Are you out of ideas for writing assignments? Or maybe you let your children pick their own topics, and they have writer’s block. Either way, these free writing prompts are a great way to get started. You’ll find prompts for journal writing, creative writing, essays, and more. Most of the websites listed below have prompts for a wide range of ages, unless otherwise noted.

Free Writing Prompts

Brave Writer – An archive of their Friday Freewrite writing prompts and exercises

Busy Teacher – Creative writing prompts and worksheets

Daily Teaching Tools – 180 daily writing prompts that cover many topics

Englishlinx – Narrative, informative, persuasive, and research worksheets and prompts

Expository Writing Prompts – Writing prompts on a wide range of topics including science, history, and more

Grasping for Objectivity – Simple writing prompts designed to spark creativity in young children

Journal Buddies – Journal prompts, story starters, essay ideas, and more

Kids Play and Create – An extensive list of creative writing ideas

K12 Reader – Creative, informative, and opinion writing prompts

My Cup Runs Over – 100 writing prompts and story starters for middle and high school

Scholastic Story Starters Adventure – Select a grade level (K to 6th) and spin the wheels to generate a story starter.

Squarehead Teachers – Fun writing prompts for elementary-aged kids

The Teacher’s Corner – Daily writing prompts related to what happened on that day in history and other topics

Write All About It! – This website randomly generates wacky news headlines for kids to write about.

Write Bonnie Rose – 100 history based writing prompts for teenagers

Writing Exercises – This website randomly generates story titles, plots, characters, and more for students to write about.

WriteShop – Creative, journal, and essay writing prompts organized by theme

123 Homeschool 4 Me – Writing prompts for early elementary students organized by monthly and seasonal themes