Fun with Character: Describe Yourself
Instruct the students to rip a piece of paper into ten strips. On 5 of the strips, they should write a character quality that describes themselves. You can limit it to the ones on our website or not limit it. On the other 5 strips, they should write a skill they are good at – not perfect, but good.
Have them lay out all 10 strips face up. They must pick one quality to “give up”. They will turn over the paper with this quality on it. Then, they choose a skill to give up and turn that paper over. Do this round several times so that they continue to turn over qualities. If time allows, you can do all 10. Ask them to think about how their life would be different if they didn’t have those qualities or skills. How would that affect their decisions, their activities, or their relationships? Walk them through regaining each of the qualities/skills, one by one. Ask them how it feels to have those back.
To process the activity, ask these or similar questions:
Did you like this exercise? Was it hard to come up with your qualities and skills?
How did it feel to give up a quality? Was that different than a skill?
Did you think about how you could get it back? Did you think about another quality or skill you could replace it with?
How did it feel to get it back? Was there comfort in that?
Are you more aware of your qualities and skills now that you have done an inventory?
Are there any qualities or skills that you would like to add to your list? (You can add them in your head.)
Will you remember this exercise as you proceed through the day/week? Will you be more sensitive to how the qualities and skills that you wrote down are evident in your life?