How to Create an Outline for Kids - Planning Your Writing


The old adage “show, don’t tell” applies here. Use age-appropriate essay examples to demonstrate what good essay writing looks like. Read the essays together, having your child identify the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Compare weaker and stronger examples to illustrate what techniques make an essay compelling. You can find many essay samples online grouped by grade level. With practice analyzing essay examples, your child will internalize qualities of excellent writing.


Topic choice is often the hardest part of essay writing for kids. Brainstorm engaging topics together that are appropriate for the assignment. Kids may need help narrowing broad subjects down. If your child is stuck choosing, provide structured topic options for them to select from. When possible, encourage your child to write about something they’re interested in – this intrinsic motivation will make the essay writing process more enjoyable for them.

Before diving into essay structure and organization, start by ensuring your child has a solid grasp of basic writing skills. They’ll need to understand sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary to write a coherent essay. Don’t forget spelling – accuracy is important! Practice these basics by having your child write short descriptive paragraphs about everyday topics or work on grammar worksheets tailored to their grade level. Mastering these fundamental writing skills gives your child the tools to start essay writing.

Informative essay outline | TPT

Outlining is a crucial step in the essay writing process that many children try to skip. Creating an outline prevents kids from becoming overwhelmed as they write. Before your child starts a draft, have them write down their thesis and 3-5 main points that support it. This provides organized structure for their essay and gives them a reference to consult as they write so they stay focused. Require your child to always create at least a basic outline before writing first drafts.

Now let’s dive into a research paper outline. Unlike a typical essay, a research paper presents a thorough and detailed study on a specific topic. However, it shares the same foundation with an essay in terms of structuring the ideas logically and coherently. The outline for a research paper includes an introduction, a series of topic points that cover various aspects of the main topic, and a conclusion.

Writing essays is an essential skill for students to learn, but it can be challenging to teach essay writing to children. As a parent, you can help your kids master essay writing by breaking it down into manageable steps and making the process engaging. The process can be enriched by seeking external support such as ‘,’ providing a collaborative and educational experience that enhances the development of effective writing skills in children. With patience and consistency, you can equip your children with essay writing skills that will benefit them throughout their academic careers.

When providing feedback on your child’s essays, ask constructive questions to get them thinking on how to expand their ideas or make connections between points. Having them explain concepts out loud can help your child better translate their thoughts into words on the page. If they make an unsupported claim, gently push them to dig deeper – “why is this true?” or “tell me more about that”. Encourage brainstorming through conversational back-and-forth.


Essay Writing: Lesson for Kids

The outline is the base of an essay, and it saves a lot of time. It is great for structuring and organising ideas in a thoughtful and sequential flow. This approach allows your child to choose appropriate information or quotes from sources before writing, which gives them a solid foundation for a good writing assignment. Moreover, developing these ideas will make it easier for you to write your essays.

A Simple Outline for Kids Writing Personal Narratives

It initially asks students to outline their essay claim and what support they will have in each body paragraph, then details what needs to be included in each paragraph of the essay.

The Ultimate Essay Writing Guide for Kids

You should tell them to follow their outline and write down each supporting point in an individual paragraph. Encourage them to use descriptive words to put their ideas across clearly to the reader. Also, going into detail, using specific information to elaborate on a point can help. Introduce your kids to transition words; this helps in maintaining the flow of the structure.

Updated Kids Essay Outline form WITH Writing Process Checklist….

Conclude your essay writing with a summary of the thesis and persuasive arguments. Brainstorming details that support your point-of-view is a great way to start before creating your outline and first draft.

Essay Writing Template for Kids

We hope that this article cleared your doubts on how you can teach essay writing to your kids. For better guidance on essay writing for kids, check out website.

How to Write an Essay for Beginners

This year we’ve been working on essay writing in one of our co-op classes. A lot. The kids are at different points with their writing skills: a few of them are all about writing out a detailed outline, complete with color coded paragraphs, while a few others need a more visual approach to grasping the concept of outlining.