Team Story Building
In Lemonade in Winter, Pauline and John-John's lemonade stand doesn't yield the results they expected (selling tons of lemonade and making lots of money!), but they have fun anyway and learn that there's more than one definition of success!
You don't always succeed exactly the way you want or expect to, and that's OK! With any new adventure, there can be unexpected outcomes. Did you know, for example, that both Silly Putty and the Slinky were invented by accident? Their inventors tried to make one thing and ended up making something completely different instead.
Story Grids
An adult may need to help kid's hands stay in the right row and column until their hands meet at the correct cell.
Build a story with a team and see how it changes with each person's contribution. With more than one person adding to the story, it will almost certainly take unexpected turns. Here's how it works:
Use the story grids to choose a character, a situation, and a nearby object to build your story around. Pick a number between 1 and 5 and a letter between A and E, then go to the location on the grid that corresponds to that combination of number and letter. For example, if you picked 3 and D, you would go down to the 3rd row and move right until you hit the D column. You can use the same number and letter with each story grid, or pick a new number and letter for each grid.
After the character, situation, and nearby object are selected, you can start building your story. Have one brave team member start the story by creating the very first sentence of the story. Then, go around the room and ask each person to add another sentence (or two) to the story. Go around as many times as you want!
Here's an example story our team created after we picked 3B: flying squirrel, 2A: monster's birthday party, and 4E: braille book:
Person 1: Tony found a braille book by the side of the road.
Person 2: It was called "How to Make a Monster Smile."
Person 3: It had 10 ideas for a monster birthday party.
Person 4: Idea number 1 was, "Never, EVER invite a flying squirrel."
Person 5: Because they will swoop in and eat all the cake!
| Character | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fire-breathing dragon | World's tallest woman | Marching band | Snoring octopus | Grumpy train conductor |
| 2 | Zoo keeper | Twin sisters | Elf on a shelf | World's youngest inventor | Three-legged dog |
| 3 | Hungry dinosaur | Flying squirrel | Daydreaming monster | Kid detective | Olympic athlete |
| 4 | Nervous mouse | Team of horses | Egyptian mummy | Evil king | Talking puppet |
| 5 | Slime monster | Martian explorers | Trouble-making robot | Lovable Labrador Retriever | Laughing ladybug |
| Situation | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Water balloon fight | Surrounded by zombies | Lost in space | Late for school | Shipwrecked on an island |
| 2 | Monster's birthday party | In a blizzard | Riding a dragon | Under water | On the Moon |
| 3 | Last in line | Running a lemonade stand | Climbing a tower | Locked in a candy store | Invisible |
| 4 | Medieval castle | As the clock strikes midnight | Time travel | On a merry-go-round | Ghost town |
| 5 | Under the bed | Planting a garden | Battle of the ages | Singing very loudly | Solving a riddle |
| Nearby Object | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic wand | Lemons | Guitar | Drum set | Crayons |
| 2 | Candles | Mask | Rowboat | Diapers | Toothbrush |
| 3 | False teeth | Slate and stylus | Tacos | Sword | Rope |
| 4 | Cake | Shovel | Limes | Ladder | Braille book |
| 5 | Space suit | Coins | Powerful magnet | Dog food | Piggy bank |
This activity was created by Kesel Wilson for Great Expectations.
