Once Upon a Time

The ‘once upon a time’ story technique has been used for a long length of time. It promotes storytelling and the ability to come up with engaging and creative scenarios, but also to share experiences which have occured.

Tools

  • Paper
  • Pen

Steps

  • Participants are put in pairs with those individuals who they would like to give feedback to. 
  • The facilitator can start the activity by explaining how ‘once upon a time’ is used to create a story or to reflect on an experience through storytelling.
  • Participants are encouraged to decide whether they would like to think back to an existing memory or create a scenario which represents a concept or an idea. 
  • The participants are asked to write a story and then explain this to the other after. 
  • The facilitator then asks the participants to reflect on their experience. What did they like and dislike?

Tips

  • You can also create ‘once upon a time’ cards which provide specific story elements that participants can put together.
  • As a facilitator, encourage participants to be creative.

Sources

Created by Inova Consultancy Ltd.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.