• 75 prompts
  • Checked October 2026

Writing Prompts With Sentence Starters

Half a sentence, ready to finish: I remember, I wonder, If I could, The best part of, One day.

Writing Prompts With Sentence Starters

Show all 75
  1. One day, it started snowing inside ...Write about: the one room it chose, and who refused to leave.
  2. One day, my shadow went left when ...Write about: following it for one block.
  3. I remember when I was too small to reach ...Write about: a shelf, a light switch or a sink, and the day you could.

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I remember 15

  • I remember a hiding place that ... Write about: where it was, who else knew and what you kept there.
  • I remember a meal that ... Write about: the table, the best bite and the thing somebody spilled.
  • I remember a present that ... Write about: one you gave or got, the wrapping and the face that went with it.
  • I remember a smell that meant ... Write about: where you were, and what was about to happen.
  • I remember being so excited that I could not ... Write about: the night before something big, hour by hour.
  • I remember finding ... Write about: something you picked up off the ground and still have.
  • I remember laughing so hard that ... Write about: what started it, and why having to be quiet made it funnier.
  • I remember learning how to ... Write about: who showed you, how many tries it took and the try that worked.
  • I remember looking everywhere for ... Write about: something you lost, each place you tried and where it was.
  • I remember my first day at ... Write about: a school, a club or a pool, and the first person who spoke to you.
  • I remember the day it rained so hard that ... Write about: what got soaked, what got canceled and what you did instead.
  • I remember the first time I rode ... Write about: a bike, a bus, a pony or an escalator, and who was watching.
  • I remember the sound of ... Write about: a sound from a place you used to go, and what made it.
  • I remember waking up early because ... Write about: a morning that began before anyone else was up.
  • I remember when I was too small to reach ... Write about: a shelf, a light switch or a sink, and the day you could.

I wonder 15

  • I wonder how it feels to be the tallest ... Write about: a tree, a building or a person in a crowd, and what they can see.
  • I wonder how long it would take to ... Write about: a walk, a count or a dig, and how you would keep going.
  • I wonder how they make ... Write about: something you use every day, with your guess at each step.
  • I wonder what a dog thinks when ... Write about: a dog at a window, a door or a dinner table, in its own words.
  • I wonder what birds are saying when ... Write about: the noise on a wire or in a hedge, turned into a conversation.
  • I wonder what I will be like when ... Write about: yourself at twice your age, on an ordinary morning.
  • I wonder what is at the bottom of ... Write about: a pond, a toy box or the deepest drawer in your home.
  • I wonder what it sounds like inside ... Write about: a beehive, a piano or a car with snow on the roof.
  • I wonder what my teacher does when ... Write about: the school after the last bell, as you picture it.
  • I wonder what this street looked like when ... Write about: your street long ago, from clues you can see today.
  • I wonder what would happen if nobody ... Write about: one job skipped for a week, and what the town looks like by Friday.
  • I wonder where the water goes after ... Write about: a bath, a storm or a puddle, followed as far as you can imagine.
  • I wonder who decided that ... Write about: a rule or a habit everyone follows, and who you think started it.
  • I wonder who sat at my desk before ... Write about: last year's student, from the marks they left behind.
  • I wonder why we say ... Write about: a word or a saying that makes no sense to you, and your best guess.

If I could 15

  • If I could add a room to my home, it would ... Write about: what is in it, who is allowed in and where the door is hidden.
  • If I could ask one animal a question, I would ask ... Write about: the animal, the question and the answer you expect.
  • If I could ask the future one question, I would ... Write about: the question, and why you picked it over the others.
  • If I could be good at one thing by tomorrow, I would ... Write about: the skill, who you show first and what they say.
  • If I could be the size of an ant, I would ... Write about: the trip across one room, and what is suddenly huge.
  • If I could change one rule at school, I would ... Write about: the rule, why it is there and the first day without it.
  • If I could design a playground, it would ... Write about: the best piece in it, described from top to bottom.
  • If I could give everyone in my town one thing, it would ... Write about: the thing, how you hand it out and what changes by the weekend.
  • If I could invent a machine, it would ... Write about: the one chore it does, and the one thing that goes wrong.
  • If I could keep one thing forever, I would ... Write about: the thing, where it lives and why nothing new could replace it.
  • If I could live one day over again, I would ... Write about: a day to keep exactly the same, or one to do differently.
  • If I could make one food grow on trees, it would ... Write about: the orchard, the picking and the mess.
  • If I could send a message in a bottle, I would ... Write about: what the note says, and who you hope picks it up.
  • If I could teach the class for one lesson, I would ... Write about: the subject, the first thing you say and the homework.
  • If I could trade places with someone for a day, I would ... Write about: their morning in your shoes as well as yours in theirs.

