Are you looking for a fantastic gift for a young writer in your life?

Whether you're looking for gifts for younger kids, older kids, teens, or young adults, we've compiled a wide ranging list of gifts suitable for many age ranges.

We did not separate our gift recommendations by ages because you know your young writer best!

More About Me

Wordplay Wisdom was born from the journey my mother and I shared—she as a devoted writer and parent, and me as a young writer eager for support and inspiration. Together, we faced the challenges many families encounter: finding resources, nurturing creativity, and building confidence in a safe, encouraging environment. Now, after graduating with a degree in creative writing, I hope to give families the peace of mind that we sought out!

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Books for Young Writers

Writing Contests

Submission Opportunities

Classes, Conferences, Camps

Gifts for Young Writers

BOOKS & WRITING SOFTWARE

These two phenomenal books that are essential for writers of any genre or medium! As a poet and prose writer, these two are the books I reach for the most:

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi Bookshop.org | Amazon | Library

Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus compiled by Christine A. Lindberg
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Library
If you're looking for something more specific to your young writer's interests, all of the books we've ever recommended, along with links to buy them from a site that supports independent bookstores, are listed at: wordplaywisdom.com/books

I also really recommend investing in writing software for the especially enthusiastic and eager young writers in your life! While no software is required to be a writer (paper and a pencil are the most flexible tools we have as creatives!), these two softwares can be very useful for creating longer, more complicated works. I reccomend them for budding novelists and poets interested in building out their first collection!

Plottr, a visual book planning software.
Scrivener, a world-class writing and project organization software. https://www.literatureandlatte.com/store/scrivener
Please keep in mind that these softwares are complicated! Even techy, internet-raised writers like myself will need to dedicate some time to watching tutorials and learning how to best use new software. Keep this in mind when gifting it to young writers, as these may be a better investment for older kids and teens who are exceptionally invested in their writing.

LITERARY GAMES

Story Cubes

Story Cubes are dice with images on each side rather than numbers. The images are open to interpretation, making them great for writing prompts, story skeletons, and writing games. The set contains 9 dice; Story Cubes can be modified to any age level by changing the number of dice used.

Our students consistently ask for more games with Story Cubes!

Magnetic Poetry Haiku

Containing more than 200 words, this set of nature-focused magnetic tiles can be used to create haiku, other forms of poetry, messages, and flash fiction. The set can also be combined with other Magnetic Poetry sets if you want to expand the available word choices.

It's great for engaging young kids and for staying connected with older kids.

Blurt

Blurt is an exciting board game that promotes vocabulary development and word recall. It's easy to modify for different ages - we paired adults with kids when our kids were young, then separated into individual play as they grew.

One of our youngest child's favorite memories is winning a family game of Blurt for the first time.

Quiddler

Small enough to travel with, Quiddler is a card game of beautifully illustrated letters. Players use their letters to form words, making this a great way to practice spelling, critical thinking skills, and vocabulary.

We also used Quiddler as a writing prompt by pulling a card and brainstorming words that start with the selected letter.

Word on the Street

This board game combines critical thinking, brainstorming, and time management with spelling and vocabulary. Once a category card is selected, players have 30 seconds to think of words in that category and select one for their answer. Players then move the letters contained in their answer to their side of the game.

Though the box states 2 players, this is a game that's great to play in teams!

Wordsmithery

One of the rare games that can be played with only two people all the way up to large groups, Wordsmithery provides lots of room for fun. The cards list typically challenging vocabulary words, like "phalanx," followed by three possible definitions. Pick the correct definition to win points.

This game provides an entertaining way to learn a mix of vocabulary words as a family.

JOURNALS

Blank Journals

Product description

As mentioned in the software section, paper and writing implements are the BEST possible tool for any writer, of any age, chosen genre, or interest in prose or poetry.

Having a dedicated journal for writing, plotting, and experimenting is crucial for developing writers. And for all writing professionals, too! To give a young writer a good journal is to give them a paper space to call their very own.

One Line A Day Journals in Celestial