Creative Picture Book-Inspired Writing Prompts for Elementary Kids

I don’t always believe that writing prompts that come out of nowhere can always help our kids gain stronger writing skills. But, I do believe that high interest books can prompt kids to want to write! I’ve frequently written about books and the writing prompts I’ve given as a homeschool mom and co-op teacher. Here are the things I’ve written about on my blog. Many of these ideas have printables included. Others simply discuss great books and how writers can learn from a concept therein.

Early Writing Prompts Inspired by Picture Books

These prompts are for little kids who are just starting out writing. They may want to put their own words into sentence frames, but sometimes they will need adult assistance with the writing. These are basic writing ideas and prompts, but they could be lots of fun.

Second and Third Grade Picture Book Writing Ideas

Because these writing ideas are a little bit more complex, it may require a planning step before the kids write down their final draft. Or, maybe these writing ideas deal with slightly more complicated figurative language or language concepts. At any rate, these have been fun for my kids in the second and third grades.

Persuasive Writing with the Pigeon
Metaphors and Similes Picture Books Lesson* Some of this is appropriate for lower elementary as well.
Guided Research Project: The Moon
Guided Research Project: Animals
Guided Research Project about a State

Upper Elementary Picture Book Writing Prompts

Even upper elementary kids love to practice writing with picture books!

Stocking a Picture Book-Inspired Writing Center

The first two years of my homeschooling career, I taught an elementary level writing class at my son’s co-op. Here are the essentials I needed for our writing center so the kids had the freedom to brainstorm and write.