Do you struggle with getting your kids to write? Why not try these educational games to inspire creative storytelling. You can play these games for fun or as part of your homeschool or to support your child’s education. I struggled with storytelling for many years. Often my stories were endless descriptions of settings with no story. Or a monotonous journey with no action. Though these games may not solve those problems, they will give your creativity a boost.

Create-A-Story is a board game for children and adults to creatively and strategically build a story using elements gathered during the game. As you progress around the board, you land on printed tiles indicating which card you’ll add to your stash with ‘plot’, ‘character’, or ‘setting’ as some of them. At the end of the game you can use as many story elements you have to create a story. They more the better! Once you assemble your story with the worksheet provided, you can write your story. I found this game most useful for students 4th grade and up, but if you have a student who can write more easily at a younger age, this game might come in handy, or you can use this game orally for any age student.

Memory Palace by Peaceable Kingdom is a tiled board game illustrating a house with many rooms on individual tiles. The game comes with small circular tiles with prints of whimsical silly animals. Arrange your house tiles as you wish then randomly pick animals which are face down. Tell a story about the animal and the room it’s in. When the story is done, flip the animal card down and move on to the next player. After a total of six turns, it’s time to use your memory to retell the stories. This game is fantastic for all ages. It’s a cooperative game that young children will delight in and older children will find it creatively challenging. Adults can make their stories longer or keep it simple. You can choose your favorite story and write it down together if you wish, though this is a modification I’m suggesting.

Create A Story Cards by eeboo are beautifully illustrated cards with just the right amount of detail to inspire a whole story or a segment of a story. With three ways to play, you and your children will not be at a loss of how to use these cards. Lay them out to show story sequence, or shuffle cards and distribute for ‘silly’ stories lines. If you wish, you can also write down a story when the game is complete.