Use your imagination and flexible thinking to see your surroundings in a new way!
What you’ll need: Paper and pencil
What’s it for?
This activity will help you to think in a playful, flexible, and creative way as you pretend to be an archaeologist. Practicing flexible thinking can help you to feel more settled when something changes unexpectedly, and support healthy relationships.
Check In:
Notice how you’re feeling right now. Close your eyes and notice what’s going on inside your mind and body.
How are you feeling?
What are you thinking?
How does your body feel?
Method:
Sometimes when you have an idea, it can be really hard to change your mind. Can you think of a time this happened for you? For example, can you think of a time that you really wanted to play a game, but a friend wanted to do something else? Write this down or draw a picture of what happened on your paper.
Today we are going to pretend to be archaeologists! An archaeologist is someone who studies the history of people from a long time ago. They do this by looking at really old things that have been left behind, like a piece of a broken plate or an ancient sword. Sometimes it is easy to tell what they have discovered, but other times they have to guess and come up with their own ideas.
Imagine that you are an archaeologist, a thousand years in the future, and you have just discovered the room where you are right now. The time period that this archaeologist is from is nothing like how we live now, and so he or she is very curious about what can be seen in your room...
Pretend you are exploring the room for the first time. If you’d like to, you could keep a diary of your explorations and write about what you see. What objects would you be curious about? Choose two or three and draw them on your paper.
After you have drawn them, imagine what the archaeologist might think they are used for (You will know the real answer of course, so try and think of some other options that are wrong!). Maybe you have discovered a strange black shiny square thing. What might it be? (It’s actually your tablet!) Is it a mirror? Maybe a special plate? Choose a few objects from the room and imagine the different things they could be used for.
Imagine if your archaeologist was deciding who the room belonged to. What would they guess, based on the objects they found? Draw a picture or write a story about who might live in the room. Who are they? What do they like to do? Do they go to work or school?
To play this game, you had to practice thinking in different ways and seeing things in a new way. Why was this important for the archaeologist? How might this be helpful when you are playing with your friends or making choices with your family?
Extra Activity: Pretend that your archaeologist has been asked to share their findings at a museum. Ask the people you live with to be your audience, and tell them about the discoveries you have made and the people you invented.
When you’ve finished, spend a moment reflecting on the activity and ask yourself the following questions:
Was it easy or hard to think of ‘wrong’ answers to what the archaeologist discovered? Were there any funny ideas you had? How did it feel to be flexible with what was the ‘right’ answer?
Do you think someone else would have the same ideas as you if they played this game? What other ideas might someone have?
In real life, you probably have objects or things that you own that are important to you. What would someone learn about you if they could see these things you own?
This game had you think about things in a new and flexible way. Is it usually hard or easy for you to be flexible with the way you think?
When might it be useful to be flexible or playful with how you are thinking?
Conclusion:
This activity helps you to practice thinking about things in a playful and flexible way. This can help you with your relationships and emotional wellbeing when things change.
Take a moment to notice how you are feeling at the end of this activity. Did you discover anything surprising? What can you take away to make you feel better about yourself from this activity?
If you would like to, share something about your experience with this activity with someone you live with! Ask the person who looks after you to send us an email if you have any questions or comments about the activity, or would like to send us any pictures (info@catcorner.co.uk). Don't forget to subscribe for more fun CAT activities!
Created by Heather Dingle © May 2020
Creative Arts Used: Creative Writing, Art
Psychological Areas Explored: Play, Resilience, Self-Exploration
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These activities could be done by children of all ages, but some may need the support of their parent or carer to read the instructions or complete the activity safely.
This website was made by CAT Corner to help you explore your feelings through fun creative arts activities. The people using the website and the people responsible for them need to make sure they stay safe (full disclaimer on About page).
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