Rory's Story Cubes

About Rory's Story Cubes
Prominently known as an endless resource for inspiration, Rory’s Story Cubes originated as a creative problem-solving tool for adults. Nowadays they are most universally used to inspire imaginative storytelling for the entire family. Each substantial 3/4" cube has 6 images or icons, for a total of 54 all-different images designed by Rory O'Connor of Ireland. Roll some or all of the Rory’s Story Cubes to generate random images. Then, using those images as part of your narrative, invent a story that starts with "Once upon a time...," “It was a dark and stormy night,” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” or any opening of your choice.

Encourage Cooperation, Not Competition
Telling the stories out loud will encourage your child to be as creative as possible without the burden of writing, spelling, and punctuation. And children as young as 3 can participate as long as they have verbal skills, since no reading is required. If you are weary of the bickering that accompanies competitive games, you will be relieved to know that Rory’s Story Cubes is a cooperative activity; participants often work together to arrive at the best story.

A Fun Way to Work on Language Arts
But that just scratches the surface of the potential of what Rory's Story Cubes can do. Whip them out at parties to break the ice. Use them to fine-tune a foreign language. Or if you are looking for a fun way to develop expressive (being able to put thoughts into words) and receptive (understanding what others say) language skills in your children, Rory's Story Cubes is your game. You can keep it inordinately simple by rolling just one cube and asking your child to say one thing about what he sees, or make it much more difficult by rolling multiple cubes and asking your child to describe what the pictures have in common. Then add cubes and arrive at different answers, using any aspect of the picture. For example a fire and a flashlight both shed light but add in a hand and you may feel stumped until you focus on the fingers and announce they all start with the same sound.

Made to Be a Resource for Years to Come
The meanings of each icon on Rory's Story Cubes are intentionally left open, in order to trigger multiple associations. For example, the scales denote weight, or they can refer to a judge, or be a symbol of justice. That is the beauty of the ambiguity, your brain is compelled to search through memories and experiences to find a meaningful association. The dice come in sturdy little boxes and the icons are cut into the cube face and then painted adding to their durability. And because there is a different color for each set of the Story Cubes, clean-up is a snap.

Please note: The manufacturer recommends this product for children aged 8 and older, but we have found that children as young as 3 can participate since no reading is required. And frankly, if your child is verbal enough to appreciate how much fun everyone is having, we don't think you'll be able to keep them from joining in! Trust us, this is a good thing, as you will all reap the benefits of their new verbal and thinking skills!