Writing is an absolutely essential life skill any person will use throughout their lifetime. So, it’s important to be able to teach kids how to write properly and how to do it well. If you are trying to improve your child’s writing skills, and you’re not entirely sure how to do it, an easy and stress-free method is to play some writing games that are perfect for kids. This way, you and your child won’t be stressing over the desk, mindlessly writing sentence after sentence. With these writing games, you’ll really be engaging the creativity and writing skills of your child, ensuring success for your child down the line.
Here are the 15 best writing games for kids, including writing games for younger kids, writing games for older kids, and writing games you can play online.
1. DISAPPEARING LETTERS
BEST GAME TO LEARN TO WRITE LETTERS
Are you looking for a super easy writing game you can play with your toddler to get them to learn how to write letters? You should try Disappearing Letters! To play, all you’ll need is a chalkboard, some chalk, a paintbrush, and some water. Then, write a letter or a small word on the chalkboard with some chalk. Your child can then dip the paintbrush in some water and trace over the letters, making the letters disappear little by little!
2. UNSCRAMBLE THE SENTENCE
BEST WRITING GAME TO LEARN SENTENCE STRUCTURE
If your child is starting to read and put sentences together, a great game to play to fine-tune this skill is Unscramble the Sentence. To play this simple game, all you need is a piece of paper and some scissors. On the paper, write a simple sentence. Then, cut out each of the words and scramble them up. Finally, have your child rearrange the sentence in the right order in order to create a complete sentence!
3. PAPER TELEPHONE
BEST WRITING GAME FOR OLDER KIDS
One of the most entertaining games you can play as a family while improving those all-important writing skills is Paper Telephone. To play this game, everyone starts with a sheet of paper and writes a random phrase. Then, every player passes their paper to the left. All players must now draw the phrase to the best of their ability and fold down the phrase so that you can only see the drawing. Then, pass the papers again to the left. Now, upon seeing the drawings, the players must write a phrase that best describes it. Continue in this manner, drawing and writing until a predetermined number of turns (generally the number of turns it takes for the paper to reach the original owner). Finally, reveal the drawings and phrases and see how much everything changed over the course of the game!
4. WRITE A STORY
BEST GAME FOR WRITING STORIES
It’s no secret that kids have an active imagination. Capitalize on that and write some stories together! To play this game, simply write a sentence to start a story. Then, hand over the paper to the child. They will have to use their imagination to complete the story. They can write as little or as much as they want!
5. PASS THE STORY
BEST COOPERATIVE WRITING GAME FOR KIDS
If you are looking for a fun writing game to play if you have multiple children begging to learn this essential skill, play Pass the Story. In this super fun game, you’ll really be challenging everyone’s writing skills and creativity. To play, hand each child a piece of paper. Each child must begin writing a story for 1-2 minutes. Once the time is up, each child hands over their story to the child on their left. They must each continue the story that is written on the sheet of paper. Continue in this manner, with each child writing a part of a story for 1-2 minutes until the stories are complete! Finally, of course, have each child read a story out loud!
6. SPEECH BUBBLES
BEST WRITING GAME FOR BUDDING ARTISTS
If your child is an artist at heart, one way to incorporate their drawings with writing is to play Speech Bubbles! To play this writing game for kids, have your child draw a picture with a couple of characters. It can be anything – a dog, a child, or even a flower. Then, to make it more fun, color them in! Once the characters are created, have your child draw a speech bubble for each character and write something that the character would say!
7. FILL IN THE STORY
BEST FILL-IN-THE-BLANK WRITING GAME FOR KIDS
Another great writing game you can play with your child to improve their writing skills is to play Fill in the Story. This is a great game for kids who love to read stories and have an active imagination. To play, print out a story, but make sure to put blanks where certain words would go. Then, grab a pencil and start reading the story with your child. Have your child complete the story by filling in the blanks. Once completed, read the story together from start to finish!
8. HANGMAN
BEST CLASSIC WRITING GAME FOR KIDS
Of course, a classic writing game all kids enjoy playing on any occasion is Hangman. If you don’t quite remember how to play Hangman, we’ve got you covered! Start with a player, or host, choosing a random word. Then, on a piece of paper, draw a line for each letter of the word that the other players have to guess. All players then take turns guessing a letter. If the letter is right, the host must write that letter on top of the correct line. If the letter is wrong, the host will start drawing a hangman. The players lose if the hangman is complete!
9. BIRTHDAY CARDS
BEST WRITING GAMES FOR KIDS FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS
A super fun way to incorporate writing into your child’s everyday life is to get them to write birthday cards. Have your child write a birthday card for a special someone in their life! Then, give them the tools to decorate the card to make the card extra special.
Keep in mind that it doesn’t necessarily have to be someone’s birthday to play this writing game. You can even write cards for other occasions, including holidays and anniversaries!
10. GROCERY LIST
BEST WRITING GAME THAT INCORPORATES CHORES
Do you want to start helping your child understand household chores bit by bit? A great way they can help out is to help you write a grocery list! And better yet, turn the grocery list into a quick little writing game that will help improve your child’s writing and reading skills! With your child, plan out your meals and the ingredients needed for each meal. Then, write a list of all the groceries needed. After you write the list, take your child grocery shopping so that they can tick off the items one by one!
11. PEN PALS
BEST GAME TO LEARN TO WRITE A LETTER
If your child has already developed a penchant for writing, take advantage of it, and get them a pen pal! I mean, who doesn’t remember writing a letter to their pen pal back in the day? Don’t worry; this practice has not disappeared entirely! Your child’s pen pal can be anybody: a cousin, a grandparent, or a friend who’s moved away. The two pen pals then exchange letters back and forth. This can make waiting for letters every morning so much fun!
12. BLANK COMIC STRIP
BEST WRITING GAME FOR COMIC LOVERS
If your child loves to read comics or books with a lot of illustrations, a really fun way to practice their writing skills is to get a blank comic strip. A blank comic strip looks just like a normal comic strip but with blank speech bubbles. This means your child is going to have to use their imagination to complete the comic strip with sentences of their own! To make this writing game even more fun, grab some crayons or coloring pencils to color in the characters too.
13. MESSY WRITING
THE BEST WRITING GAME FOR YOUNGER KIDS
If you want to introduce writing letters to your toddler, besides Disappearing Letters (another game for younger kids we’ve already mentioned), you should also play Messy Writing. Messy Writing is, you guessed it, messy, which makes it so much more fun for your energetic child! To play this writing game, get a tray or bin and fill it with sand, shaving cream, or flour. Then, say a letter to your child or write it down on a piece of paper for your child to copy. Your child should then write down the letter on the material in the bin! As your child becomes more familiar with letters, you can even move up to spelling words like their name!
14. DICE STORY
BEST WRITING GAME WITH DICE
If you have dice lying around at home, did you know that you can turn these dice into an educational and fun writing game for kids? To play Dice Story, you’ll need to first set the scene. This means you’ll need to choose a character, a setting, and a problem. Then, based on these three story elements, write the first sentence of the story.
And now, for the fun part! Take turns with your child rolling the dice. Whatever the dice lands on is the exact number of words you must add to the story! Continue taking turns in this manner until you finish the story together.
15. CUSTOM LESSONS
BEST ONLINE WRITING RESOURCE
While not quite a game, some students might benefit from some extra help to improve their writing skills. You can play as many games as you want, but if you really want improvement, nothing beats a tutor of some sort. For example, you could reach out to a professional academic writer at an essay writing service, CustomWritings, for example, to create a personalized online study guide for your kids and to assist your kids with homework.
Head over to our list of the best card games for kids for more kid-friendly game recommendations!
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