Some of the best writing ideas are random random. That's why these 10 free fourth grade writing prompts follow no particular theme, but perhaps you'll find that a few of them resonate with your children or students.
You may notice that the numbers on this page do not start at 1 and work their way up. This is because these 10 fourth grade writing prompts are an excerpt from my book,500 Writing Prompts for Kids: First Grade through Fifth Grade. If you like these free samples, the full version is available in both digital and paperback form.
Fourth Grade Writing Prompts #7: Grab Bag #1
481. While searching through the attic, you find a giant box with pictures and various items from your parents’ past. This includes yearbook photos, wedding stuff and baby pictures of you. What might be some of the surprises you find in there while snooping around?
482. One day as you are walking around in the school you notice a strange, dusty, old paper hanging from the ceiling. You knock it down and find out that it is a treasure map with a treasure located somewhere in the school. Write a story about how you put together a team of your friends in an effort to find the treasure first!
483. Lucid dreaming is what happens when you are in a dream, you realize that you are in a dream and yet you don’t wake up. This gives you control over the dream to make it whatever you want to be. Imagine you started lucid dreaming. What would you do in the dream now that you have full control over it?
484. Life can be very different depending on what career choice your parents have made. Pick one of the following jobs and write about how your life would change if one of your parents worked any of these: astronaut, professional football player, secret agent, farmer, movie star.
485. Imagine that you had the ability to plant a garden with whatever plants you wanted. Which plants would you put in your garden and where would the garden be? Would you put any non-plants in the garden as a decoration? How often would you need to take care of it?
486. When you get to high school and college, there are a lot more after-school clubs and activities like French Club, Environmental Club, Volleyball Club, etc. Which clubs do you think you will be most likely to participate in? Why would you pick those clubs over all of the other ones?
487. There are a lot of wild and crazy stunts you can do in this world. Skydiving, bungee jumping and ski jumping are just a few of the things people do when they’re seeking thrills. If you were looking for a thrill, what activities do you think you would do? Who would you go with and how would you make sure you end up safe?
488. We sometimes take for granted all of the things that our parents do for us, especially when it comes to things around the house. Imagine that you had to do all of the following in one day and write about how you’d handle it: cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner, washing dishes, making the bed, sweeping and vacuuming the floor, taking out the trash and doing laundry.
489. In lots of science fiction shows, the characters travel in a giant space ship from planet to planet, meeting with aliens and exploring the universe. In the future, this sort of space travel might actually be possible. Pretend that you are travelling in one of these ships and you come upon a race of aliens! What happens next?
490. When you were little, did you have a stuffed animal or a toy that you couldn’t leave home without? What did you like so much about that toy? What do you think of now when you think of it?
Done with Fourth Grade Writing Prompts? Go back to Creative Writing Prompts.
Use the above prompts or article as inspiration to write a story or other short piece.
