50 Summer Writing Prompts for Grade School Aged Children

Summer learning is very important for grade-school-aged children. Over the course of summer vacation, many school and library programs encourage summer reading, which has been proven to encourage learning over the summer and prevent the learning loss (academic backsliding) commonly seen during summer vacation. However, very few programs are placing enough emphasis on continued writing over the course of the summer, which can improve fine motor skills, retain and improve spelling skills, and encourage creative thinking. Here are 50 simple summer writing prompts appropriate for children in grade school. Depending on your child's individual development, the responses to these prompts can range from one or two short sentences to several paragraphs.

1. You're an astronaut. Describe what you're doing today.
2. If you could have a wild animal as a pet, which would you pick and why?
3. Who is your favorite author? Why?
4. You found one million dollars. What do you do with it?
5. You're running for president. Write a speech.
6. A genie is going to grant you three wishes. Write what you wish for.
7. Write a letter to your favorite character from a book.
8. If an elephant could talk, what would it say?
9. Do you think it's easier to be a boy or a girl?
10. Do you believe in space aliens?
11. You're a mermaid. Tell what you're doing today.
12. If you had to eat just one food every day, what would you choose?
13. What would it be like to ride in a hot air balloon?
14. You found a magic wand! What does it do?
15. When you grow up, do you want to have your own children?
16. What's something that always makes you happy?
17. You found a dinosaur egg! What do you do?
18. What's the prettiest thing you've ever seen?
19. Write about a time when you were sick.
20. What's a way that you help your family?
21. You're a cowboy! Tell what you're doing today.
22. You can go on vacation anywhere in the world. Where do you go?
23. What would it be like to be the size of a germ?
24. What's your favorite tree and why?
25. Write about a special holiday.
26. Which would you like more: swimming at the beach or swimming in a pool?
27. What's your favorite season, and why?
28. What are three words that describe you? Why?
29. Make up a kind of animal. Write about what it's like.
30. Would you rather live at the equator or the North Pole?
31. If a car could talk, what would it say?
32. You're a veterinarian. Tell what you're doing today.
33. Which is more fun: learning something new or getting better at something you already know how to do?
34. You found a haunted house! What's it like inside?
35. Who in your family is the most like you?
36. You've been turned into a giant! What do you do?
37. What does your room look like?
38. You can talk to animals! What do you say to them?
40. Write a letter to yourself in the future.
41. You were turned into a frog! What do you do?
42. Write about what you would do if you could fly.
43. Tell about a time you saw a rainbow.
44. What is something that always makes you smile?
45. Invent your own ice cream flavor.
46. You found a box in the forest. What's inside?
47. Do you believe in fairies?
48. Pretend you can control the weather. Tell what you do.
49. You found a dark cave. What's inside?
50. You're an ant. Tell what you're doing today.