Community Connection ~ May 18, 2025: Pass the Paper Stories

Community Connection, May 18: Pass the Paper Stories 

Today’s activity is simple and fun! It’s extra fun if you have young people in your home, but never underestimate how important it is for adults to do imaginative, entertaining things too. In keeping with our ongoing theme of storytelling, we offer you “Pass the Paper” stories. 

All you need is a piece of paper and your family (or friends or book club etc…). Once you know what your story will be about, the first person will write the first sentence of it, then pass the paper to the next person, who will write the second sentence, and so on. If there are only two of you, pass the paper back and forth; if you have a larger group, you can cycle through everyone until the story is done! If you receive the paper and feel like everything that needs to be said has been said, just write “The End.” 

You might want to start with some known stories, like your favorite Bible stories, to give your group some practice with the format. It can be difficult to limit yourself to just one sentence, and it can be even more difficult to let go of your need to control how the story is told and limit your influence to just your sentences. But that’s part of the fun! Once you get good at collaborative storytelling, you can write some original stories - plan as much or as little as you want, and then see what happens when you pass the paper. 

If your group really enjoys this activity, you can repeat it as many times as you’d like - you can even add illustrations to your stories, and perhaps even create a book out of what you’ve written. But whether you play it 20 times or just once, have fun imagining, collaborating, and going with the flow. 

We’d love to read your Pass the Paper stories! You can share them with us in person or on Facebook or Instagram.