Take time for friends and family.
Our friends and family are so important. Yet, in this 24/7 world, we often don't take the time we should. How often do you see people sitting in a restaurant with a friend, texting someone else instead of really being with the person next to them?
My Family is a short activity where students draw a simple picture of their family, then tell their partners. Partners see how much they remember. (10 minutes for happiness)
Thank you letter to someone in your family is just that. Students write the letter twice, once in their native language and once in English. They are encouraged to give the letter to the family member. Here are versions with some of the instructions in Japanese and in Korean.
Many of the activities in the "Remembering good things" and "mindfulness" sub-pages also focus on events that involve friends and family.
My Family is a short activity where students draw a simple picture of their family, then tell their partners. Partners see how much they remember. (10 minutes for happiness)
Thank you letter to someone in your family is just that. Students write the letter twice, once in their native language and once in English. They are encouraged to give the letter to the family member. Here are versions with some of the instructions in Japanese and in Korean.
Many of the activities in the "Remembering good things" and "mindfulness" sub-pages also focus on events that involve friends and family.
NEW Becoming friends. Arthur Aron, a professor of psychology at State University of New York - Stony Brook has developed a list of 36 questions that, if a pair of people ask to each other, his research indicates will result in their friendship. I've simplified them to make them accessible for EFL/ESL learners. HERE are the questions. And HERE is a video from "Power of Positivity" that shows some children making friends with adults in a coffeeshop. The lesson takes at least 45 minutes. Students need to be at an upper beginning level at least. The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley's Podcast "The Science of Happiness" did a show about the experiment. Click on episode 3: How to fall in love with anyone.