Materials Needed: Twenty to twenty-five plastic cups that are the same size. A piece of plywood or thick cutting board that is approximately 15”x 15”. (Please note: It doesn’t work if the board is not stiff. Also, 16 to 20 oz cups work best.)
Learning Concept: When we increase the number of our positive emotions, we can do difficult things. They also lift us up and allow us to do more, think more, and see more.
Learning Activity: Let’s say that this cup is a positive emotion. Name a positive emotion you have had in the past week. Then pretend that my foot is a difficulty or challenge. Name something that has been hard in the last week. When you have one cup, or just one positive emotion, the challenge or difficulty can overpower and crush the positive emotion. (Step on the cup. You can have each family member name one positive emotion and one difficulty and each one step on his or her cup.) Name some positive things that happened to you in the last week. What was the positive emotion that it created? (Place a cup upside down for each thing named. Place the cups side by side in a pattern that is approximately 15”x 15” as you ask for answers from family members. Place the board on top of the cups.) So, when we have all of these positive emotions and then we have a tough time, something amazing happens. (Step on the board.) When you increase your positive emotions, you rise above the difficulty. (You may have more family members join you on the board. You may want to place a crushed cup and an intact cup in a prominent place in your home as a reminder of the lesson and purpose of the Handful of Hope program.)