youthspeakoutint.orgRemember That Time?
Having conversations with your family about your funniest, most embarrassing, or most memorable moments can provide great entertainment and stories to tell for years to come. What if you wanted to remind your family members of a funny experience but couldn’t use words to tell the story? Let’s see how well you can tell a story using only nonverbal communication.
Begin by choosing the appropriate grade level for the child or children in your family:
What You Will Need
- Creativity
- Family members
Activity
- Family members will brainstorm to come up with experiences they know everyone in the room will remember. Some family members may not recall the experience until you remind them during your round! Use experiences that your family may chuckle at or enjoy telling the actual story.
- Once everyone has an idea of what story they want to demonstrate, choose the order the participants.
- Using only nonverbal communication (not speaking, only movements and gestures), try your best to act out the experience. For example, you may act out the time your brother, Joey, bit into a spicy pepper, and someone had to rush and get him water!
- You may feel silly, but the more dramatic you are in your performance the more your family may remember the experience and guess correctly.
- Allow two to three minutes for family members to guess the experience before revealing the correct answer. This keeps the activity from taking too long.
- After each round, family members will discuss the experience, which will spark entertaining conversations.
Talk About It
Here are some things your family can talk about as you play this game:
- What are your favorite memories?
- Do you have a memory that makes you laugh now but did not seem funny then?
- Can you think of something that happened this year that might become a childhood memory?
What You Will Need
- Creativity
- Family members
Activity
- Family members will brainstorm to come up with experiences they know everyone in the room will remember. Some family members may not recall the experience until you remind them during your round! Use experiences that your family may chuckle at or enjoy telling the actual story.
- Once everyone has an idea of what story they want to demonstrate, choose the order the participants.
- Using only nonverbal communication (not speaking, only movements and gestures), try your best to act out the experience. For example, you may act out the time your brother, Joey, bit into a spicy pepper, and someone had to rush and get him water!
- You may feel silly, but the more dramatic you are in your performance the more your family may remember the experience and guess correctly.
- Allow two to three minutes for family members to guess the experience before revealing the correct answer. This keeps the activity from taking too long.
- After each round, family members will discuss the experience, which will spark entertaining conversations.
Talk About It
Here are some things your family can talk about as you play this game:
- Do you and a family member remember the same past experience differently?
- Do you think emotions change how you remember your experiences?
- Are shared experiences easier for you to remember, or do you have many memories of things you’ve done while alone?
What You Will Need
- Creativity
- Family members
Activity
- Family members will brainstorm to come up with experiences they know everyone in the room will remember. Some family members may not recall the experience until you remind them during your round! Use experiences that your family may chuckle at or enjoy telling the actual story.
- Once everyone has an idea of what story they want to demonstrate, choose the order the participants.
- Using only nonverbal communication (not speaking, only movements and gestures), try your best to act out the experience. For example, you may act out the time your brother, Joey, bit into a spicy pepper, and someone had to rush and get him water!
- You may feel silly, but the more dramatic you are in your performance the more your family may remember the experience and guess correctly.
- Allow two to three minutes for family members to guess the experience before revealing the correct answer. This keeps the activity from taking too long.
- After each round, family members will discuss the experience, which will spark entertaining conversations.
Talk About It
Here are some things your family can talk about as you play this game:
- How do your memories for past experiences differ from the way your family remembers the same experience? Do you remember different parts of the experience?
- How do your emotions influence your ability to remember an experience?
- Are pleasant or unpleasant experiences easiest to remember? Why do you think there might be a difference?
- How did this activity help you connect with your family?
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