Laughing Meditation: Speaking Gibberish
Suggested Age Group(s): Young/Middle/Teen
Purpose: To allow group to express their feelings and identify coping skills.
Task/need: Moving towards the pain of the loss
Activity Setup Ideas: Have the group think about times that they felt angry after their loved one died. Talk about ways that they have dealt with this anger.
Materials: No materials needed.
Description:
- Explain to the children that gibberish is a "made up language." You can speak all types of nonsense syllables and act as if you are truly communicating to the other person.
- You can use hand gestures in addition to your speech in order to convey your message.
- Have the children find a partner with whom to speak gibberish.
- The children can change partners for each new gibberish topic.
Some ideas for speaking gibberish:
- Act as if they just ran over your favorite toy with the car.
- Tell them about a horrible haircut you just received.
- Ask them to clean up after a pet accident in the house.
- Sing them a lullaby and put them to sleep.
- Explain that you love their new wardrobe.
- Relate your disgust at a new food for dinner.
- Tell them a story about your cat being stuck in a tree and rescued by the fire department.
- Show them how to clean the birdcage or fish tank.
Activity Wrap Up Ideas: Talk about how they felt when participating in the activity. Share that laughter can help us to feel calmer when we are overwhelmed by anger. Thank the group for sharing their thoughts and feelings.
