creative writing for kg2

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Creative Writing Worksheets K-2

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Kindergarten Writing Worksheets

• Kindergarten
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98 Kindergarten Writing Worksheets

A practice sentence

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Your child gets practice writing this sentence and coloring in the picture.

A series of events

What did you do today? In this language arts worksheet, your child gets practice looking up words in a dictionary, writing words in alphabetical order, and drawing.

All about me!

My name is… In this writing worksheet, your kids get practice writing their name, age, and address and drawing a self-portrait and a picture of where they live.

This early writing worksheet gives your child practice writing the entire alphabet in lowercase letters.

It's the opposite! In this language arts worksheet, your child gets practice identifying antonyms such as on/off, light/dark, and night/day.

Classroom words

Can you spot the teacher? In this language arts worksheet, your child will find 10 items in the picture of a classroom and write the word next to each one.

In this coloring reading worksheet, your child gets practice reading color words, matching each color word to the correct image, and, of course, coloring!

Connect the animal to its food

In this early writing worksheet, your child will draw straight lines across the page to connect each animal to its dinner.

Connect the animal to its home

In this early writing worksheet, your child will draw straight lines across the page to connect each animal to the right home.

Connect the rhymes: vowel sound a

In this coloring worksheet, your child will identify the pictures of rhyming words that have the same vowel sounds.

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• Kindergarten Writing Worksheets

Learning to Write the Alphabet

Dive into our comprehensive collection of engaging and interactive writing worksheets for kindergarten learners. These thoughtfully designed resources cover the entire alphabet, including lowercase and uppercase cursive tracing as well as print letters. With ample space for practice within designated lines, these worksheets promote consistency in letter size, spacing, and slant, enhancing handwriting skills and fine motor development. Ideal for students, educators, homeschoolers, and anyone interested in refining their cursive and print writing skills.

Please share our free worksheets. Thank you!

Free Writing Worksheets

Flexible Options: Download, Print, or Use Our Free Writing Worksheets Online

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Our writing worksheets are designed to be convenient for educators and families. We offer three options to access our free worksheets. You can download the PDF file, print it from your browser, or use the online version of our kindergarten worksheets. These options allow you to save, print, or complete our worksheets directly on our website. By providing these flexible options, we aim to make learning writing accessible, convenient, and engaging for teachers, parents, and kids.

Free Kindergarten Worksheets

• Lowercase Cursive Tracing Worksheet
• Uppercase Cursive Tracing Worksheet
• Lowercase Alphabet Letters Tracing Worksheet
• Uppercase Alphabet Letters Tracing Worksheet
• Blank Writing Practice Worksheet
• Name Writing Practice Worksheets
• Letter A Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter B Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter C Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter D Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter E Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter F Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter G Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter H Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter I Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter J Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter K Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter L Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter M Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter N Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter O Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter P Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter Q Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter R Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter S Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter T Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter U Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter V Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter W Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter X Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter Y Writing Practice Worksheet
• Letter Z Writing Practice Worksheet
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174 Fun Kindergarten Writing Prompts

How Can Writing Prompts Help Kindergarteners?

40 creative journal prompts for kindergarteners, tips for using kindergarten writing prompts, how to implement writing prompts for kindergarten.

Your kindergartener has just started to read and write! The ability to write is a crucial part of children’s school years and professional life. Therefore, it is essential that your little one starts practicing creative writing from his early formative years.  These formative years will become the solid base of learning throughout his life, and developing strong writing skills from an early age will surely benefit him.

Contrary to general perception, learning how to write creatively doesn’t necessarily mean that a child is preparing to become a writer. As kids progress in their school and life, they will need good writing skills to express their views. Therefore, being able to write well is a skill that is essential and useful for various stages of life and career.

Creative writing also improves and expands vocabulary, comprehension, communication , and imagination. As kindergarteners may not know how to start writing creatively, suggesting fun writing prompts will help them to kick-start their imagination, and get their little fingers moving across pages! So get ready to explore some fun kindergarten writing prompts along with exciting kindergarten journal prompts. 

Writing prompts are helpful as guidelines for children. Kindergarteners have just started reading and writing, so their thinking ability is still not fully developed. They may not be able to think of things to write about by themselves. Hence, they need some narrative writing prompts. As they keep writing as per the prompts, they broaden their thoughts and imagination.

Diverse preschool journal prompts need words for expression, so kids are also able to expand their vocabulary.  Thus, as they start practicing creative writing, their imagination is stimulated, their vocabulary increases, their grammar improves, their writing skills develop, they express themselves more vividly, their retained memory improves, and their oral communication develops. Thus, writing prompts are useful not just to develop their creative writing, but also for their overall development!

Journal prompts are helpful for kindergarteners to assist them in getting into the habit of writing. With the help of creative journal prompts, children can use their imagination to write. These prompts are immensely helpful to give them a starting point to write. So, make full use of writing prompts to inspire young kids to start writing during vacations and spare time!

Popular creative writing prompts for kindergarteners are:

1. Name your favourite movie. Tell us about the movie. 2. Name the colour you like the most. Write about three things in that colour. 3. Write about your best friend. Why is this person your best friend? 4. What do you like to do in school? 5. Write about a dream you had. 6. Write about your favourite animal. Why is it your favourite animal? 7. Write about one thing which you love to do with your family. 8. Write about the things your father has taught you. 9. What is your favorite fairytale? What is it about? 10. If you are asked to make dinner for your parents, what would you make? 11. What will I become when I finish school…? 12. If you could be any animal, what would you be? Why? 13. Do you have any hobbies? Write about a favorite hobby. 14. If you were a superhero, what would be your superpower? 15. If you are given three wishes by a genie, what would you ask for? 16. If you could keep any animal as a pet, which one would you choose? Why? 17. Write about your home. 18. If you could change one thing about your school, what would you change? 19. Write about your favorite indoor game. 20. If you could eat just one thing the whole day, what would you eat? Why? 21. What do you like to do on a rainy day? 22. You are going for a picnic on the moon. Write about it. 23. Write about your best birthday party. What did you do at the party? 24. Which is your favorite season, and why? 25. Tell us about an interesting place you have visited. 26. You are made the teacher of your class. What would you teach? 27. Write about your last picnic with your parents. 28. Did you learn something new during this summer vacation? What was it? How did you learn it? 29. Did you ever have an argument with your best friend? What was the reason for the argument? 30. Were you ever punished by your parents? Why did they punish you? 31. What do you like to do on your holiday? 32. If you could be a movie character, who you would be? Why? 33. Do you like to play outside? What do you play? 34. Do you have grandparents? What do you like to do with them? 35. What is your favorite toy? Tell us about it. 36. If summers changed to winters, what would your day be like? 37. Do you help your parents? What do you do? 38. If you could get anything for your birthday, what would you want? Why? 39. Make a list of three things you like to do with your friends. 40. If you could meet Santa, what would you ask or do?

Popular Creative Writing Prompts

Family and home writing prompts.

1. Imagine your family is going on a camping trip! Describe what you will pack, where you will go, and what kind of fun activities you will do together. 2. Your family is hosting a big party at home! What kind of decorations will you put up? What games will you play? What kind of food will you serve? 3. Your family is getting a new pet! What kind of pet do you want and why? What will you name your new furry friend? 4. Your family is redecorating your home! What colours and themes do you want to use? What kind of furniture will you buy? 5. Your family is going on a road trip! Where will you go and what kind of car games will you play? Who gets to control the music? 6. Your family is having a movie night at home! What movie will you watch and what snacks will you eat? Will you build a fort or snuggle up on the couch? 7. Your family is having a bake-off! What kind of dessert will you make? Will you work alone or team up with someone? 8. Your family is creating a garden! What kind of plants and flowers will you grow? Will you make a scarecrow to protect your garden? 9. Your family is building a treehouse! What kind of tree will you use and what kind of cool features will your treehouse have? 10. Your family is having a game night! What kind of games will you play and who will win? Will you have prizes for the winners?

Hobbies, Likes And Interests Writing Prompts

1. What is your favorite hobby and why do you enjoy it? Write a short story or draw a picture of yourself doing your hobby. 2. Imagine you could have any superpower related to your hobby! What would it be and how would you use it? 3. If you could meet any famous person who shares your hobby or interest, who would it be and what would you ask them? 4. What is the most challenging thing about your hobby or interest? How do you overcome that challenge? 5. Create a fun quiz about your hobby or interest, and challenge your family or friends to take it! 6. Write a poem or song about your favorite hobby or interest. Bonus points if you can perform it for someone! 7. If your hobby or interest was a creature, what would it look like? Draw a picture or describe it in words. 8. Make a list of all the things you’ve learned or accomplished through your hobby or interest. What are you most proud of? 9. Imagine you could travel anywhere in the world to practice your hobby or interest. Where would you go and why? 10. Create a video tutorial or demo of your hobby or interest to share with others. You never know who you might inspire!

Seasonal And Holiday Writing Prompts

1. If you could design your own holiday, what would it be called and what traditions would you create for it? 2. Imagine you wake up one morning and it’s already the first day of winter! Describe what you see outside and what fun activities you’ll do in the snow. 3. Write a letter to Santa Claus, telling him what you want for Christmas and why you deserve it. Don’t forget to leave him some milk and cookies! 4. Imagine you could travel to any country to celebrate a holiday. Where would you go and why? 5. If you could create your own Halloween costume, what would it be and why? 6. Write a short story or draw a picture of your favorite Thanksgiving memory. What are you thankful for this year? 7. If you could have a New Year’s resolution for the whole world, what would it be and why? 8. Imagine you’re stuck at home on a rainy spring day. What kind of indoor activities will you do to pass the time? 9. Create a fun recipe for a summertime treat, like a smoothie or popsicle! What ingredients will you use and how will you make it? 10. If you could celebrate your birthday in any season, which one would you choose and why? What kind of party would you have?\

‘Would You’ Writing Prompts

1. Would you rather live on a spaceship or on a deserted island? Why? 2. If you could have any animal as a pet, would you choose a dragon or a unicorn? Why? 3. Would you rather have the power of flight or the power of invisibility? What would you do with your power? 4. If you could travel back in time, would you visit the dinosaurs or the ancient Egyptians? Why? 5. Would you rather have the ability to speak every language in the world or have the power to talk to animals? Why? 6. If you could be any character from a book or movie, who would you be and why? 7. Would you rather have a magic wand or a lightsaber? What kind of spells or tricks would you perform with your wand? 8. If you could eat only one type of food for the rest of your life, would you choose pizza or ice cream? Why? 9. Would you rather be able to breathe underwater or have the ability to fly underwater like a mermaid or a fish? Why? 10. If you could switch places with any person for a day, who would you choose and why? What would you do in their shoes?

