Nutcracker Writing Prompts

It’s Nutcracker season, and that means it’s the perfect time to print out our Nutcracker Writing Prompts and give your kids a writing assignment for December. These writing prompts and ideas will help your students explore writing without stress or fear of judgment.

Use our story starters to get your kids’ imagination kicked into high gear. Each page on the adorable free Nutcracker Gnomes printable will include one writing prompt and blank lines for finishing up the story. Let your kids pick and choose which page they will complete each day according to what inspires them!

I like to use writing prompts as a no-judgment writing zone, but you could also use these Nutcracker Writing Prompts as a springboard for the IEW style of writing and editing process where you replace verbs with strong verbs, add descriptive adjectives, etc. 

Since it’s that time of year, you may also want to check out our Nutcracker Counting Activities and our Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Mini Unit.

How to Use the Nutcracker Writing Prompts

Our Nutcracker Story Starters include a variety of ideas that are meant to be completed by the student in any way he or she chooses. Students can take a literal approach, drop a surprise twist, or go off in a completely different and unexpected direction from the basic beginning we provide. 

Nutcracker Writing Prompts have no real rules, but if you like you can set a minimum word count for your student or require them to write for a certain length of time each day. I had a teacher once who just expected us to write for fifteen minutes a day in a journal and we didn’t have to finish any of our thoughts, but could move on the next day. You could take that approach or expect your students to complete an actual short story with proper grammar and editing.

Why do Nutcracker Writing Prompts Work?

Our writing prompts work because sometimes students just need a little nudge to get the creative juices flowing. These story starters are the perfect springboard for writing interesting material, especially when paired with the adorable graphics included in our free printable.

Kids love these Nutcracker Writing Prompts because they are funny and quirky and interesting. Parents love them because all you have to do is print them out and get started. The book is filled with blank writing sheets illustrated for each writing prompt. Here is more information about why writing prompts work so well.

The Nutcracker Writing Prompts

1. My favorite role in the story of the nutcracker is the mouse king. When I played the part of the mouse king, I loved it because . . .
2. The beautiful costumes included in the nutcracker ballet are awe-inspiring. Sadly, I just destroyed my costume when . . . 
3. My favorite holiday tradition is attending a live performance of The Nutcracker. Last week, we attended opening night and a huge catastrophe ruined the show. This is what happened.
4. As I dance and perform the waltz of flowers, I imagine that I am a real flower, growing up in some far-off field with the perfect. . .
5. The dance of the sugar plum fairy makes me want to cry. Here’s the story of why.
6. The story of Clara needs a different ending. If I had written the Nutcracker, this is how I would have finished the story differently. . . 
7. The amazing music of the Nutcracker should be the music for an entirely different ballet story. If I were writing the story, mine would be  . . .
8. The little snowflakes dancing through the magical forest want to tell us something. This is what they would say if they could talk. . .
9. The Nutcracker himself told me a secret. I’m sharing it privately here with you. . . Now don’t tell anyone!
10. A band of soldier toys is on their way to help me overcome an army of mice. To inspire them, I might have told them that. . .
11. It’s such a little thing, but if I could change one thing about the story of the Nutcracker I would change. . . 
12. My mom got nutcracker-shaped cookie cutters. Here’s what happened when I tried to make cut-out cookies by myself. 
13. The Nutcracker is similar to Swan Lake because . . .
14. I’d like to tell you the entire story, but I can’t because Clara needs to be protected. You need to trust me, and do exactly what I say. . .
15. The mouse king and the nutcracker have some major differences in character. Describe the differences and similarities between these two characters. 
16. A little blue Christmas present was hiding under the tree during Clara’s birthday party. This is what it saw. 
17. The present her brother Fritz gave to Clara for her birthday happened to be a copy of my favorite book. If you had opened the package, you would see a copy of __________________________. It’s my favorite book because . . .
18. In the land of sweets, a different story was unfolding than what we saw from the audience. Here’s what was going down . . .
19. Clara’s mother Ginger is actually a villain but nobody knows it. Here’s how I found out . . .
20. The tall tree standing in the living room of Clara’s house had to be decorated by me and my friends. Here’s the story of how we got it all done in time. . .

Looking for different Christmas Writing Prompts? We have more!

Download your Nutcracker Writing Prompts

Our Nutcracker themed writing prompts include twenty pages with lines appropriate for beginning handwriting, and twenty pages with lines appropriate for older students. Each page has a full-color illustration of a character from The Nutcracker. The writing prompts are found at the top of each page and provide just enough information to tickle your child’s imagination and help get the writing process started.

To download the Nutcracker Writing Prompts, simply add it to your cart and then checkout. **Upon checkout, you will be added to my Weekly Newsletter list.**