The Family Story Workshop: Turn Fall Evenings Into Story Nights

By mid-October, it’s dark before dinner’s over. Those long evenings are the perfect opportunity for the oldest family entertainment there is, telling stories. Way before anyone had a TV, families told stories to each other at night before bed, some age-old tales and others totally fabricated. With this activity there are no supplies or prep needed. Just gather your family together, get cozy and make storytelling magic. 

Warm Up With Story Games

Don’t start with “tell me a story”. Get going with games where the story builds itself:

• Round robin. One sentence each, around the room, no planning allowed. (If your family played this in the car this summer, you already know it ends in fantastic chaos.)
• Fortunately, unfortunately. Alternate every sentence: “Fortunately, the dragon loved pancakes. Unfortunately, he was out of syrup.” Kids learn that every good story is a seesaw between things going right and things going wrong, which is, in fact, the entire secret of great plots.
• Three-object stories. Grab three random things from the junk drawer. The story must include all three. 

The One Trick That Makes Every Story Better

Specifics beat generals, every time. “A dog” is nothing. “A three-legged dog named Waffles who is afraid of doorbells” is already a story. When a young storyteller stalls, ask for details. What color was the door? Did the cave smell like something specific? What was the robot’s one rule?

Host a Story Night

Once the games have warmed everyone up, make it an occasion. Get the lights low, cocoa poured, maybe a flashlight passed to whoever has the floor, also everyone tells one, parents included.

Give the audience a real job too: listen all the way through, then tell the storyteller one thing you loved. 

For bedtime, try the serial: one story, told in chapters across the week, ending each night on a cliffhanger. “She reached for the handle, and the handle turned by itself. Goodnight!” This is great because it will leave everyone hooked and excited for tomorrow!

Keep the Good Ones

Record the best tellings on a phone and have your child write down a favorite and illustrate it, or dictate it to you word for word while you type. Then collect them in a folder labeled with a fun title like: Family Legends.

Years from now, someone at the dinner table will say “remember Waffles?” and the whole family will be off again on a storytelling trip. 

Enjoy the dark days this fall with something creative and a little bit magical with your kids! It will make the long evenings fun and totally worth remembering.