Idea Jar Activities

“I don’t know what to write!” Have you ever heard this before? I’m guessing you have. So, how can we help young writers when they are stuck for inspiration? It’s time to try these Idea Jar activities!

ABOUT THE BOOK

The idea jar is where students keep their ideas—anything from a Viking to a space robot to a giant dragon. These ideas can be combined to make new exciting stories. But watch out when the ideas escape the jar—they might get a little rowdy!

If you don’t already have a copy of this book in your school or local library, you can find it on Amazon.

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IDEA JAR ACTIVITIES

Once you’ve read Idea Jar, you can create a story inspiration center in your classroom. I have created a set of cards with various characters, settings, and problems or plot ideas on them. I copied these on three different paper colors and placed them in one jar. However, you could use three jars or containers to keep the cards separated.

Once you've read Idea Jar, you can create a story inspiration center in your classroom. Print the character, setting, and problem/plot cards onto different colors and place in a jar. Students can draw several cards to get started.

When stuck for writing ideas, students can draw a card (or cards) from the jar. Since some combinations of cards may not make a cohesive story, students could draw three cards for each category, and then select their favorites.

When stuck for writing ideas, students can draw a card (or cards) from the idea jar. Since some combinations of cards may not make a cohesive story, students could draw three cards for each category, and then select their favorites.

Another idea is to have students draw cards and add them to the idea jar printable in their Writer’s Notebook. This keeps the ideas handy as students plan out the story and create a rough draft.