By building on each other's ideas, children develop imagination, listening skills and narrative awareness.
1. Line up
Ask the children to stand in a straight line across the room.
2. Start the story
The child at one end of the line begins by offering a short, simple sentence from a story. The next child repeats the idea but elaborates and exaggerates it slightly.
Each child continues down the line, making the story bigger, more detailed or more dramatic each time.
3. Discuss
Once the final child has spoken, ask the first child to repeat their original sentence. Discuss how much the story has changed and grown through exaggeration.
Encourage children to build on what they hear rather than change the story completely. This game works best when exaggeration remains connected to the original idea. Use it to highlight how performers support one another in storytelling.
Lucy Quick, Principal of Perform.
