Conversation Hearts

It's almost Valentines Day, so I decided to use some cute conversation hearts I found on TPT for my small groups this week.

You can download these adorable printable for FREE thanks to the One Stop Counseling shop.
Here's how I used them in my social skills/friendship group:

I told the students were doing to play a conversation heart game and each round would be different so they had to use their best listening skills.

Round #1- I gave them a conversation heart with something someone might say to them like "I like stuffed animals" and "I don't agree with you." I cut out and laminated some of the blank hearts that came in the set and with dry erase markers I wrote lots of different sayings like "stuffed animals are for babies", "that's cool", "that's silly," "I'm telling on you." Each student had about 10 hearts with different sayings and when I "played" my heart they had to find one in their "deck" that would be considered rude or mean.


Round #2- We did the same thing, but this time they had to find a "polite" answer in their deck. I found it interesting that some of my students picked hearts that didn't make sense. So a few times we had to role play and try again.


Round #3- This time I gave them each the same sheet of conversation hearts and we had to think of kind/polite responses for each heart. I did one heart as an example, then we did one together, and then the last two they did on their own. If time allows you could do one sheet together and then one sheet alone. A few like "add!!" we role played and discussed how the tone could make it sound kind or mean.






Round #4 - I gave them each a blank heart sheet and I asked them to write in one heart in each box.
Box 1- Tell us one thing we didn't know about you.
Box 2- Ask a question that helps you get to know someone like "what do you like to do on the weekends?"
Box #3- Practice inviting someone to play.
Box #4- Tell someone to stop bothering you.

Then we passed our sheets to the left and each time they got a sheet they had to reply to one heart. We passed our sheets around until all the hearts were full. What I found interesting was that they really needed work on rewording/acknowledging what each other said. For example, if someone wrote "my favorite color is blue" then someone else might write "I like dogs." Next week we will practicing rewording what someone said to demonstrate your best listening skills. For example, "I like blue." "So your favorite color is blue, which shade do you like best."

For the rest of my groups I simply used it as an icebreaker. I gave them a blank sheet and they wrote four different things about themselves in each heart, then we passed it around responding back to the person. We really enjoyed it.

Here are the ASCA Standards we covered in the small group:

PERSONAL/SOCIAL DOMAIN

Competency A2  Acquire Interpersonal Skills

PS:A2.1  recognize that everyone has rights and responsibilities

PS:A2.2  respect alternative points of view

PS:A2.3  recognize, accept, respect and appreciate individual differences

PS:A2.6  use effective communications skills

PS:A2.7  know that communication involves speaking, listening, and nonverbal behavior

PS:A2.8  learn how to make and keep friends

Happy Valentines Day!!