Family Therapy Balloon

Activities
Introducing activities into your family therapy sessions can help make the process more
engaging while creating a warm/fun environment, and breaking down concepts to be
more developmentally appropriate for children. These simple activities can bring out
sides of family members they may not always be shown at home, encourage playful and
healthy interaction, build rapport, and allow the therapist to role model, redirect and
provide positive reinforcement.
Balloons are a cheap/accessible item that can easily spice up a family session, and be
then be used to continue work at home. The following activities promote team-work,
group cohesion, attunement, communication, problem-solving, conflict-
management, etc. They can be used to both assess family functioning and teach
new skills. Notice patterns that come up, how they negotiate or resolve conflicts,
who leads, etc. After each activity process with the family how it went, what they
noticed, what they liked/disliked, what they need to work on, etc. Families can also
do these fun games at home.
 Juggling Issues: In a family session it is common for the topic of discussion to
snowball as family members bring up multiple subjects at once. Have each family
members blow up balloons and write an issue on each one. The family then
stands in a circle and bats a balloon around without letting it touch the ground. Add
the rest of the balloon, one at a time, to demonstrate how ineffective it is to juggle
so many issues at once. Afterwards the family decides together which issue to
tackle during that session.
 Balloon Pass: Have the family/group stand in a circle and make up (or have them
make up) ways to pass a balloon around (ex. using only elbows, feet, etc.). Have
them hold hands in a circle and try to keep the balloon from touching the ground
as they bat it around without letting go.
 Busy Balloons: Have family/group members partner up and call out different body
parts that they must hold the balloon up with (ex. noses, elbows, etc.) If there is
an odd number of people than family members can take turns being the person
calling out body parts.
 Balloon Waddle: Each person holds a blown-up balloon between their legs. The
family/group must come up with a way together to get across the room without
anyone dropping the balloon (ex. jumping, waddling, rolling, etc.). Once one slips
then everyone must get together to re-strategize and start over. You could also
modify this to complete with partners or as a relay.
FOR KIDS OF THE FAMILY

The "I Don't Know, I Don't Care, I Don’t Want to Talk About it" Game (Lowenstein, 2002)
Explain the game as follows: "We're going to play a game that's going to help us get to know
each other. It's called The 'I Don't Know, I Don't Care, I Don't Want to Talk About It' Game.
I'm going to begin by asking you a question; a question that will help me get to know you
better. If you answer it, you get a potato chip*, but if you say I don't know or I don't care or if
you don't answer the question, I get your potato chip. Then you get to ask me a question; a
question that will help you get to know me better. If I answer the question, I get a potato chip.
But if I say I don't know or I don't care or if I don't answer the question, you get my potato
chip. The game continues until we've asked each other five questions."
The therapist should order and pace the questions appropriately. Begin with neutral questions
such as, "What do you like to do when you are not in school?" and "What is one of your
favorite movies?" Feelings questions can come next, such as, "What is something that makes
you feel happy?" and "What is one of your worries?" As the child begins to feel more at ease,
questions that involve greater risk taking can be asked, such as, "What's something you wish
you could change about your family?" and "Why do you think you're here today? (Since this
is an engagement activity, the therapist should be in tune with the client's readiness to answer
questions that may feel threatening.) End the game on a positive note with a question such
as, "What's one of your happiest memories?"
The therapist should handle the child's questions with discretion. Some self-disclosure is
required, but only information that is appropriate and helpful to the client should be shared. If
the child chooses not to answer a question, the therapist can respond, "You must know
yourself really well; you know what you feel comfortable talking about and what you want to
keep private for now." This is an empowering message for the child.
* An alternative to potato chips can be used, such as beads that the child can accumulate to
make a bracelet, Lego pieces, or gemstones.
Activity 1: Planning a Fun Family Activity (20 Minutes)
“Families today face the challenge of finding quality time together. Time is always limited. How
then do we find time together? Decide as a Family what you will do. Be sure all age levels can
participate. Few activities bring Families together in a more enjoyable way than a weekly game
night or just time spent together in a meaningful way. Variety is not only the spice of life, it is also
the key to success.
“As we start to think about the pieces of planning, begin by writing down every fun game you can
think of - board games and physical activities (such as kickball, hop scotch, basketball – no special
athletic skills are needed). Pick the same night, day of the week - an example is every Friday
night, or perhaps the 2nd Friday of each month. Check your ego when the activity begins. There’s
nothing wrong with not winning. If your Family wants to try something new - try something new!
“Family activity time is for bringing Families together and for positive reinforcement, not for intense
competition.”
