Writing Prompts For 2nd Graders—40+ Fun Ideas To Excite The Kids

Second-grade students are often reluctant writers. 

Their writing skills are not yet developed to the point where they feel confident in writing, which makes it hard to get them started. 

In this article, we’ll help your second graders improve their writing skills with over 40 writing prompts for 2nd graders.

Take the ideas below as they are, or change and edit them to suit your second grader better.

Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or another caregiver to a second-grader, these writing prompts will help you bond while developing their writing skills

To help them out, write with them. For each prompt they use, use it yourself and share your stories.

40+ writing prompts for 2nd graders

Below we’ve included a list of over 40 2nd grade writing prompts. 

The list includes journal, narrative, and opinion prompts, so it won’t be hard to find at least a few writing prompts your second graders will love.

Journal writing for second grade students

Write about a time you had the most fun you’ve ever had.

Describe your family. How many people are there? What do you do together? Who do you get on best with?

Write about the last time you felt a strong emotion. It can be sadness, happiness, worry, curiosity, or anything else you remember well.

Write a letter to your adult self. Tell them about school, home, and everything you like to do.

Imagine what your life will be like in 20 years. What job do you have? Do you have a wife/husband and children? Do you still live in the same city/country?

Who do you look up to? What about them inspires you?

If you were a wild animal, which wild animal would you be? What do you like about that animal? Are they dangerous or friendly? Are they powerful or small? Both?

If you owned a magic wand, what would you do with it?

Write a letter to your best friend and explain why they’re so great.

Write about your earliest memory. Where were you? Who was there? What were you doing? Is it a happy memory or a sad one?

What are you really good at?

If you can have any job or career when you grow up, what will it be, and why?

What is the most fantastic present you ever received? Who gave it to you?

If you can live anywhere in the world, where will you live? Why?

Writing Prompts For 2nd Graders

Second grade opinion writing prompts

What is your favorite subject in school? What do you like about it?

What is your least favorite subject in school? What don’t you like about it?

Do you play video games? What is your favorite game, and what makes it so good?

What is your favorite food? Can you describe how it tastes?

What is the most important thing about going to school?

Should students get homework? Why? Or why not?

If you ruled the world, what rules would you make? Why are they important?

If you can choose one chore never to have to do again, what will it be?

If you can have any superpower, what will it be and why?

Who is the funniest person in your class? What makes them so funny?

If you can meet any famous person in the world, who will it be and why?

In what ways have you changed since you were in first grade? Are you smarter? Do you have any new hobbies since then?

How will you change by the time you finish elementary school? What will you be able to do then that you can’t do now?

How many hours should a school day be? Is it too much right now, or should students stay in school longer?

What can kids your age do to protect the planet?

Do you think all students should wear uniforms to school or is it better to choose your clothes?

If you can change one thing about your school, what will it be?

Narrative writing prompts for second graders

Aliens have arrived on Earth. It’s your job to teach them all about humans and life on this planet. What do you tell them?

You’ve invented the time machine. What time period do you travel back to, and why?

One day, your teacher doesn’t show up to class. Now it’s your job to teach the students. What do you teach them? What are the rules in your class?

Write about a time that aliens landed on your school’s playground. 

Write a story where you take the place of a famous person. It can be an actor, a singer, a president, etc.

Imagine a different universe where humans can fly. What’s life like in that universe? Do people still use cars? Do they have wings?

One day your teacher says the whole class is going on a field trip. Think of somewhere you would like to go and write a letter to your teacher explaining why the class should go there. 

Write a story about an animal that can talk.

One morning you wake up and realize you have superpowers. What are your powers? And what will you do with them?

Imagine a world where television and computers don’t exist. What’s life like in this world? What do children do for fun?

You’ve invented the time machine. You travel 100 years in the future. What does the world look like one hundred years in the future? What are the differences between then and now? What are the similarities?

Instead of being born at this time, you were born three hundred years ago. What is your life like? Where do you live? Is it hard, or do you enjoy living in that time?

Imagine you are your favorite character from a movie or tv show. Write about a day in the life of that character. 

One day you wake up and realize you’ve switched places with your pet. You stay home and mind the house while your pet goes to school. What do you do at home all day when the family has left for school and work? How does your pet get on at school?

You meet a genie who offers you three wishes. What are your wishes, and why did you choose them?

Second grade writing prompts

Why is it important for kids to write?

Getting second graders to write is not always easy, but encouraging them is essential. 

Writing is a fantastic way for young children to get to know themselves better, practice communication skills, and expand their imagination.

According to Gail E. Tompkins, Professor Emerita at California State University, children can benefit in many ways by writing stories. 

In her research published in the journal Language Arts, Tompkins explains that children benefit from creative writing in the following ways:

  • They get entertained
  • Writing fosters artistic expression
  • Children get to ‘explore the functions and values of writing’
  • Writing stimulates the imagination
  • Writing clarifies thinking
  • Writing helps children discover and explore their identity
  • Practice makes perfect – writing practices improve children’s reading and writing skills

It’s not new information that writing helps children grow and develop. 

A child may use any prompts in this article and write a story that others may not, which is a testament to children’s inherent creativity and sense of play.

The more you encourage your second grader to write and the more interest and support you show in their creative pursuits, the healthier and happier the child will likely be as they grow up.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you’ve found at least a few writing prompts in this article to help your second grader get their creative juices flowing. 

If you’re a teacher in a classroom, it may help to allow students to read their completed stories aloud to the class. Of course, some students won’t want to do that, but the ones that do will appreciate the opportunity.

If you’re a parent and have a second-grader at home, understand that exploring creative story writing is a fantastic way to support your child’s growth and development. 

Exploring creativity in the home takes the pressure off kids to write something ‘good’ and helps them feel safe enough to explore their creative side truly.

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