristic.

In one context we can display characteristics of bravery, while another situation may have our knees knocking.

Real people are complex, flawed, and even contradictory at times.

The simplest way to create complex characters is to make them flawed.

One way to do this is to give them a vice. This won’t necessarily make the character unlikeable by the reader, instead, it will give the character room for growth.

For this activity, organize the students into groups and ask them to list as many vices as they can e.g. arrogance, envy, anger, etc.

Then, challenge the students to come up with various scenarios where these vices can be turned into virtues.

For example, a young girl is very lazy. Her mother gets sick and needs expensive medical treatment. The young girl loves her mother very much. The young girl begins to work very hard. Through a series of ups and downs, she becomes very successful and wealthy and helps her mother.

Now we’ve got the beginnings of a story!

Narrative Writing Skill 3: Cause & Effect

click to read article

To avoid a meandering storyline that rambles aimlessly, students should plan out their narrative before they begin.

The essential elements of a story to consider include:

  • Rising Action
  • Falling Action

A story is a series of events connected by cause and effect. It is this cause and effect that gives meaning to a story. Readers need to know why each event occurs and how it relates to previous events.

A good way to practice cause and effect is to play And Then What?

For this game, organize students into pairs and suggest simple scenarios to them.

For example, A man stands under a tree. He is pacing up and down nervously. He glances at his watch every few seconds.

One student answers the question, “And then what?” by describing what happens next.

When they’ve finished describing the next event, they then ask their partner, “And then what?”.

They repeat this until they’ve worked through the problem, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Narrative Writing Skill 4: Effective Dialogue

writing_dialogue.png

Dialogue can be a fantastic tool and students should learn to use it well.

Beyond the mechanics of structure and punctuation, dialogue should do 3 things:

●      Move the story forward

●      Reveal character

●      Help the reader understand the relationships between characters.

If dialogue doesn’t achieve these 3 things, then it will need revising or deleting entirely.

A common mistake made in dialogue writing is that it goes on too long.

Often, students enjoy writing dialogue but if it is poorly written the reader won’t experience the same level of enjoyment in the reading of it.

To ensure the dialogue is tightly written, students should avoid small talk in their dialogue.

They should also eliminate pointless, long-drawn-out greetings and leave-takings between characters.

They need to get to the point quickly in their dialogue so as not to bore their reader.

It’s also important for students to avoid using dialogue as a means of info-dumping . That is, the Show, Don’t Tell rule is still in effect in dialogue.

Students should avoid the “As you know…” style of crow-barring exposition into the conversation. This makes dialogue sound awkward and unrealistic – this isn’t how people speak.

Dialogue can certainly be used to reveal backstory and character but it must be done subtly.

An excellent way for students to assess how authentic their dialogue sounds is for them to read it aloud when they have finished.

Students should pay attention to how their dialogue feels in their mouths when they speak the words.

Do the words come easily or are they stumbling over phrases?

Real speech is natural and flows. If this isn’t the case, things need to be looked at again.

Narrative Writing Skill 5: Tension

writing_tension.jpg

Tension in a story is what maintains the reader’s interest and keeps them reading right to the end.

Tension is all about anticipation. It causes an emotional response in the reader as they’re drawn into the lives of the characters and become invested in the outcomes of the story’s plot .

There are several ways students can create tension in their stories, these include:

  • Create characters with conflicting goals
  • Raise the stakes for the main character
  • Give the reader more information than the main character
  • Create questions in the reader’s mind.

The ticking clock is one-way that tension can be injected into a story. This is where a story’s timeline is compressed by some sort of deadline.

An excellent twist on the ticking clock idea can be seen in the 90’s movie Speed , where Keanu Reeves’ character must maintain a speed above 50 miles per hour to prevent a booby-trapped bus from exploding.

Organize students into groups for this activity. Challenge them to come up with story scenarios that employ a ticking clock strategy to build tension.

Narrative Writing Skill 6: Themes

writing_themes.jpg

Well-developed themes help the reader to derive meaning from a story. Unlike in most nonfiction text types, in fiction writing themes are usually stated implicitly.

For students to develop themes in their narrative writing, they’ll first need to secure a firm knowledge of what exactly a theme is.

Theme simply refers to the central idea or main topic that is explored in a story.

Common themes for stories include love, revenge, good vs. evil, redemption, courage, and coming of age.

