Make Your Own Muddled Madlib

My husband and I love to play games together; we both came from game-playing families.

When we get together with my husband's family, one of their favorite go-to activities is Madlibs.  They usually pull out the games just before or after dinner, while everyone is gathered together.

Madlibs make a great activity because they are easy, portable, and fun for any age.  They also provide a great opportunity to have a little grammar lesson too!

For those who don't know, Madlibs are silly little stories with blanks that the reader has to fill-in. For instance, one Madlib sentence might look like: 

"The other day, Sally walked    (adverb)    to school with her favorite      (noun)     ."

So, in this sentence, your job would be to think of one adverb (like lazily) and one noun (like trumpet).  Sometimes the sentences end up a little awkward, but most times they are hilarious because your story will take on very unexpected twists and turns.

The more creative you are with filling in the blanks, the more wacky and crazy your story will be! 

You can buy inexpensive Madlib booklets at the store (in the puzzle book section).  If you write the filler words in pencil or on a separate sheet of paper, you can even reuse the same Madlib booklet over and over - and create a new story every time!

Madlibs can be done individually or in a group.  If they are done as a group, each person takes a turn filling in a blank so that everyone has a chance to contribute.  We always brainstorm and write in all the missing words first and then someone reads the story out loud for everyone to enjoy.

*We also had the idea of creating our own Madlibs out of some of the children's stories that we already have.

{free activity + fun for the kids = happy mommy & daddy!} 

We chose stories that we've read over and over before.  Even our favorite bedtime stories can get a little dull sometimes so it was fun to mix it up a little. 

If you want to try creating your own Madlib simply choose a story you've read before and take out one word in each sentence.  To keep it simple you can remove only nouns or verbs.  If your kids are old enough, they can help you think of the replacement words, or you can make them up as you read along.

If you brainstorm the replacement words in advance, one suggestion is to write them on post-it notes and stick them to the pages rather than retyping the entire story.