‘If I’ Writing Prompts

1. If I could be any animal for a day, I would choose to be a ________ because… 2. If I could go on a trip anywhere in the world, I would go to ________ because… 3. If I could have any job in the world, I would be a ________ because… 4. If I could have any superpower, I would choose ________ because… 5. If I could have any three wishes granted, I would wish for ________ because… 6. If I could change one thing about the world, I would change ________ because… 7. If I could live in any time period, I would choose to live during ________ because… 8. If I could be any character from a book or movie, I would be ________ because… 9. If I could have any talent, I would choose to be able to ________ because… 10. If I could have any pet, I would choose to have a ________ because…

Writing Prompt About Zoo And Adventure

1. Imagine you woke up one morning and found a zoo in your backyard! What animals would you like to see there and what adventures would you have? 2. If you could be any animal in the zoo for a day, which one would you choose and why? What would you do during your day as that animal? 3. Write a story about a group of animals who go on a wild adventure outside of their zoo enclosure. What obstacles do they face and how do they overcome them? 4. Create your own imaginary animal and write a story about it exploring a zoo. What would your animal look like and what special abilities would it have? 5. If you could visit any zoo in the world, which one would you choose and why? What animals would you be most excited to see? 6. Write a letter to a zookeeper, asking them questions about their job and the animals they care for. What would you like to know about the zoo? 7. Imagine you were given the task of designing a brand new exhibit at the zoo. What kind of animals would you feature and what would the exhibit look like? 8. Write a story about a group of friends who sneak into the zoo at night and have an adventure with the animals. What do they discover and how do they get out before getting caught? 9. If you could adopt any zoo animal as a pet, which one would you choose and why? How would you take care of it? 10. Imagine you were a zookeeper for a day. What animals would you take care of and what tasks would you need to complete?

Writing Prompt About Birthday And Friends

1. It’s your birthday and your friends have planned a surprise party for you! Write about what happens when you arrive and how you feel. 2. Write a story about a group of friends who plan the perfect birthday celebration for their friend. What do they do and how do they make it special? 3. If you could have any kind of birthday party, what would it be and why? Who would you invite and what activities would you do? 4. Write about a time when you gave a friend a really special birthday gift. What was it and how did they react? 5. Imagine you are throwing a surprise party for your best friend. What kind of decorations, food, and activities would you plan to make it the best birthday ever? 6. Write a story about a friend who forgets your birthday. How do you feel and what do they do to make it up to you? 7. If you could celebrate your birthday in any country or city in the world, where would you go and why? What would you do there? 8. Write a letter to a friend, thanking them for being there for you on your birthday. What did they do that made the day special? 9. If you could have any celebrity come to your birthday party, who would it be and why? What would you do with them at the party? 10. Imagine you are the birthday party planner for your friend’s party. What kind of theme would you choose and what activities would you plan to make it unforgettable?

Writing Prompts About Growing Things

1. Imagine you had a magical garden where anything you planted would grow instantly! What would you plant and why? 2. Write a story about a tiny seed that grows into a giant plant. What adventures does it have as it grows and what obstacles does it face? 3. If you could have any kind of plant in your bedroom, which one would you choose and why? What would it look like and how would you take care of it? 4. Write about a time when you helped someone grow a plant, whether it was a friend, family member, or even a stranger. What did you do to help and how did it feel to see the plant grow? 5. Imagine you could talk to plants and they could talk back to you! What would you ask them and what do you think they would say in response?

Writing Prompt About Friends

• Write a story about a new friend you made and the adventures you have together. What makes them a great friend and what do you like to do with them?
• Imagine you had a superhero friend who could help you with anything. What powers would they have and how would they help you out in different situations?
• Write about a time when you and your friends went on a fun outing, like a trip to the beach or a picnic in the park. What did you do and what made it so special?
• If you could have any kind of animal as a friend, which one would you choose and why? What would you do together and how would you take care of them?
• Write a letter to a friend you haven’t seen in a while, telling them all about what you’ve been up to and asking about what’s new with them. What do you miss about them and what are you looking forward to doing together when you see them next?

‘Have You Ever’ Writing Prompts

• Have you ever tried a food that you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving it? What was it and why did you think you wouldn’t like it?
• Have you ever had a dream that felt so real, it was hard to tell if it actually happened or not? What was the dream about and how did you feel when you woke up?
• Have you ever tried to do something that you thought was too hard, but ended up succeeding? What was it and how did you feel afterwards?
• Have you ever had a really embarrassing moment in front of your friends or family? What happened and how did you react? Did you laugh it off or feel embarrassed?

Writing Prompts About Reading Books

• Imagine you could enter the world of your favourite book and meet the characters. Which book would you choose and who would you want to meet? What adventures would you have with them?
• Write a book review of a book you recently read. What did you like about it and why would you recommend it to others?
• If you could have any superpower that would help you with reading, what would it be and why? Would you want to read faster, remember everything you read, or something else?
• Write a story about a character who loves to read and gets transported into a book. What happens to them and how do they get back to the real world?
• Imagine you could write your own book. What kind of story would it be and who would be the main character? What would happen in the story and why would people love reading it?

Writing Prompts About Space

• Imagine you could travel to any planet in the solar system. Which planet would you choose and why? What would you want to see and explore there?
• Write a story about an alien who comes to Earth for the first time. What do they see and experience, and how do they react to the things they encounter?
• If you could design your own spaceship, what features would it have and where would you go in it? What adventures would you have and who would you take with you?
• Write about a time when you looked up at the stars and felt small compared to the vastness of space. What did you think about and how did it make you feel?
• Imagine you could be any character from a space movie or TV show. Who would you choose and why? What do you like about that character and what adventures would you have in their universe?

1. Take your time

It’s important to take your time and think about what you want to write before you start. Spend a few minutes brainstorming ideas and making a plan.

2. Use your imagination

Don’t be afraid to use your imagination and come up with creative ideas. Think outside the box and have fun with it!

3. Ask for help

If you’re feeling stuck or don’t know how to start, ask your teacher or a parent for help. They can give you ideas and help you get started.

4. Practice, practice, practice

The more you practice writing, the better you’ll get at it. Try writing a little bit every day and challenge yourself to try new things.

1. Choose age-appropriate prompts

When selecting writing prompts for kindergarten students, make sure they are age-appropriate and match their writing level. Look for prompts that are simple and easy to understand.

2. Make it fun

Writing should be enjoyable, so make sure to choose prompts that are engaging and interesting. Use colourful pictures or props to spark their imagination and get them excited to write.

3. Provide support 

Kindergarten students may need extra support and guidance when completing writing prompts. Offer help when needed, give clear instructions, and provide examples to help them understand what is expected.

Creative writing prompts are a great way to encourage kindergarteners to practice creative writing. The writing prompts function as an instructional guide for the kids to write a story. Using the advantage given by writing prompts, they can capture their imagination in their words, and delve into their creative side. Therefore, use some or all of these fun writing prompts for your kindergartener, and help him enhance his writing skills!

Creative Writing Prompts Ideas for Children Tips to Improve the Writing Speed of a Child Benefits of Journaling for Children

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Digital Writing Made Easy for K-2: A Year Long Writing Curriculum

Digital writing in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade can present it’s own challenges. With the Year Long Digital Writing Curriculum, you’ll have everything you need to help your students grow as independent, confident writers. Here’s how the curriculum works, as well as a free, week long lesson for you to try.

Reach Your Writers Wherever You Are

When I created my year long, differentiated writing curriculum , it was pre-covid, pre-distance learning, and digital writing was not even on my radar. However, times have changed, so I knew it was time to bring my widely used writing resources to the digital age. Whether your students are remote , or you are integrating digital writing in your face to face classroom , my curriculum is designed with students and teachers in mind.

I’ve created a resource that:

• has a consistent format
• focuses on engaging , kid friendly writing topics
• spirals through the types of writing- narrative, informational, persuasive, opinion, descriptive, letter writing, and poetry
• is standards based
• includes 47 weeks of lessons so you can pick and choose which lessons to use
• is designed for differentiation
• uses Google Slides
• includes everything you need to provide quality writing instruction to your students
• matches the paper curriculum

So, let’s take a closer look at how this easy to use curriculum will enhance and transform your writing instruction.

A Consistent Format

Each week long writing lesson is designed in the same format, but the topics and activities change to match the lesson. Students will practice all steps of the writing process each week, from brainstorming to planning to drafting and editing. Students spend the first two days brainstorming and planning, the second two days drafting and editing, and the last day completing their final draft and celebrating. This consistent format helps students learn how to effective use the writing process, and makes planning easy for you. Although lessons are planned for 5 days, you can also be flexible and give students more or less time as you see fit. Here’s what each lesson looks like.

Teacher’s Guide

The teacher’s guide includes lessons plans for each day that explain exactly how to teach the lesson. This is editable, so you can add notes, change things, and make it your own.

A list of books and online resources are included. These are things that will help your students understand the lesson more fully. This is also editable so you can add and remove resources.

Instructions

Daily student instructions pages are included. You can type directions, add links, share examples, or embed videos in this page. It’s a great way to keep you and your students organized. Notice, the eye symbol in the corner tells students this is a learning/info page.

Brainstorming

Each lesson includes a variety of brainstorming templates to use with your students. You can choose the versions that fit your students’ needs, or let them make that choice themselves. These pages include a puzzle piece in the corner to le them know that it’s a work page. There are options where students can organize their thoughts on one page, or break things down and plan one part of their writing at a time.

Digital Posters

Most lessons include digital posters that present information to students in a fun, kid friendly way.

Digital Charts

You can still brainstorm with students with digital anchor charts. These are included in lessons that require some idea sharing and brainstorming.

Fun Activities

Not all, but many lessons include some fun activities that enhance the lesson. From “dressing” themselves up to sorting things and more, these activities add a special touch to the lesson.

Final Draft

Each week, students will create a final draft. Often times, this looks like a simple template for students to type or add an image of their writing, or a multipage template that allows them to create their own digital book. It’s so much fun to share their final product with the class!

Engaging Topics Kids Will Love

Research shows that students are much more likely to engage with a lesson when the topic is relevant to their lives. Lesson are designed to spark interest in your learners through fun topics, mentor texts, and activities. Students will produced better quality work when they are interested and invested in the topic. Each lesson is designed with your students in mind!

Spiraling Through Writing Types

Students will have multiple opportunities to practice different types of writing- narrative, informational, descriptive, poetry, opinion/persuasive, and letter writing. The digital writing curriculum is designed to spiral so that students complete each topic and style multiple times throughout the school year. Spiraling allows students to constantly be exposed to different writing types. I find this to be much more effective than a huge unit on narrative, then opinion, then informational because, by the time students get to the last unit, they often forget how to create the first type of writing.

