My writing nerd days started all the way back in 7th grade when I was cast as an alternate in the Power of the Pen team and in a strange twist of fate ended up advancing to the state competition. Not-so-humble brag aside, it lit the writing fire in me and I find it often translating into my teaching preferences. I’ve always had a thing for writing prompts, so it’s no surprise I get rather giddy when I think about this list of 40 how-to writing prompts I’m sharing with you today.

If I’m being totally honest, I don’t know if it’s the idea of teaching writing or the actual teaching of writing that I love. And if we are getting super nerdy, there’s nothing I love more than a good writing unit. How-to writing is one of my personal favorites and what we are talking about today.

There’s something about writing an organized list of procedures and teaching through writing that is both comforting and pragmatic but also extremely magical. Students as teachers through writing? How beautiful. Over the year, I’ve amassed quite the list of writing prompts. When it comes to how-to writing, I love the idea of having a go-to list to reference when a mini-lesson comes up. Here are 64 of my favorite how-to writing prompts for kids:

1. How to make a cake
2. How to jump on one foot
3. How to annoy a sibling
4. How to make a lion roar
5. How to eat spinach
6. How to defeat a dragon
7. How to build a snowman
8. How to tie your shoe
9. How to play hide and seek
10. How to build an igloo
11. How to build a sandcastle
12. How to whistle
13. How to eat spinach
14. How to catch a leprechaun
15. How to tie your shoe
16. How to pick a movie
17. How to make an ice cream sundae
18. How to do a pushup
19. How to paint with watercolors
20. How to give someone a hug
21. How to put your outfit on backwards
22. How to ride a horse
23. How to make your favorite snack
24. How to skip
25. How to build a house
26. How to make a sandiwch
27. How to clean your desk
28. How to leave a note for the tooth fairy
29. How to get a job
30. How to make a snow angel
31. How to snap your fingers
32. How to gross out your teacher
33. How to drive a car
34. How to make a mudpie
35. How to wash your hands
36. How to dress up your pet
37. How to make your bed
38. How to jump rope
39. How to curl your tongue
40. How to carve a pumpkin
41. How to befriend a giant
42. How to make a seed grow
43. How to bounce a basketball
44. How to make someone laugh
45. How to climb a beanstalk
46. How to make slime
47. How to hula hoop
48. How to blow bubbles in milk
49. How to mow the yard
50. How to make popcorn
51. How to braid your hair
52. How to scare someone
53. How to fly an airplane
54. How to make spaghetti
55. How to make a paper airplane
56. How to blow your nose
57. How to cook a turkey
58. How to make a pizza
59. How to draw a rainbow
60. How to make grape juice
61. How to take care of a baby
62. How to build a fort
63. How to put on your coat
64. How to play The Floor is Lava
65. How to find the end of a rainbow

If you want this in one easy printable list, you can grab that here:

There’s an easier way though if you want an entire year of how-to writing. I’ve created all of these how-to writing prompts using 3 different formats seen below to allow for meeting many different students’ needs.

I’m here to make your teaching easier! If there are how-to prompts you’d like to see added to the set once you purchase, feel free to let me know in the comments! Happy writing 🙂