Spark Wonder with 50 Fun Winter Writing Prompts!

Fun Writing Prompts for Your Children

Winter is here, and it’s time to cozy up with a good book… or better yet, write one!
We’ve got 50 fun ideas that will have your kids writing like crazy.
From fantastical adventures to heartwarming stories, these prompts will keep fingers busy and minds engaged.
These Winter Writing Prompts are specifically designed with ages 9-13 in mind.

How do I use writing prompts?

• Set up a schedule, whether each day, three times a week, or once a week at the same time on each day.
• Use the prompt to inspire free writing.
• Give the prompt.
• Set a timer and instruct your child to continually write for the allotted time.
  I would use 3 minutes for younger or new or resistant writers and up to 5 minutes for older or more experienced writers.

What is a free write?

A free write simply means no rules.
Just allow the ideas to flow.

There isn’t a complete story.

Nope, it is highly doubtful that your child will not have enough time to complete a thought or idea in a story within the allotted time.

This is fine!
This writing warms your child up for other academic activities and helps them get over any fear or intimidation  that they feel towards writing.

If you want, you can have them choose a favorite free write every couple of weeks and expand it into a formal writing.
Just don’t forget to include a rubric!

Winter Writing Prompts:

Winter Season:
Create a Winter themed acrostic style poem.
Remember an acrostic poem is where it forms a word vertically that the poem is about and it has one word or a sentence for each letter that begins with that letter.

Imagine you are skiing or riding snow mobiles and there is a snow avalanche-you get stuck in the woods, in the snow for 3 days-how do you survive?

Describe a day where it is cold or snowy outside.
What do you want to do?

Events:
Martin Luther King Jr.
What does this quote mean to you?
“It’s not the violence of the few that scares me, but silence of the many.”

Groundhog Day
One day the groundhog decides he doesn’t want to decide the fate of the weather future by seeing his shadow or not. So, he quits.
What does this mean? Will we have more winter or an early Spring? Write a news story.

Super Bowl
Write a new commercial for the Super Bowl. What is your product? Who is your audience?

February 4, 2004 Facebook launched.
There has been a lot of research on the effects of social media, but it was also something that brought people together during COVID.
What are your thoughts on it and other social media platforms?

In February, 1879 the women in Utah territory have the right to vote.
In August, 1920 the 19th amendment is certified giving women the right to vote in the United States.
However, it was not until 1965 that Black American women could officially vote.
What do you think of these dates?

Valentine’s Day
Create a new tradition for Valentine’s Day that celebrates friendship.

President’s Day
If the founding father’s could come back today, what would they add or take out of the constitution?

Leap Day
Imagine you or a character you create fell asleep in the year 2000.
They wake up today.
What are their impressions of our world today?

Ash Wednesday
Do you think it is hard to remember to feel gratitude each day?
What can you do so that even when you are busy you will have a reminder of how fortunate you are?

March 7, 1876 Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone.

Invent a brand new communication device that could change how people connect with each other.
Describe what your invention looks like, how it works, and why you think it’s important in today’s digital age.
Can you create a device that brings people together?

St. Patrick’s Day
You catch a glimpse of someone on the hill behind your neighborhood.
It turns out to be a leprechaun.
What happens next?

People:
Tell a story about a present-day Native American tribe and how they try to blend and balance their cherished traditions with the world today.

Imagine a world where light and dark are at constant war.
Write about a character who plays a key role in bringing balance.

Write a tale about a scientist who discovers a secret about the universe.
How does this discovery change their life and the world?

Describe an adventure where you and an unfriended friend must team up to solve a problem. How does this challenge change your relationship?

Superhero Sidekick School:
Describe the training sessions you have with your superhero mentor.
What skills do you learn?
How do you get chosen to be with which superhero?

Meet Cody, the tech-savvy cowboy of the digital age.
What skills does he trade from his cowboy life so that he can successfully run a modern day ranch?
For example: lasso for a laptop.

Which profession, of all of the professions, do you think would be the worst to have your mom or dad do and why?

A spell accidentally makes you look like someone else for a day.
Write about what happens when your friends and family don’t recognize you.
How do you prove who you really are, and what funny or confusing things happen because of the mix-up?

You are mad. Something upset you today.
If you could just feel your anger, all day, and show it however you wanted, how would your day look?

What is the best thing about being alive right now?
What is the most amazing thing about being you?

