Staying in touch with our friends, family and community is more important than ever. There are many ways that we make connections and connect with others both in person and using technology. This is a great activity to do by yourself to remind yourself of all the ways you connect with others, to do with your household or to do with a group online.
How do we connect to others?
Everyone has unique ways of connecting with others. You may connect to some of your friends on the phone, using Whatsapp or Facetime where you might only ever talk to your grandma through letters and face to face. Connecting isn’t just about talking, think about the other ways you connect with others. Have a think about the different ways you connect. Here’s some examples to help you get started:
- Talking face to face
- Eating dinner together
- Watching TV (or online streaming TV) together
- Playing video games together (either physically together or online)
- Playing together
- Talking to each other on Whatsapp
- Other social medias or instant messengers
Mapping your Connections
To start, write down the names around the page of every person who is in your household and put them each in their own circle
Next, think to the connections you make with those in your household. e.g. you might talk to your parent through texting but only speak to your siblings on Whatsapp and you might talk to everyone face to face. That is 3 different ways of connections so you will need 3 different colours. It’s a good idea to keep a key of all your connections and their colours in the side of your sheet or on another piece of paper.
Now you have made your connections think about how others in your house connect to each other. Are the ways the same or are they different?
Now extend out your connections to those who don’t live in your home with you for example your friends, extended families and people at your school or youth group. You can add as many as you like (you might even need a bigger piece of paper! or stick two sheets together)
Your connections could probably go on and on and people in your connections map will also have many connections to others in your map and others. Your map could also be a good way of seeing who you maybe haven’t connected with in a while and remind you to check in with your friends and family.
We would love to see your connections so if you share on social media don’t forget to use #DreamBigAtHome
Take it Further
This activity was inspired by an activity from Your Digital Family – Parentzone and Facebook and Instagram to help families have more open conversations around how everyone uses the digital world.
If you enjoyed making these connections you could check out Community Map to show your connections, friends, family and communities in another way.
