You have cleaned the house and set a beautiful table. Lots of food bubbling on the stove and the smell of turkey wafting through your home. Family and friends start to arrive. Drinks, appetizers and conversations fill the air. You may still be working in the kitchen unable to get away to join in this part of the festivities. Soon everyone will sit down and share a meal together. Offering gratitude for the warmth of friendship and abundance of offerings on the table, the talking slows down as everyone digs in and enjoys the hours of preparation that led to this moment. And after this will come a very special time. It is after the meal and before dessert. The voices are more subdued and the tummies are pleasantly full. This year, Instead of leaving the table just yet , here are 3 suggestions for activities where everyone can be included, have some fun and get to learn a little bit more about each other. Choose 1, 2 or all 3 to play.
1) The Story of Your Name : Go around the circle and have each person share something about their name – what their name means, where it came from or anything else they want. If you have a large group you may want to limit how long each person’s sharing should last. When this is played with parents and children together, it can get pretty interesting very quickly.
2) Share a Story about your Journey : Go around the circle and allow anyone who would like to, to share a story of their moving to a new city, state or country. Those who speak could share their experience both in terms of what they left behind and what it felt like to be in a new place. If there is anyone who journeyed here from another country they should be encouraged to share their story and others might want to ask them questions.
3) Live & Learn : This activity actually comes from one of six different card decks in our 3 Jewels game. We have selected 3 cards. Read one aloud. Whoever is reading it tries to guess which person (excluding themselves) is the right answer for this question. After you guess, the group figures out together who was the correct choice. If you guess correctly , you get to be first on the Dessert line!
Guess Whose mother has the hardest to pronounce maiden name ? OR Guess Who has lived in the most cities when they were growing up ? (growing up is from birth to age 18) or Guess who wore the wildest costume this past Halloween?
Now that you’ve learned a little more about each other… enjoy some Pie !