Students will first need to decide what their story is about, thematically-speaking.

They will then need to develop their thematic statement. If the theme refers to what the story is about, the thematic statement refers to what the writer thinks about it.

The theme is what it’s about, the thematic statement is what it means to the writer.

A helpful way for students to begin to understand how to develop themes in their own writing is to get good at identifying them in the work of others.

For this activity, provide the students with a list of well-known fairy tales and fables .

Instruct students to work in groups to identify first the broad theme of each story and then to write a thematic statement expressing the writer’s perspective.

Narrative Writing Skill 7: Ending Well (Conclusions)

writing_a_narrative_conclusion.jpg

Few things can be as frustrating to a reader as an unsatisfying ending. After investing all that time in reading the story, the reader deserves a decent pay-off at the end.

For a student to give themself the best chance to create a satisfying story, they should know the ending from the outset.

This way, every major scene and major event in the story will be informed by a knowledge of the ending yet to come. The story will have drive and direction.

There are lots of competing demands on our attention these days and the ending should justify to the reader the energy they invested in reading the story.

The ending should be well thought out and unrushed. It should be unpredictable, but not absurd.

Ideally, the writer wants the reader to look back over the story and think that they should have seen the ending coming, but didn’t.

Organize students into groups and assign each group a well-known story. Traditional tales, myths, fairy tales, and fables would serve well for this activity.

In their groups, students rewrite their story’s ending together.

The challenge here is to create an ending that differs distinctly from the story’s original ending but still makes sense in relation to the preceding events of the story.

Students present their alternative endings to the class and discuss afterward how effective they think the new ending is when compared to the original ending.

Our Narrative Draws to a Close

As with all types of writing , students should take the time to edit and proofread at the end.

This is particularly true with narrative writing as it not only makes high demands on a student’s technical writing skills but also on their creativity and imagination.

With patience and practice, students will develop the necessary narrative skills to spin a tale that will engage a reader from exposition to resolution.

Teaching narrative writing effectively involves guiding students through the process of crafting engaging stories. Here are five key tips for successful narrative writing instruction:

5 Tips for Teaching Narrative Writing

Model the Writing Process:

  • Demonstrate the steps involved in crafting a narrative by modelling your writing. Share your thought process, decision-making, and revisions. This provides students with a tangible example of how to approach storytelling.

Provide Clear Guidelines and Rubrics:

  • Establish clear expectations for narrative writing assignments. Clearly outline the elements you want students to include, such as well-developed characters, a compelling plot, and descriptive language. Provide a rubric highlighting specific assessment criteria, fostering a better understanding of what constitutes a successful narrative.

Encourage Frequent Peer Review:

  • Foster a collaborative learning environment by incorporating peer review sessions. Encourage students to exchange drafts and provide constructive feedback on each other’s work. Peer review enhances the revision process and allows students to learn from each other’s strengths and challenges.

Incorporate Writing Prompts and Exercises:

  • Use a variety of writing prompts and exercises to stimulate creativity and critical thinking. These can include character development activities, plot-building exercises, or even group storytelling. Diverse prompts help students explore different aspects of narrative writing, preventing monotony and inspiring varied storytelling styles.

Emphasize the Revision Process:

  • Highlight the importance of revision in the writing process. Encourage students to revisit and refine their narratives, focusing on aspects like clarity, coherence, and the incorporation of feedback. By emphasizing revision, students develop a stronger understanding of the iterative nature of writing and the importance of refining their work.

Remember to tailor your teaching approach to the specific needs and skill levels of your students. Creating a supportive and creative environment that values individual expression while providing structured guidance will contribute to the success of your narrative writing instruction.

THE STORY TELLERS BUNDLE OF TEACHING RESOURCES

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A MASSIVE COLLECTION of resources for narratives and story writing in the classroom covering all elements of crafting amazing stories. MONTHS WORTH OF WRITING LESSONS AND RESOURCES, including:

  • Math for Kids
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12 Best Writing Activities for Kids: The “Write” Way to Fun

A girl writing

1. Online Writing Games

2. feelings journal, 3. personal time capsule letters, 4. use creative writing prompts, 5. picture storytelling, 6. diy comic strips, 7. outdoor observation, 8. letter to a hero, 9. recipe writing, 10. story cubes.

