"...withdraw,
isolation, and/or inappropriate social interactions are specific
symptoms of many mental illnesses..... recreational activities
offer a natural medium for developing social skills. Rather than
talking about about them, or role playing social skills in a contrived
situation, engagement in recreational activities offers a natural
opportunity to utilize necessary skills and experience natural
consequences of one's behavior." (Annad, Therapeutic Recreation
Treatment in Psychiatry, Leisure & Mental Health, eds.
Compton & Iso-Ahola, 1994)
Know Thy Neighbor
Size of Group: Large
or small.... set game up differently based on size of group
Activity Objective: to get
to know each other
Setup: Create a least 20
question designed to obtain information about others. Examples
are given below. Pass out the questions to the participants
during or prior to the activity. Each participant must answer
the questions without showing the responses to others.
Collect the responses when complete
Description
Divide the group into two teams.
Read aloud question #1 (example: 7 kittens need a home, would
you adopt all six?). Ask Team B to vote if they think more than
50% of Team A voted YES. (Majority rules in the voting). If
Team B is correct they earn a point... otherwise, Team A earns
the point.
Now, ask Team A the same question
about Team B. Repeat the above process.
Move on to question # 2 and repeat
the process. Its OK to stop and encourage participants to share
stories stimulated by the questions.... example, Mr. Jones considers
himself a good flirt (question #2).... lets hear more about
it!
SOME QUESTIONS YOU COULD ASK
- Name your favorite activity
- Name your favorite color
- Are you superstitious?
- Would you work as a police
officer?
- If the elevator lights
go out, would you goose someone?
- What type of music do
you like the best?
- Have you ever fallen in
love at first sight?
- Have you ever eaten bugs
or dirt when you were a kid?
- Name your favorite fast-food
restaurant.
- Would you teach the group
to do the Hokey-Pokey or the Achy-Breaking
|
Obviously, the questioning format
will change with different types of questions on the questionnaire.
For example, with question #1 (Name your favorite activities),
you can ask Team B, "Name the one person on Team A who
likes to ski," or "Did more than 50% of the people
on Team A say they liked bingo as their favorite activity?"
Modification
Large Group- for each question,
select a panel of 4 to 5 participants for whom you will read
only their responses. The panel can change for each question.
Small Group- take extra time to
permit discussions and give everyone an opportunity to share
and talk.
|