Standards Based Writing

These writing lessons are also designed to meet the skills and concepts required by common core and state writing standards. You can have peace of mind that your students are learning key skills and concepts through fun, engaging lessons.

Pick and Choose the Lessons that Fit

The average school year is 36 weeks long , but this curriculum includes 47 one week long writing lessons . I’ve included so many lessons because you know your students best. The extra lessons allow you the ability to choose which lessons to use while still giving you a full year of instruction. You are able to simply skip a lesson that you don’t think is a good fit for your students without having to supplement with another writing resource!

Differentiation Built Right In

Differentiating for our students’ abilities is incredibly important when it comes to any instruction, but especially when it comes to writing. Students can quickly reach their frustration level because it requires such a multitude of skills. When designing this curriculum, it was important to provide built in differentiation. I’ve included differentiated templates in each lesson and suggestions on how to differentiate in the lesson plans. This curriculum truly works well for Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade Students.

Google Slides for Digital Writing

This digital curriculum uses Google Slides because of how versatile it is. It’s also free and easy to use. If you’re unfamiliar with Google Slides, you can learn more about the platform here .

Everything You Need

The best part of this writing curriculum is that it provides everything you need to teach your students writing. It also includes everything they need to be successful. From taking the time to focus on teaching basic sentences digitally to an extra week of more complex digital sentence writing , this curriculum has it all. No need to hunt down mentor texts or online videos. No need to create brainstorming templates or develop lesson ideas. You have everything you need. Simply pick your lesson, or follow the included lesson sequence guide, and get to work with your students.

Paper or Digital: You Can’t Go Wrong

Lastly, the digital writing curriculum for K-2 matches my original paper curriculum. In fact, the digital version is included with the original paper curriculum here . This means that you can teach students who are virtual the same thing as in class, face to face students. Or, it means that you can develop strong 20th century skills with your students. If your students are all face to face, you can teach writing on paper sometimes and digitally sometimes. You are in control. You can choose.

That’s what it all comes down to. My digital writing curriculum gives you the freedom to choose your lesson and skip the prep work.

You can find the  digital version here  and the  print and digital bundle here  in my shop on this website.  Use promo code WRITEIT15 to save 15% on either resource.

If you’d prefer to purchase on TpT, you can find the  digital version here  and  the print and digital bundle here .

Now that you made it to the end, if you’re interested but want to give a week a try, you can download this “ If I Were in a Fairy Tale ” Week of print and digital writing lessons from the curriculum for free using promo code FAIRYWRITEOFF .

Feel free to join my FREE Facebook Club for k-2 teachers here!

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How to Implement a Reading Fluency Creative Writing Routine

Reading & Math for K-5

• Kindergarten
• Learning numbers
• Comparing numbers
• Place Value
• Roman numerals
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Order of operations
• Drills & practice
• Measurement
• Factoring & prime factors
• Proportions
• Shape & geometry
• Data & graphing
• Word problems
• Children's stories
• Leveled Stories
• Context clues
• Cause & effect
• Compare & contrast
• Fact vs. fiction
• Fact vs. opinion
• Main idea & details
• Story elements
• Conclusions & inferences
• Sounds & phonics
• Words & vocabulary
• Reading comprehension
• Early writing
• Numbers & counting
• Simple math
• Social skills
• Other activities
• Dolch sight words
• Fry sight words
• Multiple meaning words
• Prefixes & suffixes
• Vocabulary cards
• Other parts of speech

Punctuation

• Capitalization
• Narrative writing
• Opinion writing
• Informative writing
• Cursive alphabet
• Cursive letters
• Cursive letter joins
• Cursive words
• Cursive sentences
• Cursive passages
• Grammar & Writing

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Early Writing

Writing worksheets for preschool and kindergarten.

These worksheets provide practice in tracing and writing sentences as well as concepts such as capitalization, punctuation and the use of prepositions. Various types of writing prompts are also provided.

Simple sentences

Tracing, writing and unscrambling simple sentences.

Capital letters

Capitalize the first word of sentences and proper nouns.

Periods, question marks and exclamation marks.

Prepositions

Basic prepositions (above, below, beside ....).

Draw and write

Prompts for drawings and short stories.

Writing prompts

Writing prompts including labelling, explanatory and narrative writing.

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Kindergarten Writing Worksheets

No more worrying about kids avoiding the practice of writing. SplashLearn brings the best possible way to instill good writing habits in kids. Writing worksheets for kindergarteners on SplashLearn make students fall in love with learning in general and writing in particular.

CONTENT TYPE

• Lesson Plans
• Math (1,380)
• Number Sense (696)
• Number Recognition (20)
• Number Recognition Within 5 (5)
• Number Recognition Within 10 (5)
• Number Recognition Within 20 (10)
• Number Tracing (450)
• Number Tracing Within 5 (130)
• Number Tracing Within 10 (120)
• Number Tracing Within 20 (200)
• Number Sequence (24)
• Counting (130)
• Counting Objects Within 5 (56)
• Counting Objects Within 10 (63)
• Counting Objects Within 20 (11)
• Compare Numbers (48)
• Compare Objects (10)
• Compare Numbers Using Place Value (19)
• Skip Counting (6)
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• Place Value (17)
• Teen Numbers (11)
• Addition (392)
• Add With Pictures (136)
• Addition Strategies (91)
• Compose And Decompose Numbers (60)
• Number Bonds (10)
• Count All To Add (12)
• Add Using A Number Line (10)
• Count On To Add (10)
• Add Three Whole Numbers (3)
• Subtraction (178)
• Subtract With Pictures (66)
• Subtraction Strategies (16)
• Subtract Using A Number Line (12)
• Geometry (67)
• Positional Words (10)
• Shapes (57)
• 2D Shapes (36)
• Attributes Of 2D Shapes (12)
• 3D Shapes (19)
• 3D Shapes In Real Life (10)
• Data Handling (7)
• Measurement (37)
• Length (11)
• Comparing Lengths (11)
• Height (10)
• Comparing Heights (10)
• Weight (10)
• Comparing Weights (10)
• Capacity (6)
• Word Problems (71)
• Addition Word Problems (24)
• Addition Word Problems Within 20 (23)
• Subtraction Word Problems (21)
• Subtraction Word Problems Within 20 (21)
• ELA (2,120)
• Reading (1,659)
• Phonics (1,641)
• Alphabet (680)
• Letter Recognition (680)
• Letter A (13)
• Letter B (17)
• Letter C (12)
• Letter D (18)
• Letter E (12)
• Letter F (13)
• Letter G (18)
• Letter H (14)
• Letter I (16)
• Letter J (16)
• Letter K (12)
• Letter L (12)
• Letter M (13)
• Letter N (15)
• Letter O (12)
• Letter P (19)
• Letter Q (17)
• Letter R (12)
• Letter S (12)
• Letter T (13)
• Letter U (12)
• Letter V (12)
• Letter W (12)
• Letter X (12)
• Letter Y (12)
• Letter Z (12)
• Lowercase Letters (91)
• Uppercase Letters (110)
• Matching Lowercase And Uppercase Letters (148)
• Letter Sounds (306)
• Beginning Sounds (133)
• Ending Sounds (15)
• Vowels (124)
• Short Vowel Sounds (118)
• Short Vowel A Sound (36)
• Short Vowel E Sound (17)
• Short Vowel I Sound (27)
• Short Vowel O Sound (17)
• Short Vowel U Sound (21)
• Vowel Teams (2)
• Words With Ea And Ee (1)
• Words With Oo (1)
• Blending (163)
• Cvc Words (141)
• Cvcc Words (23)
• Consonant Digraphs (20)
• Digraph Ch (10)
• Digraph Ph (7)
• Digraph Sh (11)
• Digraph Th (11)
• Digraph Wh (11)
• Double Consonants (39)
• Rhyming Words (81)
• Sight Words (351)
• Syllables (6)
• Segmenting Phonemes (1)
• Adding Deleting And Substituting Phonemes (6)
• Reading Comprehension (13)
• Sequencing (1)
• Story Elements (3)
• Authors Purpose (2)
• Compare And Contrast (1)
• Using Illustrations (2)
• Using Text Features (2)
• Communication Skills (5)
• Listening Skills (3)
• Speaking Skills (2)
• Writing (732)
• Handwriting (726)
• Letter Tracing (211)
• Letter Tracing A (10)
• Letter Tracing B (11)
• Letter Tracing C (10)
• Letter Tracing D (11)
• Letter Tracing E (10)
• Letter Tracing F (12)
• Letter Tracing G (10)
• Letter Tracing H (11)
• Letter Tracing I (10)
• Letter Tracing J (10)
• Letter Tracing K (10)
• Letter Tracing L (10)
• Letter Tracing M (11)
• Letter Tracing N (10)
• Letter Tracing O (10)
• Letter Tracing P (10)
• Letter Tracing Q (10)
• Letter Tracing R (10)
• Letter Tracing S (10)
• Letter Tracing T (10)
• Letter Tracing U (10)
• Letter Tracing V (10)
• Letter Tracing W (10)
• Letter Tracing X (10)
• Letter Tracing Y (10)
• Letter Tracing Z (10)
• Word Tracing (254)
• Cursive Writing (261)
• Cursive Alphabet (208)
• Cursive Letter A (8)
• Cursive Letter B (8)
• Cursive Letter C (8)
• Cursive Letter D (8)
• Cursive Letter E (8)
• Cursive Letter F (8)
• Cursive Letter G (8)
• Cursive Letter H (8)
• Cursive Letter I (8)
• Cursive Letter J (8)
• Cursive Letter K (8)
• Cursive Letter L (8)
• Cursive Letter M (8)
• Cursive Letter N (8)
• Cursive Letter O (8)
• Cursive Letter P (8)
• Cursive Letter Q (8)
• Cursive Letter R (8)
• Cursive Letter S (8)
• Cursive Letter T (8)
• Cursive Letter U (8)
• Cursive Letter V (8)
• Cursive Letter W (8)
• Cursive Letter X (8)
• Cursive Letter Y (8)
• Cursive Letter Z (8)
• Cursive Words (53)
• Creative Writing (6)
• Grammar (8)
• Punctuation (2)
• Vocabulary (110)
• Synonyms And Antonyms (3)
• Word Puzzles (56)
• Word Search (55)
• Sorting Words Into Categories (8)
• Flashcards (14)
• Vocabulary Flashcards (1)
• Phonics Flashcards (13)

Handwriting Worksheets

Correctly Write the Missing Letter Worksheet

Enhance spelling accuracy with this worksheet, spotting and filling missing letters.

