We may find that doing specific tasks with one hand may be a very challenging experience. Many times individuals enjoy completing tasks on their own and feel they don’t need assistance. There could be situations where someone may legitimately need assistance but do not know how to communicate and ask someone for it. In this activity, family members practice teamwork and try to complete a task, each person with hand placed behind their back. They must communicate effectively and work together to complete the task.

Thinking about the characteristics of our family members can provide great entertainment when sharing stories about one another. Some family members may be known to do a particular action or may be predictable in certain situations. In this activity, participants will choose random scenarios or questions to share with their family. For example, “Who would lose track of the group at a theme park because they are distracted at the gift shop?” After hearing the scenario/question, family members will make their vote on which one of them would most likely be in that situation.

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.

Emoticons or emojis are great ways to show how we are feeling when we send messages. These emojis many times can reflect actual human facial expressions if we try to imitate them. Which facial expressions do you use when you are confused, really excited, annoyed, or unsure of something? Facial expressions are also a form of non-verbal communication if you know how to read them. Can your family members guess which emoji you’re imitating?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to switch roles with your family members? Children become the parents/guardians or the other way around? What is mom like when you’re trying to communicate with her but she is on a screen device? What if the child didn’t complete tasks after being asked multiple times by an adult because they were glued to their technology? This activity is an interactive way to see what is like to be in the shoes of someone else.