Did you know that many kids today find writing a bit challenging? In fact, studies show that lots of children struggle with putting their thoughts into words. But guess what? We have some super fun and exciting ways to help them become amazing writers!

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SplashLearn inspires lifelong curiosity with its game-based PreK-5 learning program loved by over 40 million children. With over 4,000 fun games and activities, it’s the perfect balance of learning and play for your little one.

We’ll show you how writing activities will make your kids love writing, just like they love their favorite games and toys .

But why is this important? Well, teaching kids to write is not just about school—it’s about expressing yourself, telling stories , and sharing ideas. Plus, it’s a skill that will help them in so many areas of life. Let’s dive right in and discover fun writing activities for kids that will light up their imaginations and help them become confident writers!

12 Fun and Creative Writing Activities for Kids

Writing can be as exciting as a treasure hunt or a fantastic adventure, and it doesn’t have to feel like homework. Here are some ways on how to practice writing:

Card Image

In today’s digital age, engaging children in learning can be both fun and educational. Online writing games are an excellent way to foster creativity and enhance writing skills in kids. One such platform that excels in this regard is SplashLearn .

SplashLearn offers a wide array of interactive games and worksheets designed to enhance kids’ writing skills. From letter tracing activities that help strengthen fine motor skills to engaging sight word games that boost reading and writing proficiency, SplashLearn transforms writing practice into an engaging and rewarding experience.

Journal page

A journal is like a secret friend where kids can pour out their thoughts and feelings. This writing activity is a safe space for self-expression and emotional growth.

Ideas for journaling:

  • Ask them to write about their favorite day.
  • Let them draw or stick pictures to make it even more personal.

Keeping a journal is like having a personal therapist on paper. It aids in emotional development by encouraging self-reflection and expression of feelings. Additionally, it hones writing skills, vocabulary, and the ability to organize thoughts coherently.

A girl writing a letter

The idea of a time capsule is to capture the present moment for the future. In this activity, kids write letters to their future selves, detailing their current lives, hopes, dreams, and questions they might have for their older selves.

How it works:

  • Provide kids with paper, envelopes, and writing tools.
  • Ask them to imagine they’re writing to themselves 5 or 10 years in the future.
  • They can describe their current life, friends, hobbies, and dreams.
  • Once done, seal the letters in envelopes with the date to be opened in the future.
  • Store them in a safe place or create a decorative time capsule box.

Writing to one’s future self is a reflective activity that encourages introspection. It helps children articulate their current feelings, aspirations, and uncertainties. As they ponder what the future might hold, they also develop a sense of hope and anticipation. When they eventually open these letters years later, they can see how much they’ve grown, which can be a profound and emotional experience.

Kid writing a story

Imagine starting with a simple sentence and turning it into an amazing story! That’s what creative writing prompts do—they make writing an adventure.

Examples of prompts:

“If I could go anywhere in the world, I would visit…”

“Once, I found a magical key that opened…”

Creative writing prompts spark imagination and creativity. They prompt children to think outside the box and develop their unique voice. Additionally, it improves their storytelling abilities and vocabulary.

Mother showing pictures to her kid

Pictures can speak a thousand words, and when kids write about them, they learn to describe things in detail.

Picture-based prompts:

Show them a picture and ask, “What do you see? Write a story about it.”

Describing pictures in detail improves observational skills and the ability to convey ideas clearly. It encourages children to think critically about visual cues and translate them into written narratives.

A comic strip

Creating comics is like being a superhero! Kids get to draw, write, and think about how stories flow.

Step-by-step guide:

  • Draw a series of boxes to make panels.
  • In each panel, tell a part of the story with words and pictures.

Creating comic strips nurtures artistic and storytelling talents simultaneously. It teaches visual storytelling, enhances writing skills in a concise format, and encourages the creative interplay between words and images.

Prompt: “What’s a funny incident that happened to you recently? Try turning it into a 3-panel comic strip!

Nature journal

Writing about nature connects kids with the world around them. It’s like taking a walk in the park with a pen.

Outdoor observation prompts:

  • “Create an alphabet list using things you see in nature. For each letter, write the word of something you found, and describe it in one sentence.”
  • “Draw your favorite tree and write about it.”
  • Pick up a fallen leaf and make up a story about where it came from, the tree it belonged to, and its adventures on the ground.
  • Look up at the sky and observe a unique shape in the clouds. Write a short story (2-3 sentences) about what this cloud shape resembles and a whimsical tale that could involve this cloud character.

