National Story-Telling Week takes place next week from January 30-February 3 2023. This is an opportunity to appreciate the art of telling stories which dates back thousands of years!
When stories were first being told there were no books to read from so why not use the week as an opportunity to get creative with your story-telling! We’ve come up with 7 ideas to help the whole family create new stories.
1. Living with Giants
Imagine the room you’re in belongs to a giant and is absolutely ginormous! Tell a story about what it would be like to explore it. Did you go for a swim in a glass of water? How did you manage to get over the mountain of cushions? What was it like getting lost in the fluffy rug forest? Make sure you don’t get stuck in that giant book!
2. One at a Time
Play this game with other people. Choose someone to start the story and then each take it in turns to say the next sentence. Will your story be a masterpiece or a lot of silliness?
3. Two in One
Take some time to draw a picture. When you’re finished tell the story behind the picture. Who is in it? What are they doing? Where have they been and where are they going? You can make it even more interesting by drawing pictures with other people and then swapping pictures and telling a story based on someone else’s picture!
4. Me and My Toys
Collect together some of your toys in a basket, bowl or bag. Take out one toy at a time and as you pull out a new toy you add them into the story! How did your toys meet each other? What might they get up to? Where were they going when they bumped into each other?
5. Book Mash Up
Get a selection of your favourite books together. Or make it more interesting and pop to your local library and pick a random selection of books. Turn to a random page in each book and lay them out in front of you. Try to make up a story by using all the random book pages and mix up the characters, settings and events. How did that character end up in that book? How would other characters react to finding a strange new character in their story?
6. Where in the World?
You might have a tube map lying around, an A-Z, a map of somewhere you went on holiday, or even just use your phone or tablet and find a map of somewhere interesting. Then sit down and tell a story about travelling around the map. What does each place look like? How do you get from place to place? Who do you meet along the way?
7. Story Cube
Want to add some arts and crafts to story-telling? Why not make your own Story Cube? A Story Cube is easy to make at home but you can also use our ready-made Story Cube template to help get you started. Download the PDF and then cut out and glue together. You can also use the blank version to draw your own pictures. Once it’s made just roll the cube and see what it lands on – the possibilities are infinite – especially if you make more cubes to add to the collection!
Download the PDF Story Cube template.
There are also plenty of things taking places in the libraries around Redbridge. Take a look at the events taking place but don’t forget about our regular activities like Rhyme Time.
Author: Molly Polden
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