What are some good story ideas for kids?

Adventure ideas

• A map falls out of a library book and leads to your own back garden.
• Your bike can fly, but only after dark.
• You find a door in your wardrobe that wasn't there yesterday.
• Your family's car turns into a submarine halfway through a holiday.
• The school trip bus takes a wrong turn into a jungle.

Funny ideas

• Your little brother swaps bodies with the family cat for a day.
• Every time Dad tells a bad joke, it starts to rain.
• The birthday cake comes alive and refuses to be eaten.
• Your teacher accidentally shrinks the whole class.
• A robot arrives to help with chores and makes everything worse.

Mystery ideas

• Someone has been eating the biscuits, and the only clue is a glitter footprint.
• Grandpa's old watch starts ticking backwards.
• Every night a new drawing appears on the fridge.
• The neighbour's parrot keeps saying a secret password.
• A letter arrives addressed to you, dated 100 years ago.

Family ideas

• Mum is secretly a retired superhero, and today she needs your help.
• The day you and Grandma swapped ages.
• Your family wins a trip to a planet made of sweets.
• Your baby sister's first word turns out to be a magic spell.
• A family photo comes to life and the people in it need to get home.

Animal and space ideas

• The class hamster escapes and has the best night of its life.
• A whale asks you to help find its lost song.
• Your dog is chosen to be the first dog on Mars.
• An alien lands in the playground and only wants to learn football.
• The moon goes missing and you're the only one who notices.

How to turn an idea into a story

1. 1

   Pick a hero

   Choose who the story is about. It's more fun if it's someone you know.

2. 2

   Give them a problem

   What goes wrong? A story needs something in the way of what the hero wants.

3. 3

   Plan three parts

   A beginning that sets things up, a middle where it gets harder, and an ending where the problem is solved.

4. 4

   Write a great first line

   Start in the middle of the action, so the reader wants to keep going.