Collect a Story

In the art of storytelling, you'll find the history of our world. People have shared stories for thousands of years and handed them down from generation to generation. These stories let us how people think about the world, what's important to them, and how they live. Storytelling is still practiced all over the world. Those who tell stories, called storytellers, are admired for their skill in creating a tale and telling it a way that holds the listeners' attention. Storytelling is a skill you can learn, too.

To get started, cut out articles from a newspaper or magazine. Then pick 12 words or less. You can circle them so they're easy to remember, or write them down on a sheet of paper. Give yourself five minutes to look at and think about the words. Then create a story, using those words, in any order.

To make the game even better, do it with your friends. Have everyone use the same words and see what different stories you come up with. Or use different words and see how imaginative everybody gets. To make it harder, try making up rules, such as: the players have to use the words in alphabetical order, use each word twice, or only use words that begin with vowels. Alternatively, the first player can "collect" a dozen words from the newspaper or magazine and weave his story, then the next player clips a dozen more words and continues the first person's tale, and so on. See how long players can keep this newspaper chain story going.

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