This activity connects children with the natural world. It cultivates an appreciation for the environment, promotes keen observation skills, and sharpens descriptive writing abilities.

A girl writing a letter

Writing a letter to a hero or role model is a way to say thank you and share admiration. It’s all about showing gratitude.

What to write:

  • Tell your hero why you admire them.
  • Say how they inspire you.

Writing letters to heroes promotes gratitude , empathy, and the articulation of admiration. It helps children develop persuasive writing skills and the ability to express their feelings respectfully.

Kid putting decorations on a cupcake

Writing recipes is like creating magic potions! It’s also a fun way to learn about measurements and following instructions.

Write down a simple recipe, like making a peanut butter or jelly sandwich.

Crafting recipes enhances attention to detail and understanding of the order of operations. It teaches the importance of clear, concise instructions and reinforces basic math and measurement skills.

Box of the game story cubes

Story cubes are like dice with pictures. Roll them, and see where your imagination takes you!

How to make and use them:

  • Draw pictures on cube-shaped paper or use stickers.
  • Roll the cubes and create a story based on the pictures that come up.

Story cubes stimulate the imagination and encourage spontaneous storytelling. They help children think on their feet, connect disparate ideas, and weave them into a coherent narrative. This activity also promotes vocabulary expansion as kids search for the right words to describe the images they see.

11. Newspaper Reporter

Kid dressed as a reporter

Kids can be little reporters and learn about news writing. It’s a sneak peek into how newspapers work!

Activity: Brainstorm: Think of an event like “Aliens Visit Local School” or “Lost City Found in Backyard”.

Details: Answer: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?

Headline: Create a catchy title to grab attention.

Draft: Write the story, adding ‘quotes’ from ‘witnesses’ or ‘experts’.

Illustrate: Sketch a related image or scene.

This activity merges news writing with creative storytelling. Kids learn the structure of news while enhancing both their factual and creative writing skills.

12. Book Reviews

Book review by kids

Reading is fantastic, but talking about what you’ve read is even better. It helps kids think critically and share their thoughts.

How to do it:

  • Pick a book you love and tell others what you liked and didn’t like about it.
  • These writing activities are like hidden treasures waiting to be discovered. Pick one, or try them all, and watch your child’s writing skills grow while having a blast!

Writing book reviews enhances critical thinking and analytical skills. It encourages children to form opinions, express them clearly, and engage in thoughtful discussions about literature. It also promotes reading comprehension.

6 Benefit of Writing Activities for Students

Did you know that these fun writing activities can do wonders for your child’s growth? Let’s explore how:

1. Improves Literacy Skills

Engaging in creative writing activities fosters a deeper understanding of language and literacy. This enhanced literacy proficiency not only aids them academically but also equips them with a crucial life skill for effective expression and comprehension.

2. Improves Communication Skills

Through storytelling, journaling, and letter writing, kids learn to articulate their thoughts, feelings, and ideas coherently. They become more adept at conveying their messages, whether in written assignments at school or in everyday conversations. 

3. Boosts Creativity

Creative writing activities are like playgrounds for the imagination. When children engage in storytelling, compose poems , or craft imaginative narratives, they exercise their creative muscles. 

4. Enhances Critical Thinking

Many of these activities encourage children to think critically about the content they create. When they write book reviews, they must analyze the plot, characters, and themes, developing the capacity to assess literature thoughtfully. Storytelling and creative prompts compel them to structure narratives logically, considering cause and effect. These experiences foster analytical thinking, enabling kids to approach complex issues with a more discerning eye.

5. Improves Emotional Well-being

Journaling, in particular, serves as a therapeutic outlet for children to express their emotions, fears, and aspirations. It allows them to process their feelings and gain a better understanding of themselves, helping children manage stress and anxiety more effectively. 

6. Cultivation of a Lifelong Skill

This can lead to a lifelong passion for literature, creative expression, and effective communication—an invaluable skill that serves them well in education, careers, and personal relationships.

In other words, the benefits of these creative writing activities extend far beyond the classroom to nurture well-rounded individuals with enhanced literacy skills, effective communication abilities, heightened creativity, and a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. Encouraging children to embrace these activities is an investment in their personal and intellectual growth, providing them with tools that will benefit them throughout their lives.

