Story Starters for Kids and Blank Creative Writing Templates

As a child, I had a knack for creative writing. I would often write and illustrate my own adventure stories, and every once in a while, I was able to put these talents to use for a language arts project. One year I had an extraordinary teacher who required us to keep a daily creative writing journal. Every morning she wrote a story starter or creative writing prompt on the board. The class would write for ten to fifteen minutes, and then we would share our stories. I remember the activity very fondly, and I still have the old composition notebook somewhere.

A daily creative writing exercise is a great way for kids to develop their imaginations and writing abilities. That’s why I decided to create this post, featuring several story starters for kids. I’m also including some blank creative writing templates and creative writing prompts. If you’re a parent or a teacher, everything you need to get your kids started with creative writing is here. Some of the story starter sheets contain spaces for the kids to draw pictures. And if it turns out that your child is the next JK Rowling and intends to write a whole book, you’re welcome to print as many copies of these creative writing templates as you need.

Story Starters for Kids

The first set of story starters features a simple starter sentence. Click on the images below to open the pdf version of the document and save it to your computer.

     

Creative Writing Prompts & Story Starter Ideas for Teachers

Here are eight story starter ideas for teachers. Write one of these ideas on the board, or pass out this printable handout, and let the kids choose the one they like the most.

 

Creative Writing Templates – Portrait Format

Here is a set of blank creative writing templates. Pass these out when  your kids are writing based on a story starter you’ve written on the board. Kids can also use these templates to write their own children’s books.

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Creative Writing Templates – Landscape Format

Another collection of blank creative writing templates, in landscape format.

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For more creative writing ideas and story starters, please see my Writing Prompts page. There you’ll find several sheets of creative writing ideas, for grades K through 7.