CURIOSITY LAB 1
Who am I?
In this workshop, we’ll get to know each other, and ourselves, a little more closely.
Game: Let’s get to know each other!
Welcome!
Let’s start with a get-to-know-you game. Choose one based on the amount of time you have and the size of your group.
- Two truths and a lie: Each person shares their name, and tells three things about themselves. Two of them are true; one is a lie. Everyone else guesses which statement is the lie.
- Alliterative name game: Each person thinks of something that they like that starts with the same letter/sound as their first name. Taking turns, each person repeats back the previous participants’ answers, and adds on their own answers.
- Ball name game: On a beach ball, write some fun get-to-know-you prompts with a permanent marker. Here are some examples: Something that makes me laugh; a book I like, my favorite animal; my favorite season; a pet peeve; a favorite food; a song you like to listen to; a knock-knock joke you know. Throw the ball to each other randomly. The person who catches it shares their name and answers the question closest to their left thumb.
Modify the activities as needed for various ages and group sizes.
Before you move on:
Throughout the workshops, you’ll encounter some of our creators sharing personal experiences, information, and ideas. We wish we could meet you in real life, but we’d like to introduce ourselves now!
Think + Learn:
Group Agreements
In these workshops, we’re getting curious about ourselves and our world. It takes a lot of bravery to share who we are with each other, to talk about our feelings, to admit when we don’t know something or made a mistake. It can even take bravery to ask questions.
Let’s do our best to respect each other’s bravery, identities, and experiences.
Click through the slideshow to read guidelines to help us do that, or click here to watch a video that explains our group agreements.
Read the poem“Weird” by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
We love this whole book, but for this activity, read the poem “Weird” from Just Like Me by Vanessa Brantley-Newton.
Activity: Write your own “Weird” poem
Create your own poem based on “Weird” by Vanessa Brantley-Newton using our printable template, and draw a picture to go with it. Share your poems with each other if you like!
Activity: What are your character traits?
Read through this slideshow that explains character traits, and pick some that describe you. Then fill out the “What makes me ‘me’” sheet.
Take some time to share, listen, and get to know each other.
Why this?
Click here for the printable pdf of these pages.
Game: Balloon Fun
Let’s get moving!
Pick one of these variations of balloon games to play. These games are just for fun; kids can keep playing after they let the balloon drop.
- Each player has one balloon. Their job is to keep a balloon in the air for a full minute. You can add challenges, such as only use one hand, or only use the head.
- Give the group several balloons. Their job is to keep ALL of the balloons up in the air collectively. Add more balloons to make it more challenging.
Read: This Is How We Do It by Matt LaMothe
In this book, we will meet a bunch of kids who live in different places in the world. We’re going to get to see a little bit of how they live. Read about half of the book together, then move on to the next activity (you can come back to this book later if you like!).
Click through the slideshow to see alternate book options for this activity.
Think + Learn:
Mirrors, windows, and doors with Rudine Sims Bishop
Read and click through this slideshow for an introduction to using Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s concepts of windows, mirrors, and doors to relate to each other’s feelings and experiences.
Chat: Do you see a mirror, a window, or a door?
Choose some of the pictures in the slideshow to discuss and share whether the experience or feeling in the picture is a window, mirror, or door for you. Make sure everyone has a chance to share some of their experiences!
If you like, go back to This Is How We Do It by Matt LaMothe. Read and discuss a few more pages, using the windows, mirrors, and doors language to relate to various content in the book.
Read: Going Down Home with Daddy by Kelly Starling Lyons + illustrated by Daniel Minter
- Read Going Down Home with Daddy by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Daniel Minter.
- Pause a few times along the way and ask whether some of the moments in the story are windows, mirrors, or doors for you. You can use the following as an example.
Make: “We’re a mighty family!” sculpture
At the end of the book you just read:
“Daddy booms, ‘We’re a mighty family!’
‘Mighty!’ we roar back.”
Why do you think he used the word “mighty?”
Now, decide on a word that describes your family. If it’s hard to agree on just one, that’s okay – you can pick two.
This activity is based on resources from the Indigo Arts Alliance at www.beautifulblackbird.com
Next, work together to create a family sculpture, or assemblage. Each person should look around the house for two or three things that either represent the word or words you picked to describe your family or represent the family member’s identity.
Clear off a flat surface like your coffee table, kitchen table, or a space on the floor. Then work together to arrange the objects you gathered into a sculpture (also known as an assemblage). Play around with different arrangements until you get to one you like. Then record what you created on our printable here!
Or, have each family member create something that represents their family or their place within their family with play dough or play clay. Combine all of the individual elements to make one family sculpture.
This activity is based on resources from the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Boston – see www.mca.org.