My daughter is spending the summer in India with family, and Father’s Day was coming up. She’s 9, loves Bluey, devours Nancy Drew books, and has always been incredibly imaginative with stories.

Since our usual bedtime story routine was on pause, I thought: what if I built something that lets her create her own stories?

What I Built

An interactive story builder where kids answer questions and their responses get woven into complete stories. I included story types based on what she loves:

  • Bluey-style family adventures
  • Nancy Drew mysteries where she’s the detective
  • Friendship stories like Elephant & Piggie
  • Space adventures, doctor stories, magical quests

The technical part was creating branching logic - each answer influences the next question and the final story outcome. I used Claude to help with the development - from thinking through the story structure to coding the interactive elements.

Why I Made It Free

What started as a Father’s Day gift became something I realized other kids might enjoy. I decided to put it online for free - no ads, no data collection, no signup required.

Too many “educational” apps are either expensive or loaded with distractions. This is just straightforward creative fun.

Her Reaction

When she tried it and video-called to tell me about the Bluey story she created (where she made herself the main character in a family game gone wrong), that made the whole project worth it.

For Other Parents

The Story Builder is live and free to use at bluey-story-telling.netlify.app. Built because I missed bedtime stories, shared because other families might too.

No registration required, works on phones/tablets/computers. Just kids creating stories.