Story writing prompts for kids: 30 starters to spark a first draft

Ages 5 to 7: picture and sentence starters

Picture the scene, then finish the sentence in your own words. Younger children can draw or speak it.

1. Picture a red bus stuck behind a herd of goats. Finish it: "The driver smiled because..."
2. Picture a rooftop with washing lines and one lost kite. Finish it: "The kite landed next to..."
3. Picture a little boat on a wide, quiet lake. Finish it: "Inside the boat there was..."
4. Picture a market stall piled high with mangoes. Finish it: "The smallest mango said..."
5. Picture a snowy playground in Canada. Finish it: "Mia pulled on her boots and..."
6. Picture a train window at sunrise. Finish it: "Out of the window I saw..."
7. Picture a puppy wearing one blue sock. Finish it: "Nobody knew where the other sock..."
8. Picture a school bag that wiggles. Finish it: "When Arjun opened it..."
9. Picture a balcony full of plants. Finish it: "The tallest plant whispered..."
10. Picture a sandcastle on a beach in Brazil. Finish it: "Behind its tiny door..."

Ages 8 to 10: short story openers

Each line is a first sentence. Keep writing from there.

11. On the morning of the school fair, Meera found her stall sign had been changed to say something surprising.
12. The auto-rickshaw driver handed Kabir a key he had never seen before.
13. When the lights went out on the whole street, Amara found a torch and a note.
14. Dev had exactly ten rupees and one big idea.
15. The new girl in class spoke only in drawings.
16. Grandpa's old radio crackled and began to read tomorrow's weather, and then something else.
17. Tara's bicycle basket, on the tea estate road, was never empty.
18. The library in Nairobi had one book that nobody had ever borrowed.
19. On the last day of summer, the twins found a map on the back of a cricket scorecard.
20. Yuki's lunchbox hummed a tune every time it was opened.

Ages 11 to 12: plot twists and characters

These ask you to plan a little. Decide who your character is first.

21. The helper in your story turns out to be the one who needs help.
22. Your hero wins the race but wishes they had lost. Explain why.
23. A character who is always late arrives early, and everything changes.
24. Tell one school day from the point of view of the school bell.
25. The map is correct, but the place has moved.
26. Two friends describe the same afternoon differently, and both are honest.
27. A town baker never forgets a face, until a customer returns completely changed.
28. Your character's greatest strength becomes a problem in chapter two.
29. Begin with the ending, "And that is how the bridge got its name," and work backwards.
30. A letter arrives forty years late. Who is it for, and what has changed?

A simple five-step way to build a story

If a prompt feels too big, build the story in five small steps. Say or write one or two sentences for each.

1. Character. Who is the story about? Give them a name and one thing they love.
2. Wish. What do they want more than anything right now?
3. Problem. What stands in the way?
4. Try and fail. What do they try first? Let it go wrong at least once. This is where stories get exciting.
5. Ending. How does the problem change, and what does the character learn or feel?

Younger children can draw the five steps as five boxes. Older writers can use them as a planning list before the first draft.

For parents and teachers: kind feedback on a first draft

A first draft is a try, not a finished piece. Feedback that keeps a child writing matters more than feedback that fixes everything.

• Praise one specific thing, such as "I loved how the goat blocked the bus."
• Ask one question, such as "What happened next?" or "How did she feel?"
• Skip the red pen on a first draft. Spelling and grammar can wait for a later, shared tidy-up.
• Let the child choose which part to improve.
• Read the story aloud with real interest.

In our experience this keeps children willing to write again. For group ideas, see classroom story circle and Rangooo for teachers.

More to explore

Read a few tales first for inspiration in moral stories for kids, try stories and activities, warm up with riddles for kids, or turn a story idea into rhyme with short poems for kids. To help young writers keep reading too, see reading habit for kids. Try spoken versions in storytelling games for kids. Browse more in Play and learn.

Questions

How many prompts are on this page?

There are 30 original prompts in three bands: ten for ages 5 to 7, ten for ages 8 to 10 and ten for ages 11 to 12.

Can a child use a prompt more than once?

Yes. The same prompt can give a different story each time, so try it again on another day.

What if my child cannot think of an ending?

Go back to the five steps. Ask what the character wished for and what they tried, then let them choose how it turns out.

Should I correct spelling in a first draft?

We suggest not. Praise one specific thing, ask a question, and leave corrections for a later draft.