Remembering Story Prompts Kit

Here is the first in a series of story prompt jar gifts. The idea is a set of questions in a jar that you can pull out to help you remember and record someone in your life who has died. I printed it on chipboard but they could be printed on cardstock. There is a different color on each end of the question so that once you have answered it you can turn it over in the jar and keep track of which questions you haven’t answered yet. The questions are intended you spark your memory and lead you to other thoughts and memories. Let your them flow and see where they take you.

printed Remembering Story Prompts kit

Story Prompts back

The first sheet in the file is the back of the story prompt. This sheet is optional but it helps in keeping track of which set of story prompts the question comes from and adds more color to the jar. I start by printing two copies of the first page (full bleed if your printer has that option) and then feed these pages back into the printer to print the question pages. (You should refer to your printer manual to know the right way to feed these into your printer.)

Story Prompt Questions

Story Prompt Questions

The next two sheets are the questions. After printing these pages need to be cut apart by cutting the sheet in half (the long way) at 5.5″ and then every 1 1/16″ to finish cutting the questions apart. I also like to use a corner rounder on each question but that is optional. But it looks nice and will help the questions not get so dog-eared with use.

Story Prompt Packaging and Journal Cover

The last page has an insert for the canning jar lid (wide mouth quart or pint and a half work great) and a set of tags to tie on to the jar with simple instructions. There is a journal cover so that you can also give them a place to record the memories for sharing and future reference. Cut another piece of chipboard or heavy cardstock for the back along with some blank or lined paper for the inside. Then bind them together by your chosen method. I’m lucky enough to have a wire binding machine but you can get the journal bound at your local copy center. This sheet isn’t strictly necessary but it helps pull the gift together into a nice package.

I am putting the jar and journal in a gift bag along with some treats to munch on while answering the questions to help get them started on recording their memories of a loved one.

Feel free to use these files for personal use and gifts. You can download pdfs here.

Questions come from those at StoryCorps.org.