Relational Resilience Booster: Engage Emotionally
Activity Name: News Reporter
Time Required: 20 minutes
Ages: 10 and up
Introduction: Engaging emotionally means putting down whatever you’re doing and taking the time to really connect with someone. In this activity, family members interview each other to try to learn something they don’t know.
What you need:
• 1 writing utensil per family member
• 1 list of questions per family member (See sample PDF for some possible questions)
Instructions:
Split family members into pairs. (If you have an odd number of family members, assign someone a group of three.)
Pick one person from each pair and tell them that they are news reporters, and you, their editor, just assigned them to do a feature story on a really important person – their partner. They’ll have to do an in-depth interview and learn something about the person that they didn’t know before. Give the reporters the list of questions and allow them 5-10 minutes to complete their interview. Let
them know that they don’t have to ask all the questions or even ask them in order but that the goal is to learn something new about the person they’re talking to.
After 5-10 minutes, ask for the highlights – what was the most interesting thing they learned about their celebrity family member? Now turn the tables and have the interviewee become the reporter. You might even mix up the pairs so everyone is talking to someone different.
Discuss:
• What did you like about this activity?
• What if, as a family, we were constantly this interested in each other’s lives? What would be the benefits of that?