Mess for Less

  • Crafts
    • Art
    • Winter Activities
    • Spring Activities
    • Summer Activities
    • Fall Recipes and Activities
  • Kids Activities
    • Baby and Toddler Activities
    • Preschool Activities
    • Sensory Activities
    • Fine Motor Skills Activities
    • Learning Activities
      • Science Activities
  • Family
    • Pets
    • Parenting
  • Shop
  • Breakfast Recipes
  • Lunch Recipes
  • Dinner Recipes
  • Dessert Recipes
  • Snack Recipes
  • Appetizers
  • Crock Pot Recipes
  • Cooking with Kids
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Summer Activities
  • Kids
  • Shop
  • Subscribe
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Summer Activities
    • Kids
    • Shop
    • Subscribe
  • ×
    Home » Learning Activities

    Story Box with Free Printables

    Modified: May 3, 2022 · Published: Jun 12, 2013 by Vicky · This post may contain affiliate links · 3 Comments

    899 shares
    • 3

    I am so excited to share this Story Box with Free Printables because it is a great way to help kids develop their language and communication skills. These free printables and worksheets are great for school or home use.

    This post is part of Get Ready for K Through Play, an 8-week series with some of my favorite bloggers that will give you the tools you need to prepare your child for Kindergarten in fun, hands-on ways.

    Each week, we will all focus on a different skill children need for Kindergarten. This week, we are sharing ways to help your child develop their Language Skills.

    Kids can learn and have fun with this story box with free printables.

    My twins will be starting Kindergarten at the end of August. I can hardly believe that my little babies are going to start Kindergarten in a few months! Having taught Kindergarten for many years, I am well aware of the skills that children need to be successful. Language skills are essential for your   Kindergaterner and there are many fun ways to practice them.

    I am going to be sharing how you can use a story box (with free printables)to help your preschooler develop these skills that they will need in Kindergarten. Some of the readiness skills teachers look when it comes to language are: speaking in full sentences, using descriptive language, creating stories, and expressing ideas clearly. This activity will help kids grow their skills in these areas.

    To make a story box you will need:

    • Story cards
    • Empty tissue box
    • Gift wrap
    • Scissors
    • Tape

    Cut out the images on the free printables to make cards for the story box.

    Story cards for language game

    To create your story box, use some leftover wrapping paper to cover an empty tissue box, leaving the top slot uncovered. This took just a few minutes to do. If you are really short on time, you can skip the gift wrap entirely and just use the empty tissue box.

    How to make a story box
    Story Box

    There are 6 story cards with people on them. Remove them from the rest and put them aside. Place the rest of the cards in the story box.

    Story box with story cards

    Now you are ready to play! Ask your child to pick one of the people from the story cards to make the story about. Then place the rest of the people cards in the story box with the other cards.

    child playing with picture cards

    I started off the story so I could model for my kids how to do it. Using the card my daughter had picked I said "Once upon a time there was a girl named" and my daughter said "Nancy." I asked my daughter to tell me about Nancy and she replied "she is happy."

    We thought a good way to start the story was "Once upon a time there was a girl named Nancy and she was happy because..." I added the "because" as a connector to help my next daughter continue the story. She is three and I was worried she would have trouble with this language game. But when she pulled out a ball card she said "she was happy because she had a ball." Your kids will probably need to you to add connectors in between their turns to help the story flow. Some great connectors are because, and then, when all of a sudden, but...

    kid playing a Kindergarten Readiness Game

    We took turns going around in a circle, each of us pulling a card and adding to our story which very quickly took a turn for the silly.

    Story Box Language Skills Game

    In round one, we only used some of the cards before completing our story, but after that the kids really wanted to use all the cards. We would line them up in order so that we could retell the story at the end which is another important Kindergarten skill.

    Practicing Language Skills

    I was thrilled with how my four year old twins were using full sentences and their imaginations to create the stories. Often, they would add two and three sentences to the story. We had lots of funny things occur in the stories particularly with the order of the cards. Sometimes we would pull out an umbrella card long before we got a rain card and the kids would have to come up with a way to use the umbrella that made sense in the story.

    I was so pleased with how this story box game turned out. Not only did my kids get to practice some important Kindergarten readiness skills like speaking in full sentences, retelling a story, and using descriptive language, but they had a blast while doing it. I can't tell you how many times my kids (and myself) dissolved into a fit of giggles because of some silly event that we had made up in our story.

    printables terms and conditions

    Story Box Printables
    ​

      By submitting this form you will be added to our newsletter. We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at anytime.

      Be sure to visit the following bloggers and check out their Language skills posts:

      Using Puppets for Language Development from Toddler Approved
      Developing Kindergarten Language Skills from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
      Language Experience Stories from Coffee Cups and Crayons
      Play to Promote Language Development from Mama Smiles

      More Learning Activities

      • 10 best strategy games for kids pin
        10 Best Strategy Games for Kids
      • telling time printables with blue marker
        Telling Time Worksheets
      • Free Spring Preschool Worksheets
      • Candy Corn Counting

      Comments

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Recipe Rating




      1. Timeka Gilliam says

        August 05, 2014 at 11:44 pm

        Just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing your idea; it's definitely a keeper! I teach kinder and I want to add to it a teacher "scribe" aspect- while students retell the story, I could write it down and have them draw a picture or two for it :).

        Thanks again!

        Reply
        • Vicky @ Mess For Less says

          August 09, 2014 at 3:57 pm

          Oh Timeka, this made my day, thank you!

          Reply
      2. Nichole Day says

        July 18, 2013 at 4:44 pm

        Thank you so much for putting all these wonderful ideas together. I have a four year old son starting preschool in August and I also have three boys I babysit during the week. We will be trying this activity today with my older two 🙂

        Reply
      Vicky from Mess for Less

      I'm Vicky, the founder of Mess For Less, which I started in 2011 to share easy, family-friendly recipes. With over a decade of experience as a home chef and recipe developer, I love creating meals that bring people together. I also design play and learning activities for kids, using my background as a former teacher with a Master’s degree in education. Learn more about me.

      Summer

      • Free Printable Summer Placemats
      • Best Outdoor Toys for Summer
        The 20 Best Outdoor Toys for Summer
      • summer activities for kids
        Summer Activities for Kids
      • SUMMER ACTIVITIES FOR PRESCHOOLERS
        20 Summer Activities for Preschoolers

      Footer

      ↑ back to top

      About

      • Privacy Policy and Disclosure
      • Recipe and Safety Disclaimers
      • About Me
      • Accessibility Policy

      Newsletter

      • Sign Up! for our newsletter

      Contact

      • Contact
      • Advertise

      As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

      Copyright © 2025 MessForLess