Looking for a fun new approach to creative writing? Create exciting adventure stories using these story cubes! They are great for getting an amazing story started! They are perfect for homeschoolers, classrooms or just creative writing fun!
In all of my years as a homeschool mom, one of the things that I’ve had to get the most creative with is writing.
I don’t know if it’s just my boys but they’ve never been big on writing which is foreign to me! I’m sure it’s probably because I’ve always been a big reader so writing comes naturally but it seems that gene skipped my sons.
Writing is such an important part of education though, I am a big believer that if your kids learn math, reading, and writing they can pretty much do anything!
So first I came up with the Writing Jar, filled with fun prompts that they really enjoyed and it has continued to serve us well.
Then my youngest son discovered choose your own adventure books (which I adored as a kid) and he fell in love with them. We’ve enjoyed reading them together and finding all of the different endings.
So I decided to create something that would be fun like those books where there is a bit of chance involved and a great story unfolds.
And that’s when these story cubes were born. I won’t take credit for coming up with story cubes. We have a set that we bought and really enjoy using, but after a while, we’d covered a lot of the combinations and my kids got bored with them.
I took that idea and expanded it with these, I added some more choices and more categories so that there are a ton of possibilities
Want your own set? Get them HERE!
How do these story cubes work?
The idea behind these story cubes is simple. You roll one of each category and then create a story around what you’ve rolled!
There are 19 cubes in all (plus a blank one you can fill in yourself) and they include heroes, villains, settings, events, challenges, tools/weapons, and animals. There are multiple cubes for each category so it is easy to have tons of different combinations!
Make Your Own Rules-
You can use these story cubes in your homeschool, in a classroom, or just for fun, but no matter how you are using them the rules are up to you.
When we use them we always use the hero, villain, setting, and event cubes. They give you the base for the story. I let my son decide if he wants to use the tool/weapon, animal, or challenge cubes to add more layers to the story.
You can use them however you want, you can have multiple heroes, villains or events. You can make your characters into animals using the animal cubes, or give your villain the weapon or challenge… the possibilities are really endless. It is up to you as the teacher to decide how much or how little direction to give your student on how to use them.
You can also decide the parameters on how long and detailed the story needs to be. For older kids you can require something longer, for younger kids it can be just a few sentences. You can have your student create drawings to go with it or create a whole storybook.
It is up to you how much emphasis you put on grammar and punctuation.
Here’s How to Assemble the Cubes-
You can have these ready to use with just a few simple steps.
First, hop on over here to get your set of cubes!
Then, you’ll need to print them out, you’ll have the best results using cardstock. Paper works but cardstock is much easier to fold and creates more durable cubes. You’ll also need some tape.
You just have to trim around the edges of each cube, and then lay them face down and fold in the little flaps.
Now fold the cubes along the black lines, and tuck the flaps inside. Once it’s assembled add a few pieces of tape to secure it closed.
Alternately if you would rather not create the cubes, or want this set to be more portable, you can cut each cube into squares. Instead of rolling the cubes you can place all of the squares facedown and draw a random one to create your story.
Have FUN!
The most important instruction for using these cubes is to have fun! They are designed to create exciting, and silly stories. The goal is to get your student’s creative juices flowing. Who knows what they’ll come up with when they get going with these fun story cubes!
Rebecca says
Is there somewhere I can get the pdf’s for the story cubes? The link is no longer working and I would love to get them. Please let me know-how. Thank you!