Build a story game

On occasions, it can be useful to prepare your group to think creatively by introducing one or more simple, improvisational exercises beforehand. The zanier the better. Have a few opening lines up your sleeve in case your group needs some initial guidance. Here are three good examples to build a story upon:.

If someone gets stuck, not knowing how to progress the story, rather than you or the group offering suggestions, ask some questions to prompt a response. Consider any question starting with a Why, How, Who, Where or When which helps to elaborate some part of the story, hoping to move it along. It makes no difference which arm belonging to the first person the second person chooses to link with.

However, from that point on, ask everyone to follow suit. You can learn more about SEL and how it can support character education here. To some extent, you could argue that the focus required to successfully play Build A Story speaks to the benefits of being mindful as much as demonstrating adaptability and emotional intelligence. If you can think of more explicit ways in which Build A Story could be purposefully integrated into a health and wellness program, please leave a comment at the base of this page.

Did you know that some authors do not know exactly how the story they are about to write will end? This seems curious, but in reality, this is how our lives are often played out. Sometimes it can be hard to get started, but every book must begin with its first words or sentence. The inspiration for Build A Story was sourced from fellow group facilitator Jen Stanchfield , who introduced this exercise in a conference session I attended in Have you played this activity?

What worked, what didn't work? What type of group? Do you have useful advice for other users? Do you know a fun variation?

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Forgot Password. Don't have an account? Join Today. Build A Story Creative story-making exercise to build connections. Fun Games 5 - 10 min Small 8 Passive. Simple to play Promotes collaboration Inspires creativity No props Virtual options. Save to Playlist. Step-by-Step Instructions Ask your group to help you create a unique story.

Encourage your group to keep the storyline moving forward. The game continues until everyone has contributed to the story and linked elbows with the group.

If possible, encourage the last few members of your group to bring the story to a natural conclusion. There are two possible ways to start. Either way, you need one person, a volunteer, to proffer the opening line of a story. Build A Story Circle : Encourage your group to connect or associate the very end of the story with the very first line of the story effectively creating one wholly-linked circle. This takes some vivid imaginations and careful word-smithing, but it is often worth the effort.

Reflection Tool : This exercise can be used as a powerful reflection tool, whereby your group is asked to recount the most significant moments or events of a particular experience in chronological order. That is, ask a volunteer to suggest the final sentence of the story, and then start from the beginning as above.

Everything about the story and how it progresses must eventually lead neatly to the suggested conclusion. Open the Virtual Adaptation tab to learn how to present this activity online. Invite the first person a volunteer? My tip, limit any contribution to one sentence, lest some people will get bored waiting for the typing. This person then adds to the story, etc.

When everybody has added their contribution, re-read the entire story from the chat room to your group. Note, owing to difficulties in lag time across some internet connections, it may be difficult to accurately asses who was prepared to add to the story next.

In yourself? However, there are some tips to make sure the game goes smoothly:. In this example game, each player had 5 turns and then finished their game. Remember you can finish your story in any amount of turns you like! Need inspiration for your story? Here are some story starters that you can use in the finish the story game or as stand-alone activities.

Looking for more story starters for the finish the story game? We recommend story starters for little kids book Amazon Affiliate link. This book contains a range of quick and easy story starters, which are great fun for the whole family:. For older children, you might be interested in the story starters for kids book Amazon Affiliate link. This book contains a brilliant range of quick and easy prompts to start your story. A great way to inspire the most reluctant storyteller out there:.

Finish the story is a great game to play indoors or outdoors with family and friends. If you enjoyed playing this game, then why not try playing telephone Pictionary? Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest.

While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.