Self-guided activity: Create an emotion story

What will you need?

• A place where you can sit comfortably and draw or write, and a table or flat surface to draw or write against.
• Three pieces of paper, approximately A-4 size.
• A pen or pencil.

Step by step

Start by sitting somewhere where you are comfortable and have a clean, flat surface to draw against.
Have your paper and pen or pencil ready.

1. Take your sheets of paper.
   Fold each of them in half three times, twice along the “short” edge and fold them once along the “long” edge.
   Unfold them.
2. Think of eight different emotions that people, including you, can experience.
   Then, take one of your folded pieces of paper. If you wish, you can write one words for those emotions in each of the eight rectangles on your paper. Leave plenty of space in the rectangles for more drawing.
3. In each of the eight rectangles, draw the emoji that represents each of the eight emotions you thought of. 
   When you are done, cut or gently tear the paper into eight “emotion cards,” each of which has one emoji on it. (Only tear the one piece of paper you used for this activity. Do not tear the others because you will use them in a different way).
4. Put your emotion cards down on your table or writing surface. Close your eyes. Mix them around with your hands. No peeking! Pick up one of the cards, open your eyes, and find out which emotion card you chose. (Keep your emotion cards! You can use them again with the “create more” ideas for this activity).
5. Imagine a situation in which you, or someone like you, might feel that emotion. 
   It could be a real situation that has happened to you, or a situation you imagine.
   Imagine the story of the young person who experienced that emotion.
   What may have happened before, to cause them to feel this way? What may happen while they are feeling this emotion? What might they do because they feel this emotion? What might happen as a result?
6. Take your second piece of paper.
   In a corner of each rectangle, write the numbers 1 through 8.
7. Try to “tell” the emotion story of the person you thought of in step 5.
   But, instead of writing it in words, try to draw it using only eight emojis. Your story might start with the emoji that you picked up, or it can be in the middle or end of the story
   – it’s up to you and the story you imaged. Now, draw, using only seven more emojis, the rest of the story from beginning to end. Don’t write any words! This will make the next step more interesting.
8. Show your emoji story to someone else in your household.
   Give them the third piece of paper. In each rectangle, they should “translate” your emojis into words, writing what they think happened in each of the eight steps of your story. What part of the story did they guess correctly? What did they guess that was different from the story you imagined?

Create more

• Draw your story again. You can draw it in any way you like. For example, you can make your story more or less than eight steps long. You can add pictures to your story in addition to the emojis. Use your emotion card to pick a new emoji to create a story from if you wish!
• Ask more people in your household to write their guesses about what happened in the story you drew in your emojis. Make a game and see who guesses most correctly. You can also invite them to write their own emotion stories.
• Invent new emojis! Are there emotions that you think should be represented differently from the emojis you are used to seeing? Are there emotions, activities, places or items that you have never seen an emoji for? Draw a new emoji yourself!
• Create a video, telling your story by showing one picture of your emojis or drawings at a time.

Share

Online:

• Send a photo of your emotion story to the chat group. Send the written version of your emotion story that your household members made, and any new emotion stories you created.
• Look for more messages from the chat group to see what other adolescents have created. Participate in the conversation!

Everyone (online and offline):

• Keep your emotion story somewhere where you, and others in your household can read it again. For example, you might hang it on your wall, or keep it with other stories or drawings you have created.
• Keep your emoji cards. Use them if you want to try this activity again, on your own or with others.