Hi, my name is Niko. Since childhood, I’ve always liked writing stories, and Mad Libs were a way to share that joy with friends.
With this project I wanted to combine my love of storytelling with some understanding and connection around emotions that we all feel.
Throughout our days, we can carry a lot of feelings. This activity is a chance to connect with those feelings.
It’s also a way to add some lightness and laughter to heavy emotions. and gather some community support around our feelings.
We can lighten the load and it can be easier to rewrite our stories when we share and laugh together!
Start by gathering your materials. For this project you will need:
1. A pen or pencil
2. Paper
On your piece of paper, write about a time when you felt an emotion like sadness, joy, anger, frustration, guilt, excitement, worry, fear.
To start your story, you can use one of these prompts or come up with your own:
1. The last time I felt…
2. Once there was an (animal or object like an alligator, fairy, egg, etc.) that felt…
3. When I feel ……., I like to……..
Now that you’ve written your first sentence, keep going! Try to write between 3 and 7 sentences.
Next, read over your story and….
1. Draw a circle around 1 or 2 Nouns (people, places, or things) like cat, cereal, Peter, and bicycle.
2. Draw a box around 1 or 2 Verbs (action words) like run, walk, and talk.
3. Draw an Underline under 1 or 2 adjectives or adverbs (words that describe your nouns and verbs) like green, happily, and fast.
Try to choose at least 1 word per sentence. Depending on how long your story is, you can select more or fewer words.
Now, erase the words you’ve picked out in each sentence, being careful not to erase your box, circle, or underline. If you do, no biggie! You can just redraw it.
Important:
When erasing a verb, be sure to leave the ending if it ends in -ing or -ed
When erasing a plural noun, be sure to leave the -s or -es.
Now for the extra fun part!
Pair up with a partner.
Ask your partner to provide the missing words on your paper. Remember:
Circles = nouns (people, places and things)
Boxes = verbs (action words like run and swim)
Underlines = adjectives and adverbs (words that describe nouns and verbs, like green, curly, and quickly)
And now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for! It’s time to read your story aloud.
After you’ve gotten in a thorough laugh, switch places with your partner and start the fun all over again.
How did it feel to share your story with someone else? How did it feel to hear your story with new words? Did it change the way you feel?
I hope this activity brought some lightness and laughter to your day!
Want to share your Mad Libs in our gallery for others to try? We’d love that.
