Show Don't Tell

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Description, Sample Pages & Details

First of all, what is show don't tell? It's that general rule when it comes to stories: instead of telling your audience something, try showing them.

For example: Imagine a character in a story is a super lazy dog. Instead of telling your audience that the dog is super lazy, you can create a scene of the dog being super lazy. Maybe the dog presses a button to get its personal robot assistant to bring his food bowl closer to his bed so he doesn’t have to get up.

This is often more entertaining, more engaging.

How these cards work:

  • On each card, we describe a personality trait or quirk about a character (i.e., a dog is super lazy) and you come up with ideas for what the character can do that shows off this trait to the audience.
  • You can come up with something quite simple – something that would amount to a line or two in a book or a few seconds on a movie screen. Or you can think up a more elaborate scene. It’s up to you and your imagination.
  • Included are 88 cards, for which creative thinking, lateral thinking and creative problem-solving skills will be put to the test!

Learn more: You can view the content in the Show Don't Tell intro pages to learn more about this PDF.

Age range: Like most of our items, the content here is open-ended and so is accessible to a vast range of ages. We estimate the minimum age to be 8 or 9.

Sample pages:


Sample Show don't tell card featuring a scenario about a lion who has lost its love of life


(the above shows the printable version, while the below shows the version that's great for viewing on a device - details below)

Sample Show don't tell card featuring a scenario about indifferent royals
Sample Show don't tell card featuring a scenario about a zombie who has a weakness for chocolate

Sample Show don't tell card featuring a scenario about an annoying bus passenger
Sample Show don't tell card featuring a scenario about a curious robot

Sample Show don't tell card featuring a scenario about a couple afraid of the outdoors

Details

  • Our PDFs are not editable. You cannot alter the PDF you receive. 
  • All content is copyright Furious Think. You can obviously share with your class/children in a normal way, but no re-selling or redistributing the PDFs or the content!
  • With this PDF you get two versions:
    • A version created with one card/slide per 4" x 6" page that is easily viewed on a device
    • A version with eight cards per page, that you can print and cut into physical cards. These printable pages are created for standard letter size, 8.5" x 11". 
  • Size of file: single cards package - 93 pages, 555 KB |  printable package - 15 pages (8.5" x 11"), 857KB