Animal Thoughts
Pose this question: If animals could talk, what would they say? Now have kids write an assortment of statements or sentences that they imagine a particular animal saying if they could speak their thoughts like humans do. For example:

• “Please drop the hot dog on the floor.” -Dog
• “This picnic is great, but where do you keep your honey?” -Bear
• “These tourists look awfully delicious.” -Lion

 

Human Helpers
Humans have a long history of using animals for their own personal gain. Have kids write an essay on how humans have benefited from various animals (or a particular animal) throughout the millennia. With younger age groups you can merely have them write about how humans benefit from that animal(s). With older kids you might encourage them to think and write about how these animals have actually shaped human history-the use of animals in war, for example, or the use of horses when settling the American frontier.

Future Forecasts
Animals change and evolve over time, and humans are rapidly altering the landscape of the planet, forcing animals to adapt or perish. So tell kids to imagine the future of animals and write an essay on this topic. Will most creatures have gone extinct? Will they have grown so accustomed to humans that you can pet a bear without fear it will bite you? Did a nuclear war wipe out all humans and lead to freak mutated monsters? Did humans finally get their act together and start taking care of the environment so that diversity flourished again? Think about possible scenarios for the future, and then have kids write an essay based on the one that intrigues them the most.

Other writing projects:

• Have kids write an essay revolving around this theme: If I were an animal, what type of animal would I be, and why?

• Have kids research and write a report on an animal of their choice.

• Write a story from the first-person perspective of a particular animal. What would their life be like? What would scare them? What would they be drawn to? Really try to place yourself in that animal’s perspective.

• Research and write a report about an endangered species.

• Research and write a report on an invasive species and how it’s impacting natural ecosystems.

• Assign kids an animal (or let them pick their own) and have them write a care plan for that particular animal, as if they were a zookeeper responsible for its care.

• Have kids research and write about an extinct animal, creating their own hypothesis about why it went extinct.