BBC 500 Words
A children's story-writing project for ages 5-11 with prompts, classroom resources, story inspiration, and annual submissions.
Website previewAbout BBC 500 Words
BBC 500 Words is the BBC's children's story-writing project for 5-11 year-olds. Its official page combines the annual writing challenge with story inspiration, learning resources, parent guidance, and classroom material.
Age and access
This resource is listed for ages 5-11. It is available as Website and is listed as free. The listed language coverage is English.
What stands out
- A simple story challenge encourages children to write for pleasure
- Age-banded resources help educators support younger and older primary writers
- The project connects reading, imagination, vocabulary, and communication
How the score is built
The project gives children a clear, motivating reason to write original stories.
The official page explicitly identifies 5-11 year-olds.
The BBC provides parent and classroom routes alongside the child-facing challenge.
Parent notes
- The submission window and competition dates change each year; the page should be checked before planning an entry.
- The current page is English-language and aimed at children in the 5-11 range.
- Preview checked clean with no cookie popup, ad overlay, broken rendering, or placeholder imagery.
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