Spin a Story
Telling a complete story is really big task for your child! First, they need to already have a fairly large vocabulary for different characters, places, events, and emotions. Then they also need the grammar skills to build sentences to put these thoughts together. In addition to all of this, they need to be able to keep their thoughts in a coherent order that makes sense for a story. No wonder so many kids will begin a story and then trail off or switch topics!
How to Use Story Spinners
• Print out pictures provided. You will need a pencil as your ‘spinner’. Place the pencil in the middle of the picture and give it a gentle spin.
• Use the spinner pictures in order and ask the question that goes with each spinner picture as you spin your pencil on each one. (When?, Who?,
Where?, What happened?, (With) What?, How did they feel?) Whichever picture the pencil tip is pointing to when it stops spinning will be the answer to each question.
• Try to put it all together into one short, silly story. You may have to model the sentences for your child to copy. For example: “Once up a time in the spring, there was a princess who lived in a log cabin. She danced with a
sock and felt very scared. The end.”
Download your own story spinners here!