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Themes and Prompts for 2027 Honoring Our Rivers

The following themes are suggestions. You don’t have to follow the theme to submit art or creative writing to Honoring Our Rivers. Feel free to let your imagination inspire you. We appreciate all submissions and they will be considered equally for inclusion in the Anthology.

2027 Theme:

“The Life of a River:
From the Mountains to the Sea”

Rivers are living, ever-changing systems that connect landscapes, communities, and ecosystems from their beginnings in the mountains to their journeys toward the sea. Along the way, they shape the land, provide homes for wildlife, sustain plants and people, and carry stories of history, culture, and connection.

For the 2027 Honoring Our Rivers Anthology, students are invited to explore the life of a river and all that it represents. Consider the river’s journey, the plants and animals that depend on it, the people and communities it touches, and the ways it changes through the seasons and over time. Students might also reflect on the beauty, challenges, and importance of protecting our rivers for future generations

Through poetry, essays, artwork, and creative storytelling, we encourage students to share their unique perspectives on the remarkable journey of a river—from the mountains to the sea.

Elementary School Prompts (Grades K–5)

The following prompts encourage curiosity, imagination, and a personal connection to rivers.

The River’s Journey

  1. Imagine you are a raindrop falling high in the mountains. Describe your journey as you travel down a river toward the sea.

  2. If a river could talk, what stories would it tell about the places it has traveled?

  3. What might a river see, hear, and experience along its journey?

  4. Write a story about a little stream that grows into a mighty river.

  5. Imagine you are a fish swimming from the river’s headwaters toward the ocean. What adventures do you have along the way?

Life Along the River

  1. What plants and animals call the river home? Choose one and tell its story.

  2. Imagine a day in the life of an animal that depends on a river. What does it do from morning to night?

  3. How do people, animals, and plants depend on rivers?

  4. If you could spend a day beside any river, what would you see and do?

  5. Describe the sights, sounds, and smells of a river in your favorite season.

Rivers and Our Communities

  1. How does a river help your community?

  2. Imagine what your town or neighborhood would be like without a river.

  3. What memories or special moments have you experienced near a river?

  4. If you could give a river a gift, what would it be and why?

  5. What can kids do to help keep rivers clean and healthy?

Creative and Imaginative Connections

  1. Write a letter from a river to the children who live along its banks.

  2. If you were a river, where would you travel and what would you discover?

  3. Imagine a conversation between a mountain, a river, and the ocean.

  4. What does a river teach us about change, patience, and growing?

  5. Create a poem about a river using all five senses.

 

Secondary School Prompts (Grades 6–12)

These prompts invite deeper exploration of environmental issues, history, science, culture, identity, and the relationship between humans and rivers.

The River as a Living System

  1. A river’s journey begins long before it reaches the sea. Explore the connections between headwaters, watersheds, tributaries, wetlands, and estuaries.

  2. How does a river shape the landscape, and how does the landscape shape the river?

  3. Explore the relationship between rivers and biodiversity. What happens when one part of a river ecosystem is disrupted?

  4. How do seasonal changes, drought, flooding, and climate change affect the life of a river?

  5. If a river could tell its life story, what significant events would it include?

Rivers, People, and Culture

  1. Explore the historical and cultural significance of a river to the communities that have lived alongside it.

  2. How have rivers influenced settlement, transportation, agriculture, industry, and economic development?

  3. Consider the relationship between Indigenous communities and rivers. What traditional knowledge, cultural practices, and perspectives can help us better understand our responsibility to waterways?

  4. How do rivers shape a community’s sense of identity and belonging?

  5. Choose a river with historical significance. How has its story changed over generations?

Environmental Challenges and Stewardship

  1. What are the greatest threats facing rivers today, and what can individuals and communities do to address them?

  2. Explore the effects of dams, pollution, development, water diversion, or habitat loss on a river and its surrounding ecosystem.

  3. Who owns a river, and who has the responsibility to protect it? Explore the ethical and environmental questions surrounding water rights.

  4. How might the future of a river look different if communities prioritized restoration and conservation?

  5. What does it mean to be a good steward of a river? How can that responsibility extend beyond the riverbank?

Reflection, Perspective, and Creative Expression

  1. Write from the perspective of a river that has witnessed centuries of human history. What has changed, and what has remained?

  2. Imagine a conversation between a river and a city. What would each say about their relationship?

  3. How can a river serve as a metaphor for life, change, resilience, connection, or time?

  4. Describe a moment when you felt connected to a river or another natural waterway. What did that experience teach you?

  5. Imagine the year 2127. What will rivers look like a century from now? What choices made by today’s generation will shape their future?