Trace and write the word 'three' Worksheet

Learners must trace and write the word 'three' to improve their ELA skills.

Which one is Missing? Worksheet

Put your skills to the test by practicing to identify which one is missing.

Tracing Cursive Letters: Uppercase A Worksheet

Perfect your uppercase A with cursive tracing exercises and enjoy coloring two fun images in this fun worksheet!

Creative Writing Worksheets

Make Your Own To-Do List Worksheet

Create your own to-do list in this application worksheet! Organize tasks and develop planning skills. Start prioritizing and achieving goals today!

Time to Say Thank You Worksheet

Write a thank you note and express gratitude. Enhance appreciation and writing skills. Get started now!

A Visit to My Backyard Worksheet

Say hello to your backyard. Learn how to observe and record your observations to enhance your skills. Start exploring this fun activity worksheet now!

I Spy with My Little Eye: Spot Friends in the Garden Worksheet

Explore the outdoors with this kindergarten worksheet! Sharpen your observation skills and have some fun while doing it!

All Writing Worksheets

Let's Practice Bb and Dd Worksheet

Reinforce ELA concepts by practicing 'Bb' and 'Dd'.

Let's Practice Pp and Gg Worksheet

This downloadable worksheet is designed to practice 'Pp' and 'Gg'.

Let's Practice Ii and Jj Worksheet

This downloadable worksheet is designed to practice 'Ii' and 'Jj'.

Write a Thank You Note Worksheet

Have you thanked someone lately? Express gratitude with this worksheet. Start spreading appreciation today!

Write the Lowercase Letter: A to F Worksheet

Boost your child's alphabet mastery with engaging worksheets focusing on writing lowercase letters A-F!

You Have a Friend in Me! Worksheet

Let's talk about friendship in this fun application-based worksheet! Get started now!

Write the Lowercase Letter: G to L Worksheet

It's time to practice writing! Master lowercase letters from G to L with our engaging, printable English worksheet.

Write the Lowercase Letter: M to R Worksheet

Boost your child's alphabet knowledge with engaging worksheets; let them master writing lowercase letters M to R.

Write the Lowercase Letter: S to X Worksheet

Boost your child's literacy skills with engaging worksheets focused on writing lowercase letters S to X!

Write the Lowercase Letter: U to Z Worksheet

Master the art of writing lowercase letters from U to Z with our engaging, printable English worksheets.

Write the Lowercase Letters Worksheet

Boost your child's literacy skills with our engaging worksheet focused on mastering lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Lowercase Letter Writing Worksheet

Elevate your child's ABC game with engaging worksheets focused on mastering lowercase letter writing.

Writing Lowercase Letters Worksheet

Boost your alphabet knowledge with our awesome worksheets featuring lowercase English alphabet practice.

Lowercase Letters: Writing Practice Worksheet

Improve your child's writing skills with engaging, printable worksheets focusing on lowercase letter writing practice.

Cut and Paste Letter Match: A to D Worksheet

Enhance your child's letter recognition skills with our fun, interactive cut and paste worksheets for letters A to D.

Cut and Paste Letter Match: E to H Worksheet

Enhance your child's alphabet recognition skills with our engaging, interactive cut and paste worksheet for letters E to H.

Cut and Paste Letter Match: I to L Worksheet

Boost your child's alphabet mastery with our engaging letters I to L worksheet! Time for some cutting and pasting fun!

Cut and Paste Letter Match: M to P Worksheet

Time for cutting and pasting fun! Boost your child's literacy skills with our fun worksheet for matching letters M to P.

Cut and Paste Letter Match: Q to T Worksheet

Boost letter recognition skills with our engaging worksheet. Cut and paste uppercase and lowercase letters Q to T!

Cut and Paste Letter Match: U to X Worksheet

Boost alphabet recognition with our engaging, printable worksheets. Master letters U to X through cut and paste activities.

Cut and Paste Letter Match: W to Z Worksheet

Enhance your child's alphabet mastery with our engaging cut and paste worksheets featuring letters W to Z.

Cut and Paste Letter Match Worksheet

Boost your child's alphabet knowledge with our fun, cut and paste uppercase and lowercase letter matching worksheets!

Cut and Paste Letter Matching Worksheet

Improve your child's literacy skills with our engaging, hands-on uppercase and lowercase letter matching worksheets.

Letter Matching: Uppercase and Lowercase Letters Worksheet

Boost your child's literacy skills with our engaging worksheet designed to master uppercase and lowercase letter matching.

Cut and Paste the Lowercase Letters Worksheet

Build your child's literacy skills with our hands-on worksheet featuring a lowercase letter cut-and-paste activity!

Write the Uppercase Letter: A to F Worksheet

Help your child with their alphabet skills with our engaging worksheet to practice letters A–F!

Write the Uppercase Letter: G to L Worksheet

Boost your child's writing skills with our vibrant worksheet, perfect for mastering uppercase letters G–L.

Write the Uppercase Letter: M to R Worksheet

Struggling with the alphabet? Boost literacy skills with our interactive worksheet focusing on uppercase letters M to R.

Write the Uppercase Letter: S to X Worksheet

Improve your kid's handwriting skills with our fun, printable worksheet focusing on uppercase letters S to X.

Write the Uppercase Letter: U to Z Worksheet

Create a fun educational experience with this engaging worksheet, perfect for mastering uppercase letters U to Z.

Write the Uppercase Letters Worksheet

Embark on an alphabet adventure with our engaging worksheet, perfect for mastering uppercase letter writing.

Uppercase Letter Writing Worksheet

Boost your child's alphabet skills with an engaging practice of writing uppercase letters. Download this worksheet now!

Writing Uppercase Letters Worksheet

Explore the world of the letters with our engaging worksheet for mastering the uppercase English alphabet.

Uppercase Letters: Writing Practice Worksheet

Enjoy hours of fun and learning with our worksheet. Boost your child's letter skills with uppercase letter writing practice.

Cut and Paste Uppercase Letters: A to D Worksheet

Make learning interactive with our worksheet. Boost letter recognition with cut-paste activities for uppercase letters A–D!

Cut and Paste Uppercase Letters: E to H Worksheet

Engage in interactive learning and boost literacy skills with our fun worksheet focusing on uppercase E–H letter recognition.

Cut and Paste Uppercase Letters: I to L Worksheet

Boost literacy skills with our engaging worksheet for matching uppercase letters I to L with their lowercase pairs!

Cut and Paste Uppercase Letters: M to P Worksheet

Enhance your child's alphabet recognition with our engaging, hands-on worksheet to practice matching uppercase letters M–P.

Cut and Paste Uppercase Letters: Q to T Worksheet

Grab these letter matching worksheets now! Boost literacy skills with a fun cut-and-paste activity featuring uppercase letters!

Cut and Paste Uppercase Letters: U to X Worksheet

Learning the alphabet made easy! Boost letter-recognition with our fun cut and paste worksheet, focusing on uppercase U–X.

Cut and Paste Uppercase Letters: W to Z Worksheet

Fun-filled letter practice worksheets! Boost literacy skills with fun cut-and-paste activities with uppercase letters W to Z.

Cut and Paste Uppercase Letters Worksheet

Get a head start on writing! Boost letter recognition skills with cool uppercase letter activities in this fun worksheet.

Your one stop solution for all grade learning needs.

KG2 Writing

Illustration study and launching writers workshop, unit sketch.

This is our first writing unit of KG2. Students learn to create detailed illustrations using shapes that include illustrations elements such as movement, feelings, and perspective. Students are introduced to using speech and thought bubbles to enhance their writing. Students develop skills to work with a writing partner to improve their own writing.

Enduring Understandings:

Students will understand that...

Producing clear ideas as a writer involves selecting appropriate style and structure for an audience and is strengthened through revision and technology.

Comprehension is enhanced through a collaborative process of sharing and evaluating ideas.

Presentation of knowledge and ideas is enhanced through appropriate organization and style for an audience via the use of visual displays, technology, and the appropriate use of language.

Students will be able to...

listen to ideas their teachers and peers have about their writing.

add details that will help the reader understand their writing.

listen to comments of others and share their own ideas.

follow agreed upon rules for discussion.

Where do authors get ideas?

Effective communication of ideas when speaking or writing relies on the appropriate use of the conventions of language.

use question words correctly when writing or speaking.

write the letter or letters for consonant and vowel sounds.

spell words by matching sounds to letters.

Authors as Mentors

Students are exposed to a variety of texts by specific authors. They learn to identify author strategies and style. When engaging in writing conferences, students are asked: What have your tried in your writing that you have learned from [author]?

Writing should be purposely focused, detailed, organized and sequenced in a way that clearly communicates the ideas to the reader.

tell a story about something that happened.

tell what happened first, next, and last.

capitalize the first word in a sentence.

capitalize the pronoun I in a sentence.

recognize the common sounds made by letters.

Small Moments

Growing as Small Moment Writers begins with immersing students in text that illustrates the type of writing we hope students will emulate. These exemplar texts should teach students that small moments are focused, true stories that have specific details and are written in a sequential order. During this immersion phase, students will be generating and collecting story ideas for their own writing.

Students will use what they have learned about planning their writing to help them create small moment stories. Through rehearsing and drafting, students will begin to zoom into one tiny moment and stretch the small moment across many pages. They will recall and record their reactions to small moments and name their feelings. They begin to include lots of interesting details. They will learn that writers can tell their story again and again; each time putting in more dialogue via speech bubbles, actions, thoughts, and/or feelings. This will help make a piece more like a story and less like a summary.

Students will examine the readability of their small moment stories. Emphasis will be placed on writing sentences that match their pictures, writing known words quickly, writing new words based on known words, hearing and recording sounds in sequence, and using spacing between words.

The unit ends with the students fine tuning, publishing, and sharing their best small moment stories. A celebration of student growth and recognition of their growing knowledge for writing culminates this unit.

Effective research presents an answer to a question demonstrates understanding of the inquiry, and properly cites information from multiple sources.

can answer questions using information recalled or gathered

use common nouns and verbs correctly when writing or speaking.

share ideas and respond to questions using complete sentences.

How To Books

In this unit, Kindergarten students now become teachers using writing to teach others. Specifically, they write to teach others how to do something. This type of procedural writing relates to all they do across the day. Students begin seeing How-To texts everywhere: game board directions, recipes, and inside Lego boxes. The world is full procedural writing and kindergarten students can learn by studying them.

