Bitesize resources
Getting started
One of the most important things you can do as a parent/carer is have open dialogue with your young person. Just a chat can help relieve worries, stresses and concerns about the ending of primary years and starting high school. Of course conversation is important in any relationship and at any point so it doesn’t have to be left until the last year of primary.
Sometimes it can be difficult to know where to start so here are some simple ideas to get you and your family talking plus some ideas for larger groups. It’s amazing just how talking can change so many things for the entire family and it really doesn’t have to be a chore. The idea around this is to become comfortable talking. If we can talk about the daft stuff then it can make it easier to talk about the hard stuff.
One thing that should be agreed on is that technology gets put to one side when doing any of these discussion games. In order for these to work you need to give your full attention to each other so no phones, no tablets and no tv.
1. Three Things About Me
This should be a fun and informative game. Give each other a piece of paper, or 3 pieces each. Each person has to write down three things that they think others might not know about them. Eg: I’m scared of the dark; I love eating pickles when everyone is out. It can be as wacky or weird as you want but I guarantee this will get the conversation going. It’s a good way to find out about others, it might even surprise you what you learn.
2. Compliments Dice
This is just a simple but fun game to think of and say nice things about those we spend most of our time with. Sometimes we don’t give each other compliments and actually it can be a real mood lifter to hear nice things said about us.
The first person rolls the dice and whatever number it lands on that person has to say that number of compliments to the person sitting next to them. You carry on around the group. It can be quite a challenge when you roll a 5 or a 6 but it’s a fun and nice way to hear positive things said about you.
3. Question Ideas
Here is a list of questions that you can easily use to get conversation going or maybe you can use your own. There are lots of examples of these online and you can use these at any time.
- Is there anything you did today that made you proud?
- What one difficult thing happened today and how did you handle it?
- Did anything happen that really made you laugh?
- Can you tell me something you learned today?
- Who was nicest to you?
- What kind of mood were you in today?
- Did anything really annoy you? What did you do about it, if anything?
- What was your favourite subject/topic today?
- Did anyone help you today, if so who and what did they do?
- Did you help anyone today, what did you do?
4. Would You Rather
‘Would you rather’ type of questions are also widely available online or again you could write your own, but here’s a list of examples.
- Would you rather be a dog or a cat?
- Would you rather have a pet unicorn or a pet dragon?
- Would you rather become a ghost or a vampire?
- Would you rather only eat pizza or burgers for the rest of your life?
- Would you rather be a great writer or a great dancer?
- Would you rather be 10 cm tall or 10 ft tall?
- Would you rather live without social media or live without a phone?
- Would you rather never age or never have to worry about money?
- Would you rather bungee jump or jump out of a plane?
- Would you rather go back in time or go into the future?
5. Conversation Starters
These are a great way of sharing memories past and present and also sharing about the future. It’s amazing what you can learn from these types of questions.
- What’s your first memory?
- What do you think adults need to remember about being a young person?
- What scares you and why?
- What is your favourite family tradition?
- What do you do when you are feeling angry?
- Where in the world would you most like to go & why?
- What are you most proud of?
- What would you do if you could fly for a day?
- What would be the best birthday celebration you could have?
- Who is the funniest person you know & why?
6. Question Pot
Get a bowl or jar and fill it with questions on bits of paper. You could do this at home or even as a class. Sensible questions only but they can be anything. Once a week you can have a question session round the dinner table or with a small group of young people. It might seem quite random but it does promote good conversation.
If you are stuck for questions to ask you can always google and you’ll find lots of examples.
7. Word Association Game
This is a simple game that doesn’t need any resources. Easy to do round the dinner table or even on a journey. Eg; the first to go might say ‘tiger’ so the next person has to say a word related to tiger – it could be cat or stripes or wild but it must be related and so on to the next person. It can be fun to see where you end up to where you started.
8. Five Minute Disco
This really needs no explanation. It’s a good way to let off some energy and if you can do this in front of everyone and let your inhibitions go you are more likely to be able to talk and share in front of everyone. If you have a disco ball, even better!
9. Person Most Likely to
This is a popular one for yearbooks but it can also be used as a discussion starter. Below are some examples but of course you could write up your own too.
- Most likely to forget someone’s birthday
- Most likely to have the highest screen time
- Most likely to move abroad
- Most likely to become an influencer
- Most likely to take a week to reply to a text
- Most likely to prank someone
- Most likely to give the best advice
- Most likely to be late for work
- Most likely to get a terrible tattoo
- Most likely to cut their own hair (and think it looks good)
- Most likely to laugh in a serious moment
- Most likely to win a hot dog eating contact
10. All About Me
This is a fun worksheet which you can get everyone to fill in. It’s a good way to start a session or a fun resource to do with family on a rainy day.
11. Interview Your Parents/Carers
Sometimes we get to know the people we live with really well but there are some things we maybe don’t know. You could pretend to be a presenter or newscaster and interview those you live with. Here are some example questions:
- What is your full name?
- Where were you born?
- Where did you grow up?
- What’s your earliest memory?
- What was your favourite toy as a child?
- What’s your favourite song from your teenage years?
- How did you spend your holidays when you were younger?
- What’s the most embarrassing thing that happened to you at high school?
- What advice would you give your younger self?
- What are you most proud of?
12. Clapping Game (for groups/class)
This is a simple game that can easily be used as a brain break especially if the group is getting a bit wriggly. The leader has to create a clapping pattern. Everyone else has to listen and repeat it back to the leader.
13. Self Care
Self care is an important part of working with young people. This simple resource can be used with 1:1 or in a small group. Cut out the words and get your young people to put the words in two columns: Good Self Care and Not So Good Self Care.
This will promote discussion about the things that we do that are healthy for us and not healthy and you may even see them develop a middle column too.
14. Mindful Walk
A mindful walk is a great way to get outside and clear the cobwebs whilst walking as mindfully as you can. It’s not so much about the destination but about being outside in nature and enjoying the here and now.
Walk a little slower than normal.
Be aware of how your body feels – each footstep from heel to toe – how do your muscles feel?
What about your senses? What can you hear, smell, see and feel?
Be aware of your breathing.
Keep walking until you feel ready to come to a stop.
How do you feel?
15. Breathing Board
These breathing boards are good for anyone to use and you could also get young people to design their own. If you are feeling a little stressed or have a disregulated child then use one of these to focus on breathing. Hopefully this will help to bring about calm again. It’s a good tool to be able to use for everyone and there are plenty of breathing exercises available online.