Are you looking for a last-minute, no-prep Kindergarten writing activity? As teachers, we tend to overthink and plan elaborate and engaging lessons every day. In reality, we need simple and no-prep activities that you can do with your students repeatedly. I've always liked to keep a list of quick writing activities I can do with my students, whether I need a last-minute small group lesson or additional writing practice. Here are 3 simple Kindergarten writing activities that you can do with just a piece of paper!
What supplies do I need?
Honestly, you will not need any supplies except for a piece of paper and a pencil! If your students have writing journals, these will work well, also. I do give options in case you want to use additional visuals to help your students as they are writing. If you don't have your own writing paper, I do have a free printable download for you at the end of this blog post!
Picture Prompts
The first activity is my go-to when I need a quick and simple writing activity for Kindergarten. One of the hardest things for a Kindergartener is coming up with a topic for their sentence. You can't just ask your students to “write a sentence” without providing them with a topic. That's where picture prompts come in. You can use any pictures you may have in your classroom to show your students. I've also used little animal figurines or alphabet flashcards to give my students a topic. You can search for an image online and display it on your SMARTboard. I've done holiday-themed words, animals, places, toys, etc. The possibilities are endless!
Once your students have their topic, you can either write the word down for them to copy or have them use their sounds to sound it out. Then, they will think of a sentence with that word in it. For example, the word may be “bee.” Your students could write a simple sentence about a bee. For example, “The bee is black and yellow.” They can write a more descriptive longer sentence or even a story. Picture prompts are really easy to differentiate for your students' individual writing abilities.
You can read more about how I use picture prompts and grab a free downloadable page with multiple picture prompts here.
Question of the Day
The next writing activity is a question of the day. You will ask simple questions like “What is your favorite color?” or “What did you do this weekend?” Your students will answer the question by writing it on their paper. Depending on your students' writing ability, it may look different from student to student. You can start by just having the student write a 1-2 word answer and draw a picture to answer.
Another option is to have a sentence stem on the board, like “My favorite color is _.” and have students copy the sentence and write the answer. Finally, your students will be able to answer the question with a complete sentence. You can find a long list of questions of the day to ask here.
Write a Letter
The last no-prep writing activity is to write a letter. This one works better for students who are able to write complete sentences independently, but you can certainly practice from the start of the year. Students will write a letter to someone. You can let them choose or make it easier by picking someone. Some ideas are community helpers, other teachers at the school, parents or guardians, siblings, people in an assisted living community, pets, animals, authors, etc. In the letter, they can address who they are speaking to, “Dear Postal Worker,” and then introduce themselves. “My name is _.” and finally, ask a question to that person, followed by a signature. Another idea is to write someone a thank you note. For example, you could thank the librarian for always helping students find books.
It would be really cool if you could have those people write back to your students! I think that doing an activity like this once to twice a month will really connect your students to the outside world.
Download the free writing paper template here!
Don't have blank writing paper or a writing journal? You can download these free printable writing papers with space to draw a picture and write for each writing activity!
I hope these simple writing activities are helpful when you are planning your next writing lesson!