Group Size: 4 to 50+ (a minimum of four people is needed) Time Needed: 20 minutes Goal: To learn about the group's shared beliefs and values Audience: Couples, Parents, Teens, Children, Singles Special Considerations: Close this activity out with a positive note regarding your class’ similarities. Resources Needed: Paper, Pen/pencil Step-by-Step Instructions Break group into […]
Group Size: 1 to 25 Time Needed: 10 minutes Goal: To help participants get to know each other Audience: Parents, Couples, Teens, Singles, Children Special Considerations: None Resources Needed: Play Dough Step-by-Step Instructions Before class, place a large ball of play dough (in a baggie) in front of each seat. You can usually divide one […]
Group Size: 11 to 50 Time Needed: 15 to 20 minutes, depending on size of group Goal: To help participants get acquainted and have fun Audience: Couples, Teens, Parents, Children Special Considerations: Choose couples that will be recognizable to your audience; be sensitive to age, ethnicity, generation, etc. Co-facilitators can play the game with the […]
Group Size: 1 to 50+ Time Needed: 10 minutes Goal: To help participants get to know each other Audience: Parents, Couples, Teens, Children, Singles Special Considerations: It is very important to keep participants focused on describing positive things about themselves. You will need a lot of table space. With two facilitators, one can walk around […]
Group Size: 11 to 25 Time Needed: 11 to 20 minutes Goal: Get to know each other and have fun Audience: Couples, Teens, Parents, Singles Special Considerations: This is a fun and creative exercise, but it may not be appropriate to use with a group that is dealing with a lot of hostility or couples […]
Group Size: 1 to 50 Time Needed: 5 to 10 minutes Goal: To get to know each other Audience: Couples, Singles, Parents (works best for middle-aged to older adults) Special Considerations: Occasionally a participant may pick a year that is emotionally difficult to talk about. Always allow them to switch for another penny. This is […]
This brief shares research findings on juvenile delinquency, explores the association between juvenile delinquency and family structure, and discusses implications for marriage education programs. Statistics are reported from a 20-year longitudinal study that indicate boys who grew up without their biological father in the home were three times more likely to commit a crime that […]
Marriage and relationship education (MRE) and responsible fatherhood (RF) programs share the goal of improving the lives of children by strengthening the interpersonal skills of their parents. The origins of these program areas are distinct: MRE began primarily as a way to prepare couples for marriage whereas RF was originally designed to prepare unmarried fathers […]
The nation’s Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program is a federal/state/tribal/local partnership to promote family self-sufficiency and child well-being. In most states, approximately half of all child support orders are established and enforced by a federal and state financed child support enforcement entity known as the IV-D program (from Title IV-D of the Social Security Act). […]
Parents talk to their kids about all kinds of difficult topics. There are commercials about our kids’ brains on drugs, the importance of reading to our kids, and even about staying in school. But we rarely see or hear anything about one of the most important building blocks in our society: healthy marriage. Marriage is […]