Picture prompts are perfect for jumpstarting those creative juices in our students. Using a picture for a writing prompt is just a simple idea with so much power behind it. This writing activity will have students asking for more. Read on to learn how to use pictures for writing prompts today!
6 Pictures For Writing Prompts
Using pictures for writing prompts allows kids to be creative, get imaginative, and express themselves and empowers them as writers. Better yet, their writing will start to improve with these writing activities! Start by choosing images that will really get their attention. Then add a few guiding questions to help students move their writing along.
Circus
Hit up Google Images or Unsplash for free images and get a picture of an acrobat or a fire-breather to get those creative veins flowing. Add some quick guiding questions and let the writing roll out of them. Here is a sample image you could use for the circus. Second graders or third graders would really start to have fun with this one! Even younger kids could tell stories or draw to add to the images! Add the 5W questions and how to guide them. Why is she breathing fire? How is she doing it? Where is she? Who is she?
Family
Kids love to make up stories about people. This would probably work for older students like second grade and up. Connect a picture prompt to what the students are learning in social studies. Grab a black-and-white image and have students tell the story of that family. Who are they? What do they do for a living? What is the dog’s name? How old are they now? Tell me about the day in the image. It is a lot of fun just to let kids get creative and the idea of a black-and-white image may just be enough to pull some really cool details out of them!
Holidays
Why not use picture prompts around the holidays to have students tell stories about them? You can even get into traditions around the holiday seasons and connect this to bigger units you are doing! Don’t forget to add a few guiding questions and the writing will flow!
Gifts
Another idea is what is in the present? Use an image of a gift and have students make inferences about what could be inside it. Even second graders are starting to use clues to make inferences or guesses about their reading, so incorporate that skill here with picture prompts too.
Emotions!
Grab some real pictures of kids with all different emotions on their faces and have the students tell the story! They can answer why the child is sad, surprised, scared, or even nervous. Ask questions about the setting of the picture or the activities in the picture and have them make connections. This is a great writing activity for social-emotional learning (let’s talk emotions!) along with using some important thinking and writing skills. Using the girl jumping in the puddle excitedly is perfect to get the students engaged in writing about what they see and even visualize what will come next!
Animals!
All kids love animals! Get some images of interesting animals, or animals looking cool! Practice some descriptive writing with this one and have students describe what they see, what the animal is doing, where they may be going, and what they may be wondering about this animal. This is another great way to let the kids be creative and jumpstart their thinking. The bunny with the glasses is a great sample to use!
Pictures for writing prompts or Picture prompts for writing are such an incredible tool, and with the wonderful world of the Internet, pictures are readily available to use and engage the students with today! If you are looking for even more writing ideas, check out these other blogs, 5 Easy Ways to Improve Writing Instruction, Writing Portfolios, Why Writers Workshop?, and Spring Writing Prompts! Use some of the samples above, or get creative with your images. Need some writing crafts too? Thompson’s Teachings has those too. Just grab some here! Picture prompts for writing are seriously incredible and can be used in so many ways!