Storytelling Games That Will Get Your Kids Thinking Out of the Box
This post may contain affiliate links.
Engage kids with storytelling games. Once kids start telling fictional narrative stories out loud, it will improve their written stories.
When I teach kids how to write stories, we generally start out loud. In other words, we think, plan, and share orally before writing silently.
Of course, not all kids are oral processors, but sharing out loud helps organize our thoughts and gives us feedback from friends if the story is missing anything or on the right track.
Even better, these storytelling games are so much fun and get kids to think out of the box creatively!
The Best Storytelling Games for Kids
1. The Storymatic Kids!
The best thing about Storymatic Kids! is the amazing (and seemingly endless) combinations that push you to think creatively.
Pick two yellow cards to make a main character. Then, one blue card about an event or topic.
{finicky eater + someone who is lost + spelling bee}
The rules?
The main character needs to change (have a character arc) from the beginning of the story to the end…also, he or she needs to stay alive.
Can you imagine the fun of the cards depicted in the image above?
{lion tamer + knows only 3 words + very difficult itch to scratch}
Or how about these cards?
{clown + someone raised by a wild animal + this time it’s bound to work}
Storymatic Kids! also comes with other game ideas such as using the cards to make a movie poster, draw a comic story, and partner up to tell your story together. It’s my favorite of all these fun storytelling games. Plus, our whole family has fun inventing wacky and wild stories.
2. Rory’s Story Cubes
Easy to carry in your backpack or purse, Rory’s Story Cubes make for a great on-the-go activity.
Roll the cubes. Tell a story based on the images you roll. Or work with two other players, each taking 3 cubes to create an epic tale.
Add or mix in cubes from Rory’s Story Cubes Voyages or Actions for even more possibilities.
We’ve never gotten into these as much as I would like. I don’t know if it’s the simple drawings or what. But, I know lots of families who count this among their favorite games. It’s definitely worth checking out.
2. eeBoo Storytelling Cards
We own all the sets of eeBoo Story Cards because they’re WONDERFUL for storytelling! They are super fun for traveling and waiting rooms.
eeBoo Story Card Activities
1.Mix up the cards. Draw 5 from the pile. Use them together to tell a cohesive story with a beginning, middle, and end.
2. Modified Exquisite Corpse game: One person draws a card and starts a story using the card’s picture. The next person draws another card and continues the story using the new card. And so the story continues until someone wraps it up.
3. Categorize the cards: characters, action, setting, and things. Pick one from each pile and invent a story.
Have fun with these!
4. Story Box
Story Box: Create Your Own Fairy Tales is an 8-foot long fairytale puzzle that gives young storytellers interchangeable ideas for a fantasy story.
There are 20 double-sided cards illustrated with characters like a princess, a witch, gnomes, and a king.
Plot ideas include a picnic, a scooter ride in the forest, riding on a broomstick, the king falling in love with the witch, and lots more.
My kids enjoyed building a story using the Story Box puzzle — even arguing about what should happen. (I loved watching their story-building decision-making in action!)
Although it’s limited in plot and characters, the Story Box provides a fun way for kids to get interested in storytelling, particularly if they want to create fairy tales.
And, if you love your story, write it DOWN after it’s built! Use sticky notes under the puzzle pieces. Or, write it in a homemade book.
For more learning tips & recommendations, join Imagination Soup on Facebook and Pinterest.
You Might Also Like
Picture Books About Writing Stories
