This comprehensive collection of 103 winter writing prompts is designed for middle and high school. These seasonal and holiday ELA writing prompts cover various genres, including narrative, expository, persuasive, and creative writing, making them perfect for holiday writing assignments and classroom exercises!

This isn’t just a list of random topics — it’s a classroom-tested writing toolkit created by an experienced teacher to develop writing fluency, structure, and voice across genres. Each of the 103 prompts was thoughtfully designed to engage middle and high school writers while supporting standards-aligned instruction.

Make the most of winter writing time with this huge, engaging collection of over 100 prompts designed to inspire thoughtful responses across writing genres. From December through February, you’ll have meaningful prompts ready for bell ringers, essays, journaling, sub plans, and more — all themed for the winter season.

What’s Included:

103 Winter-Themed Writing Prompts, categorized by genre:

• 30 Research/Informative prompts
• 17 Expository prompts
• 11 Persuasive/Argumentative prompts
• 20 Narrative/Descriptive prompts
• 10 Literary/Poetry Response prompts
• 15 Creative Writing prompts

Writing Choice Board — great for stations or student-driven learning

Prompts feature seasonal themes: winter symbols, traditions, holidays (Christmas, Chanukah, MLK Day, and more), snow, New Year’s goals, and lesser-known observances

• Suggested winter poems for analysis (Frost, Shakespeare, Clarke, Stevenson & others)
• 100+ Projectable Slides with one prompt per slide — perfect for morning work or bell ringers
• Available in both printable and digital formats

Why Teachers Love It

• Easy to assign — no prep needed
• Covers a wide range of genres and writing purposes
• Created by a real classroom teacher — not AI
• Promotes critical thinking, writing fluency, and creativity
• Supports genre-based writing instruction and standards
• Offers flexible use across grade levels and ability levels
• Saves planning time with ready-to-go materials and variety
• High-interest topics for grades 6–12

Perfect For

• Daily writing warm-ups or bell ringers, writing centers, or writing notebooks
• Sub plans and holiday weeks
• Extra credit or early finishers
• Creative and academic writing units
• December–February ELA units or holiday-week schedules
• Creative writing electives or cross-curricular writing time

Note: Prompts are from the Northern Hemisphere, United States perspective