Group Size: 1 to 25 Time Needed: 10 to 20 minutes (depends on group size) Goal: To get to know the members of the group Audience: Couples, Parents, Teens, Children Special Considerations: This activity can be used as a great energy booster when class energy seems low. Co-facilitators can demonstrate the activity together. Resources Needed: […]
Group Size: 3 to 20 Time Needed: 15 to 30 minutes depending on group size Goal: To provide a creative icebreaker for the class Audience: Couples, Parents, Teens, Children, Singles Special Considerations: None Resources Needed: One large bag of M&M’s Step-by-Step Instructions Pass the bag of M&M’s around the group and instruct participants to take […]
Group Size: 15 to 60 Time Needed: 11 to 20 minutes Goal: Encourage group cohesion in a fun and informative way Audience: Couples, Teens, Parents, Singles Special Considerations: None Resources Needed: Flip chart or paper, markers or pen/pencil Step-by-Step Instructions Assign three corners of the room for different categories of birth order. For example, one […]
Group Size: 11 to 50 Time Needed: 10 to 20 minutes depending on size of group Goal: To get to know each other Audience: Couples, Children, Teens, Parents Special Considerations: This activity can get loud depending on the size of the group. Resources Needed: Name tags, Markers Step-by-Step Instructions As each participant registers for class, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]