One-line Fantasy Stories

Pop-up cards are easy to make. You can see some straightforward instructions here: How to make a pop-up card. 

You'll need to assemble a few things in advance: A3 card, a sheet for every child, plus scissors and glue and maybe some bits and pieces with which to decorate the finished story, like cheap gems or stick-on stars. You might like also to put together a sheet of images for them to cut out and colour, although many children will want to draw their own.

Show them the finished card, then give out the grid sheets, go through the format, and ask them to fill in as many blanks as they can. Then they can share their favourite(s) with the group.

Each child should choose their favourite, and then on the sheet of blank banners, copy out each part of their one-line story on a separate banner, so "there was a mad prince" on one, and "who ate a poisoned apple meant to kill him" on another and "and became sane and lived happily ever after" on the third. They can then cut out all the banners they've used and assemble them on the card as above, illustrating the story with three or more images.

This is a great activity for students who are a little bit scared of writing.