Nine unicorn story cards, ready for a little adventure

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Nine illustrated WHO / WHERE / WHAT cards. All sheets have a matching A4 and Letter PDF. No account or email needed.

Nine illustrated WHO / WHERE / WHAT cards

A4 PDF ↓Letter PDF ↓SVG ↓

Print the matching paper size at 100%. Adults can adapt the activity and help with cutting. Use permissions.

Print one sheet, make three small piles

The set contains three WHO cards, three WHERE cards and three WHAT cards. An adult can cut the nine rectangles. Keep each category in its own pile, face up for a first game. You need only the cards and a table; pencil and paper are optional if you want to record a favorite scene.

The pictures and short captions work together. The WHO choices are a careful unicorn, a curious visitor and a maker of maps. Places are the garden gate, a little bridge and a cloud workshop. Problems are an unaddressed letter, a silent bell and a map with a missing path.

A first round that does not get stuck

1. Choose a character. Ask what that character wants. “Deliver something” or “find a way home” is enough.
2. Choose a place. Put the character there in one sentence.
3. Choose a problem. Explain what makes the task difficult. Treat the card as an invitation, not a rule you must force into a sentence.
4. Make one attempt. Let the character try a useful action: ask, notice, make, repair or share.
5. Finish. Show what changed. It can be a small change rather than a grand rescue.

Worked example: the maker at the bridge

Cards: maker of maps + little bridge + map with a missing path. Beginning: “The maker reached the bridge, but the path on the map stopped in the middle.” Attempt: “They asked a visitor to describe the far bank, then drew the missing turn.” Ending: “The friends crossed together and left a clear sign for the next traveler.”

The solution follows from something the character does. A new magical power does not need to appear just to end the story. If the problem feels too large, make the task smaller: finding a sign is easier to stage than saving an entire kingdom.

Three ways to play

• Tell it together: each person may add one sentence or pass. After one circuit, an adult invites an ending.
• Draw it quietly: everyone chooses the same three cards and makes a single picture. Compare the different interpretations without ranking them.
• Act it with paper: use the flat puppet for the character and draw the place as scenery. A narrator can speak while someone else moves the figure.

With a larger group, give each pair a chosen combination or print another set. The aim is to spend time making a scene, not to wait through a long queue. Nobody needs to disclose a personal memory or a real child’s name to contribute.

Change one card, keep the rest

After finishing a story, swap only the WHERE card. What has to change about the solution? A bridge crossing may become a problem about a letter blowing away in the clouds. This helps you see what the setting contributes.

If you want a visual route rather than a sequence of sentences, move to the story-map sheet. It has room for a home, a friend, an obstacle and a helpful place, with a key you invent yourself.