Procedural writing requires writers to write explicitly, clearly, and sequentially to teach others how to accomplish a task. Procedural writers need to anticipate what their audience will need to know. To write a How-to book, a kindergarten student recalls a procedure, starting at the beginning and proceeding in a step-by-step and precise manner to the end.

There are four main parts to this unit. The first part is the launch of the unit and it encourages writing or reading lots and lots of little procedural books. The second part of the unit emphasizes the importance of writing in such a way that readers can read the writing. The third part of the unit turns to lifting the level of student writing to create more elaborate and clear text with the deeper use of mentor text. Finally, the unit ends with students revising their text more extensively to prepare for publication.

Writing should be purposely focussed, detailed, organized and sequenced in a way that clearly communicates the ideas to the reader.

select a topic and information to share

work with a teacher and others to learn about digital tools that produce and publish writing.

identify key information presented in different formats

ask questions bout key details of information presented multiple ways

answer questions about key details of information presented in multiple ways

ask for clarification if they don't understand something

ask and answer questions that help me get information of make something clear

print uppercase and lowercase letters

use common prepositions correctly when writing or speaking

Reflection and Opinion Writing

In this unit we teach children how to channel their natural abilities of persuasion into letters designed to state an opinion about a book they know. Letter writing begins with the students believing they have something to share with someone and also that people are interested in hearing other points of view. We begin by telling children that what they have to say is important and that their words make a difference.

Writing should be purposely focused, detailed, organized, and sequenced in a way that clearly communicates the ideas to the reader.

Effective research presents an answer to a question, demonstrates understanding of the inquiry and properly cites information from multiple sources.

Comprehension is enhanced through a collaborative process of sharing and evaluation ideas.

Presentation of knowledge and ideas is enhanced through appropriate organization and style for an audience vie the use of visual displays technology, and the appropriate use of language.

Effective communication of ideas when speaking or writing relies on the appropriate use fo the conventions of language.

research a topic with others.

work with others to write about a researched topic.

listen to the comments of others and share my own ideas.

speak in a voice that others can hear and understand.

share my thoughts, feelings and ideas clearly when I speak.

make the correct plural noun when writing or speaking by adding -s or -es.

11 Fantastic Writing Rubrics for Kindergarten

Teach writing in kindergarten with the help of a kindergarten-friendly rubric. Here are some developmental writing rubrics and standards or expectations based rubrics for kindergarten teachers.

These free printable writing rubrics can hopefully help you guide your young writers – but remember to focus on stuff that matters first!

Kindergarten Writing Rubrics

Get a primary lined paper journal template that has a quick writer’s checklist built in.

Four point rubrics are easy to use – especially since you print them out onto post-it notes . How brilliant!

A beginning writers checklist may be just what you want handy when you’re conferencing with your students.

I like this developmental approach writing scale since it really shows growth in kindergarten.

Track growth on a developmental kindergarten writing scale that grows from scribbling to writing phonetically spelled words.

Count stars to focus on the mechanics of writing. Here’s an alternative 5-star writing rubric with matching posters.

After you’ve had a few mini lessons and conferences, you can make writing goals that match your rubric.

Remember to take time to focus on building detail in illustrations – it’s where it all begins in kindergarten. They usually have to do this first before it will ever show up in their words!

What a fantastic list of writing rubrics for kindergarten ! I hope you found the perfect one to use in your classroom or are ready to make your own with these as inspiration! Thanks to all of these featured teachers for sharing their creations with us.

If you like what we share on Teach Junkie – I invite you to share this article and subscribe below!

More Kindergarten

• How to Prepare Mentally to Teach Kindergarten
• 19 Free iPad Apps for the Classroom
• Basic Punctuation in Kindergarten
• Teaching Kindergarten: 12 Tips to Start Your Year Off Right

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Leslie {aka the original Teach Junkie} loves learning new things to make teaching easier and more effective. She enjoys featuring creative classroom fun when she's not designing teacher shirts, making kindergarten lesson plans or planning her family's next trip to Disney World.

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78 Kindergarten Art Projects To Spark Early Creativity

Don’t limit yourself to finger paints!

The value of a good art education in early elementary school, especially kindergarten, cannot be overstated. Art allows kids to learn about the world around them while exploring colors, textures, shapes, and more. Some art projects allow kids to work on their hand-eye coordination through cutting and tracing. Still others allow them to learn about primary colors and color mixing as they mix paints and explore the color wheel. We have something for every interest on our list, including 3D sculptures and projects that use unconventional materials like dried corn or small animal figurines. Some projects require a good apron and drop cloth, while others are relatively mess-free. Check out our favorite kindergarten art projects to try with your class today!

1. Weave a wall hanging

Give little fingers some fine motor practice as you teach them the basics of weaving. Add beads to embellish their creations.

Get tutorial: Kindergarten Weaving Project

2. Craft some circle print art

Circles are one of the first shapes kids learn to identify, but they also play an important role in many types of art. Show kids some of the more famous circle art pieces, then create your own using empty toilet paper rolls and tempera paints.

Get tutorial: 2D Shape Activities for Preschool, Pre-K, and Kindergarten

3. Pile up paper tubes

Don’t throw away those tubes after you print with them! Instead, pile them up to make unique sculptures.

Get tutorial: Cardboard Tube Sculptures

4. Roll up paper snails

These sweet little snails are easy to make, especially when you use the free printable templates available at the link.

Get tutorial: Snail Craft and Writing Prompt

5. Grow a fingerprint tree

OK, technically this one is finger painting, but it’s a little more sophisticated. Mix it up with fall colors to make this an autumn craft instead of spring.

Get tutorial: Fingerprint Tree

6. Trace your hand

Anyone can do a hand turkey. Visit the link to learn how to do hand cats, hand giraffes, hand dinos, and more!

Get tutorial: Handprint Drawing

7. Trace and paint the alphabet

Kindergarten is all about the ABCs, so this is a perfect kindergarten art project. Fold paper into squares and add a different color or pattern to each. Then paint alphabet letters over the top. You can try a variation where you arrange an abstract alphabet by having the letters overlap, etc.

Get tutorial: Kindergarten Alphabet Paintings

8. Capture a self-portrait in a shadow box

Turn old cardboard boxes (cereal boxes are the perfect size) into shadow boxes with a photo of a student inside. Attach a transparency to the front and add fun details using Sharpies or chalk markers.

Get tutorial: Self-Portrait Shadow Boxes

9. Get stately with watercolor castles

These castles use a fun technique where students draw designs and shapes with crayons and then paint over it with watercolors. Students will definitely be amazed to see the way the crayons resist the paint.

Get tutorial: Watercolor Castle

10. Cut and paste color-wheel flowers

This might look like just another cute kindergarten art project, but really, the goal is to teach the color-wheel concept. Kids paste primary flower petals first, then fill in with secondary colors. They get good practice with scissor skills too.

Get tutorial: Color Wheel Flowers

11. Explore block painting

You might shudder at the idea of dipping your shape blocks in paint, but let’s face it: Those sticky blocks were due for a good cleaning anyway. So go ahead and try this Paul Klee–inspired kindergarten art project, even if it is a wee bit messy.

Get tutorial: How To Paint With Blocks and Learn About Paul Klee

12. Find art in scribbles

Show kids that even their scribbles are full of personality and life! Let kids experiment with a variety of media (crayons, markers, pastels, etc.), then turn their scribbles into creatures in a few simple steps.

Get tutorial: I’m Not Just a Scribble – Scribble Art

13. Model textured clay turtles

Break out the clay! These little turtles are easy to assemble, but it’s the shells that are the really fun part. Have kids use the sole of their shoe (stomp!) to create textures and patterns. If you don’t have a kiln, use air-dry clay , or even try this with Play-Doh.

Get tutorial: Clay Turtles

14. Shape 3D yarn art

Harold and the Purple Crayon is a perennial children’s favorite, so this kindergarten art project is sure to be a big hit. Make sculptures by dipping yarn in glue and attaching a paper purple crayon to the end.

Get tutorial: Yarn Art

15. Use straw painting to make dreamy peacocks

This beautiful kindergarten art project is easier than it looks! To make those rainbow feathers, just place a few drops of liquid watercolor onto watercolor paper or white construction paper. Students use straws to blow the paint around on the paper. (Make this project COVID-safer by taking it outside and spacing kids out while they work.)

Get tutorial: Straw-Blown Peacock Painting

16. Stack cardboard sculptures

Here’s another way to turn recycled cardboard into a kindergarten art project. Cut cardboard into shapes and stack them up. Then drizzle thin paint carefully over the top to create mesmerizing patterns.

Get tutorial: Cardboard Sculptures

17. Craft a gumball machine

This gumball machine is so cute! We especially love how simple and affordable it is to re-create.

Get tutorial: Gumball Machine Craft

18. Make junk robots

There are few things that kindergartners love more than robots. This is a great project for using those last bits of buttons, paper scraps, old toys, and stickers. You can make this project as complicated or as simple as you want.

Get tutorial: Junk Robots

19. Mold Chihuly-inspired bowls

Show your students pictures of Dale Chihuly’s breathtaking glass art . Then grab coffee filters and markers to make your own colorful creations.

Get tutorial: Chihuly paper bowls kindergarten art lesson

20. Float tissue paper water lilies

Monet’s water lily paintings are instantly recognizable and easy for kids to connect with. Re-create the feeling of these famous paintings with this project, finished off with tissue paper water lilies.

Get tutorial: Claude Monet Water Lilies Art

21. Build a Dino

Purchase some craft foam , then get to work cutting various shapes from it. Your students will enjoy building their own unique dinosaurs from those shapes. And kids will be reviewing various shapes in the process.

Get tutorial: Build a Dinosaur

22. Channel Van Gogh with sunflowers

Van Gogh is another terrific inspiration for kindergarten art students. Bring in a bouquet of live sunflowers, show them his sunflower paintings  for inspiration, and let them create!

Get tutorial: Van Gogh Sunflower Art Project

23. Replace glitter with salt paint

Some of you may be die-hard glitter fans, but for the rest of us, this kindergarten art project is a real sanity-saver. Students draw designs with glue, then dump coarse salt over the top. When it’s dry, they add watercolors for a pretty creation. You can do a jellyfish salt painting, a scenic salt painting, or just something abstract.

Get tutorial: Raised Salt Paintings

24. Practice painting on foil

Crumpled foil dipped in paint is the secret to creating this cool textured moon print. Add it to a star-painted background to finish it off.

Get tutorial: Foil-Printed Moon Craft

25. Bend pipe cleaners into masterpieces

Chances are good you’ve got a ton of random pipe cleaners lying around somewhere. Gather them up, along with some Styrofoam packing material, and set kids loose to create wild and crazy sculptures. They can add beads and any other materials you have lying around too. (Try these glittery pipe cleaners for extra pizzazz.)

