Activity Name: Better Together
Time Required: 20 minutes
Introduction: Tapping into the power of people means that you access the knowledge and ideas of the people around you to be successful and resilient. In this activity, family members will be challenged to come up with ideas on their own and then afterwards as a team, demonstrating that more gets accomplished when we have help.
Ages: 8 and up
What you need:
- Timer
- 1 writing utensil
- 1 piece of paper
Instructions:
Have family members sit in a circle. Hand the piece of paper and writing utensil to one of the family members. Explain that the object of the activity is to work as a team to create the longest list of answers possible from the categories that you give them. They pass a piece of paper around the circle with each person adding one answer to the list. They may not have any duplicate answers. As the paper is passed around, they are not allowed to talk. If one person cannot think of an answer, they must write the word “skip” on the paper and then pass it to the next person.
They continue to pass the paper around the circle for 60 seconds. When time has expired, count up the total number of answers (skips do not count). Repeat a
couple of times using new categories and starting with different people.
Next, play a few rounds where family members are allowed to talk, brainstorm, and suggest answers to the player who has the piece of paper at the moment. Explain that the paper must still be passed from person to person, with each family member writing down an answer before it is passed on to the next person. The “skip” rule may still be used, but with the group helping, no one will likely have a need for it.
Extra challenge for older kids: Complete each list alphabetically starting with “A.”
Suggestions for categories:
• Farm animals
• Kitchen appliances
• Ice cream flavors
• Breakfast cereals
• Jobs
• Party supplies
• Items of clothing
• Girls names
• Boys names
Discussion:
- How much did we improve from the “non-talking” rounds to the “talking” rounds?
- How did being able to talk to each other help?
- How does working together make problems easier to solve?
- When you have a problem in life, will you be more successful solving it by yourself or by asking for help?
- Who are some people in your life that can help you when you’re in trouble or have a challenge?