Wizzley

Storytelling for Language Arts Development

by Jimmie

Creating imaginative stories is not just fun, it's a great way to develop literacy skills in young children. Use these aids to help you and your children make up stories.

Through the ages, mankind has enjoyed telling stories to remember history, glorify heroes, and provide entertainment. Children naturally delight in story telling --both hearing stories and creating their own.

So you can be assured that storytelling is both fun and educational at the same time. All of the games featured here work to improve a young child's language arts skills in many areas.

Instead of being competitive games with a "winner" and a "loser", the games featured here are better classified as learning toys. They offer an open-ended stimulus for thinking and communicating rather than strict ways to strategize and conquer. There are no losers with these storytelling toys.

Storytelling for Language Arts Development
Storytelling for Language Arts Develo...

Telling Stories is Good for the Imagination

And For Language Development

Far from being a waste of time, storytelling has academic advantages:

  • creative thinking
  • an understanding of the elements of fiction -- plot, character, setting, etc.
  • vocabulary experimentation
  • oral expression

About Rory's Story Cubes

Great Language Arts Tool

This game is very open-ended which makes it perfect for language development. The nine cubes have images on them that are designed to spur your imagination as you craft an original story. Rather than being strict rules, the images are used as hints.

According to the game's "rules", you are encouraged to create your own games and your own rules to challenge each other.

Rory's Story Cube Games Quick Facts

  • one or more players
  • ages 8 and up
  • small box of nine plastic cubes
  • no winner or loser

Because Rory's Story Cubes are so small, this is a great toy to add to your tote bag or purse. Then when you have down time, you can pull them out and make up stories.

Rory's Story Cubes

Telling Stories for Fun and for Language Development
Rory's Story Cubes
Only $9.99
Rory's Story Cubes - Actions
Only $15.99

Games to Aid your Storytelling Times

Tell Tale is a yellow tin filled with cards picturing a wide assortment of characters and situations. Ages 6 & up will enjoy crafting silly scenarios from the images on the cards they draw.

Tell a Story is for ages 4 & up. There are ten character cards that each have five matching story cards. Sequence the events in a logical order, telling what the character did. This story telling game is less open ended than the others on the page because the cards are designed to be matched up and sequenced.

Storytelling Ideas -- Free and DIY

Blank Cube Template
Print the template, draw your own images, cut it out, and assemble it to create your own storytelling game cubes.

Storyarts.org
Twenty different storying activities that you can play with children.

Printable Templates for the Platonic Solids
Make your own cubes or dodecahedrons on cardstock and make your own storytelling prompts.

A Pocketful of Stories
Eighteen fresh ideas for creative storytelling.

Teach Beside Me Story Starter Blocks
Learn more about the blocks shown in the photo to the right.

Story Squares
A wonderful homemade activity. Let the children make their own story starter elements.

Kid Made Storytelling Cards
A Mom With a Lesson Plan blog shares how Jillian helped her niece and nephew to make their own storytelling cards.

Once Upon a Time Card Game

This card game involved both cooperation and some good natured competition. One player is the primary storyteller who tries to guide the story according to the cards in his hand. The other players try to change the story by playing their own cards.

Once Upon a Time Quick Facts

  • for 2-6 players
  • ages 8 and up
  • contains 110 Once Upon A Time storytelling cards and 55 Happy Ever After ending cards
  • blank cards allow you to make your own story elements
  • game lasts 30-60 minutes

When to Tell Stories

Storytelling can be done as part of homeschool lessons, after school remediation, or just for family fun. In fact, there is no need to categorize the story games. Just enjoy them and reap the benefits as side advantages.

  • at bedtime
  • waiting at the doctor's office
  • waiting for your order at the restaurant
  • during travel
  • at mealtimes
  • during language arts lessons
  • on family game night
  • for speech therapy

More Games and Fun

For Learning
Encourage a fascination of history with gifts and toys that explore the culture and mythology of Ancient Egypt. Use these products to add a hands-on element to your unit study.
Learn about the fifty states of the United States with these fun and educational games and hands-on activities.
There are board and card games that develop language arts skills while providing family fun. Stock your homeschol game closet with a game to exercise the verbal part of the brain.
Updated: 05/13/2012, Jimmie
 
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Angel on 01/23/2012

These are great. I should try this with my children on game night. I don't always like the winner and loser thing. Especially with ADHD children. They do not do well with all competitive sports or games.

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