This set of roll a story creative writing dice have been designed as a fun writing prompt for kids. Simply fold and glue the 3D paper cubes together and use them to kick-start imaginative writing ideas!
* This educational craft was first published in 2020 and has been updated and reshared for today’s audience
Get the printable template here
Creative writing is fun! Sometimes though, getting started on a story is the hard part. Kids just don’t know what to write about and having a creative prompt can help take the “idea” pressure off.
I designed this printable set of creative writing dice to get my 10 and 11 year old girls feeling a bit more enthusiastic about writing while they were stuck at home in lockdown. They add an extra element of fun to narrative writing.
You can also use the dice to play a quick-thinking creative writing game which we had a lot of fun with.
Folding and gluing the dice together is easy and self explanatory. It’s a good idea to use card stock for sturdiness but you can make them from ordinary paper too.
How to use Roll A Story dice
Roll a place: Roll the place dice to set the scene of your story. Of course, the story only has to include this place somewhere in it, it doesn’t need to be the only place.
Roll a character: Roll the character dice and include the character within the story. They don’t need to be the main character, just in there somewhere.
Roll a sense: Something that you smell, hear of feel is always good to include in a story. Roll one of the senses and weave that into the creative writing somehow.
The printable also includes a blank set of creative writing dice. You can have kids come up with their own prompts, or create a set based on a theme you are studying like Space exploration, a particular period in history or a season.
Also included is some optional writing paper with spaces to draw a picture so kids can illustrate their stories.
How to play pass the story creative writing game
1. Get into groups of two or three and set a timer for five minutes.
2. Each player rolls a scene, and begins a story including that scene in their opening paragraph. Write in the first person and include as much as you can in five minutes. When the timer is up pass the story you have begun writing to another player in your team, and take the story which has been started by someone else. Take the time to read what they have written so far.
3. Each player rolls a character. Continue the story from where the last person left off, weaving the character you have rolled into the story somehow. Write as much as you can in five minutes and then pass the story again. If you are playing with two people, go back to your original story and if you’re playing with three take on the last story in your group.
4. Each player rolls a sense. Continue the story from where the last person left off, this time you must include the sense you have rolled in your writing. Write as much as you can in five minutes.
Note: It’s not necessary to conclude the stories. This is more of a fun, creative exercise to think quickly and get writing. However, if you wanted to conclude the stories you could pass the story back to the original player who began the story and they can come up with a conclusion.
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