Box of Chocolates

This activity was created by Heidi Bolster, CTRS.  It's a lot of fun!

via

You Never Know What You’re Gonna get in a Box of Chocolates…

Materials:
-Cut up about 20 small strips of paper
-Something for patients to write with
-Candy (preferably chocolate)

Directions:
Talk about the different elements of communication (tone, verbal, no verbal, etc.).  Discuss why it is important to communicate appropriately and clearly with others Discuss emotions in relation to communication and talk about how difficult it can be to assume someone else’s emotion at times.

Hand out strips of paper and writing utensils to patients and have them write down and discuss different emotions on the strips of paper. Have patients put strips of paper in a bag.

Show the patients the written statement, “You Never Know What You’re Gonna get in a Box of Chocolates…”

Instruct patients to, one at a time, pick an emotion from the bag and act out the emotion while saying, “You Never Know What You’re Gonna get in a Box of Chocolates…”  Allow the other patients to try and guess the emotion; once the emotion is guessed, the person who guessed it correctly goes next This is similar to emotion charades.  After everyone has had a few turns discuss the ease or difficulty with which the patients could act/guess the emotion that was picked from the bag.  Talk about the importance of tone & body language in the absence of words.

Discuss how the difficulty of presenting/guessing the emotions relates to their current situation in treatment.  How can they be more clear and appropriate in communicating their feelings? How can this benefit them in the hospital and how can this benefit them after discharge?  Give the patients chocolate for participating and encourage them to make small goals to help them improve their communication skills.