Story startersAges 6–8
Uh-Oh! Problem Planner
Plan a story around a problem: who is in it, where they are, what goes wrong and how it gets fixed.
Story sheet · Story starters · Ages 4–6
One Picture, One Sentence
The first story page: a big box for a drawing and writing lines for one sentence about it.
- Ages
- Ages 4–6 (grades PreK–1)
- Time
- about 15 minutes
- Part of a story
- Story starters
- Kids practice
- picture to words, writing a sentence, oral storytelling
What kids do
“Draw a picture that tells a story. Then write (or say) one sentence about it.”
- Draw your story picture
- My sentence:
How to run it
- Ask “What is happening in your picture?” and write down exactly what the child says.
- Confident writers can copy the dictated sentence underneath.
- Use it after any step-by-step drawing lesson.
Talk about it
- What happened just before your picture?
- What will happen next?
- Who else could be in the picture?
Take it further
Staple a week of these together to make a little storybook.
Draw first, then write
- How to draw unicorns and mermaids
- How to Draw: Mermaids, Unicorns and Other Cute Stuff
- Comic story starter
Free for home and classroom use. Print as many copies as you need.
More story sheets
Story startersAges 6–8
Roll a Story
Roll a die three times to pick who, where and what goes wrong. Then draw and write the story you rolled.
Story startersAges 8–11
Dear Diary
Write a diary entry as your character, about the strangest day of their life, with a picture of them writing it.
Story startersAges 8–11
Story Mountain
Plan a whole story as a mountain: the beginning, the build-up, the big problem at the top, the fix and the ending.
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