Can you say impulse buy?

As I was in line to pay for my holiday shopping my eye was caught by a cute little lime green box.  Rory’s Story Cubes – Voyages.  I’m always looking for inspiration ideas and these images really appealed to me.  On sale too… I couldn’t go wrong!

Now I’ve always been drawn to dice even though I’m not a gambler.  I  love the feel of them rolling in my palms.  Nine dice… no dots… instead there are pictures, or should we call them icons?  This is a game for everyone age 8 and up.  That’s me!  The instructions are to roll the dice and then make up a story on the spot with the inspiration from the images.

You mean I have to use my imagination?  I quickly rearranged the cubes to suit my story:

Once upon a time Bess lived in a downtown high-rise in the city.  One afternoon she felt feverish.  Her forehead was hot, hot as the sun, and her belly wasn’t right either.  Off she went to the emergency room where she was diagnosed with an amoebic infection to be treated with a high-dose prescription.  Once home she slept, exhausted from her day.  She dreamt she stood in the forest hearing faint cries.  What is it?  The sounds lured her into a clearing.  There she found a treasure chest and, uncaring of Pandora’s lesson, she immediately opened it.  Out jumped a monkey making the loudest ruckus.  He was screaming and screeching and was holding a scroll.  Bess leapt and wrestled the scroll from him.  As she looked closer she saw  it was a map to ancient archaeological dinosaur burial sites.  Bess thought, “Wait, a treasure map?  That only happens in dreams.”, and promptly woke up.

But, I’m not always going to make up a story.  I plan on using these one or two at a time as journal prompts.  Maybe I’ll create a page about my interest in western North American dinosaurs or one about moving to the country after growing up in the “Big City”.  With 9 cubes that’s 54 images… and there are two more sets: Original and Actions.

How great is that!