To wrap it up, these writing exercises for kids make learning fun and beneficial. These activities to improve writing skills help kids become great writers, improve their reading , and boost their creativity. By enjoying these activities, children can express themselves better and learn to tell amazing stories. So, let’s encourage our little ones to dive into this exciting world of writing. It’s not just homework; it’s a lifelong adventure where imagination and self-expression reign.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the 5 minute writing exercise for kids.

The 5-minute writing exercise for kids is a quick and creative activity where they write about anything that comes to mind for just 5 minutes, no rules, just free writing.

What is a fun writing game for kids?

A fun writing game for kids can be “Story Dice” where they roll dice with pictures and create a story using those images, sparking imagination.

How do you make a writing lesson fun?

To make a writing lesson fun, incorporate games, writing worksheets for kids, storytelling, or interactive prompts to engage students and make learning enjoyable.

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Mama Teaches

Writing Games for Kids

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You want your kids to spark to writing, but how do you do that? 

Enter these entertaining and fun writing games for kids!

9+ Creative Writing Games for Kids

I know what you’re thinking, “Games and writing? 

Those words don’t go together!”  But any imaginative challenge that gets the pen moving can be a game. 

The goal is always to inspire children to write—and even have fun in the process!

Writing Games for Kids

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Design an Ad

Children love to persuade! 

What better way than to have them write their own advertisement? 

You can bring in sample products or let them come up with their own. 

They can create their own cereal, or imagine their own sneaker with amazing properties.  

Story Generator

Roll your way to a story! 

Create six characters and number them. 

For example: 1. Chameleon 2. Firefighter 3. Magician, etc…. Then create six settings and number those: 1. Forest 2. Transylvania 3. Library, etc….  Give the child two dice. 

Roll the first die to get a character and the second for a setting.  ‘

Now create!

Newspaper Article

Create your own newspaper that reports real or imagined events! 

Your students can learn to write articles with the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, and why) for Dragon University, Mermaid Academy, or for your real-life local school or community.  

Writing Games for Kids

Pass Around the Story

You need two or more people for this game. 

Come up with a story starter, like “Ever since that day in the summer, I have been afraid of crickets. 

Here’s what happened.”  Then one student composes the next sentence. 

Then another student does the sentence following. 

Keep passing around the story!

Comic Story Inspiration

Find a comic and black out the words. 

This comic should be three to six pictures in length. 

The student should write a story that explains the comic—who are the characters? 

What did they think, feel, and say? 

What was the problem?

Game Poetry

Give your students some Bananagrams and ask them to form words for two minutes. 

When they are done, they must use those words in a poem (along with other words of their choosing).

Interview Story

This game take two or more people. 

Have a list of questions ready:

  • Who is in this story?
  • Where does it take place?
  • When does it take place?
  • What problem do the characters face?
  • How does it end?

One person acts as the interviewer and asks the questions of the others. 

You can write the answers down, and then at the end ask someone to tell the story.  

Writing Games for Kids

Story Unveiled

This game is like Pass Around the Story but with a twist (you need a group for this game). 

Begin with a story starter. 

The next student writes the second sentence of the story. 

Now fold the paper so only the second sentence is visible. 

The next person looks at the sentence he can see and writes a sentence to follow it. 

Now fold the paper again so the first two sentences are covered and only the most recent sentence is visible. 

The next person writes a sentence to follow it. 

Repeat this process until the story is complete. 

The result will be wild and fun!

Adjective Stretch

This game teaches students to use specific adjectives to create a strong mental picture for the reader. 

Come up with a basic sentence like, “The donkey munched the hay.”  Now add adjectives that describe the donkey. 

You can ask prompting questions like, “What color was he?” “How did his fur feel?” “What did he smell like?” “How was he feeling?”  The result will be a sentence with a string of vivid adjectives:  “The stinky, pudgy, cranky, furry gray donkey munched the hay.”

Story Cubes

Do not underestimate the power of Story Cubes . 

Roll these cubes and create a story with the resulting pictures. 

Story Cubes come in categories to capture every student’s interest. 

From basic sets like action and mystery to trademarked sets like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Batman, Story Cubes should be in every writing teacher’s drawer.

Fun Writing Games

Writing doesn’t have to elicit groans. 

Add some zest and laughter with these fun writing games for kids.  

