Easy & Fun Homeschool Writing Prompts for Christmas

When planning our December homeschooling, EASY and FUN is the vibe I am looking for.  Below are five writing prompts for Christmas that will check both of these boxes for you.

And the best part is…they can be used with any Christmas-themed book!  Have a family read aloud and then have your children pick one of the Christmas writing prompts below at the end of the reading.  Or if your children prefer to read the book on their own, the writing prompts will work great that way, too.

Choose A Christmas Book

There are such a variety of Christmas books these days.  

You could pick a classic like Dickens’ A Christmas Carol or Frank L. Baum’s The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.  

Or something newer like Magic Tree House: Christmas in Camelot or Nate the Great and the Crunchy Christmas.  

And there are so many more in between!  Check out this list of 25 Christmas Chapter Books for more ideas.

After you read a few chapters to your children, have them pick one of the Christmas writing prompts below!

The Writing Prompts For Christmas

1: Write A Diary Entry

Have your children pick their favorite character in the book.  (Or their least favorite character!) and write a diary entry for them based upon the last event that happened to them in the story. 

If your children are not familiar with the idea of a diary, explain that this is where the character would write their private thoughts that no one would see.  Have them start the entry with “Dear Diary,”.  

If your children need encouragement to write longer passages, give them a specific number of sentences to write.  A number one or two higher than their average work is a good place to start.

2: Character Choices

Did a character have to make a tough choice in the book?  Would your children have made the same choice?  Encourage your children to make a different choice for the character even if it is just to explore what might have happened.  

Have them write a passage about what might have happened if the character had made this different choice.  Some children might just write a very logical paragraph about the different choices and how each would have turned out.  Other children might get creative and write a whole new scene.  Both types of writing are important!

3: Interview A Character

Have your children pretend they are a news reporter showing up in the book ready to interview one of the characters!  They will need to prepare their interview questions ahead of time.  

Give them a number of interview questions to prepare based upon their skill level and encourage them to think deeply about the questions.  Maybe have them throw a few fun questions in, too!

You could follow-up this activity by having one of you pretend to be the character and have your child conduct the interview with the questions they have written.

4: Add To The Story

After your reading one day, encourage your children to add to the story.

This may just be a paragraph that they add to provide a little more detail to the story or a whole brand new scene.  Make sure they think about where in the story their new paragraph or scene will occur.

Once they have finished their writing, read that section of the story back to them with their passage inserted.

5: Describe A Scene

Is there a scene in the story where not much description is given?  Maybe it is a house, somewhere outside or in a store.

Have your children give this part of the story color by describing the scene.  Encourage them to think about what they would hear, see, smell, touch and maybe even taste.  For older children, encourage them to use a metaphor and/or a simile to help describe the scene.

Christmas Writing Prompt Challenge

Do you have a future author on your hands?  At the end of the book, encourage them to write a spin-off or sequel to the book.  

Maybe a sequel would take place next Christmas or during a different holiday during the year.  A spin-off could include one or two of the characters going off on a completely different adventure.  Or likely your child will think of something all on their own.

For Younger Children

If you have younger children, they can still participate in the family read aloud and follow-up with a drawing instead of a writing prompt.  

At the end of each day’s reading, encourage them to picture one character, scene, or event from the story and draw a picture of it.  Have them add some specific details from the book.  This is a fun way to show what they comprehended during the reading.

More ELA Ideas for Christmas

Looking for other fun activities to practice English Language Arts skills during the holidays?  

Grab some Christmas Mad Libs and practice parts of speech.

Develop listening and language skills with a Christmas-themed Following Directions Activity. 

Learn about poetry and descriptive language by choosing a Christmas poem to study.

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