Story Cube Worksheet Templates

What are Story Cubes?

Story cubes are dice with special topics on each side, such as setting, characters, or theme. Students are meant to roll these dice at random and to write a story using the information from the roll. The faces of the dice can be simple pictures, words, complex scenes, or a mix of everything.

Writing can be very challenging for many people. Story cubes are very useful because teachers can provide six pre-selected ideas for each element, and the rolling of the dice makes the student more engaged, as in a game.

Use the dice to piece together a quick oral story, or have students craft more involved written assignments. Story cubes are a great way to provide both assistance for struggling storytellers, and also can challenge more accomplished writers with creative constraints! Looking for other ways to engage your students with fun activities? Make a game online with Storyboard That today!

Printable Cube Template

Use a free printable story cubes template above to create extraordinary dice! Each side of the die can be whatever you want, such as different characters, and can include words, pictures, or both. Alternatively, have all students create dice so you will have a large collection of ideas to choose from throughout the year.

Make your own printable story cubes in the Storyboard Creator using the many image assets available, or print out a blank cube template and have students draw their own story ideas.

Note that not every printable cube template folds into actual cubes. There are a variety of nets available, including tetrahedron, rectangular prism, triangular prism, hexagonal prism, and even icosahedron! Just a little bit of math for your English language arts class. Cubes are more like traditional six-sided dice that many students will already be familiar with.

Create Story Cubes From Scratch!

We've come up with some great story cube templates for you to use, but you can also make your own printable story cubes from scratch. Simply follow these steps:

1. Click on a “Create a Storyboard” button. This will bring you to the Storyboard Creator.
2. Give your storyboard a name. We suggest a detailed name so you know how to find it in the future. Click “Continue”.
3. Now that you are in the Storyboard Creator, click on the “Layout” button in the right hand menu. Select “Worksheet”.
4. Choose whether you want your paper to be horizontal or vertical by using the toggle on the left and click “Okay!”
5. To find Storyboard That’s worksheet and poster assets, click on the “Worksheets” tab in the top row. If you are on a small screen such as a Chromebook, you may have to press the “More” button to find this option.
6. Once you are in this category, you will find a wide variety of assets such as borders, lines, and graphic organizers, including the templates for foldable figures. Simply drag and drop where you want the assets to go. There are tons of patterns, shapes, images, characters, and more to choose from.
7. Once you are happy with your dice, click “Save and Exit”.
8. Remember, even if you create the page using color, you can still print it out in black and white. If you are concerned about making your story cubes printable, use filters to reduce color: grayscale, remove color, or pencil work best!

Making a worksheet from scratch is fun, but remember, we have tons of premade templates to get you started. We’ve done all the formatting so that you don’t have to! Read how to use a template below.

For more activity ideas, check out back to school activities and homeschool activities Text!

Happy Creating!

Frequently Asked Questions About Story Cubes

What do you put on the cube faces?

Even the sky doesn't limit this! Story cubes are intended to be a fun way to select story elements, so have fun when making them. Very basic story cubes have single images or words, such as a picture of a child for a character or a theme suggestion of friendship. However, highly creative minds need not be restricted! You can make the faces as simple or as detailed as you want.

Here are a few basic and advanced story ideas that can be represented in either words, pictures, or both.

1. Characters: Man, woman, girl, boy, animal, monster, personified object
2. Setting (time): Day, night, afternoon, morning, recent past, ancient past, future, other
3. Setting (place): Outer space, underwater, mountains, city, school, neighborhood, forest, cave, desert, an imagined place
4. Conflict: Character vs. character, character vs. self, character vs. nature, character vs. technology, character vs. supernatural, character vs. society
5. Character traits: Honest, selfish, lazy, hard-working, proud, brave, loyal, shy, bossy
6. Theme: Friendship, love conquers all, importance of family, justice/injustice, traditions and change, growing up
7. Mood: Spooky, serious, light/comedic, cautionary, tense, sentimental/nostalgic, romantic, whimsical
8. Full scenes or visual writing prompts: story starter, role-playing scenario, familiar scene with one major change, "what if" scenario, crime scene

For additional guidance for students, use the parts of a story for each die, such as "Somebody Wanted But So Then". It would be a total of five dice for students to roll, but the plot may come together more easily for struggling students when the parts are more clearly defined.

How do you put story cubes together?

Copy one of the editable cube templates above and add creative elements to each face. When you are finished, follow these steps:

1. Print out the page. Cardstock works best, but you can use regular printer paper.
2. Cut the net out along the outermost outlines.
3. Fold the small tabs away from the faces of the cube.
4. Fold the net along each solid line to create the edges.
5. Use glue or tape to attach the tabs to the underside of the corresponding face along the edge. Let dry, if necessary.
6. Start rolling your dice!

How do you use story cubes?

When writing a story, students need to determine setting, characters, conflict, and more! Coming up with their own stories can be challenging, particularly for reluctant writers. Provide ideas for students to use with printable story cubes you (or they) can assemble.

During the planning stage of writing, roll for each element you have a die for and see what luck brings! Is the combination of characters and settings a real challenge, or do they fit well together? If you have multiple dice for the same element, roll them together and choose your favorite option, or try to incorporate them all! With your own story cubes, you can make many different stories without having to rack your brain for new ideas.