You May Also Like:

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✍️ 100+ Creative Writing Exercises for Fiction Authors

This curated directory of creative writing exercises was conceived thanks to a collaboration between the top writing blogs of 2024. Use the filters to find and practice specific techniques — and show that blank page who’s boss!

We found 119 exercises that match your search 🔦

The Hammer and the Hatchet

A stranger walks into the general store and buys a hammer, a hatchet, some rope, and an apple. What does he do with them?

Writer's Block

Picket fence.

Describe your house - or the dream house you hope to get some day.

Telephone Directory

It is commonly known that a telephone directory might be the most boring text in the entire world. Here is your challenge: write a page of a telephone directory and figure out SOME way to make it interesting.

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Pick a fiction book from your shelf. Go to page eight and find the eighth sentence on the page. Start with that sentence and write an eight-line poem that connects in some way to your work-in-progress. For instance, write from the POV of a character, or set the poem in a story setting. Don't worry about poetry forms. Just write eight lines of any length that flow and explore some aspect of character, setting, or theme.

  • Why are you grumpy? I have a hangover.
  • Why do you have a hangover? My friend was in a bad accident and I thought he might die?
  • Why did you think he might die? His girlfriend lied to me about how serious the accident was.
  • Why did she lie about that? She's jealous of our relationship.
  • Why? I think she's insecure and has trust issues.

Character Development

The ellen degeneres show.

A talk show is scripted to promote the guest and discuss topics with which the guest is comfortable. Imagine your protagonist on the Ellen Degeneres Show (or The Late Show With Stephen Colbert - whichever show you're familiar with). What questions would be asked of your protagonist? What funny anecdotes would your protagonist share? Write down the reactions of both your protagonist and the host.

  • You could say it began with a phone call."
  • Michael had watched them both for weeks."
  • She remembered the way it was the first time she saw the prison."
  • Midsummer, no time to be in New Orleans."
  • With the dawn came the light."

Thank you to all our contributors: Almost An Author, Alyssa Hollingsworth, Anne R. Allen, Bang2Write, Christopher Fielden, Darcy Pattinson, Elizabeth S. Craig, Flogging The Quill, Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips, Helping Writers Become Authors, Katie McCoach, Lauren Carter, Insecure Writer’s Support Group, Mandy Wallace, NaNoWriMo, Nail Your Novel, Novel Publicity, One Stop For Writers, Pro Writing Aid, PsychWriter, re:Fiction, The Journal, The Writer’s Workshop, Well-Storied, Women On Writing, writing.ie, Writing-World.com!

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Create Your Own Story Online

Create your own story online using our ultimate story creator. Our story creator comes with built-in story starters, artwork and more to inspire writers of all abilities!

Create a story

Useful Resources

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Ultimate Story Generator

Generate thousands of unique stories using our ultimate story generator. Just enter some words about your story, and press the 'Generate Story' button. You can create a unique story within minutes to share with your friends. Writing stories has never been so easy! Try out our story generator and step-by-step story maker tool now!

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Daily Writing Challenges

Our daily writing challenges aim to inspire and encourage young writers to write daily. Each day the challenges will update to show a new inspirational prompt for you to write about. We have special seasonal writing challenges, as well as regular challenges, such as the word challenge, book title challenge, poetry challenge and more!

story writing fun activities

Use Story Starters to Inspire You

Story starters are a brilliant way to fix blank page syndrome (or writer's block). Did you know that 67% of authors say the most challenging part of writing is starting their story? We have thousands of story starters to get you writing in no time! And that's not all, if you're still stuck for inspiration we even have a ton of artwork to inspire you.

Generate Funny Story Ideas

With thousands of story combinations to keep you writing stories every day. Our simple-to-use story idea generator comes with tons of fun and wacky prompts to inspire you. Whether you're into pirates or princesses we got writing prompts to suit every child out there.

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No Registration Required

Imagine Forest offers a seamless and user-friendly experience with the convenience of no registration required. We believe in breaking down barriers and making creative resources accessible to all. We provide a hassle-free environment for users to dive into the world of storytelling, writing challenges, and more.

Safe For Kids

Imagine Forest is proud to declare itself a safe space for kids. With no registration required to use tools, we ensure that no personal information is collected, providing a secure and privacy-conscious environment. Our resources are carefully curated to be age-appropriate, for younger to older children, fostering a positive and creative atmosphere.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Imagine forest free?

