During the holiday season, we recommend taking a break from your regular assignments and letting young learners have some festive fun with their writing. But with the holiday break right around the corner, you may be feeling too tired to come up with creative topics. That’s where we come in! Here are twelve Christmas writing prompts to get your students in the holiday spirit while still practicing their skills.

Christmas Writing Prompts that Encourage Creativity

Looking for an educational activity to ease into the holiday break? Try out some of these seasonal writing prompts!

1. Elf Life

Imagine that you’re an elf who works at the North Pole. Write a paragraph describing what a typical workday is like for you. What department do you work in? Who are your coworkers? What jobs do you have to do? What does your uniform look like?

2. A Doggone Exciting Christmas

Pretend you’re a wiggly, roly-poly puppy that’s been chosen as a Christmas present for a little boy or girl.

• First, tell how you feel saying goodbye to your family.
• Then, describe being placed in a box under the tree.
• Finally, write about what it’s like to meet your new family.

3. Grounded

Imagine that your family has made plans to visit distant relatives for the holidays. But once you arrive at the airport, an attendant notifies you that flights are canceled due to a blizzard. Write about what it would be like to be stuck in the airport on Christmas Eve. How would your family make the best of a difficult situation?

4. Christmas Bells

Come up with a story about a silver bell named Jingle. Begin with this sentence: After five years stuck in a stuffy old box, Jingle knew this Christmas would be different.

5. Up on the Rooftop

Your neighborhood is holding a Christmas decorating contest, and you’re in charge of decking out your house. What design will you create? Will you use white lights, colored lights, or both? Describe the scene using vivid adjectives and sensory details.

6. Cookie Creations

If a baker asked you to invent a new Christmas cookie, what ingredients would you include? How would your cookie look and taste? How would the texture feel when you take a bite? Write a mouth-watering description of your tasty treat.

7. “Word Bank” Christmas Story

Write a story that takes place on Christmas Eve, using as many words from this word bank as possible: 

• Family
• Snow
• Chimney
• Footprints
• Stuck
• Boot
• Ladder

8. Magical Memories

Take a moment to think about your favorite winter or Christmas memory. What word best expresses your main feeling or emotion? Focusing on that emotion, write a paragraph or two describing this memory.

9. Merry Mayhem

Despite the best intentions, things can sometimes go wrong during the holidays. The fresh-cut tree has a critter in it. The dinner gets burnt. A pet ruins someone’s new Christmas gift. Write about a time when something didn’t go exactly as planned on Christmas. Explain what happened in detail and how your family responded to it.

10. Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Pretend that your pen pal in Hawaii has never seen snow. Write a letter to them explaining what snow is like and the steps to make a snowman. Use your five senses to come up with good descriptive language.

11. Christmas Carol Remix

You’ve been invited to enter the “Create Your Own Christmas Carol” contest. The rules are simple: Choose a favorite Christmas tune and write new lyrics for it! If you need help thinking of words that rhyme, try using a free online rhyming dictionary like RhymeZone. When finished, perform your new remix for your family and invite them to sing along!

12. The Santa Diet

Santa has been eating too many cookies. His little round belly shakes when he laughs, like a bowlful of jelly, and his elves are worried about his health. What if he can’t hit down chimneys in his current state? Imagine that you’re an elf, and write a letter to Santa explaining your concerns and persuading him to make healthier choices. Be sure to include at least three reasons.

These Christmas writing prompts are sure to get your students in a cheerful mood while they practice their composition skills. 

Need an engaging, new writing curriculum for the New Year? See how WriteShop’s award-winning approach can work for your students!