Alternate Activity 1: Is That A Family?
Part of Families
Activity time: 20 minutes
Materials for Activity
- Handout 1, Is That a Family?
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
List of Potential Family Groups
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- An eighteen-year-old living alone
- One youth, two households: one with a mother, stepfather, and sister; and another with a father
- A foster child living with two children and a dad
- A woman and her two children living with her sister, who also has two children
- A boy living with his mother; his aunt living with his uncle and two girl children; a grandmother living in an assisted-living facility
- A mother, one child, and a live-in nanny
When the discussions are finished, gather everyone together and share reflections. Facilitate discussion about form, function, and purpose of a family. Record ideas on newsprint if you wish and save the newsprint for use in Session 7, Families Function: Families Work. If it seems appropriate, encourage debate by asking one volunteer to argue why a certain grouping is a family and another volunteer to argue against him or her. If the group engages in "mini debates," monitor the process for individual and group safety. Refer to the covenant as needed.
Close the activity by asking, "So, what makes a family? What do we need to keep in mind as we figure out the answer to that question?" Help participants list traits of families (help each other, love each other, and so on).
Extension Activity (optional)
Older participants may be interested in the idea that some people hold their families in their hearts, even when they may seem to have no family at all. Share the following true story from a UU congregation as you see fit:
Within one UU congregation there was a celebration of newly signed members at the start of the worship service. An older man, with whom the congregation was acquainted, explained his decision to become a member by saying: "When she was alive, my wife was always telling me that I should join this place, join this congregation. As you know she died two years ago. And since that time she has been even more insistent, so I'm giving in. Now I'm a member.
Invite youth to reflect on what the man meant. Are there times when they "hear" family members, even when they are not present?