Christmas Roll a Story: A Festive Writing Game for Kids

What happens when a shy reindeer discovers a time machine? Or when a polar bear loses a magical key at Santa’s workshop? That’s where the fun begins. Christmas Roll a Story is a playful storytelling game that gives children everything they need to create their own festive adventures, with a little help from the roll of a die and a lot of imagination.

The game is simple. Children roll the dice five times to reveal different story ingredients, such as characters, places, objects and unexpected story elements. Then they use their results to dream up a Christmas story of their own. And that’s where every game takes a completely different turn.

One child might end up writing about an elf who discovers a secret door at the North Pole. Another might have to explain why a snowman is hiding a mysterious treasure. The combinations are deliberately unexpected, giving children plenty of ideas to get their imaginations moving when they don't know what to write about.

A Christmas Writing Activity That Doesn't Feel Like Work

Getting children to write can sometimes be a challenge, especially during the excitement of December.

Christmas Roll a Story takes away the pressure of staring at a blank page and wondering what to write. Instead, the dice provide the starting point. Children can use their prompts to write a traditional Christmas story, create a comic strip, invent a little play, write a poem or simply tell their adventure aloud. There isn't really a wrong way to play.

The unexpected combinations are part of the fun, and children can decide how their story develops from there. A simple roll of the dice might introduce a new character, a strange location or a completely unexpected twist that sends the story in an entirely different direction.

Click on the image to download and play today!

Perfect for Christmas Classrooms and Homeschooling

This makes the game particularly useful during the Christmas period when you're looking for activities that are festive but still encourage useful creative skills.

Use it as a Christmas writing activity for kids, a fun literacy warm up, a creative writing lesson or an independent activity for children who have finished their usual work.

It's also a lovely option for homeschoolers looking for something a little different from traditional writing exercises.

Because the dice generate the ideas, children can play independently or work together to create a shared story. Younger children can dictate their stories to an adult, while older children can turn their prompts into longer pieces of creative writing.

Make a Christmas Story, Comic or Play

One of the best things about this activity is that the dice don't tell children exactly what to create. They simply give them the ingredients.

From there, they can choose their own format.

Write a story: Turn the five rolls into a beginning, middle and ending.

Draw a comic: Create a series of pictures showing what happens next.

Make a play: Give the characters dialogue and act out the adventure.

Write a Christmas poem: Turn the unusual prompts into a festive poem.

Tell a dream: Roll the dice and see who can invent the funniest or most imaginative adventure.

Write a journal entry: Roll the dice into a beginning, middle and ending of a creative diary entry.

That flexibility means the same printable can be used in lots of different ways, depending on the age and interests of the children playing.

A Screen Free Christmas Activity

December can be a busy time, and sometimes you just need an activity that you can print, put on the table and let the children get on with.

Christmas Roll a Story needs very little preparation. Print the game sheets, grab a die and you're ready to start creating.

There are three different game sheets included, so children can come back to the activity more than once and generate completely new combinations.

It's a great little activity for a quiet afternoon at home, a classroom Christmas party, a homeschool day or those wonderfully long stretches of time when children announce that they're bored approximately five minutes after finishing everything else.

Where Will Their Story Take Them?

The best part is that you never quite know what story is going to appear.

A reindeer might discover something that changes Christmas forever. An elf could find themselves somewhere they definitely shouldn't be. A magical object might cause complete chaos at Santa's workshop.

And that's exactly what makes Christmas Roll a Story so much fun.

Roll the dice. Pick your prompts. Start the story.

Then let their imagination decide what happens next.