11 Online Tools to Engage Kids in Writing

Writing is one of the most important skills for anyone to learn. Your kids will have to use writing in their academic and professional lives all the time, so if you want them to succeed at studies, you must make sure that they will master writing. When in college, students need to deal with writing tasks especially frequently. Essays, research papers, coursework — being good at writing is not just an advantage, it’s a necessity.

Although writing is crucial for students’ success, not many students like to write papers. Perhaps one of the main reasons children don’t like to write is that it feels boring. Therefore, the best approach for teachers and parents is not to keep saying how important writing is, but to demonstrate that writing can be engaging and interesting. Writing can help kids express their creativity and personality. Fortunately, there are many online tools that can make writing more engaging for kids, and here are some of them.

1. WritingFix

Here you can find many good teaching resources for K-12. The website is easy to use so you don’t need to be a teacher to figure out how it works. This service offers free monthly workshops and lessons, and here you can also find countless writing prompts. Kids can use these prompts as a source of inspiration, and they will also help children make writing a daily practice, without wasting time on figuring out what they should write about. There are also photo prompts, word game prompts, and notebook ideas.

2. ReadWriteThink

On this website, you can find a whole variety of tools that will help kids organize their writing process. All tools are divided into categories, and some of these categories are intended for specific age groups. For instance, an interactive section offers tools aimed at improving kids’ literacy. There are also sections dedicated to writing and publishing prose, poetry, summarizing, and organizing, as well as useful materials about the language, in general.

3. StoryJumper

Before kids start to write essays and other relatively complex papers, they should get used to the writing process, and the best approach is to make writing fun. Nothing makes writing more engaging and fun than a good story. You can read stories with your kid and then discuss them. Ask your kid to retell their favorite story, and then use StoryJumper. This tool will help kids create their online storybooks, adding photos, clip art, and other visual elements to their stories.

4. Magnetic Poetry

Another thing that can make writing more engaging is rhymes. Magnetic Poetry will make the learning process fun, offering words and space where kids can organize these words so that they will rhyme. If kids get stuck, they can request new words and add them to the list. This tool can be used by kids along with their parents or teachers, creating an engaging interactive experience.

5. Time4Writing

This website will help kids learn how to write sentences properly. They will also learn to write paragraphs and entire essays. Thanks to a step-by-step approach, students will be able to master writing without overwhelming writing assignments, gradually learning every step of the writing process. There are also many useful materials about the principles of writing and tips on developing writing skills.

6. WriteAbout

This tool will be especially appreciated by parents who switch from in-person classes to online learning. There are many communities monitored by teachers where young writers can get feedback from an audience of readers. These communities can also offer a lot of inspiration for school projects. Generally, the website focuses on helping kids adapt to the digital world of writing, addressing such important topics as writing for a certain audience and making writing more engaging. Therefore, this source will be useful for everyone who decides to choose a writing-related career.

7. JumpStart

Once your kid has mastered the basics of writing, they can visit this website and benefit from various guides and writing tips. Here kids can learn what traditional five-paragraph essays look like and download printable worksheets that require kids to answer specific questions in the written form. These worksheets can be a perfect solution for daily writing studies.

8. Story Starters

This is an idea generator that will help kids get started, no matter what they’re going to write. Fantasy, sci-fi, adventure — there are all kinds of innovative prompts created for kids from different age groups, from kindergarten to the sixth grade. This tool is interactive and made in the form of a game so it will make kids’ studies engaging and fun. Besides, all prompts are creative enough to provide kids with lots of fresh ideas for their writing.

9. BubbleUp

BubbleUp is an outline generator. Creating the right structure is a crucial part of any writing task, and BubbleUp can help kids optimize this process, saving a lot of time. Not only does it help create outlines, but it also enables kids to learn what structure their papers should have by using this tool regularly.

10. 826 National

This website is intended for kids aged from six to 18 years, and the 826 Digital online platform is a great source of curriculum materials for parents and teachers. This is a good collaboration platform that also puts a lot of effort into publishing, which is one of the best ways to encourage young writers.

11. MyStory

This is an iOS app for 8-12 years old children that will help them create their own illustrated books. It allows children to add not only pictures but also audio recordings. This app can be used as a self-publishing tool for children. They can collaborate with other kids working on the same publishing projects, rearrange pages, and even use sticker packs to make the process even more fun.

Wrapping Up

Many kids don’t like writing because it’s boring. Fortunately, there are many online tools that can help parents and teachers engage kids in writing and make the writing process fun. Different tools from our list will be useful for different age groups. They will help kids get some inspiration and fresh ideas, learn important principles of writing, or even create and publish their own stories.

About the Author:

Rhonda Martinez is an English teacher, copywriter and contributor at Legitwritingservices, a website that reviews academic writing companies. She writes essays, reviews of essay writing services, short stories and articles on various topics. Rhonda loves writing articles about English grammar, psychology and parenting. Writing is her biggest passion in life, so she never skips an opportunity to improve her writing skills.