Exercise: Rope Storytelling

This storytelling exercise is based on a classic campfire game. Students will work together to tell a story, but who tells the story and where they start and pick up again is up to chance. This exercise is great for students to practice active listening, using good diction when speaking, and thinking on their feet, as well as working together to tell a story in an engaging and clear way.

Materials

You’ll need a length of rope, at least one foot in length per student (for example: 20 students = minimum 20-foot rope). Tie a knot in the rope about a third of the way down the length, then tie the two ends of the rope together so it becomes a circle. You should have two knots in the rope now, with different lengths of rope between each knot. You can tie ribbons or strips of fabric around the two knots if you need to make them more obvious.

For fun, if you want to embrace the traditional campfire game atmosphere, you can dim the lights, play soft nighttime nature sounds in the background, and/or set up a prop campfire in the middle of the circle, but these are optional.

Instructions

1. Have students sit or stand in a circle, shoulder to shoulder, around the rope. Students will pick up the rope and hold it loosely with both hands.

2. One student will start telling a story about any topic. (If you need an opening line to get started, we’ve got lots of ideas here). Since this exercise is based on a campfire game, the stories tend to lean towards the spooky, mysterious, or paranormal, but of course your students can tell whatever story they like. Encourage students to use their voices and facial expressions to create excitement and really engage the listeners in the story they’re telling.

3. While they are telling the story, the full class will slide the rope gently and quietly through their hands around the circle, clockwise, without looking at the rope.

4. When the current storyteller feels a knot in their hands, they must stop speaking immediately, even if they’re in the middle of a sentence.

5. Whoever is closest to or touching the second knot must pick up the story exactly where the previous storyteller left off and continue it. Continue sliding the rope in the same clockwise direction and repeating the sequence — each student adds on to the story and stops when they feel a knot, and the student closest to the other knot continues. Some students will have shorter or longer additions because of the length of rope between the knots. Depending on how the student moves their hands, they might miss a knot and have to continue with another full rotation of the rope until they find a knot — that’s ok. Remember to slide the rope slowly or each story addition will be too short.

6. Continue adding on until your students run out of ideas, you run out of time, or one of the students comes up with a natural ending to the story.

7. Students will complete an exit slip after this exercise (found below).