www.ToyQueen.com interviews Rory Story Cubes game inventor at Toy Fair 2011

Video Transcription:

Keri: Hi, this is Keri Wilmot from ToyQueen.com. We’re here at the
Gamewright booth for Toy Fair 2011, and last year we were here and we took
some video of Rory’s Story Cubes and its original debut. But now, this year
we’re bringing you something new because we have the inventor of Rory’s
Story Cubes with us. So, hi, Rory.

Rory: Hi.

Keri: Nice to meet you.

Rory: You too.

Keri: So, why don’t you tell us a little bit about your story behind your
story and about Rory’s Story Cubes.

Rory: Okay. Well, Rory’s Story Cubes is a very simple story telling game.
It’s got 9 cubes with 54 images. Every time you roll it, you get
one of over 10 million possible combinations, and the goal is as
simple and as hard as you have to tell a story that starts with
“Once upon a time,” and you somehow link together all nine face-
up images on the cubes. So there’s no wrong answer. It’s played
by children, grandparents. They spend quality time together.
They bring it when they’re traveling.

Keri: Right.

Rory: The reason why we created the game is that, for us, it’s very
important to promote creativity and creative thinking, and
that’s all about being able to make connections. So the story
cubes, the way it works is that we can’t help but, when we look
at one of these images, find some meaning in it. So when you
say, “There’s a story in there,” our brain wants to solve it and
figure out what that story is. So it’s a very simple game. It’s
nonthreatening, and again you can play it in 60 seconds on your
own, or we hear of families spending 2 hours together. They put
away their electronic devices, and they share stories together.
They learn about each other, because the story you tell will be
different from the story that I tell.

Keri: Absolutely

Rory: So the children will talk about what they’re interested in or what’s
going on in their life, and the grandparents will tell, you
know, they might reminisce or tell topics that are of interest
to them.

Keri: I’ve had a lot of great success using the game over the last year,
because I work with children on their handwriting. So I’ve been
able to use your concept, and we’ve been recording the stories.
It’s been so exciting for me to see the kids kind of create the
story, and they write it down, and then they actually have
something to keep with them to remember.

Rory: Yes.

Keri: And we’ve drawn pictures to go along with it. It’s really been a
wonderful tool for children’s development.

Rory: You might like to hear then how we got to that point, because
originally Rory’s Story Cubes was developed as a creative
thinking and a creative problem solving tool for the likes of
organizational trainers, coaches, and that’s our background is ,
in creative thinking and problem solving.

Keri: Yeah.

Rory: One day my colleague’s daughter came home and said, “I use these in
school. I have to practice my handwriting, but it’s so boring
having to write that out.” So she used the story cubes to come
up with a story. She brought it in and showed it to her teacher.
Her teacher said, “Oh my god, this is brilliant!” She came back
and told us, and we thought, “There’s something going on here
that we haven’t really been paying attention to.”

Keri: Right.

Rory: And the more we showed it to teachers and the more feedback we were
getting from them, we realized that this was a tool that they
were crying out for, because on one side it’s like a [inaudible
2:53] in a pocket. She can always create a lesson with it.
Others were saying it frees them up to use their creativity, as
well, in the classroom. And again, it helps the children,
because I don’t know if you’ve ever had a blank page syndrome.

Keri: Absolutely.

Rory: Yeah. So, with this, these act as like stepping stones to create
stones.

Keri: Exactly, and I think that’s what a lot of children need. You have
that moment of, “Oh my gosh, I don’t know what I’m going to
say.” But the pictures help them to kind of organize their
thoughts.

Rory: Yes. Our view and our experience is that we are inherently creative.
As human beings we solve problems all the time, and we need
creativity to do that. And sometimes we forget, or you might say
we get a bit flabby. We don’t practice it. And so, just like you
wouldn’t get up and run a race if you hadn’t been exercising,
it’s the same with this. We are creative, but we might have not
been exercising our mind in that area. So the way story cubes
work is that they allow you to exercise your mind, and, we say,
within two or three goes, that spark will have kicked in again
and you have that confidence. If you tell a story, so you roll
the cubes and you make up a story starting with, “Once upon a
time,” and that links them together, we do it with children and
adults where they tell one story, then roll them again and tell
another story. We’d say, “Do you reckon if I rolled it again,
you’d come up with a story?” And they say yes, and you go, “Oh,
that’s interesting, because there’s over 10 million combinations
in here. So does that mean you’ve got 10 million stories inside
you?” You just see this kind of penny drop. They go, “Oh, right,
yeah.” So for us it’s about realizing that it’s not about
getting the one thing right or perfect, but it’s about being
willing to take a risk, and try and experiment and pick out the
best bits. That’s what great writers do.

Keri: Right. Well thank you so much for being with us here today, and it
was great to meet you. This is Keri Wilmot from ToyQueen.com
showing you practical ways to play every day.

Keri talks with Carla, the designer of the Wubbanub. The Wubbanub was designed initially as a soft cuddly attachment for the Soothie pacifier. The Soothie pacifier is very commonly distributed to parents for their infants throughout well baby nurseries, special care nurseries and the NICU. Wubbanubs come in a variety of different animals including a duck, giraffe, lamb, red dog, cow, monkey, bear, frog, pony, and kittens. There are beans designed into the limbs of the animals to help provide a calming effect for deep pressure while it rests on the infants chest. The animals are soft and also allow for fine motor development and hand eye coordination. While the child is riding in their carseat, the limbs of the Wubbanub can also be placed underneath the straps to keep the pacifier in place. Go to www.wubbanub.com to find a list of local retailers.

Inventor of Ant-O Sphere speaks with ToyQueen at Toy Fair 2010 in New York City

Tisha from International Playthings demonstrates toys from the Ecotronic Brand. Kids love toys with electronic features, but batteries contribute a ton of toxic waste into the environment so Ecotronic brand includes the lights and sounds without batteries! It uses the power of kids play to power the toys. The monkey flashlight is activated by squeezing the handle and this powers the rechargeable battery inside. The monkey’s nose will then light up and it’s an LED flashlight. Perfect to put in a handbag, works on hand strengthening and is great for Halloween, camping and to place in a child’s bedroom.

The Rocketship is activated by cranking the handle. To power it up you hit the button and it’s a NASA recording of a space shuttle lifting off. It has long lasting LED lights.

The EcoRadio is easy to charge up. It’s an FM radio but it also comes with adaptors for cell phone charging! It’s entertaining at sports games, the beach or picnics! It’s good for safety and great for on the road when you need to charge your phone!