Yes. Imagine Forest is 100% free. There are no additional costs or subscription fees. All features you see on the site are fully available for free.

How do you use Imagine forest?

To use Imagine Forest simply explore the site or click the 'Create a Story' button at the top of this page to access the story creator. Once inside the story creator, you can select the type of story you want to write and continue following the on-screen instructions. At the end, you can download a PDF of your book. You can also explore the rest of the site to find some interesting activities and writing resources to help you become a better story writer.

How do I register for Imagine Forest?

No registration is required. All resources from the story creator to the writing challenges and blog content are openly available to all site visitors. This also means that we don’t store any personal information, allowing users to explore Imagine Forest without the need for a formal registration process. The platform is designed to prioritize user privacy and accessibility, ensuring that creative individuals of all ages can freely engage with the diverse range of writing resources.

Is Imagine Forest safe for kids?

Yes of course. The absence of a registration requirement means that no personal information is collected, providing an added layer of privacy and security. Additionally, the content and activities on Imagine Forest are tailored to be child-friendly, fostering a positive and creative environment. The platform aims to inspire and nurture the imagination of young writers in a safe and age-appropriate manner. As with any online platform, it's advisable for parents to monitor their children's online activities and ensure that they are engaging with content suitable for their age group.

Can I view a list of Writing Prompts?

Yes. Imagine Forest has a huge list of writing prompts and story starters. You can view this collection of writing prompts on our blog, in the writing prompts category .

Is it possible to remove the ads?

Sorry, there is no option to remove ads yet. Ads help keep Imagine Forest running and providing free access to its creative resources for all users. While it may be inconvenient for some to see ads, they play a crucial role in sustaining the platform and ensuring that it remains freely accessible to a wide audience. Imagine Forest relies on revenue generated from advertisements to cover the costs of maintaining the website, developing new features, and expanding its offerings. By allowing ads, the platform can continue to provide a wealth of writing tools, challenges, and other resources without requiring users to pay for access. In the future, we may offer users a paid subscription option which allows them to remove ads from the site.

Is it possible to upload my own images?

At this moment in time, no it is not possible to upload your own images in the story creator tool. We may bring this feature in the future. The purpose of Imagine Forest is to guide you on how to write a good story. It is an educational tool for helping beginners write stories and poems. We do however provide a huge built-in library of photos, and illustrations to use. You can also request more specific images by contacting our team .

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    Use Story Maps Story maps are a great way to unleash your child's imagination. You can either create your own or print out one of these free story map templates. To create your own story map, you'll first need a location. This could be anywhere, a planet, an island, the woods or even your hometown.

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  6. Creative Writing Activities To Help Students Tell Their Story

    1. Write an "I am from" poem Students read the poem "I am From" by George Ella Lyon. Then, they draft a poem about their own identity in the same format Lyon used. Finally, students create a video to publish their poems. We love this one because the mentor text gives a clear structure and example that students can follow.

  7. 15 StoryTelling Activities for Kids & Game Ideas

    1. Storytelling Prompts Jar Grab an empty jar from your kitchen and some torn up pieces of paper. On each small piece of paper write a random word or phrase. This could be anything, such as cat, princess or a phrase ( list of story prompts for kids ). Put all the torn up pieces of paper inside the jar. Then take turns to take out a piece of paper.

  8. 10 Quick and Fun Writing Games Students and Teachers Love

    10 Quick and Fun Writing Games Students and Teachers Love 10 Fun Classroom Writing Games to Improve Literacy Skills Table of Contents The best writing games to engage students Sentence Stretching Rebus writing It's in the bag Touch and tell Verb Draw Hot Seat Change the meaning- change one word Locate and classify Grammar toss- Sentence making

  9. 10 Fun Writing Activities for Kids to Improve Writing Skills

    1. Write a comic book/graphic novel Using a template, students create their own comic strip or graphic novel complete with speech bubbles and annotations. First, you'll need a comic strip template. You can draw your own or allow kids to do so if they choose.

  10. 55 Creative Writing Activities for All Ages

    For Kids or Beginners Early writers tend to possess misconceptions about writing. Many picture sitting down for hours straight, polishing a story from beginning to end. Even for experienced writers, this is next-to-impossible to do. It's preconceived ideas like these that overwhelm and discourage students before they've even started.

