25 Creative Writing Prompts For KS1 And KS2

Teaching children the benefits of learning to write creatively is a fantastic way to boost their confidence and help them develop reading and problem-solving skills.

With the right resources and stimulating prompts, children come up with new and exciting ideas for stories and are encouraged to consider all the different elements of storytelling.

Encourage your young authors to find a cozy corner dedicated to study and let their imaginations run wild with these fun writing prompts designed to spark joy and creativity in every word they craft.

Top Tip: Why not check out this post written by a real children's author, with many more tips on how children can write their very own storybooks?

Writing Ideas For Key Stage One Children (Ages 5-7)

With KS1 children, it's a great idea to use their interests and surroundings as inspiration for their creative writing. Coming up with a whole new story can be a big challenge, so the ideas and activities are aimed to help KS1 children to consider one or two things they are really interested in writing, before they create their stories:

• Imagine your favourite toy came to life! What would a day in their life look like? Where would they go and what would they get up to? What would their favourite meals be, and what would their voice sound like?
• Describe the place you live as if you were talking to an alien from another planet. How can you recognise where it is? What is inside? What are all the different things used for and what are some funny human habits that aliens would find interesting?
• Write about the best day out ever. It can be real or just a fantasy day out that you would love to do in the future.
• Imagine a monster came over for dinner. What would they look like? What is their name? What would they eat and how would they eat it?
• Write a letter to your favourite character. Whether it's from a movie, TV show, book or play, imagine what you would write if they were your pen pal.
• Design your own animal, and write a short description about it. Maybe it has lots of fangs, or pink fur. Perhaps it's a mixture of lots of other animals. Draw out a picture of your animal, and then write a short paragraph to describe what it's called, where it lives, what it eats and what it does for fun!
• Think about your favourite book character. Write a short story about what they got up to after the end of the book.

Develop these ideas further by:

-Incorporating the creatures you've invented into a new story.

-Making illustrations to accompany your description of your day out.

-Storyboarding your ideas, to make a cartoon-like sequence of events with images and text.

Writing Ideas For Key Stage 2 Children (Ages 7-11)

Even if English isn't their favourite subject, there are lots of ways to help KS2 aged children get interested in storytelling and creative writing. By allowing kids to select their own books to read away from the classroom, they can figure out which genres and writing styles they enjoy the most.

Exposing children to new ideas and techniques through encouraging reading books, will also, in turn, help their writing abilities to blossom.

A good way to prepare children for these activities is to search online for books they enjoy, and let them pick one or two to read.

This will allow them to get familiar with the type of writing they enjoy. The following ideas are suggestions intended to aid creative thinking and spark inspiration for whatever direction children want to take their stories in:

• What would a day on Earth be like if mythical creatures existed? What would day-to-day be life if dragons, unicorns, mermaids and fairies wandered the streets? Write a short story about a day in your life, if mythical creatures were around.
• Imagine you were small as a bug. Describe the world from your new perspective. Do you have interactions with people? Insects or animals? Where do you go? Do you discover you have any insect-like abilities?
• Imagine you woke up one day with a superpower. What is it? Are you able to turn invisible, read minds, or fly? What is the first thing you would do with your new power and what would a day in your life look like?
• Write a diary entry as if you had travelled to another period of time. Is it Victorian England, Ancient Egypt or perhaps the Middle Ages? How do you blend in, and what new things do you learn?
• A rocket launches you to an unknown planet. You find a civilisation of aliens have already made it their own and they welcome you. Describe your experience, what you see, and what happens next. Write a short story about your adventures.

The following prompts are suggestions of an opening line that kids can use at the beginning of their story, and continue on from:

• 'The dark figure began to emerge from the mist. She could see the outline of a human-like figure as it started to get closer...'
• 'Simon did his homework, liked skateboarding and his favourite food was pizza. He thought he was an ordinary boy, until...'
• 'Deep beneath the North Sea, hidden away from human eyes, lies a great secret...'
• 'The door was painted white, with cracked paint and a small golden handle. I couldn't help but wonder what was inside...'
• 'The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the street outside was hot and quiet. But everything was about to change...
   

Develop these ideas by:

-Creating illustrations to go alongside your story. Show what your characters and landscapes would look like, and make them correspond with the story.

-Thinking about other books you've been reading. How would the character you've written interact with a character from one of your favourite books?

-Making a character profile of the characters in your stories. What are their interests and hobbies? What do they like to wear? What books and films do they like? Create a drawing of your character in the middle of the page, and label different things about them in a profile down the side.

-Doing a character swap. Imagine your character found themselves in the world of another book, or vice versa. What would happen next?

-Design a front and back cover for your book. Consider the title, blurb and cover illustrations. Perhaps even make an author profile too!

For five quick and easy creative writing tasks, download your prompt sheet below!