This article is dedicated to giving you plot ideas for a children’s novel.
We hope you enjoy the following 21 original writing prompts for children’s stories!
Coming of Age
1. Welcome home, baby!
This story is the journey of an only child learning to accept their new role as an older sibling. They must learn to navigate feelings of possession and jealousy, while also understanding how much they love their new sibling.
2. We’ll miss you, grandma!
The first big death is a hard one as a child. This story focuses on dealing with feelings of loss and confusion, as well as their own mortality, after a grandmother has passed away.
3. It’s a whole new world!
One of the parents has been transferred to a different country. The children must navigate learning a new culture while also dealing with their sadness at leaving behind everything they knew for this new place. A new friend helps them adapt and they learn the value of an open heart.
4. A bike is just a bike; nobody needs to learn to ride it!
A short story prompt focused on the value of learning a skill: in this case, how to ride a bike. The child is resistant at first through fear, then shame at not learning quick enough. They give up on it until something forces them to try again and finally learn, making them realize the importance of resilience.
5. Everything is better when it’s earned.
A pre-teen begs their parents to buy them an expensive gift. The parents decide to make the pre-teen get a small job (for example: a paper route, personal assistant to an elder, dog walker) to earn the money themselves. The story becomes about how they learn to love their job through the people they meet and understanding how the work they do helps others.
6. Sometimes, mommy and daddy are better apart.
After the parents have decided to divorce, the children must learn to lean on each other for support. They help each other through feelings of confusion and abandonment.
7. Not everybody lives in a big house.
When a family loses their house, they must resort to living on the streets. The story is about one of the children and their resilience to live a normal life, even while begging for food or navigating the city’s care system for those similarly destitute. They eventually get a new home and are more appreciative of the little things in life after the experience.
Fantasy and Adventure
8. We’re off to get the treasure!
After discovered an antique-looking book in the library, a map falls out, detailing the spot of a buried treasure. The child who found it decides to go in search, enlisting friends to help along the way.
9. When will we go next?
A little girl finds a magical bracelet in a locked jewelry box while rifling through the attic. When she puts it on, she’s transported to different times in the future. She makes friends and works with them to discover how to stop certain tragic events from happening in her own time.
10. If you can type it, you can see it!
An 8-year-old child discovers that whatever they type on an old typewriter comes true. Eventually, they type a story that gets out of control and puts the whole town in danger. They must use the magic typewriter to find a solution.
11. All I want to be is a knight at the round table.
Back in medieval times, a little serf boy finds himself on the path to becoming a knight. He must overcome the trials and tribulations of his own low-status as a peasant to achieve the high-regard of knighthood.
12. I can save myself!
A princess who has been stolen by a dragon decides she no longer wants to wait for a prince to save her. She plans her own escape and must navigate the dangers away from the dragon to return home and claim her rightful place as Queen of the land.
13. Ghosts aren’t always bad to have around.
A family moves into a new house and discover it’s haunted. The family is scared at first, but the children learn that the ghosts are friendly and just want to be acknowledged by the family living there.
14. The best thing you can be is kind.
A child discovers a magic box that will give a person anything they want. The only catch: the box will only open if a person does a truly kind act, one done purely because it is the right thing to do. By the end, the child has learned what kindness really means and finally opens the box to reveal their prize.
Animal Stories
15. No animal left behind!
The sheep have decided to boycott being turned into lamb steaks. They work with the other farm animals to stage funny events, stopping the farmers from taking them off the farm. Eventually, the farmers leave the animals to live in peace.
16. Becoming a pet is the greatest thing ever!
This story is told from the point of view of a new puppy who bonds with the small child of the family. The dog narrates what it’s like growing up with the child, learning to listen and love and live together. The end can be sad (such as the dog dying of old age) or happy (such as the dog welcoming a new sibling to the family).
17. Where’s my elephant mommy?
A baby elephant has been left behind by its herd and must chase after to find them before its caught by the predators of the savannah. The story describes both the baby elephant’s sadness over being lost and abandoned but also fear and determination at arriving safely.
18. How’d this child get here?
A toddler child is found lost in the rainforest. Rather than leave it, a group of monkeys decide to rescue the child. They must both avoid certain animals and enlist the help of other animals to find the child’s family and return them safely.
19. What if talking dinosaurs were real?
A glitch in time travel experimenting transports a group of friendly, talking dinosaurs from their prehistoric world to the present. After scaring people on their search for a way home, they meet a small child who decides to help them. They all learn the power of understanding and inclusivity, no matter what a person looks like.
20. Animals can help you learn anything.
A little farm child is trying to learn to read but can’t seem to make it work. The farm animals talk to each other (without the child understanding them) and work together to help the child learn to read.
21. How can we live like this?
The animals in the deep forest are having their habitat threatened by increased logging. When they realize they’ll all be without a home soon, they work together to enact a plan to kick out the offending humans and get the forest back for the animals.
Would you like guidance on writing a children’s book? Take a look at our beginner’s guide below: