Play Mood Charades

What You Do:

1. Tone, mood and emotion are very subjective and hard to explain. Spend some time first just talking with your child about it. Mood is probably the easiest one to start with. Ask him to describe what a bad mood would look and sound like, then a good mood. He should be able to give you a pretty good explanation of each. Then move on to more complex moods. Come up with 20 different moods, and write each on a slip of paper. Examples to get you started:
   • Nervous
   • Confused
   • Frustrated
   • Hopeful
   • Excited
   • Stern
   • Uncertain
   • Confident
2. Get family and friends together for a game of Mood Charades! It's easy to play, but hard to win. Split into two teams of two or more people in each. Each team should take turns. In a turn, a team member draws one of the mood slips from a hat or bowl. She must act out the mood, without saying a word! Set a time limit on the turn (thirty seconds should be about right), and see if her team members can shout out the correct mood! If so, they earn themselves a point, and it is the other team's turn. Play until all mood slips have been drawn. The team with the most points wins!