Get tutorial: Pipe Cleaner Sculptures

26. Build a glass-free mosaic

Real glass mosaics are best reserved for high school students, but this version makes a great kindergarten art project. Visit the link below to learn how to dye corn kernels any color you can imagine.

Get tutorial: Colored Corn Mosaic Art

27. Cut out newspaper cats

Work on scissors skills by cutting basic shapes out of newspapers and magazines. Then have kids assemble them however they like to create cute kitty cats!

Get tutorial: Cool Cat Newspaper Art Project for Kids

28. Tackle textures with trees

Introduce the idea of texture by studying tree bark with all its whorls and swirls. Next, have kids draw simple trees full of patterns in crayon and then have them fill in the background with watercolors.

Get tutorial: Textured Trees

29. Create a scribbler

This project can be done on short notice since all you will need are markers, duct tape, paper rolls, and paper. Add to the fun by unrolling a huge sheet of white paper on the floor and then letting kids go wild with their scribble art!

Get tutorial: Paper Roll Scribblers

30. Make some glowing hearts

Grab some black craft paper, a heart stencil, and some chalk pastels and get crafting!

31. Craft 3D yarn letters

Here’s another alphabet idea for your kindergarten art students. Grab some yarn (the multicolored skeins create the coolest look), glue, and wax paper. Dip the yarn into the glue and lay the glue-drenched pieces of yarn on wax paper to create letters, numbers, or any shape you like.

Get tutorial: String Letters

32. Slide pastel art into mini photo albums

Kids love to experiment with different art supplies. Let them create a variety of pastel pages, then slide them into mini photo albums to display and share.

Get tutorial: Mini Art Books

33. Embrace wrinkles with this crumpled-art project

Crumpling paper is a lot of fun, but kids will be surprised to see they can use that technique to make interesting art. All you need is white construction paper and watercolors to make this unique kindergarten art project.

Get tutorial: Crumpled Paper Art

34. Finger-paint a mess-free rainbow

Finger painting without the mess? Yes, please! This kindergarten art project keeps the paints confined to a plastic bag, so kids can create over and over again anywhere they like.

Get tutorial: Rainbow in a Bag

35. Try another low-mess take on watercolors

Here’s another idea for keeping the painting mess to a minimum. Draw on plastic bags with washable markers, then spray them with water and press a piece of paper over the top. Instant easy art!

Get tutorial: Paint-Less Watercolor Process Art for Kids

36. Use balloons as stamps

This is the perfect kindergarten art project for Earth Day , but it could be done anytime. It doesn’t require a lot of preparation since all you will need is blue and green paint, some balloons, and paper.

Get tutorial: Balloon Stamping Earth Day Craft

37. Pull yarn through paint

Yarn painting has become popular for all ages recently, and it’s easy to see why. This easy project creates cool abstract art that’s fun and satisfying to make. It’s similar to drip painting, where paint is splattered around the canvas.

Get tutorial: Yarn Painting

38. Point the way with cotton swabs

Not only is painting with cotton swabs (aka Q-tips) lots of fun, it also introduces little ones to the concept of pointillism . Bonus: No paintbrushes to clean up at the end!

Get tutorial: Field of Tulips Q-tip Painting

39. Hang a shape garland

Fill your room with kid-made art! Paint and cut out colorful shapes, then string them on garlands to decorate your classroom.

Get tutorial: Shape Garlands

40. Put together Mondrian squares

Mondrian is another artist whose work is very appealing to young kids. Create Mondrian-inspired squares by decorating and assembling individual wooden craft sticks .

Get tutorial: 10 Awesome Piet Mondrian Projects for Kids

41. Color some big crayons

In addition to teaching color-blending techniques, this kindergarten art project opens up discussions about the ways unique crayons work together to create a complete picture.

Get tutorial: Crayon Craft

42. Make bubble wrap magic

Bubble wrap is a perennial favorite for little fingers, but students will have to hold off on popping for at least a little while when you tackle this kindergarten art project. Glue umbrellas to construction paper, then use bubble wrap to “paint” the raindrops!

Get tutorial: Paint With Bubble Wrap

43. Assemble a leaf person

Leaf people are the new stick people! Take a nature walk to gather leaves; this is fun in fall but works in spring and summer too. Grab twigs, pine cones, and flowers for accents, if you like. Then paste them together to create a whole leaf family.

Get tutorial: Fun and Easy Leaf People Craft

44. Try this trick to make crepe-paper art even easier

Crepe paper has been a star in kindergarten art projects for years, but it definitely results in sticky glue fingers. Try this: Use a mini paint tray and a mini roller to roll on the glue. Fingers stay clean and dry, plus you’ll avoid messy glue puddles. You’re welcome!

Get tutorial: Easy Crepe Paper Canvas Art With Kids

45. Print paw-some footprint art

Combine story time with creativity in this kindergarten art project. As you read the story, have students grab an animal figurine, dip the paws in paint, and have their animal act out the story on construction paper, leaving a trail of prints across the page.

Get tutorial: Process-Based Pet Art Activities

46. Turn paper bags into jellyfish

Put those scissor skills to good use with these wiggly paper bag jellyfish. All you need is brown paper lunch bags, googly eyes (the bigger, the better!), and watercolor paint. For extra fun, use some decorative scissors with this kindergarten art project.

Get tutorial: Paper Bag Jellyfish Craft

47. Sculpt the cutest pinch-pot kitties

This kindergarten art project will take some patience, trial-and-error, and grown-up assistance, but the results are pretty terrific. No kiln? Use oven-bake clay and tempera paint , then add a shiny finish with gloss glaze .

Get tutorial: Pinch Pot Animals

48. Give a thumb’s up to these cute bugs

These sweet little thumbprint bugs are just so adorable! Read a book like The Big Book of Bugs before having your little artists get to work on their thumbprint creatures.

Get tutorial: Thumbprint Bugs Craft

49. Construct a paper quilt

Quilting is an art form in itself. In this kindergarten art project, kids draw a patterned circle, then cut it into fours and paste it onto a square. Assemble all the squares for the final finished project.

Get tutorial: We’ll Keep on Biggering and Biggering

50. Eat your art

Painting on white bread has been around for a while, but the soggy finished product isn’t really that appetizing. This project solves that problem by mixing powdered sugar with food coloring to create a thick paste. It’s fun to paint with, and the resulting bread art is a sweet treat!

Get tutorial: Edible Paint Recipe

51. Paint with bubbles

Kids are forever blowing bubbles, so add tempera paint and create beautiful art prints!

Get tutorial: How To Paint With Bubbles

52. Learn about symmetry with smush art

This is a tried-and-true kindergarten art project for a good reason: It’s fun and slightly magical. Your students will love to see how those tiny drops of paint are transformed into symmetrical art patterns.

53. Twist and paint paper plates

Process art puts more emphasis on the process of creating rather than the results themselves. This active art activity requires only paint and paper plates and reveals all sorts of interesting results.

Get tutorial: Painted Plates

54. Scoop up ice cream cone art

Who doesn’t scream for ice cream? Mix shaving cream with glue and paint to create scoops of fun. Add mix-ins like cinnamon for scented creations, or stir in beads to represent chocolate chips. So many options! (Just make sure they’re not trying to eat this particular project.)

Get tutorial: Puffy Paint Ice Cream Cone Craft for Kids

55. Draw a half self-portrait

Some students shy away from drawing, as they fear they don’t have the skills. That’s what makes this mixed-media project so cool. Half the piece is constructed from a photo that the students then use to help draw the remaining half.

Get tutorial: Half Self-Portraits Project by Hannah’s Art Club

56. Practice circles with paper piggies

These round little piggies give kindergartners the perfect chance to practice drawing circles. All you need is watercolor paper , a black marker, and watercolor paints . Oink oink!

Get tutorial: This Little Piggy Went Wee, Wee, Wee

57. Design circle chicks

These little chicks are just so adorable and easy to create. Have students trace a small circular item with black marker, then have them personalize their chicks.

Get tutorial: Super Easy Drawing Project

58. Design butterfly wings

Look at photos of real butterflies, then create your own patterned wings. This is a good chance to talk about symmetry in art and nature.

Get tutorial: Butterfly Art

59. Fly colorful windsocks

Windsocks are a staple art project and full of versatility. Create the paper bases and decorate them however you like. The streamers can be made of ribbon, yarn, paper, or anything else you can dream up!

Get tutorial: Line Windsocks for Kindergarten

60. Cut up your art

This kindergarten art project is fun as it encourages kids to look at their creations in a different way. (Plus, scissors skills!)

Get tutorial: Cut Up Art – a 3-step art technique for kids

61. Paint a field of wildflowers

This flower-inspired project touches on impressionism in a way that 5-year-old kids can grasp. All you need is black paper, chalk for the stems, and paint for the flowers.

Get tutorial: Kindergarten Wildflowers

62. Create a tree-inspired 3D sculpture

Head outside to the school playground where your students can forage for the sticks and twigs they want to use in this kindergarten project. Back inside the classroom, they stick the twigs into clay and decorate them with colorful beads . (Bonus: This is a great way to work in fine-motor-skills practice!)

Get tutorial: Embellishing Nature

63. Use your hand to make an adorable bunny

Not only is this bunny adorable, it’s also a valuable learning opportunity for kindergartners. They can work on their hand-eye coordination since they’ll have to both trace and cut to make their new bunny buddy.

64. Reinforce numbers with art

This art project also reinforces number recognition. Have kids make these adorable “I am [blank] years old” art pieces by having them create bubble numbers, shading in just their age.

Get tutorial: Kinder Freebie

65. Study the color wheel

Before diving into this adorable project, read the book Mouse Paint to your students. Then get them to create their six little mice that will come together to form a perfect color wheel!

Get tutorial: Color Wheel

66. Make beautiful flower prints

We love a good printmaking project, and this one uses items you probably already have lying around at home. Follow the directions in the video to create the balloon and marble stamps, then let your students choose a paint color. Next, let them dip the balloon into the paint and create flower prints. Finally, have them add stems with green paint.

67. Create Ukrainian Pysanky eggs

Hold a mini social studies lesson while creating some fun and arty eggs. Teach kids about this Ukrainian craft before getting started.

Get tutorial: Kindergarten Ukrainian Pysanky Eggs

68. Do some homemade scratch art

Kids love a good scratch art pad so why not teach them to make their own? All you need is paper, a paper clip, and some crayons.

69. Create a dazzling sunrise

This is a relatively easy art project that can be done in a few simple steps. Begin by having kids use Sharpies to create the outline of the sunrise. Then, have them use watercolors to paint in the lines. Finally, have them use crayons to create some shading and color variation.

