Night Zookeeper Blog

Back to School can bring up lots of different emotions for children. Get them excited for a new school year with 15 fun and reflective writing prompts!

Writing is a cornerstone of early childhood development, enhancing communication, vocabulary, and self-expression. It fosters essential skills for success in academics and beyond, making it vital to encourage children to write from a young age. Here's how you can inspire your child to embrace writing as a fun and rewarding activity!

Our collection of story prompts promises to entertain and inspire young storytellers, from intergalactic missions to enchanting adventures in magical forests. So, grab your pens and let the storytelling begin!

World Creative Writing Month 2024 is here! Join us this March as we challenge Night Zookeepers around the globe to participate in a fantastically fun and creative event- the 5 Million Word Quest!

Our reading and writing activities offer a fun way to boost creativity, improve English language skills, and inspire a love for reading and writing in your child!

Reading and writing are essential skills that work hand-in-hand to help us communicate effectively. Being able to read and write from a young age has many benefits. Learn why reading and writing are important here!

Finding fun ways to ease your child’s learning process can be a game-changer, especially if they’re a reluctant learner. Here are the best spelling games that you can try with your child!

Teaching children to write can be challenging, but there are many ways to make it enjoyable for both you and your child! Here's a list of the best writing games for kids that you can try anytime, anywhere!

Celebrate Father's Day with heartfelt gratitude for all dads, stepdads, grandads, and other father figures. Explore these writing prompts to honor the amazing father figures in our lives!

Taking care of your child's wellbeing has become more important than ever. Studies have shown that creative writing positively impacts children's wellbeing and helps them learn key social skills that will help keep your child happy and healthy!

March is World Creative Writing Month and this year at Night Zookeeper we are challenging our young writers with a 5 Million Word Quest. Every word published by our Night Zookeepers will count towards our collective goal of reaching 5 Million Words!

Writing is one of the most used types of communication, and it’s a skill your child will need in their academic journey. However, teaching your child to love writing can be an extremely challenging task. This is why we've gathered our favorite ways to inspire a love for writing in your child!

New year, new writing prompts! Use these creative writing ideas to get your child inspired to write and back into learning mode. These prompts will help your child write stories, poems, reports, and much more!

Encouraging your child to practice literacy skills can be challenging, especially if they find literacy boring, or look at it as schoolwork. From family game nights, to epic singing battles, we hope these suggestions help spark a passion for learning in your child, all while having fun!

Writing can be a challenging skill to learn, but at Night Zookeeper, we believe in making writing fun. Here are some great writing activities that will transform your child’s attitude toward writing!

Christmas is a great time to let your child’s imagination run wild! Encourage your child to express themselves creatively this holiday season with some fun, Christmas creative writing prompts!

Inspire your child to keep writing even after Christmas with our 12 days of Christmas writing prompts. These prompts will help you keep the festivities going until January!

Inspire your child to write all month long with our fantastically fun December writing prompts - perfect to get into the festive spirit!

October is the first full month of a brand new season, and as usual, we have lots to write about as we celebrate World Smile Day, World Animal Day, World Teachers’ Day and Halloween! If you’re on the hunt for some amazingly creative writing prompts, you’ve come to the right place!

Recently, grammar has been argued to no longer be an important area of study when it comes to English language. Technology is now used in classrooms and workplaces worldwide to enable grammar to be easily corrected at the click of a button. We’re here to argue why it remains important for children to learn grammar!

These September writing prompts are perfect whether your child is getting ready for Autumn or enjoying the first few days of Spring!

Looking for a great way to spark an interest in writing? This list of young writers competitions offer an insight on current events that your child can participate in (and win amazing prizes)! Writing competitions are a wonderful way to motivate your child to write more, so be sure to give these a go!

Now that we’ve settled into the second half of the year and a new school year approaches, get your child’s writing back on track with our best August writing prompts!

We have much to celebrate in the month of July, including some awesome international animal days, yummy holidays and friendship! Let your child's imagination run wild with our favorite July-themed writing prompts!

Paragraphs help to organize ideas into separate sections with the aim to make it easier for the reader to consume the text at hand and understand the information shared. In this article, we’re giving you our top tips on how you can help your child to successfully write a paragraph!

It's finally time to bring out the beach towels, swimwear and sun cream! However, we can't forget how important it is to keep your child's brain active during the summer break. Our amazing summer writing prompts will do just that!

Have you ever wondered how important drawing is in terms of writing skills development? Drawing is considered to be the foundation needed in order for children to be able to develop writing skills at an older age. Learn more about how drawing and writing work together and their benefits here!

A summary is an overview or condensed version of a full story or text. It can sometimes be a challenging task to accomplish, as your child will have to be very selective on what to include. Learn more about how you can guide your child on how to successfully write a summary here!

“My child hates writing” is a phrase we hear a lot from parents who have not yet found an effective way to transform their reluctant writer’s attitude toward this task. Here are our best tips on how to get your child to love writing, from parents who have overcome this obstacle!