The best part of 15

  • The best part of a snow day is ... Write about: the first hour, before anyone has made a plan.
  • The best part of being the oldest, the youngest or the only one is ... Write about: one thing you get that the others do not.
  • The best part of getting it wrong was ... Write about: a mistake that turned out funny, useful or delicious.
  • The best part of having a friend over is ... Write about: what you always do first, and what you never get around to.
  • The best part of lunch is ... Write about: the food, the seat or the talk, and who makes it good.
  • The best part of making something myself is ... Write about: a thing you built, baked or drew, and the moment it was done.
  • The best part of my birthday was ... Write about: something small that was not a present.
  • The best part of my week was ... Write about: one moment, starting a minute before it happened.
  • The best part of the game was when ... Write about: one play or one turn, slowed right down.
  • The best part of the story was when ... Write about: a book, a film or a tale someone told you, and the scene you would keep.
  • The best part of the summer was the day ... Write about: one day only, from waking up to lights out.
  • The best part of the trip was not the place, it was ... Write about: the car, the snacks, the wrong turn or the people.
  • The best part of the walk home is ... Write about: the stretch you would not swap, step by step.
  • The best part of waiting was ... Write about: a line, a countdown or a long drive, and how you passed the time.
  • The best part of where I live is ... Write about: a corner, a shortcut or a view that visitors miss.

One day 15

  • One day, a hot-air balloon landed on ... Write about: who climbed out, and what they asked for first.
  • One day, a kite came down in our yard with ... Write about: what was tied to its string, and who it belonged to.
  • One day, a letter arrived addressed to our cat ... Write about: what it said, and how the cat answered.
  • One day, a very small door appeared in ... Write about: who knocks first, you or whoever is behind it.
  • One day, all the pencils in class began to ... Write about: what they wrote when nobody was holding them.
  • One day, it started snowing inside ... Write about: the one room it chose, and who refused to leave.
  • One day, my shadow went left when ... Write about: following it for one block.
  • One day, my shoes refused to ... Write about: where they would not go, and where they took you instead.
  • One day, our teacher came in carrying a box that ... Write about: the sound it made, and the rule about not opening it.
  • One day, the ducks walked out of the pond and ... Write about: where the line of ducks was going, and who stopped to let it pass.
  • One day, the goldfish in room nine learned to ... Write about: the trick, who saw it first and who would not believe it.
  • One day, the new student told us she could ... Write about: the test the class set her at recess.
  • One day, the recipe book fell open at a page that ... Write about: a recipe nobody wrote down, and what it cooks.
  • One day, the school bus took a turn it had never ... Write about: the street that was on no map, and where the bus stopped.
  • One day, the tallest tree in the park ... Write about: what it did, and the squirrel who saw it first.

How it works

These writing prompts with sentence starters give the first half of a sentence and leave the rest to the writer. They are grouped by their opening words, and the line under each says what to write about.

Read the full guide

Quick writing prompt sentence starters

I wonder and The best part of are the quick ones. Each can be finished in a single sentence, and a writer with more to say goes on to the reason. I wonder why we say ... needs only one odd word or saying to get going.

Creative writing prompt sentence starters

Two groups are for making things up. If I could asks for a wish and what comes of it: a room added to your home, a food that grows on trees. One day opens a story with something already afoot, such as shoes that refuse to move.

  • Copy the starter out before finishing it. The sentence then begins in the writer's own hand.
  • Finish the same starter three ways and keep the one that surprises you.

Questions and answers

What is a writing prompt with sentence starters?

A prompt that hands over its opening words. On this list the starter is the prompt: I remember learning how to ... The line under it says what to write about: who showed you, how many tries it took, the try that worked.

Are these sentence starters for writing prompts suitable for kids?

Yes. All 75 are about memories, questions, wishes and friendly stories, with nothing frightening in them. One day, a letter arrived addressed to our cat ... is about as strange as it gets.

What are good writing prompt starter sentences for a memory?

The fifteen that open I remember. Each points at one small thing to recall: a smell, a hiding place, the day it rained so hard that plans changed. The memory can be from last week.

Can a sentence starter begin a whole story?

The One day group is for that. The starter is the opening of a story's first sentence, and the line under it points at what comes next: who knocks first at a very small door, what the pencils wrote when nobody was holding them.

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