31 January Writing Prompts

Is your New Year’s resolution to write every day? Then these 31 January writing prompts are the perfect place to start. We have included a mix of creative January-themed prompts and even reflective prompts that are great for journaling. Plus we even created a free printable January calendar featuring all the prompts in this post, so you won’t forget to write each day this month. 

These January prompts are great for both students and grown-ups. We recommend using these January writing prompts for 2nd-grade students to 6th-grade students. The goal of these prompts is to encourage your child to write every day, so we have kept them short, sweet and fun. Remember there is no word limit or formal structure for completing these prompts, just write down whatever comes to mind, no matter how short or long!

January Writing Prompts Challenge

Take a look at the list of 31 January prompts this inspire you every day this month. Can you challenge yourself to complete all their January writing challenges this month?

1. Write down at least five goals for this year. What do you want to achieve by the end of this year?
2. The 2nd of January is believed by some to be the unluckiest day of the year. Write a story about a house cat who has the worst day ever. 
3. Write a short poem about fireworks in the night sky.
4. Interview your favourite fictional character from a movie. 
5. The clock strikes midnight. It’s the first of January, but of what year? You leave your house to realise it’s the year 1900. Write a journal entry from the point of view of a child living in the year 1900.
6. Write a how-to guide on how to organise a writing desk. 
7. Write a fairytale about a young prince who has been turned into a snowman by a witch.
8. Can you write a funny limerick about a snowman who wants to go on holiday?
9. Write a movie review of a movie you’ve seen recently
10. What are your five tips for cheering someone up?
11. The full moon in January is called Wolf Moon. Write a short origin story on why you think it’s called the Wolf Moon. You can use this story starter to inspire you: Some believe the full moon in January is called the wolf moon because…
12. Write a day in the life story of a young penguin living in Antarctica. 
13. Write a haiku poem about snow falling.
14. Write a letter to someone who inspires you.
15. Describe the best gift you ever received. 
16. Imagine that you’re a fortune-teller. What predictions can you make for the future? Try to write down at least five predictions.
17. Describe the happiest moment you had last year. 
18. Write a story about a magical calendar which predicts the future.
19. Describe the weather outside at this very moment.
20. Complete the following sentence in at least 10 different ways: January is the best month of the year because…
21. Write a story about a homeless man titled January Blues. 
22. Would you rather play in the snow or make sandcastles at the beach?
23. When winter came all the trees lost all their leaves in the forest, apart from one magical tree.
24. Imagine if you had the power to turn objects into ice and create snowstorms. Would you use it for good or for bad?
25. Write an acrostic poem using the letters that spell January.
26. If January was a person what type of person would they be? Describe their personality, likes and dislikes. 
27. Finish this story starter: When the clock struck twelve something strange happened to me…
28. Describe your future self in 10 years in five words. 
29. Continue this short story: One day Simon went ice-skating with his friends, but suddenly…
30. Would you rather go ice-skating on Neptune or skiing with a yeti?
31. A young wolf cub gets lost in the snowy mountains, where he befriends a baby eagle learning to fly. 

Want more January prompts? Take a look at our daily writing prompts for 365 writing challenges to keep you writing all year round! You might also be interested in our 50+ New Year journal prompts.

Free Printable: January Prompts

Print out our January writing prompts calendar and keep track of each daily writing challenge for each day of the month. Get your free January prompts calendar printable below:

Finished with January? Check out our February writing prompts challenge.

Can you keep up with the January writing challenge and complete all 31 writing prompts above? Let us know how many days you completed this month in the comments below.