We bought Enzo Mari’s The Fable Game when we visited Stockholm a couple of years ago. It’s a beautifully-designed “fairy tale book” which is actually made of cardboard panels that fit together like puzzle pieces – but you can mix and match them to make up new stories each time. You can buy your own version from Unica Home.

But, of course, you don’t need to buy it, or anything to have fun with storytelling and spark some creativity in your kids.

I ran across these two fun little games in a longer article that I’d torn out of an old issue of Real Simple and put in my (multi-colored polka dot!) binder of pretty things, fun ideas, etc. Both games are good for helping to pass the time in the car, at a restaurant, or anytime you’re waiting in line, or sitting around feeling a little bored.

What Happens Next?

Begin to tell a story to your kids, and just when you reach a dramatic moment, you say, “And then…” and you hand the story to your child, who has to continue the story where you left off. If your kids are a little too young to develop a story, you can ask leading questions, like “Do you think a bunny ate the vegetables in the garden, or was it something else?” Once you agree on the story’s direction, you can ask for more details (“What did it look like?”).

Fortunately and Unfortunately

This is a variation on “What Happens Next?”. Someone starts a story with one sentence (“One day, Elena was on her way to the library”). Other players, in turn, continue with a sentence about something bad that happens (“Unfortunately, she didn’t even realize it when one of her books fell out of her backpack”), and then something good that happens, (“Fortunately, a sweet little old woman found the book and called out to Elena”) until the (possibly/probably nonsensical) story comes to a natural end.

Do you have a favorite storytelling game? Are you good at making up stories for your kids? Do you dream about making up stories for your kids that you can parlay into world-famous books, like Laurent de Brunhoff did with the Babar stories and Astrid Lindgren did with Pippi Longstocking?

Photo of Enzo Mari’s Fable Game courtesy of the Design For Children blog, which, oh my goodness, is beautiful to look at, but curiously, there’s no accompanying text or info about who’s posting.

Wishing everyone a sunny weekend.  See you back here on Monday with baby shower pictures!