7 Science Fiction Writing Projects for Kids

To get your kids writing, why not tap into their enjoyment of science fiction? From appreciating Harry Potter to loving Buzz Light-year, kids gravitate towards writing based on magic, space ships, aliens, and fantasy elements. Ask them to incorporate these sci-fi themes into their own writing and you may find a fun way to help them sharpen their writing skills at home.

Some tips:  To encourage kids that this isn’t homework or practice, but a fun at-home creative activity like painting or doing other crafts, don’t spend a lot of time correcting your kids grammar or spelling, just let the creative juices flow. Writing more is a key to writing better, and knowing they can write without being scrutinized is a key to getting your kids to write me.

Another way to make writing fun is to let kids use colorful markers, pens or paper for their writing projects. This can help signify that what they’re doing is something special and creative and fun. For science fiction-theme writing projects, you might try glow in the dark ink, space ship paper, or stationary from movies like Harry Potter or Star Wars or whatever you child likes.

Here are some science fiction writing prompts to help you get your child started on his or her sci-fi writing adventure!

Writing Project 1: The Time Traveling Machine

Even grade school kids who have studied the pilgrims or George Washington can appreciate the difference between the ‘olden days’ and now. Ask your child to pretend he or she has gone into a time-travel machine and ended up in the past – or perhaps, the Jetsons-like future. What do they see? Who do they meet? This is a good project for encouraging kids to compare and contrast in a creative way. Older kids can me encouraged further to create a story based in the future or the past if they like.

Writing Project 2: There’s An Alien Under The Bed!
Ask your child to consider what an alien might look like. Is it tall or shot? Friendly or angry? Ask your kids to consider the sounds and smells associated with the alien, too. They may also want to consider how it walks, where it comes from and what it wants in your house!