Processing our emotions through writing offers a simple exercise anyone can do, at any time, simply by picking up a pen or typing away on a device. The Artists’ Way author Julia Cameron created the idea of “morning pages”—a daily practice of producing three, longhand pages of stream of consciousness writing the moment you wake. With chaotic times like now, journaling can be a grounding tool as well as a historical record of what we’ve experienced and how we felt about it.
 
Writing can also be a way to explore our imagination, and children at any age can also practice their handwriting. Give these writing prompts to your kids and do them as well. You can share your answers with each other and use it as a way to start conversations and build a connection.
 
1. What was the last thing that made you smile?

2. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be and why?

3. What is something new you learned today that you didn’t know before?

4. If you could make any invention what would you name it and what would it do?

5. What do you want to accomplish in the future?

6. If you had to make a menu for a restaurant, what would you put on it?

7. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever heard?

8. If you could have any animal as a pet, what animal would you choose?

9. What are you looking forward to?

10. What is something you’re proud of?
 
11. Who do you look up to and why?
 
12. If you could help anyone in the world, who would you help?
 
13. What is your earliest memory?
 
14. What’s your favorite place in your neighborhood?
 
15. If you could be any person in the world, who would it be?
 
16. How would you describe yourself?
 
17. What was the last thing that made you angry?
 
18. What is the scariest thing in the world?
 
19. If you could create the ultimate dessert, what would it be?
 
20. Describe your “best day ever.”