40 story prompts to invent tales with children

Making up stories together builds language, imagination and connection. Use these prompts as story starters — read one aloud and take turns adding what happens next.

A simple method: hero, wish, problem, lesson

1. Pick a hero (a child, an animal, an unlikely object).
2. Give them a wish or a goal.
3. Add a problem that gets in the way.
4. Let them solve it — and notice what they learned.

Adventure prompts

• A map falls out of an old library book…
• The smallest animal in the forest has the biggest job today.
• A door appears in the garden that wasn't there yesterday.
• A paper boat sets off down the gutter after the rain.
• The stars have gone missing and someone has to fetch them back.

Feelings prompts

• A dragon is scared of the dark — what helps him sleep?
• A new sibling arrives and the older one feels invisible.
• Someone said something unkind at school today.
• A robot learns to feel its very first feeling.
• A child is nervous about the first day of something new.

Funny prompts

• Everything the cat touches turns to jelly.
• The vegetables in the fridge start a band at midnight.
• A sock has been planning its escape for weeks.
• Gravity takes a day off.
• A grumpy cloud follows one person around, raining only on them.

Bedtime prompts

• The moon needs help falling asleep.
• A little light travels the house saying goodnight to everything.
• A dream train collects sleepy passengers.
• The quietest sound in the world lives under a leaf.
• Every toy in the room has one wish before sleep.