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> For Parents > For Instructors > Instructor Trainings > Curriculum |
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Icebreaker Archives GENERAL A great way to start a series of classes and help parents to feel comfortable speaking in a group setting is to have each parent tell why they chose their child's name. At the start of a class, have parents look at a mind puzzle (ex- picture that could be a young OR an old lady) and talk about how 2 people can see the same thing in very different ways. This lesson is important for kids, but also for parents to recognize that they need to take time to look at things through their child's eyes, too. First class Have the large group break up into smaller groups at a given time Facilitator rings a bell and announces "Smaller groups by favorite color. Smaller groups by number of siblings. Smaller groups by number of children." This is a fun way to get the group going. Allow people a minute or two to chat with their smaller groups each time. Feelings - Sing titles of songs and have people go to corners that best fit how they feel. Corner suggestions? Itsy bitsy spider, No body knows the trouble I’ve seen, If I had a hammer, Lean on me. The Unfolding Poem - Start with an opening statement? e.g. "When I read to my child"….Ask participant to think about how they would finish that statement. Pass a piece of paper around with the statement written on top. Ask participant to write their "finished thought" to the statement. Fold the paper accordion style and pass the paper on until everyone has added to the poem. When finished, the paper will be folded several times. The facilitator (or participant) unfolds the paper and reads the poem. Sharing Current Reading - One new thing you learned today. What new learnings are you noticing in your child? Funniest thing that has happened recently. Have a table with small toys and parents chose 1 toy as they come in. Share why they chose that toy. What trip would you take if you had unlimited time and unlimited money? Here are my hands (for pre-k) - Have the kids go around the room and say something they can do with their hands. Drawing a Pig - Give each person a piece of paper. Have them draw a pig, one part at a time. Don't give them any instruction (such as where to draw it on the paper, details etc) Just tell everyone that you'll be drawing a pig. Have them make a body, add legs and feet. Don't tell them how many. Add eyes, ears, snout, and tail. Then have each person share their pig. It is amazing different each person's pig is from the others. BOOK SPECIFIC Abiyoyo - Tell about a time when you felt like an outcast as a child, or tell about a time when your child felt left out.
Carrot Seed - Ask participants to talk about their work. Did they work hard that day? What is something they have to work hard for?
A Chair For My Mother - Send a jar of pennies around the circle. Have everyone take as many pennies as they would like (limit it depending on group size and time). Send the jar back around the circle and for each penny taken, each person shares a time when he/she came together with others to help someone with a difficulty. This includes events when an individual helped just one person, or when others came together to help a person or group through a difficult time. Of course, people are welcome to pass, or share what they would love to have help with - encourage something that may be less threatening if you know of particular circumstances in the person's life. A Chair For My Mother -
I like to start the class by going around and asking everyone to think of a favorite or special chair. If they can't think of one, they can think of a chair that they would like to have. Then I go around and have people describe their chair. They can tell us what it looks like and, and if they like, why it is or will be special to them. For example: "I have a special chair that is soft and red and just the right height for me. It is special because it is the first piece of "real" furniture that I bought by myself." A Chair For My Mother
Cut an arm chair out of butcher paper. Add a few lines to represent the arms and cushions. Tape it to the wall where all can see it. Give everyone a pink rose made of construction paper. Have each participant write something special (s)he would wish for on the rose. They may have more than one rose if they would like. Have a short discussion of what the desires are. After each one states what is written, have them tape it to the "Chair of Hopes and Dreams." If possible, leave the chair hanging as a reminder for future classes. A Chair For My Mother -
(an activity for parents to do with their children) Help parents make a bank, using a small box, an oatmeal container, or even a jar with a paper lid. Then have the child and parent decorate the bank together and take it home to start saving. Cherries and Cherry Pits - Life is just a bowl of Cherries! What does that mean?
Farmer Duck - Put puppets of cows, sheep, chickens and a duck on the chairs. When families sit down, the child has the puppet. Take turns saying what the animals say. I say what do cows say? All those with a cow say "moo." Farmer Duck - Have people choose a slip of paper with an animal noise on it. Upon signal have people walk around to find their group by making appropriate animal noises. It is fun, makes people laugh and loosen up!
Goodnight Moon - "What are your good-night rituals with your child? Do you always read or sing or tell stories before bedtime?" "What are some of your child's favorite bedtime books?" Grandfather’s Journey - Ask the class to bring an heirloom, photo album or picture that you received from a relative or that represents their family. Grandfather’s Journey - Make a little boat out of origami. "If you move from one place to another and sail across the sea, what would you take with you before you come back to me." Gregory the Terrible Eater - As an icebreaker, have parents make a list of their child's favorite foods, then share what each person came up with. This can lead into a discussion about the nutritional needs of growing children, and how to meet those needs and keep kids happy, too. After reading the book, have parents make their child baby food (using 'real food' ingredients) or a healthy snack mix (for older children) that they can take home for their children. Also remind them of some of the other ideas you came up with for how to make food nutritional and appealing to little tummies. Half Chicken - Tear a piece of paper in half. Ask the children (adults) what they do with it. They gave me all kinds of ideas. The group decided that ½ a paper is just as good as a whole one. It Looked Like Spilt Milk - Have each parent cut a free-form paper shape, then pass this shape to the person on their left. This person can describe what they think the piece looks like, and you can continue passing each piece around so that everyone comes up with a different description of the same shape.
Leo the Late Bloomer - Talk with your class about when they were children and they didn't think they were growing up fast enough. Maybe they couldn't ride a bike, swim, read, sew, or drive a car when others their age could. What about loosing teeth? Discuss these things, then ask how that made them feel.
Love You Forever - Ask your group, "have any of you created songs or lullabies for your children- or maybe YOUR parents sang special songs to YOU when you were a baby?" No? Then, "What about a special ritual or something you shared together, like a high-five, or a special kind of hug or kiss?"
Mama Do You Love Me? - Cut an 8-inch tall stylized "mother" figure from construction paper for each participant. Have class members choose one and write two or three characteristics of their mothers on it. Offer a few suggestions such as- kind, loving, harsh, aloof, stern, fun, involved, etc. Since not all mothers were the "ideal," it lets them know it is OK to say so. Discuss the positive and negative characteristics, and have the class members compare and contrast their mothers. How have our mothers influenced our own mothering? Discuss how they would like to be like their mothers and what they would like to do differently, then read the book.
Ming Lo Moves the Mountain - Hand out a picture of a mountain to each parent (this can be a photocopy of the front of the book), and have them write on one side of the mountain all of the obstacles that seem or at one time seemed insurmountable in raising their children. Then discuss the list that they came up with and help them decide which of these are real obstacles, and which ones don't have to be. If possible, have them use the second side of the mountain to write down ways they can overcome their obstacles.
The Relatives Came - Parents can almost always relate to this story, so a good way to start is to have each person write a quick 2 or 3 minute story about a time when they took a trip with their family when they were a child. Then share these stories before reading the book.
Quick as a Cricket - Give participants a post-it note with "I am…(describing themselves) and have them finish the statement by writing or drawing . Then have them find others in the class who share their interests.
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