Community - day 1 - my family

Mindfulness Activity:

Trivia question: How many people live in Calgary?

a) 1.3 million
b) 500 thousand
c) 5 million

Mindfulness Activity:

• Put your palms together at chest height.
• Push your hands against each other as hard as you can.
• Which muscle gets tired first?

Family Tree

Supplies:

• Green and white paper
• Scissors
• Paint or markers

Have each person in your home trace their hand onto a green piece of paper and write their name on it.

Have your child cut out a tree trunk and colour it in. Then cut out the hand prints and glue them to the trunk to make a family tree.

Who else is part of your family (aunties and uncles, grandparents, close friends)? Create hands for all the people who are important parts of your family and add them to your tree.

Spoon Puppets

Supplies:

• Plastic spoons (one for each member of your family)
• Permanent markers or paint
• Yarn
• Cardboard
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun

Have your child paint or colour each spoon a different colour for each member of your family.

Use cardboard to draw and cut out a typical outfit each person would wear. Glue it to the spoon with the spoon’s scoop facing away from you. Use yarn to create the hair and glue it in place.

You can add googly eyes to create the face or just use regular permanent marker.

Have your child make a play using your spoon puppet family.

Cat and Mouse

Supplies:

• Paper towel
• String
• Masking tape
• Large kitchen lid
• Two dice
• Tokens – use pennies or whatever you have around the house (5 tokens for each player)
• Two or more people

Make a mouse for each player: Roll a piece of paper towel up into a ball (about 1-2 inches long). Tie a 2-foot piece of string to the rolled up tissue.

Tape a circle on the floor (carpet works best). The circle should be bigger than the large kitchen lid.

Put all the mice in the circle and have each player hold the end of their mouse's string. Give each player 5 tokens.

One person holds "the cat" (kitchen lid) in one hand and two dice in the other hand. They roll the dice as many times as they can until they get two of the same number (make sure everyone can see). If the cat rolls two of the same number, they can slam down the lid into the circle to try and catch the mice.

The people with mice try to pull on the string so they don't get caught by the cat. If your mouse is caught, you must pay one token.

If you run out of tokens, you’re out of the game. Or the cat can give you a silly task to complete to earn a token back.

Review Questions:

Ask your child:

• How does it feel to think about all the people in your family? (Feel)
• Everyone has a special role in their family unit. What do you think your role is? (Think)
• What are some ways you can help out more in your family? (Act)

Mindfulness Trivia Answer

Answer: 1.3 million​​

Mindfulness Activity:

Trivia Question: People buy me to eat, but never eat me. What am I? Mindfulness Activity:

• Sit down so you’re comfortable.
• Take a moment to notice 1 thing you taste.
• Now notice 2 things you smell.
• Now, 3 things you feel (inside or outside your body).
• Now, 4 things you hear.
• Now, 5 things you see.

Create your own Family Book

Supplies:

• Paper
• String
• Hole punch
• Construction paper or cardboard
• Pencil/ Pen/ Colouring items

Being part of a family brings a lot of joyful and fun moments. Have your child create a notebook about your family.

• Divide a piece of white paper into 4 pieces of the same size. Stack them together.
• Cut two pieces of cardboard the same size as your pages. Put one piece on top of your pages and one on the bottom.
• Punch 2-3 holes on the left side and use the string to tie all sheets together.
• On each of the white sheets, write one of the statements below or create your own. Finish the statement.
  • My mother is special because…
  • My dad is amazing because…
  • My grandparents are special because….
  • My uncle is fun because…
  • My aunt is fun because…
  • What I love about living with my family is…
  • The best part of being a sibling is…

Puppet Show

Supplies:

• Brown paper bag
• Colouring items
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue

Have your child create a puppet show and perform it for your family.

• Think about a happy memory or moment you had with your family. Write a small play about the memory you have.
• Identify characters, the situation and speaking lines.
• Create puppets.
• Lay the paper bag on its smooth side. Keep the bottom flap facing up and point the opening toward you.
• Draw the face, making sure the mouth is half on the bottom flap and half on the main part of the paper bag. For the inside of the mouth, open the flap and draw the tongue below the crease.
• Fill in the body with clothing items.

Acts of Kindness

Your family is your main support system; they provide you with love, care and support. Have your child think of an act of kindness you can do for one or more members of your family. Here are some ideas:

• Organize and clean an area of the house.
• Ask for a family recipe and organize a family cooking day.
• Write a thank you letter to a member of your family to show appreciation for what they do for you.
• Make a craft or piece of art for your house or family member.
• Take pictures of your family during a fun and happy moment. If you have a printer you can make an album or collage.
• Suggest a solution for a family conflicts like sharing, respecting space or taking turns with the TV, a game or the computer.

Review Questions:

Ask your child:

• What do you love about your family? (Feel)
• What makes your family special? (Think)
• How can you show your love for your family today? (Act)

Mindfulness Trivia Answer

Answer: A plate.

Mindfulness Activity:

Trivia Question: How long would it take a plane to fly to the sun if it was going 855 kilometres per hour?

Mindfulness Activity:

• Sit so you’re comfortable.
• Close your eyes or keep them open.
• Notice how it feels when you say these sentences to yourself: I am safe. I have everything that I need. I am surrounded by people who love me.

Family Memory Book

Supplies:

• Paper
• Pencil
• String
• Hole punch
• Cardboard
• Markers/pencil crayons

Create a book about your favourite family moments. It could be holidays, birthdays, special occasions or things you enjoy doing with your family. Use blank paper for the pages, and thin cardboard (like a cereal box) for the cover.

Call a family member or connect with someone at home, and share your creation. Ask your family member what some of their favourite family moments are. Add new pages to your book for things your family members share that are also special to you.

Family Pictograph

Supplies:

• Pencil
• Paper
• Markers

A pictograph is a symbol or image that represents something else. For example, a red octagon means stop.

On a blank piece of paper, create a family pictograph with symbols or images that represent everyone in your family. Try to think of 3-5 symbols for each family member. Share your family pictograph and explain why you chose each symbol.

Photo taken by Calgary Neighbourhoods

Recreating Family Photos

Supplies:

• Two or three of your favourite pictures from when you were younger
• Camera or phone camera

Recreate the photo, either by yourself or with siblings, by posing just like in your photo. Add props or dress up, and try to capture a photo as close to the original as possible.

Share both photos with your relatives (e.g. grandparents, cousins, aunts or uncles). Ask your family members if they remember the moment you posed for.

Review Questions:

• What feelings did you have when you were sharing your family moments? (Feel)
• Why did you think family is so important? (Think)
• What are other family members you can reach out to for support? (Act)

Mindfulness Activity Answer

Answer: 19 years