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Create a Choose Path!

Create a Choose Path!
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Design and build a paper based choose your path adventure with branching routes, test outcomes with friends, and practice storytelling and logical thinking.

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Step-by-step guide to Create a Choose Path!

What you need
Colouring materials, eraser, paper, pencil, ruler, scissors, sticky notes or index cards, tape or stapler

Step 1

Pick a brave main character and decide one big problem they must solve.

Step 2

Write a short, exciting opening sentence on a page or card to start the adventure.

Step 3

Create two clear choices your reader can make at the end of the opening and write them down.

Step 4

Draw a simple branching map on scrap paper showing the opening and the two choices as separate paths.

Step 5

Write a short scene for each branch on its own page or index card so each choice leads somewhere new.

Step 6

Add two choices to the end of every scene and make each choice point to a labeled page or card.

Step 7

Number or label every page or card so readers can follow choice directions like "go to page 4."

Step 8

Draw pictures and color each page or card to make the story come alive.

Step 9

Arrange your pages or cards so you can quickly find the numbered page a choice tells you to go to.

Step 10

Ask a friend to play your adventure by making choices and following the pages.

Step 11

Change any confusing choices or scenes to make the story more fun and clear.

Step 12

Share your finished choose-your-path adventure on DIY.org

Final steps

You're almost there! Complete all the steps, bring your creation to life, post it, and conquer the challenge!

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Help!?

If I don't have index cards or colored pencils, what can I use instead?

Use folded printer paper or sticky notes as your pages or cards and crayons, markers, or colored pens to draw and color each page as instructed in 'Draw pictures and color each page or card.'

My reader gets lost and can't find the right page—how can I fix that?

Follow 'Number or label every page or card' and 'Arrange your pages so you can quickly find the numbered page' by writing bold numbers on the corners, keeping the stack in order with a binder clip or rubber band, and checking your branching map so every choice points to the correct labeled page.

How do I adapt the activity for a 5-year-old versus a 10-year-old?

For a 5-year-old use picture-led cards, very short scenes, and only two clear choices per scene labeled with large numbers, while for a 10-year-old write longer scenes, add more branches and labeled pages, and include small puzzles or consequences in each scene.

How can we make the adventure more replayable or shareable?

Make the cards durable by laminating or putting them on a ring so you can rearrange branches, add stickers or simple props that change outcomes, ask a friend to play as in the instructions, and then upload the finished choose-your-path to DIY.org.

Watch videos on how to Create a Choose Path!

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Choose Your Own Adventure - Writing

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Facts about interactive storytelling and paper prototyping

🕹️ Colossal Cave Adventure (1976) is often called the first interactive fiction game and inspired many branching digital stories.

🌳 Give a reader 2 choices at each step and after 10 steps you'll have 2^10 = 1,024 possible paths — branching grows exponentially!

🕰️ The Cave of Time (1979) is one of the earliest and most famous gamebooks that helped launch the Choose Your Own Adventure line.

📚 The Choose Your Own Adventure book series has sold over 250 million copies worldwide and been translated into dozens of languages.

📄 You can fold and cut a single sheet of paper to make an 8-page mini-book — a perfect tiny format for pocket adventures.

How do I make a paper choose-your-path adventure?

To make a paper choose-your-path adventure, sketch a simple story map with decision points and endings. Fold a booklet or use numbered index cards, write a short scene on each page, and give 2–3 clear choices that point to other page numbers or cards. Add illustrations, label branches clearly, then playtest by following different routes. Revise awkward spots and balance outcomes after testing with friends.

What materials do I need to build a paper branching adventure?

You’ll need plain paper or cardstock, pencils and erasers, colored markers or crayons, scissors, glue or tape, a ruler, and sticky notes or index cards for temporary branches. Use a stapler or binder clips to assemble the booklet. Optional extras: stickers, envelopes, hole punch and string, or a laminator for durability. Supervise child-safe scissors and protect the work surface with scrap paper.

What ages is a paper choose-your-path activity suitable for?

This activity fits ages 5–12+ and can be adapted by complexity. Ages 5–7 enjoy simple two-choice stories with adult help for cutting and writing. Ages 8–11 can design multi-branch plots, map routes, and write fuller scenes. Ages 12 and up can create complex branching logic, track variables like items or points, or digitize their story. Adjust support and safety based on age and skill.

What are the benefits and variations of making choose-your-path adventures?

Creating choose-your-path stories builds storytelling, sequencing, decision-making, reading comprehension, and logical thinking. It also encourages collaboration and empathy when children test outcomes with friends. Variations include cooperative group stories, board-game-style routes, map-based adventures, or digitizing the story with slides or simple tools like Twine. For safety, avoid small loose parts for young children and supervise cutting and lamination.
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Create a Choose Path. Activities for Kids.