Life Skills

Activity Details

Make face masks representing different emotions and use them to explore feelings and understand how others feel. Then talk about how listening and respect can help build peace.

Time needed: 30 minutes

Materials needed:

• 5 sheets of paper
• Drawing utensils

Setup

Observing and listening are important tools in keeping the peace. Today you’re going to do an activity that will help you think about how other people might feel.

Activity

For this activity, you’ll need to make five face masks. They don’t have to be fancy! Just paper and a marker or crayon is enough. On separate pieces of paper, draw five different faces: happy (smile), sad (frown), angry (eyes narrowed, frown for mouth), worried or afraid (squiggly line for mouth), and unsure/don’t care (straight line for mouth).

Sit in a circle with your friends or family so you can see everyone. Then read out loud the statements below and hold up the emotion mask that matches how this statement might make you feel.

1. You lose at a game.
2. Your sister calls you a name.
3. Your mom bakes your favorite cookies.
4. You see something funny on TV.
5. Your friend isn’t sharing.
6. Your sneaker shoelace breaks.
7. You were picked last for a game.
8. You woke up thinking it was a school day and realize it’s a Saturday.
9. You’re sleeping at a friend’s house and find out they have different rules and do things differently from your family.
10. You eat something you would never eat before and find out you actually like it.
11. You tell your friend a secret but now think she might tell someone else.

Reflection

When you’re finished, think and talk about the statements you heard. With your troop, family, or friends, discuss the following questions:

• What statements did you immediately have an emotion for?
• Were there any statements you had to think about for a minute?

Talk about how listening and respect can help build peace. Some questions you might want to talk about are:

• Does everyone feel exactly the same way about things?
• Why should you respect the way someone else feels?
• What does respect mean to you?
• When two sides are arguing and you want to make peace, how does being respectful help?
• How do you think observing and listening to people will help you be a better peacebuilder?

Troop Leaders: The instructions for all badge steps are available free of charge in your  Girl Scout Volunteer Toolkit.

Adapted from the 2021 World Thinking Day Award. You can buy the award here.