5 Creative Writing Activities your Primary Students will Absolutely Adore!

When I first started teaching I was scared to death to teach writing! I read everything that I could get my hands on about teaching writing and learned a lot. One of the hardest things for me to overcome was my student’s reluctance to write! So, I am always looking for writing activities to keep my students engaged and excited to write during our Writing block! I am going to share with you some creative writing activities that your primary students will absolutely adore! You, my friend, will also find some organization tips, storage tips, and freebies! Read on…

Writing Activities #1: Sticker Stories!

Students LOVE stickers!(Truth be told…I LOVE stickers! I used to have quite the extensive sticker collection stored in an old sticky photo album that was a treasure! But I digress…) Sticker stories are so much fun! All you really need is some writing paper and some stickers! Let your students choose 3-4 stickers (less if they want obviously) and they stick them in the drawing box on their writing paper, or in their mini-book (you may want to let them choose more stickers if you are having them put them in a mini-book). Then, they write their stories based on the stickers that they choose!

Amazon has a ton of stickers. These are affiliate links, so I do get a small commission (at no cost to you) if you make a purchase through this link! Thank you.

My students sometimes have a hard time limiting their sticker choices, so I made these fun interchangeable sticker stories! I stuck some fun-themed stickers onto sheet protectors. They can choose a sheet protector, then slip in a background picture (or make their own), and then write the stories about what their stickers are doing in that particular setting! To write a different story, change the setting! So fun!

You could also print the sheets and have your students choose their own stickers for their page. So many ways to do this fun activity! There is a free sticker story in my free resource library! You can sign up below to get the password!

#2: Writing Games

Everyone loves games, right? These fun creative writing activities help your students to pick what they are going to write, and what they are going to write about! All you need is to add dice, or paper clips (to make a pencil/paper clip spinner). They spin (or roll) to discover what they are going to write (story, letter, poem, list). Then they spin 2 things that they are going to write about (a character and a plot prop). There is a free writing game in my Free Resource Library!

✨Small Group writing game: Take a piece of paper and fold it accordion style. Hand them out to the students with a quick story starter. They read the story starter, and then write a sentence or two to add to the story. Give your students a minute or 2, fold to the next empty writing space, and pass it along. You can do it one of two ways, let them read what has already been written, or (if you are looking for some good laughs), don’t let them read what was already written, but let them blindly add to the story.

When you get to the bottom of the paper, open it up and let them read the stories! If they are really inspired, they can then take one and make it into a book by editing and adding illustrations!

✨Whole class writing activity: “Mystery Words” stories. This would be great to do with words you are studying for vocabulary or phonics or spelling. Grab some large sticky notes. Have a student come to the board and write a word that no one else sees or, they could whisper a word to you that you write and hide. Then, cover it with a large sticky note. Have 2 more students come to the board and do the same thing. Then, give the students a character (or they themselves are the character). Together show and read the 3 “Mystery Words”. Students then write a story using the character and the 3 Mystery Words. Share your stories when you are finished! 🙂

Writing Activities #3 Picture Writing Prompts

Picture writing prompts are always super fun! I have a whole post about different ways that you can use Picture Writing Prompts in your classroom. These are a favorite of my students. A super easy way to use Picture writing prompts is to use menu holders! This makes your picture writing prompts portable, durable, and reusable! It also lets your student have a choice of picture writing prompts! Add a portable word wall and an editing and revising checklist and your students have a super portable writing center with plenty of writing support!

#4: “Magnetic” Poetry

Writing poems are always fun writing activity. Freeform poetry is always a favorite! Using random words to put together a poem can also be hilarious! There are several ways that you could put this writing activity together.

The favorite of my students is to have actual magnetic poetry. They have a ton of great sets for students on Amazon (affiliate link).

Create your own! Use clipart and random words (getting your students to help you make a list of random words that you will use also gives them ownership over them!) Print onto magnetic paper (affiliate link) and cut out to put in your center.

So, where are your students putting their magnets? Honestly, they could just lay them out on their desks, you don’t HAVE to have a magnetic surface. You could let them use a magnetic whiteboard easel (if you have one) either tabletop or standing. Or, make it individual by using metal trays (they are actually stove burner covers) (affiliate link).

Don’t want to bother with magnets? You can have your students do this digitally! Check out my digital version on Tpt!

#5 List Writing

The last of the writing activities that I am going to share today is List Writing! Is there anything more satisfying than making a good list? Lists are super fun and easy for students because they don’t have to worry about those pesky writing rules! If you add some fun list writing paper, it becomes irresistible! Of course, you don’t have to use anything special, just cut some writing paper in half to make it strip-like.

What kinds of lists can they write? I made a list of lists that I keep in a menu holder (obsessed much Hilary?) There are many ways that you can use this list of lists! You can get the list of lists for free by signing up for my teacher newsletter!

Writing Activities Storage and Organization

In order to make these more kid and classroom friendly, I suggest storing them in your writing center and making them portable! There are several ways that you can do this:

1. Use Writing Center Trays. I got this great organizer from Really Good Stuff. I am not affiliated with Really Good Stuff, I just really like their stuff! I put the different writing activities into the different colored trays. When it is writing time (or any other time your students have time to do some writing like recess or when they are fast finishers), a student or a few students grab a tray and then find a spot in the room to write. In order to store these when you are ready to switch them out, I store them in a Ziploc baggie, binder, or plastic envelope.
2. Menu Holders. These make fantastic, durable, paper holders. The kiddos can use dry-erase markers on them as well. They are super portable and can be easily stored. They also have different configurations and menu holders with different numbers of pages! So fun!
3. Rainbow drawers. Admit it. You have a set in your classroom. I will admit, I had 3 sets! The great part about these is that they are inexpensive (I have added a set to my Amazon list, but you can find them cheaper at Aldi, Michaels, etc.. They often go on sale). I love it because the kiddos can just grab the whole drawer and take it with them to a writing spot!

Writing Activities Freebies!

You can get all of the freebies mentioned in this post in my Free Resource Library (not to mention a TON of other great freebies). Sign up below for my newsletter and you will get the password to get access!

I also have put all of the products that I have mentioned in one idea list on Amazon (if you are interested). This is an affiliate link, so if you do purchase through my link (don’t feel obligated EVER), then I do receive a small commission at no cost to you. Amazon Idea List.

Thank you so much for reading my post! I hope that you got some good ideas! Happy Teaching!