Let your child's imagination run wild with our awesome May Writing Prompts! These writing prompts have been created to help your child develop their skills in various styles of writing, including opinion pieces, persuasive texts, storytelling, list-making and letter writing. Be sure to share these with your child!

These Environmental Writing Prompts have been created to raise awareness about the current environmental crisis and to get your child to think creatively about all the ways they can help!

Here are some fantastically fun April Writing Prompts to inspire your child to write all month long! April is a busy month, with lots of great things to celebrate, including Earth Day, World Penguin Day and Poetic Earth Month.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers, grandmothers, friends, and family members who have taken on this important role! Celebrate Mother's Day with these amazing writing prompts!

There are many ways to get your child excited about creative writing, but it can be helpful to have a structure to work from, so we’ve outlined some simple steps on how your child can write a story and enjoy themselves in the process!

World Creative Writing Month is back for 2022! This is your chance to challenge your children and students to write as many stories as possible throughout the month of March.

With Springtime around the corner and World Creative Writing Month in full swing, we've gathered some awesome March writing prompts to inspire your child's creativity and to get excited about writing!

Discover why creative writing is a powerful tool to help children understand and process their emotions, easing feelings of anxiety.

Inspire your child to love writing this February with our fantastically fun writing prompts! These prompts include journal entries, story starters, prompts to help your child celebrate special days, and much more. Happy February!

Ever wondered what goes into preparing your child for learning how to write? Well, look no further! We've got some awesome tips from trusted educators and fellow parents which will for sure set your child up for success!

Our New Year's resolution is to inspire your child to love writing! Try our New Year writing prompts to get your child excited for new beginnings, and to start improving their skills this year.

These fun facts for kids are designed to teach your child about animals and encourage their creativity. We've also included fun writing prompts to help spark your child's imagination and help them write cool new things.

Our holiday writing prompts will make your child excited to write even during the holiday season. Encourage them to keep their skills on track while having fun!

Have you ever wondered why spelling is such an important skill to develop? Take a closer look at some of the main reasons why spelling is crucial for children's educational (and professional) success!

Learn about the benefits of storytelling towards child development in this article. We explore the effects of storytelling on children's learning and why it's important to introduce storytelling early.

The Night Zoo is a very magical world indeed, but we want children to recognise the magic of the world they already live in. Celebrate Earth Day with these amazing Earth Day Writing Prompts!

These super spring writing prompts will help your child to grow their imaginations and their writing skills!

World Creative Writing Month was back for another year, starting March 1, 2021. This exciting competition challenged children to write as many stories as possible throughout the month. The very best writing was showcased each week with prizes up for grabs!

Whether you’re homeschooling or simply looking for creative writing prompts to do after school during the month of November, here is a list of our favorites!

Unexpected circumstances such as a protracted lockdown can seem scary, heavy and uncertain for children. There are many ways to help alleviate the negative emotions a child might experience. One such way is creative writing! Here's why.

Make Halloween fantastically fun with our spooktacular Halloween writing prompts!

We're nearly halfway through the year already! June is an awesome month as it brings a change in seasons and plenty of smiles. We've created some June writing prompts that will encourage your child to use their imagination and have lots of fun whilst writing!

Whether you’re interested in getting your child to read or write poetry, there are numerous benefits to introducing this form of writing to them. Poetry will be all around them: be it in children’s poetry books they will encounter or simply through the songs they hear on the radio. So, how does one introduce poetry to children? How do they start writing poems, themselves? What kind of poetry is the best to start with? Poetry is varied and comes in many different shades of colour!

Now that the weather is getting colder, what better way to stay warm and cozy than with some fantastically fun creative writing prompts?

These word games will help improve your child's language skills and while getting them excited about reading & writing!

Let’s face it. Some children are natural born storytellers with creativity and imagination spilling from their fingers. For them, exploring creative writing is just the beginning of a beautiful journey. However, for some children, getting them to want to write is a tedious and stressful task. While writing might not come naturally to every child, this does not mean that your child can’t eventually learn to really love creative writing! This blog explores how to encourage your child to want to write.

Our fall writing prompts will inspire your child to engage their imagination and create new poems, persuasive essays, adventure stories, reports, short stories, and much more!

This week, our Night Zookeeper Teacher in the spotlight is Matt Peebles. Matt is a fourth-grade teacher based in Illinois who has been using Night Zookeeper with his students for the last couple of months.

At Night Zookeeper, children have the option to submit their work to be featured on our curated class blog list. Our class blog is a great way of sharing students’ work and allow them to leave feedback on other children's work. Find out more about why blogging is important for children!

Writing helps children develop their communication, emotional intelligence, self-expression, and confidence. We know this skill doesn't always come naturally to children, so we're here to make it easy and fun to learn! Here are 25 fantastically fun writing prompts for you to try, whether you’re homeschooling, or simply looking for an educational activity to do at the weekend

Gamifying writing can be a powerful tool to transform your child’s experience of learning to write, and a game changer for students who have a negative view of traditional education. Learn how!