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ARTICLE

Whimsical Story Starters to Get Kids Writing

Encourage creative thinking in your students with these fun writing prompts. 

By Scholastic Editors
February 3, 2025

If you’re looking to inspire your students’ writing and creativity, turn to these fun and exciting writing prompts. Perfect for overcoming writer’s block or even starting a brand-new short story in a different narrative, creative writing prompts can help students begin a new piece with confidence.

Plus, these story starters can also encourage students to explore different genres while honing their writing skills. There are a lot of ways you can use writing prompts in your classroom. Try: 

  • Reading a book in a genre, then having students use a story starter in that same genre. 

  • Starting off class with 10 minutes of writing, using one of the prompts below. If you'd like, you can ask a volunteer to share their story! Students may be surprised by the variety of stories that are written based on the same prompt. 

  • Using these prompts as an introduction to a creative writing unit. 

  • Providing fast finishers with a way to stay busy — and have fun. 

  • Using story starters to encourage students to write at home.

Adventure Story Starters 

Take inspiration from classics like Treasure Island and newer popular series like The Bad Guys to explore how to write thrilling adventure stories. And to encourage students to begin writing their own adventure-focused stories, share these creative story starters: 

  • You’re part of a pirate crew in search of a long-lost storied treasure trove. What is happening on the ship and where do you find the treasure? 

  • You get the chance to use a time machine to meet one historical figure of your choice. Who do you go meet, and what will you do to explore that time period?

  • You receive a fortune in a fortune cookie that changes the course of your life. What does the fortune say, and what happens when it comes true?

Get students excited about adventure stories with these great books: 

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With easy-to-read text, light nonfiction, and full-color artwork throughout, this adventure-filled early reader series is sure to be a hit for beginning readers!

P.U.! Dog Man got sprayed by a skunk! After being dunked in tomato juice, the stink is gone but the scarlet red color remains. Now exiled, this spunky superhero must struggle to save the citizens who shunned him! Will the ends justify the means for Petey, who's reluctantly pulled back into a life of crime in order to help Dog Man? 

Paperback Book

Bad Guys (The Bad Guys #1)

Grades 3 - 4
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They sound like bad guys, they look like bad guys . . . and they even smell like bad guys. But Mr. Wolf, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Snake, and Mr. Shark are about to change all of that...Mr. Wolf has a daring plan for the Bad Guys' first good mission. 

 

 

Fantasy Story Starters 

Have fans of dragons, unicorns, wizards, and other mythical creatures in class? Encourage them to give fantasy writing a shot. 

  • You’re on a quest through a hidden underground world that no one else has ever seen. What magical creatures do you come across? What do they look like, and how do they act? 

  • There is a witch who lives in a nearby legendary haunted house. She puts a hex on you that needed to be broken by the time the clock struck midnight the next night. What kind of hex is it, and how do you break it? 

  • You stumble into an enchanted forest. How did you find it, and what do you discover in it?

Check out these fun fantasy titles for more inspiration:

Hardcover Book

Wings of Fire: The Flames of Hope

Grades 4 - 7
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Five dragonets are raised in a hidden cave and enlisted, against their will, to end a terrible war between the dragon tribes.

Paperback Book

Waverider: A Graphic Novel (Amulet #9)

Grades 3 - 7
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As Emily travels to Typhon to help her mom and Navin, Prince Trellis returns to the Kingdom of the Elves to save his countrymen -- and confront the fraud who has seized power in the absence of a king.

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Tag and Skyla have returned to Perodia to begin their warrior training. But when their friend Blaze returns with troubling news that her mother has gone missing, Tag and Skyla's warrior skills are quickly put to the test. 

Sci-Fi Story Starters 

Kids interested in STEM concepts will love science fiction! Try these prompts to see how your students combine science with their wildest imaginations. 

  • You’re the first person to ever set foot on Mars. What is it like? What do you explore first? 
  • You and your friend have the same dream in the middle of the night about a prophecy that involves another dimension. What is the prophecy, and what is this other dimension? What do you and your friend have to do to reach and alter this dimension?
  • After NASA discovers a whole new world of giants in a nearby nebula, they send a team of scientists through a wormhole to study them. You are one of the scientists on board. What does the journey feel like? What do the giants look like in this world? 

Plus, find great kid-friendly sci-fi here:

Hardcover Book

Zombie Season

Grades 3 - 7
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The next innovation in the book and gaming space is here: Zombie Season! Read the book. Play the game. Fight the undead.

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 The Queen of the Nile must summon the strength to face down her enemy one last time, and keep her friends — and herself — alive. 

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Meet Ricky Ricotta, a little mouse with a big problem!

Genre Scrambler Story Starters 

Have some fun with genre studies by combining them! Try these prompts to get started:

  • You are on an expedition in the Arctic and discover a new species of animals living in the harsh climate that no one has ever seen before. What kind of species is it, and what characteristics do they have? 
  • You’re walking home from school and notice that the front door of a neighbor’s house is wide open, and no one is in sight. The old man who normally lives there is nowhere to be found. Curious, you go into the house and find that everything is fake: the furniture, the food, the technology, etc. In fact, the whole property is made of plastic, even the grass and trees! What happened to the old man who lives here? Why does this house exist, and why is everything fake? 
  • You are a child living in the early 1800s in an unnamed country when an asteroid hits, releasing aliens that want to make contact with your leaders. What do these aliens want? How does everyone react?

Shop popular books of all genres that will inspire young writers below! You can find all books and activities at The Teacher Store.

Chad and Vy have discovered a super secret project Zorgo base. It's filled with gadgets, gizmos, and some serious technology. But when Chad and Vy try on the headset they get sucked into a virtual world! This can't be good. Complete with digital bosses, exploding food, and wacky characters, will the Spy Ninjas be able to escape or will project Zorgo prevail once and for all? 

Paperback Book

If You Sailed on the Titanic

Grades 2 - 5
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Scholastic's If You Lived... series answers all of kids' most important questions about events in American history. With a question and answer format, kid-friendly artwork, and engaging information, this series is the perfect partner for the classroom and for history-loving readers.

 

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Captain America: The Ghost Army

Grades 6 - 10
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The worlds of historical fiction and super hero comics collide in this original graphic novel destined to be a hit with fans of all ages.

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There is a mystery to be solved, keys to be found, and an evil pig to escape!

Hardcover Book

Big Tree

Grades 2 - 7
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A mysterious voice has been speaking to Louise in her dreams. She and her brother Merwin are Sycamore seeds, who hope to one day set down roots and become big trees. But when a fire forces them to leave their mama tree prematurely, they find themselves catapulted into the unknown, far from home.

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The Lightning Thief

Grades 6 - 8
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Percy Jackson has ADHD, dyslexia, and a taste for trouble, so he's stuck going to a private school in upstate New York for hard-to-handle kids. If he doesn't get his life into shape, this could be the sixth school he's expelled from.

 

Minutes before she died Grace Cahill changed her will, leaving her descendants an impossible decision: "You have a choice — one million dollars or a clue."

Hardcover Book

The Scroll of Chaos

Grades 3 - 7
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With only her sister (who has been trapped in the body of a cat!) and two great mythological figures to help her, Astrid sets out on a journey to face her destiny. But will she be able to save her mom-and the world!-before Chaos reigns supreme?

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The Storyteller

Grades 4 - 7
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Once Ziggy gets it in his head that clues to his mother's disappearance may be found in a nearby cave, there's no stopping him from going there. Along with Moon, Alice, and his best friend, Corso, he sets out on a mind-bending adventure where he'll discover his story is tied to all the stories of the Cherokees that have come before him.

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