Activity Name: M&M’s and Strengths
Time Required: 10-15 minutes
Ages: 4 and up
Introduction: It’s not always easy to identify all the things you’ve done right in a day, but this activity provides a sweet incentive! Family members will use M&M’s or another flavored candy to talk about what they did right today.
What you need:
• 1 bag of M&M’s, Skittles, Starbursts, or another multi-colored family favorite
Instructions:
Pass around a bowl of candy and have each family member take a handful, but tell them not to eat it yet. Now assign each family member a color that matches one of the colors of the candy you’ve just passed around. For example: Mom is blue, Dad is green, Sara is yellow, etc. Have each individual count out the number of candies he/she has in that color. Explain that everyone is to make a list of the things they did right today – at least as many as they have candies in their color. Take turns
and have everyone share what they’ve done right today.
For example, Mom has 4 blue M&M’s, so she will share 4 things she did right today. Now it’s Dad’s turn. He has 6 green M&M’s, so he will share 6 things he did right today, etc. There may be family members that need coaching. Help them by pointing out things you’ve observed they did well during that day. When everyone has taken a turn, give permission for everyone to eat their candy.
Discuss:
- What was hard about this activity?
- Why is it sometimes difficult for us to think about things we’ve done right?
- Do you think it’s more important to focus on what you’ve done right or what you’ve done wrong?
- What would happen if every day before we went to bed we asked ourselves what we did right that day? Do you think we would do more of that thing?
- What would happen if we focused on each other’s strengths instead of our weaknesses?