Fun On The Spot - family and friends

Monday, October 30, 2006

Family Fun at Thanksgiving

When I was a kid, the only real difference between Thanksgiving dinner and any other Sunday was the Turkey and the football game before dinner. We had the same relatives over that we would have dinner with on most Sundays for a weekly pot of spaghetti sauce. It was a familiar setting with familiar conversations that followed a familiar script.

Thanksgiving today is quite a different animal. Families and friends are traveling longer distances to visit for a day (or extended weekend.) Add in the one or two newcomers (new friends, sig others, roommates) that seem to also be a staple of the modern Thanksgiving. Before you know it, your dining room is full of people that have their hands in their laps and don't have a lot to say. Now what?

I find that storytelling is a great way to "warm up the room" to borrow a theater term. Sharing a family favorite of a holiday from the past can serve as an excellent introduction for newcomers and spark new conversations for those who have been out of touch for a while. This is what I had in mind when I created the DidYa Know game. The game has storytelling cards targeted to various age groups and gives everyone in the playing group a chance to contribute to the conversation.

Storytelling is the old form of communication and it can be a powerful way to bring people of different ages and backgrounds together. That's especially true when it comes to grandparents who try to relate to their grandchildren. Neither has much of a sense of the others perspective, which can make for a lot of uncomfortable silence in the room.

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