1. Have each Family work together to develop a Family activity plan.
2. Give each Family a marker and an easel with paper.
3. Have each Family write the following on their easel paper and work together to design a
plan.
a. Discuss and agree when the Family activity will take place.
b. Brainstorm a list of what your Family will do.
c. Will you have snacks or a meal? What will it be? Will friends be allowed to join? Will phones be
turned off?
4. If a Family already has a Family activity time, have them plan their next one or try something
new.
5. After 10 minutes, ask if any of the Families would volunteer to share the Family plan they
developed. Thank the Families who shared.
Wrap this activity up by saying something like the following: “Why do fun Family activities? Playing
games with your Family teaches skills that will help you succeed in school, at your jobs, with your
friends and in everyday life: social skills, such as taking turns and being a good winner or loser.
Games teach academic lessons, colors, counting, sorting, matching, reading and logical
reasoning. Life skills such as patience, teamwork and concentration are developed.
Beyond lessons learned, Family time gives your Family the opportunity to spend time together in
a relaxed environment that produces positive bonding and communication.”
Debriefing Questions:
• What did you learn about your Family members during the planning?
• Do you think you will try a Family fun activity now?
• How did this planning time help your Family communicate?
Activity 2: Games for Family Communication (35 Minutes)
“So now we are ready for fun Family activity time, right? Okay maybe not so fast, how about we
start by practicing some games for Family communication. We have four quick communication
games you can play with your Family. I can guarantee we will create some laughter.”
1. The first one is called “Drawing.” Each Family member is given a piece of paper and a pencil.
Ask them to draw the people in their life. In this game, everyone in the Family draws a picture of
themselves and pictures of every significant person in their life and then connects everyone with
lines. Each Family member tells a story about their drawing, which can include who the people
are and why they chose them with their own Family members. Parents can learn about a child’s
friends. Children can glimpse their importance in the larger Family circle.
• Give Families 8-10 minutes to complete this activity while the facilitator and volunteers circulate
the area to provide encouragement and see when Families are finished
• Bring the attention up front by letting Families know you are starting the second game and
directions are next
2. The second game is the classic game of Charades, one person in the Family acts out (without
speaking) a word or a phrase. The other Family members must guess what is being acted out.
Demonstrate the activity with some of the volunteers if possible.
• Give each Family member 5 strips of paper, a writing utensil and instructions to secretly write a
word or phrase that all Family members have heard on each slip of paper
• When done, have Family members fold their slips in half and place on the table in front of the
first actor
• Have each Family member take turns and if they want they can go around several times
• Give Families 8-10 minutes to enjoy this activity
• The facilitator and volunteers should circulate around the area adding to the energy and
enthusiasm and seeing when Families are finished
“Interpreting gestures and other forms of nonverbal communication is an essential skill that gets
better with practice. In fact, some estimates hold that 55 percent of communication is nonverbal.
Regularly playing charades provides a safe environment for Families to comprehend how easily
gestures, messages and other forms of nonverbal communication can be misinterpreted.”
3. The third game is Telephone. Who remembers this old game?
• Have two Families play together. One Family member whispers a phrase to another.
For example:
○ The brown fox ran around the barn to catch the rooster before dinner.
○ Barney came down with swimmer’s itch after spending a day in the Potomac River.
• That person then whispers to another and so on until the last person repeats the phrase aloud:
more often than not, the repeated phrase is not exactly the phrase with which you started
• This game could be played with all Families sitting in one large circle
• Spend 8-10 minutes on this game
“Not only is the telephone game a wonderful teaching tool about how easily communication errors
happen, scientific research has found that even positive rumors become distorted through the
passing of information from person to person. Rumors, even positive or good natured ones can
easily become distorted and hurtful to others.”
4. The fourth game is Talking. Give each Family member 6 strips of paper to write three silly
questions and three serious questions; one on each piece of paper. After this is done, fold the
pieces of paper in half and put in a pile. Have each Family member take turns picking a piece of
paper and answering the question. Other Family members can help to answer the question. If a
Family member chooses their own question(s), they may answer it or put back into the pile and
choose another.
• Two samples of questions: What animal would you like to be and why? Do you think it is ever
all right to tell a lie?
• Spend 8-10 minutes on this game
“Asking questions and listening to the answer can provide opportunities for us to learn more about
each other and have fun at the same time.”
“How many times have we heard that laughter is the best medicine? If that is the case, surely
laughing while playing communication games with our Family is triple the dose! Even the silliest
of Family games builds a relationship of trust where children learn their parents will take the time
to listen, engage and thoughtfully respond. Fun games are a great way to strengthen the Family
bond, open lines of communication, develop listening skills, improve Family communication and
spend quality time together.”
Debriefing Questions:
• What did you learn about your Family while playing these communication games?
• Was this fun? What made it so?
• How do you think these types of games can help your Family during the
reunion/reintegration phase of your Family’s deployment?