In recent history we have had many female leaders: Indira Gandhi from India, Golda Meir from Israel, Margaret Thatcher from the United Kingdom and many others.
In ancient history there was Hatshepsut who ruled Egypt as a Pharaoh during the 18th dynasty, from around 1478 to 1458 BC.

What do you think makes a good leader of a country?
Do you think what makes that good leader changes whether they are male or female?

The book, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, describes a very lonely monster.
Write a letter from the monster asking someone to be its friend.
How does the monster describe itself, and what kind of friend is it looking for?

Step into the sandals of King Tutankhamun.
He became pharaoh around age 10.
Write a diary entry detailing a typical day.
Do you have any concerns or fears at your age?

Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Lewis Hamilton and many others have been knighted by the queen.

What does it mean to be knighted today?
Who deserves this?

Animals:
Do you think the Bald Eagle still represents the United States, why or why not?
If not, which bird would you pick and why?

If your pet could choose their own outfit, what do you think they would pick? 

If dragons were real, what place would they hold in our society? Would they be good or bad?

You are a sled dog on a winning team for the Iditarod.
However, you only became a sled dog because you were expected to.
What kind of dog did you want to be?
Describe the differences between what your life looks like now and what it could have looked like.

Imagine you are an animal living in Yellowstone National Park.
Describe a day in your life, including what you eat, where you roam, and how you interact with other animals in the park.
If you are prey do you worry about the predators?

Random:
You find an abandoned lighthouse and create a “secret space” in it.
What do you do there?

Science is advancing quickly.
Write about a DNA bot that can go into a person and identify and fix disease.

Create a contest for collections.
Write about the different collections and the winner’s unique items.

You are going through the attic in your Grandma’s house.
You find a really old loom.
It starts to weave on its own.
It weaves stories, what does it tell?

Cars can now be driven with AI.
Imagine how air traffic might change in the future with new technology.
Tell about this from the perspective of the air traffic control tower.

Describe a school origami competition.
What unique creations are made and who wins the grand prize?

Create a talent show on Sesame Street.
Bring different characters from the show and describe their talents.
(If your child is not familiar with this show choose another.)

If you could create the ideal monthly subscription box to be delivered to you, what would it include?

Think of all of the places the family car goes, the conversations it hears, the important job it has.
Breathe life into the car, give it a personality, name, and thoughts.

Choose your favorite idiom and talk about how it is totally misunderstood by someone.
Example idioms: …so hungry I could eat a horse, fish out of water, lose your marbles.

Imagine you are a child living in London when the first gas lights were installed.
Write a story describing your evening walk through the city streets that are now illuminated.

Break dancing was just added to the olympics.
Which sport do you think should be added next or should be taken out and why?

Plan a “Toy Olympics.”
Each participant will get one event that is designed for them, but they have to participate in everyone else’s events as well.
Be sure to include Barbie, GI Joe, and Mr. Potato Head.
Describe the events and how each toy does at all of the events.

If aliens were to tour our planet, would you want them to stay?
Based on your answer, what would you show them while they were here?

Is there an effective way to tell your government you are unhappy with its policies?
Do we, as citizens have an effective way to change the way our country is heading?
The Protestant Reformation began with nailing a treatise to the church door.

The American revolution started with the Sons of Liberty destroying a shipment of tea.

Ghandi’s salt march turned world wide sympathy towards Indian, rather than British interests.

And there have been many marches here in the United States.
Do these work? Or is bloodshed the only answer?

Describe what it feels like to be Pluto.
In 1930 you were “discovered” and entered into the solar system as the ninth planet by Clyde Tombaugh.  Then in  2006, scientists reclassified you as a “dwarf planet”.
What does that even mean?

Evidence for or against global warming?
Write a persuasive paragraph about global warming.
Did you know that February 18, 1979 – Snow fell in the Sahara Desert?

Walt Disney released Pinocchio for the first time in February, 1940-it is hard to believe!
Obviously, lying was a big deal, the main character’s nose grows every time they tell a lie.
The can only become a “real boy” if they can prove they deserve it-mainly by not lying.

Is lying still a big deal in today’s culture-84 years later?

With these prompts, winter will be anything but boring.
So grab your pens, paper, and imaginations!
Let the stories flow, and watch your kids blossom into confident writers this season.

Be sure to comment on which prompt was your child’s favorite!

“It is winter in Narnia, and has been for ever so long.” – Mr. Beaver, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe