In this visit, youth ambassadors create a short story of an adventure with their adult participant. Stories are created by discussing prompted questions and recording the answers. This a wonderful way to connect, be present, spark joy, and learn a lot about your partner!
These are some guidelines for Sharing Stories. The most important thing to stay connected and be present. Be flexible, see where the conversation takes you: anything you do will add so much joy to your partner’s day!!
Step 1: Warm up and welcome.
Introduce yourself to your adult partner. Ask your partner a few questions about themselves, and tell them a bit about yourself. Tell your partner him/her what you are going to do together today.
- Speak CLEARLY and SLOWLY (but not too slowly that your adult loses interest!)
- For example, say: “Hi! I am Isabella. I am so happy to meet you! Today we are going to create an Adventure Story together!
Step 2: Create a story about an adventure that you and your partner go on.
Story will be short, simple, and easy to understand. There are 4 questions to ask your partner, and come up with answers together. Record your answers.
1. Where are you going?
- Sample answer: My partner Rosette and I are going to Florida, to the beach, because we both love the beach.
2. Who did you bring with you?
- Sample answer: Rosetta brought her dog Charlie. I brought my little sister.
3. What did you bring with you?
- Sample answer: I brought a Frisbee, Rosetta brought a camera because she was a photographer.
4. What is the hook of the story?
- Sample answer: We were having a great time. A gust of wind blew the Frisbee into the water. But the dog jumped into water and saved the Frisbee, and we enjoyed the rest of the day.
Step 3: Take these answers, and combine them into 5 or 6 sentences to build the story.
You can add some little enhancements and extra detail if you’d like! Here is an example Adventure story put together from the questions above:
My partner Rosetta and I went to the Florida, and spent the day on the beach. Rosetta brought along her dog Charlie, because Charlie also loves the beach, and I brought along my little sister. I also brought a frisbee, and Rosetta brought a camera, because she was once a photographer. We had a lot of fun on beach, taking photographs of the seagulls and played with my frisbee. Suddenly a gust of wind came and blew the frisbee into the water. Luckily Rosetta’s dog Charlie jumped in and saved the frisbee, and we were all inspired and jumped into the water in our clothes, and had a wonderful day!
- Read this story to your partner out loud a few times, and talk about it!
Step 4: Saying goodbye
At the end of the session, tell your partner what a lovely time you had speaking with them, you wish them well, and that you would like to connect again soon.