How to Make Writing Fun for Students

Writing is one of the most difficult tasks we ask kindergarteners to do because it requires them to use so many developing skills all at once. In order for beginning writers to improve this skill, they need a lot of repetition and practice! As with any repetition, students might become frustrated and unmotivated to keep trying. This is why it’s so important to keep things fresh and engaging! In this post, I’m going to share some resources and tips all about how to make writing fun for students.

10 Ways to Make Writing Fun

Making writing more fun and engaging for students doesn’t mean you have to plan elaborate lessons with all of the bells and whistles. In fact, motivating students to write is easier than you think! 

1. Choose Kid-Friendly Topics

The first way to make writing more fun for students is to ask them to write about things they find interesting! When students are familiar with a topic, they are much more likely to enjoy the writing assignment.

2. Model the Writing Process

The next way that you can make writing fun is to model the writing process with shared writing activities. Show students how fun it can be to put your thoughts on paper for someone else to read. This could be as simple as writing a large chart-paper thank you note for the night custodian to read when they come to your classroom. 

3. Provide a Variety of Writing Tools

When it’s time for students to write, consider providing a variety of writing tools for them to try! Not only do students love the additional choice, but different writing tools can adjust the fine motor practice of this task. 

4. Use Picture Writing Prompts

Picture writing prompts are another easy way to make writing fun for students. With so many other things to focus on as they write, having to come up with a topic can be challenging for beginning writers. You can make it easier by giving students illustrated writing prompts that they’ll be excited to write about!

5. Differentiate Writing Assignments

A guaranteed way to take the fun out of writing is to give students tasks that aren’t developmentally appropriate. By differentiating your writing assignments, you can ensure that students will feel successful with the task. In turn, this will help them feel more like writers and they’ll find the process more enjoyable.

As an example, the picture writing prompts above come with three different versions. For students who find fine motor tasks more challenging, there are sentence frames to minimize the amount of writing that they’ll need to do while still getting an appropriate amount of practice. There are also traceable sentence frames as well as prompts with blank lines for students who are ready for those.

6. Pair Writing with Crafts

Crafts are such an easy way to make writing more fun for kindergarten students. By turning a writing assignment into a craftivity, students are able to continue to practice fine motor skills that will help them with future writing tasks. By presenting this fine motor practice in a different way, it encourages students to stay engaged. 

It doesn’t take very much prep time at all to add crafts to your writing activities. These printable animal crafts are easy to create and look adorable when attached to student writing.

7. Celebrate

It’s important to celebrate student effort as they work on their writing skills! When students have completed a sentence, encourage them to share it with a table partner so they can celebrate each other. You could also have an “open mic” where you give students the chance to share their writing with the class. Students love to cheer for their classmates!

8. Publish Student Work

Along those same lines, publishing student work is a great way to make writing more fun for students. When they know the task in front of them is going to be put into a class book, they will be more motivated to try their best. It’s always so fun for students to flip through a class book of student writing! 

You could also assemble completed writing prompts for individual students into writing journals. It’s fun for them to flip through their old writing and see their growth!

9. Involve Family

Another easy way to make writing more enjoyable for students is to involve family in writing practice. Seasonal family projects can include a writing component that encourages students to write about their project. For example, a student could write a description of the jack-o-lantern they decorated with their family.

The short writing component is a fun addition to the completed family project, especially if you hang them up in the hallway or in the classroom.

10. Display Student Writing

That leads to the final tip, which is to put student writing on display! Students are always so excited to see their writing throughout the school. It doesn’t take long to staple student writing assignments onto a bulletin board, but it sure makes a huge difference in making students feel more like writers. When they feel successful with a task, they are more likely to find it fun.

Fun and Engaging Writing Activities

I know how difficult it can be to find developmentally appropriate writing activities for young kindergarten students! That’s why I created the Kindergarten Writing Toolbox Membership. This membership gives you access to engaging print and use activities so you don’t have to spend your prep time tracking down activities for supplemental writing practice. 

Save These Tips for How to Make Writing Fun

Be sure to save these fun writing activities and tips so you can come back to them later. Just add the pin below to your favorite writing board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these ideas and resources when you’re trying to find a way to make writing practice more engaging for your students.