  11. 12 Fun Writing Games for Kids to Improve Writing Skills

    12 Fun Writing Games for Kids to Improve Writing Skills by Dr. Jody LeVos | Aug 10, 2023 | Core Skills Writing can feel daunting to young learners—there are so many letters to memorize, sounds to recall, and words to spell! You might be wondering what the best writing games are to help your child learn to write. The Short Cut

  12. 8 Activities for Making Writing Fun in Upper Elementary

    These activities are to get our young writers excited about writing which will make formal writing tasks less daunting. 1. Think-Write-Pass: This is always a favorite that gets lots of laughs. Put students in groups of four. Give each student a piece of paper and have them write their name on the top.

  13. 43 Creative Writing Exercises & Games For Adults

    43 Creative Writing Exercises & Games For Adults - Get Inspired! 43 Creative Writing Exercises This page contains a selection of fun creative writing exercises that can be completed solo, or with a group. Some are prompts to help inspire you to come up with story ideas, others focus on learning specific writing skills. The sections are as follows:

  14. 5 Fun Creative Writing Activities

    5 Fun Creative Writing Activities We've gathered five fun creative writing activities you can assign to spark a love for writing. Our hope is that these activities will create a workshop-like environment that fosters feedback and collaboration in your writing classroom.

  15. Top 7 Narrative Writing Exercises for Students

    Narrative Writing Skill 4: Effective Dialogue. Dialogue can be a fantastic tool and students should learn to use it well. Beyond the mechanics of structure and punctuation, dialogue should do 3 things: Move the story forward. Reveal character. Help the reader understand the relationships between characters.

  16. Finish The Story Game: How To Play

    Here are some story starters and first-line prompts that you can use in the finish the story game or as stand-alone activities. Finish the story: 3rd Grade Ideas ... activities and resources to improve your creative writing skills! Imagine Forest makes writing stories easy and fun. Never again will you be lost for inspiration or story ideas ...

  17. 29 Easy, Fun, and Effective Writing Exercises

    Aug, 30 2021 Updated: Jul, 5 2022 • 12 min read 29 Easy, Fun, and Effective Writing Exercises Working out isn't just for your cardiovascular health. You gotta keep that brain in shape too! Writing exercises will keep your imagination limber.

  18. 10 Fun Story Starters and Idea-Generating Activities for Writers

    Here are some of the story starters and idea-generating activities I've worked up recently: 1. Top 10 list. Make a list of 10. It doesn't matter which 10 of what. Lists of 10 literally greet a person each time she turns on her computer, opens a magazine or zaps on the TV. Pick a subject and brainstorm your unique roster of 10 à la David ...

  19. 12 Best Writing Activities for Kids: Creative Pens at Play

    1. Online Writing Games 2. Feelings Journal 3. Personal Time Capsule Letters 4. Use Creative Writing Prompts 5. Picture Storytelling 6. DIY Comic Strips 7. Outdoor Observation 8. Letter to a Hero 9. Recipe Writing 10. Story Cubes Did you know that many kids today find writing a bit challenging?

  20. 9+ Fun and Engaging Writing Games for Kids

    Roll these cubes and create a story with the resulting pictures. Story Cubes come in categories to capture every student's interest. From basic sets like action and mystery to trademarked sets like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Batman, Story Cubes should be in every writing teacher's drawer. Fun Writing Games. Writing doesn't have to ...

  21. ️ 100+ Creative Writing Exercises for Fiction Authors

    Eight. Pick a fiction book from your shelf. Go to page eight and find the eighth sentence on the page. Start with that sentence and write an eight-line poem that connects in some way to your work-in-progress. For instance, write from the POV of a character, or set the poem in a story setting. Don't worry about poetry forms.

  22. Story Writing Academy: Writing Prompts and Resources for Writers and

    Writing stories is a kind of magic, too. - Cornelia Funke Writing Prompts See more writing prompts Writing Resources Teaching writing to kids? Let us make it easier. See more writing resources Sign Up for ... 10 Fun Writing Activities for Kids to Improve Writing Skills. How to Plan a Short Story: Free Story Planner Template.

  23. Create Your Own Story Online: Free Story Creator ️

    Inspiration, activities and resources to improve your creative writing skills! Imagine Forest makes writing stories easy and fun. Never again will you be lost for inspiration or story ideas. Improve your creative writing skills and imagination through exploring our website. Our motto is inspire, learn and write, the Imagine Forest way!