Story Challenge: That's Good! That's Bad!

Your Challenge:

Tell a "That's Good. That's Bad." story with your children this week. Report back by commenting on this post and tell how it went.

Story Tip: Try this game on Christmas Eve when kids are having trouble sleeping.

Tonight at dinner we played a new story game. It was brilliant! We came up with it on the fly. With two boys and one on the way dinner discussion can often be about bodily functions, body parts, or just plain fighting. It can drive the Bug with Black Spots and I crazy. We try to come to the table prepared with a good question or topic for discussion. Tonight we got talking about books and somehow a story that the boys really enjoy came up. It’s called “That’s Good, That’s Bad” by Margery Cuyler. The boys clearly enjoy this story. We decided to make up our own version of the story at the dinner table.

Reading the book would be a great idea for your family. They will get the idea much quicker with the book. Margery Cuyler, the author, has actually made a series of these books. Our Favorite is the original story shown below with the yellow cover and the zoo animals. However, being that it is the Christmas season making a story similar to the "That's Good, That's Bad on Santa's Journey" would be a good tradition to start. After you read the book make your own story using it’s format sometime when you are desperate for sanity. I’m thinking a car trip or waiting for an appointment or even dinner in a restaurant. Everyone can join in. Even our four year old joined the fun. We were a little worried about his contribution but he came up with some pretty creative things, which made it even more silly and enjoyable.

Here’s how it goes. Have an adult start the first game so the kids get the idea. That adult starts the story by saying “There once was a …. (boy, girl, mom, dad, monster, bear, etc,...) Who…..(did something with a positive outcome.” At the end of this short positive one liner everyone exclaims, “Oh! That’s good.” The next person to go says, “No! That’s bad.” He or she then adds a negative line to the story that describes a bad thing that happens to the character. At the end of this one liner everyone exclaims, “Oh! That’s bad.” The next person then says, “No! That’s good!” And on and on until the person who began the story ends it with a positive line to which everyone responds “Oh! That’s good.” Then the story beginner says, “No! That’s Great!” And the story is complete.

Enjoy!
Kristen

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