70. Make colorful Popsicles

This collage project is perfect for studying color and texture. Before doing this project with your students, hot-glue three Popsicle sticks to a piece of white card stock. Next, have them choose their base color for each Popsicle. Finally, have them glue on scraps of paper to create their collages.

Get tutorial: P Is for Popsicle Collage

71. Piece together a collage face

Save up all those Amazon boxes before getting started on this project. Kids will love piecing together their faces from cardboard scraps. We love that it teaches about recycling!

Get tutorial: Collage Faces

72. Try a cherry blossom art project

Try drawing cherry blossoms with your kindergarten class for a quick and easy spring project.

73. Crumple up some fun

This is another fun tissue-paper craft. Simply have kids glue crumpled-up pieces of red tissue paper to an apple outline and then add an adorable face!

74. Create a paper roll koala

We highly recommend cutting out the various pieces for the paper roll koalas ahead of time so your students can concentrate on piecing them together. They can cut paper rolls to the desired height of their new desk buddy.

75. Amaze with a cool pencil sculpture

This is a really ambitious project for kindergarten so we definitely recommend setting aside a few classes to create these as well as having an extra set of adult hands on deck. The end result will be well worth it though!

76. Use forks to paint flowers

These fork-print tulips are so easy and are a great introduction to printmaking. Let kids individualize their paintings by deciding on colors and how many tulips to include.

77. Freeze some paint

While we bet you didn’t have frozen paint on your bingo card, we think you’ll love this fun kindergarten art activity. Put some paint in an ice cube tray, stick some Popsicle sticks in it, and let it sit. Then let your little artists get to work!

Get tutorial: Paintsicles: Frozen Paint Cubes for Creative Fun

78. Explode some paper tube fireworks

This kindergarten art project is simple, but the end result is explosive! Be sure to save up those toilet paper rolls in the weeks leading up to the craft.

Keep the creativity going with these 25 Fun Kindergarten Writing & Storytelling Prompts !

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Ai is contentious among authors. so why are some feeding it their own writing.

Chloe Veltman

The vast majority of authors don't use artificial intelligence as part of their creative process — or at least won't admit to it.

Yet according to a recent poll from the writers' advocacy nonprofit The Authors Guild, 13% said they do use AI, for activities like brainstorming character ideas and creating outlines.

The technology is a vexed topic in the literary world. Many authors are concerned about the use of their copyrighted material in generative AI models. At the same time, some are actively using these technologies — even attempting to train AI models on their own works.

These experiments, though limited, are teaching their authors new things about creativity.

Best known as the author of technology and business-oriented non-fiction books like The Long Tail, lately Chris Anderson has been trying his hand at fiction. Anderson is working on his second novel, about drone warfare.

He says he wants to put generative AI technology to the test.

"I wanted to see whether in fact AI can do more than just help me organize my thoughts, but actually start injecting new thoughts," Anderson says.

Anderson says he fed parts of his first novel into an AI writing platform to help him write this new one. The system surprised him by moving his opening scene from a corporate meeting room to a karaoke bar.

Authors push back on the growing number of AI 'scam' books on Amazon

"And I was like, you know? That could work!" Anderson says. "I ended up writing the scene myself. But the idea was the AI's."

Anderson says he didn't use a single actual word the AI platform generated. The sentences were grammatically correct, he says, but fell way short in terms of replicating his writing style. Although he admits to being disappointed, Anderson says ultimately he's OK with having to do some of the heavy lifting himself: "Maybe that's just the universe telling me that writing actually involves the act of writing."

Training an AI model to imitate style

It's very hard for off-the-shelf AI models like GPT and Claude to emulate contemporary literary authors' styles.

The authors NPR talked with say that's because these models are predominantly trained on content scraped from the Internet like news articles, Wikipedia entries and how-to manuals — standard, non-literary prose.

But some authors, like Sasha Stiles , say they have been able to make these systems suit their stylistic needs.

"There are moments where I do ask my machine collaborator to write something and then I use what's come out verbatim," Stiles says.

The poet and AI researcher says she wanted to make the off-the-shelf AI models she'd been experimenting with for years more responsive to her own poetic voice.

So she started customizing them by inputting her finished poems, drafts, and research notes.

"All with the intention to sort of mentor a bespoke poetic alter ego," Stiles says.

She has collaborated with this bespoke poetic alter ego on a variety of projects, including Technelegy (2021), a volume of poetry published by Black Spring Press; and " Repetae: Again, Again ," a multimedia poem created last year for luxury fashion brand Gucci.

Stiles says working with her AI persona has led her to ask questions about whether what she's doing is in fact poetic, and where the line falls between the human and the machine.

read it again… pic.twitter.com/sAs2xhdufD — Sasha Stiles | AI alter ego Technelegy ✍️🤖 (@sashastiles) November 28, 2023

"It's been really a provocative thing to be able to use these tools to create poetry," she says.

Potential issues come with these experiments

These types of experiments are also provocative in another way. Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger says she's not opposed to authors training AI models on their own writing.

"If you're using AI to create derivative works of your own work, that is completely acceptable," Rasenberger says.

Thousands of authors urge AI companies to stop using work without permission

But building an AI system that responds fluently to user prompts requires vast amounts of training data. So the foundational AI models that underpin most of these investigations in literary style may contain copyrighted works.

Rasenberger pointed to the recent wave of lawsuits brought by authors alleging AI companies trained their models on unauthorized copies of articles and books.

"If the output does in fact contain other people's works, that creates real ethical concerns," she says. "Because that you should be getting permission for."

Circumventing ethical problems while being creative

Award-winning speculative fiction writer Ken Liu says he wanted to circumvent these ethical problems, while at the same time creating new aesthetic possibilities using AI.

So the former software engineer and lawyer attempted to train an AI model solely on his own output. He says he fed all of his short stories and novels into the system — and nothing else.

Liu says he knew this approach was doomed to fail.

That's because the entire life's work of any single writer simply doesn't contain enough words to produce a viable so-called large language model.

"I don't care how prolific you are," Liu says. "It's just not going to work."

Liu's AI system built only on his own writing produced predictable results.

"It barely generated any phrases, even," Liu says. "A lot of it was just gibberish."

Yet for Liu, that was the point. He put this gibberish to work in a short story. 50 Things Every AI Working With Humans Should Know , published in Uncanny Magazine in 2020, is a meditation on what it means to be human from the perspective of a machine.

"Dinoted concentration crusch the dead gods," is an example of one line in Liu's story generated by his custom-built AI model. "A man reached the torch for something darker perified it seemed the billboding," is another.

Liu continues to experiment with AI. He says the technology shows promise, but is still very limited. If anything, he says, his experiments have reaffirmed why human art matters.

"So what is the point of experimenting with AIs?" Liu says. "The point for me really is about pushing the boundaries of what is art."

Audio and digital stories edited by Meghan Collins Sullivan .

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2024 Program for Humanities in Medicine Health Professions Creative Medical Writing and Art Contest: “Care Taker” by Terri Motraghi

Yale university’s 2024 program for humanities in medicine (phm) health professions creative medical writing and art contest awarded first prize in poetry to terri motraghi, a clinical research nurse and online msn candidate in the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner specialty. to read more about yale school of nursing (ysn)’s other prize winners in this contest, please visit ysn news ., by terri motraghi, to read more about yale school of nursing (ysn)’s other prize winners in this contest,  please visit ysn news ..

Unlock M4 iPad Pro power with these apps for creative professionals

It’s been a big week for the iPad. The M4 iPad Pro and iPad Air 6 will make their way into users’ hands in a matter of days. That makes now the perfect time to start making a list of all the best iPadOS apps to enjoy while using the latest and greatest iPad hardware.

The question of getting things done on the iPad is evergreen. So we’ve assembled a collection of some of the best iPad apps specifically for creative professionals, spanning a variety of fields.

Want to create great things using Apple’s tablet? Here are some of the top tools to get started. Many of them will push the power of the new M4 iPad Pro, but even those that don’t will still run smoother than ever on the new hardware.

• FiLMiC Pro is a video capture app that gives you full manual control of your footage. It supports shooting in ProRes and was even touted by Apple for that feature when the iPhone 13 Pro debuted. As an alternative, be sure to check out Apple’s new Final Cut Camera app when it debuts later this spring.
• LumaFusion is the gold standard third-party app for video editing on the iPad. Our own Fernando Silva even uses LumaFusion for his video work at 9to5Mac.
• Final Cut Pro is Apple’s own solution for iPad video editing. Years in the making, the app finally debuted last spring and is getting a big upgrade to version 2 soon.

• Spotify for Podcasters is the new name for what was once known as Anchor until Spotify acquired it. Anchor built a strong reputation for making podcasting easy and accessible to the masses, with a streamlined set of tools that take the complexity out of recording and publishing a podcast.
• Ferrite Recording Studio is the app I used to edit the now-retired Adapt podcast on my iPad Pro. It’s a versatile audio editing tool that works equally well when just using touch, or with an Apple Pencil, or a connected Magic Keyboard.

Photography

• Affinity Photo was the Photoshop-equivalent on the iPad long before Photoshop debuted on iPadOS. A powerful, touch-native design, Afffinity proves that iPad apps don’t have to be second-class citizens to their Mac counterparts.
• Photomator provides user-friendly but dynamic tools to users of all skill levels and has been especially on the front lines with utilizing AI and ML.
• Adobe Photoshop may not be the exact replica of its Mac sibling, but Adobe has done significant work to bring some of the most important editing tools to the iPad.
• Darkroom is a far more approachable app than tools like Photoshop, providing valuable tools for those who don’t need a full-fledged editing suite. Darkroom’s secret weapon is that it’s built for editing not just photos, but video too.

• Ulysses is my app of choice for writing on the iPad Pro. It features an elegant, exceedingly native feeling design, while also providing powerful tools that scale from smaller works like writing 9to5Mac articles to drafting entire books.
• Scrivener is a fan favorite among novelists especially, with an array of tools built specifically for managing and keeping track of various author notes, character details, and other world-building information.

Illustration

• Procreate has a long history on the iPad and continues to receive noteworthy updates all the time. It’s the most popular app for sketching, painting, and illustrating and has truly earned its success.
• Linea Sketch is a lighter weight illustration tool for anyone intimidated by Procreate. The app does a great job of curating a core set of tools and providing a distraction-free interface for creating.

• BandLab provides a one-stop shop for music creation on the iPad, with tools that span the whole process from recording to editing and even sharing your music online.
• Logic Pro is Apple’s iPad version of the well-known Mac tool that musicians and producers have relied on for decades. Logic’s upcoming stem splitting feature seems set to take full advantage of the iPad Pro’s M4 chip.

The above apps are just scratching the surface of the powerful tools available to creative professionals on iPad. While it’s undeniable that iPadOS comes with a variety of restrictions and limitations that don’t plague the Mac, the platform can still be a fantastic place for creative work if you find the right tools for the job.

What are your thoughts? Do you have any go-to apps for getting creative work done on the iPad? Let us know in the comments.

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Ryan got his start in journalism as an Editor at MacStories, where he worked for four years covering Apple news, writing app reviews, and more. For two years he co-hosted the Adapt podcast on Relay FM, which focused entirely on the iPad. As a result, it should come as no surprise that his favorite Apple device is the iPad Pro.

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R.O. Kwon Is Writing Into Desire

By Keziah Weir

All featured products are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Vanity Fair may earn an affiliate commission.

“I’m so obsessed with every word, every comma of a novel, that it was initially hard for me to contemplate letting go,” R.O. Kwon says of the screen adaptation of her best-selling 2018 debut novel, The Incendiaries. “My first reaction for half a day was like, ‘Well, guess I’m just going to learn how to make TV shows.’” But publishing has brimmed with lessons in surrender for the writer. “I was just like, ‘Well, no, I've read exactly one script in my life. I’m not versed in this.’” She relinquished control to two filmmakers whose work she admires. A collaboration between screenwriter Lisa Randolph ( Jessica Jones , Prodigal Son ) and director Kogonada ( Columbus, Pachinko ) is now underway.

She’s found other outlets for her comma tinkering. In 2014, Kwon started writing Exhibit (Riverhead) , and over the intervening decade has polished it so it glitters like a garnet in firelight. “I want the prose to get to a place where I can pick it up at random, read two sentences and not want to change anything about those sentences.” In the novel, a Korean American photographer named Jin finds herself creatively blocked at the same time her husband’s longing to become a father diverges painfully from her own desire to remain childless. An injured ballerina named Lidija, whom she meets at a party, unleashes both an artistic and a sensual awakening.

Kwon, who lives in San Francisco (“the long-term plan is to be here until climate change chases us out”), says that Exhibit bloomed from her longtime appreciation of photography and its “complicated and fraught relationship to reality, and to hanging on to a little bit of time, a little bit of the past” along with a more recently discovered love of dance. While watching a San Francisco Ballet performance of Alexei Ratmansky’s Shostakovich Trilogy, “I had this full body experience while watching, where I thought the dancers’ bodies—like, the cells —were directly talking to my body.” Kwon took introductory photography and ballet classes in an attempt to capture the bodily sensation of creating both art forms.

Earlier this year, Kwon wrote an essay about why she hopes her parents won’t read the book, given its frank depictions of lust and queerness—subjects into which Kwon took an exploratory dip with the best-selling 2021 story anthology Kink, which she co-edited with Garth Greenwell. It comprises fiction that explores desire from such authors as Alexander Chee, Melissa Febos, Roxane Gay, and Chris Kraus. Kwon’s own story, “Safeword,” was first published by Playboy and centers on a man navigating his girlfriend’s newly disclosed submissive sexual desires with a joint visit to a dominatrix.

“One of the strongest antidotes to the deepest kinds of loneliness, the worst shame I have felt, has been the fellowship I have found in literature and other people’s art,” Kwon says. “That's a guiding principle for me in my work. I so badly want to meet other people’s loneliness and other people’s solitude and other people’s shame.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Vanity Fair: Where did the book start for you?

R.O. Kwon: One of the first sparks for the book was that I was interested in what, as a woman, I feel allowed and encouraged to want, and what I feel pressured to hide my desire for. I wanted to have women on the page who want a great deal, to see what happens if they're given a space to run after what they desire. Ambition continues to feel like a really fraught thing for, I think especially, my woman artist friends and woman writer friends to even say out loud. Saying the words, "I am an ambitious woman" still feels really dangerous.

Jin, like the narrators in The Incendiaries and in your short story “Safe Word,” was raised Christian and lost their faith, which I know is something that you experienced too. But both of those narrators were white men. Of course, I understand that Jin is fictional, and that you are not Jin, but I am curious about the difference between writing a narrator who feels biographically, on paper, different or more similar to you.

With The Incendiaries, it wasn't as though I walked in telling myself, I'm going to write a book from the point of view of a white man. It was actually initially told from Phoebe, the Korean woman’s point of view, and that ended up changing. I believe very strongly in following the book's desires and needs, and not imposing what I think the book should be.

But with this book, I wanted very much to write from a Korean woman's point of view, and to not let the book morph again, in that way, if at all possible. In retrospect, I thought that maybe part of why that happened with The Incendiaries, it could have been some part of me was trying to protect myself a little. A lot of people seem to assume that Phoebe was a stand-in character for me, which was definitely a little wild because I was like, I haven't bombed an abortion clinic! That was definitely the most common question: How autobiographical was this book? And my goodness, well, I haven't done that.

By Erin Vanderhoof

By Bess Levin

By Savannah Walsh

I wanted to let myself be much more unprotected in this book. Sex is at the center of this book. And being Korean, ex-Catholic, and ex-Christian, part of the journey of this book has involved some of the most overwhelming anxiety and panic that I've ever experienced in my life.

I'm sorry!

Part of me would just be watching myself and being like, you did this to yourself. Why? No one made you do this. No one made you write this very queer, kinky novel.

It's still true that every cell in my body seems to feel convinced that…honestly, a message I keep hearing is: You're going to be killed. It wasn't that long ago that a Korean woman could be divorced for talking too much. You could be divorced for—this one kills me, I flew into a day’s outrage about this—you could be divorced for moving during sex. And at the time, being divorced was a death sentence. I'm just not that far removed from when that was true. And my body's fully aware that giving any hint to the world that I've ever had sex is such a rule-breaking thing. I'm pretty sure I haven't even told my grandmother I’m queer. I just let her live her life in peace. She almost certainly thinks being queer is an illness. It's just not that uncommon. It's not just my grandmother's generation, at all.

Part of the deep anxiety about this has also come from the ways in which I write about sexuality and kink, especially Jin's sexuality, is that it can be misinterpreted as aligning exactly with some of the most harmful stereotypes about people who look like me. That we’re submissive, hypersexual, compliant, that we’re up for being mistreated. But I do believe that turning away from naming what I feel compelled to name, that itself brings its own harm.

I think a lot about something that my friend Garth Greenwell said. I'm paraphrasing, but he said something like, "I'm not writing for people who think I'm disgusting. I'm writing for people who already think I'm beautiful." Jin clearly has very conflicted feelings about her desires, and is working through those conflicted feelings. I hoped that this book would at least in part turn into or turn toward a celebration of our bodies, and a celebration of bodies who are told that we don't get to want what we want.

In talking about her lack of a desire to have a child, Jin says that she can't argue the urge into being, which felt like such a parallel to the surety or lack thereof about faith in God.

That was one obsession of the book, these different ways—with faith, with wanting children or not, with sexual desire, with appetites in general, including for food—that our bodies are so powerful. I haven't been able to—and I've tried—I can't argue myself into believing in a Christian God. Again, I can't argue myself into or out of sexual desire. I am fascinated by the ways in which I haven't been able to ever reason or argue myself out of who I seem to be and what I want and what I believe.

I have friends and loved ones who so desperately want kids. And I know how absolutely, with all my being, I've never had that desire. With Jin and her husband, she, even more adamantly than I do, doesn't want kids. I always said if my partner woke up one day realizing he definitely wants kids, then I've told him, we will work with that and figure something out. But for Jin, it's further along on the spectrum than I am. She's just like, "I can't imagine this." And so there's the profound heartbreak of what do you then do when your life becomes incompatible with someone you love very much?

There’s another love story of sorts—the ghost of a kisaeng starts speaking to Jin.

The kisaeng story, the bare bones of the double suicide, with someone who was going to marry her, that's very loosely based on a family story. It has been fascinating to me, in part, because some of the family stories I've heard most often, and I really haven't heard that many family stories, have to do with people blowing up their lives for love. This became especially personal to me when the conflict that Jin has with her parents, where they didn't want to, where they say, "If you don't have a marriage in the church then we won't come." My parents said that to me. I took a less hard-line position. I’m so not Christian. That said, I thought, if this matters so much to y’all, then all right, whatever. We can have a priest involved.

The kisaeng who plays this large role in my own family's mythology, her name hasn't survived. I plunged into research, which itself started feeling really restrictive, because I just became increasingly obsessed with needing the historical details to be exactly right. And at one point, what became very liberating was I read about Korean men in Korea looking through Korean history and anointing people of the past as queer ancestors, because of all the ways in which queer people are erased from history. That really liberated me. I was like, You know what? We're talking about a ghost, channeled through a shaman, and she can fly. I can make some things up.

One of my biggest pleasures in a book is finding a character from another one of the author’s books—and I got that in The Exhibit, with a visit from the world of The Incendiaries.

There's a part of me that almost believes that an ideal version of a book pre-exists me. And I feel less that I'm making anything up with fiction, and that I’m more working my way toward a book that's already there. Honestly, that feels more reassuring than...

That you're liberating a form rather than having to find it yourself.

That way it’s not the wide open vista of infinite choice, but instead working my way toward liberating, like a sculpture out of a rock. The world of The Incendiaries feels to me as though it almost exists. When I feel extra down about the world, I sometimes turn to quantum physics for consolation, the articles and books that are for lay people. I love reading that there are infinite versions of the world, and in ways that almost exceed language. In The Incendiaries, a world where those abortion clinics were bombed, that version of the world, it seems to exist to me. It still felt so vibrant, that it felt natural for the world of Exhibit to also belong there.

I'm most likely working toward either a trilogy or triptych, or a quartet, of books where they're very loosely connected. But where what happens in the past, in these past books, continues to exist in future books. I think Jin's photos—I mean, who knows, it's early days—I think Jin's photos will show up in the next book.

It sounds like you're already working on that third book.

I'm having more trouble really pulling myself into fiction than I've ever had. It's been really disorienting. It just remains such a central terror, that terror Jin feels in Exhibit , her fear that the photos have left. Because it does happen sometimes. Every now and then, there are artists who just don't ever write again, don't make their art again. I’m so afraid that the words have left. But I'm trying to be patient, and I've been storing up, and I've been collecting accounts of writers who fall into years of quiet, because I know my mind and body are at their best when I’m writing fiction every day. And currently I’m not able to, but I'm trying.

Below, Kwon shares some of the creative inspirations behind Exhibit.

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By Richard Lawson