Self-guided activity: Humans of our household

What is the purpose of this activity?

How can you learn something new about someone in your household – even when you think you already know them well? What would they tell you if you asked them just one question you had never asked them before?

In this activity, you will write and conduct a one-question interview with someone in your household and create a very short story based on that interview.

>> Download the activity guide [report/PDF]

What will you need?

1. A place where you can sit comfortably and draw, and a table or flat surface to write against.
2. A piece of paper, and a pen or pencil.
3. A person in your household who will work with you on a creative activity.

Step by step

In this activity, you will start by sitting by yourself and thinking. Later you will sit with someone in your household, have a conversation with them, and write notes about what they say.

You can do all the steps in this activity immediately after each other, or take a break between each step, depending on what works best for you and the person you interview.

1. Close your eyes for a minute and imagine you are making friends with a new person. What is a question you could ask them to learn more about their life and experiences? What is a question that you might hope they would ask you to learn more about yourself, your life and your experiences?
    
2. Open your eyes and try to write down a few of the questions that you thought about. Try to think of interview questions that will encourage someone to share a story, memory or idea that is important to them, but don’t ask anything too personal or difficult.
   Here are a few examples, to help you think of questions – but try to come up with questions of your own!
   - Who has changed your life for the better, and how did they change it?
   - What is the most important lesson you ever learned, and where did you learn it?
   - What makes you happy, and why does it make you happy?
    
3. Think of someone in your household who you could ask one of the questions
   you wrote. Then, ask that person if they would be willing to participate in a very
   short interview with you. Explain that you will use their answer to write a short,
   creative story. If they agree, plan a time and place when you can conduct your short
   interview.
    
4. At the time and place you have agreed to, sit with that person. Have a piece of paper and your pen or pencil ready. Ask your one question and try to listen without interrupting as they answer. Try to write down or record what they say, using their own words whenever possible. Remember to thank them for sharing their story!
    
5. After the interview, write down their story, trying to use their own words. Don’t worry if their “story” is very short or if it doesn’t sound like a “story” – instead, enjoy the experience of creating a very short story, and noticing what can be
   Optional: If they permit it, take a photo of the person you interviewed - while they are telling their story or after. You can also draw a portrait of that person, or draw or create an illustration of a moment or experience they described during the interview.
    
6. Share the story with that person. It can be in writing or you can read it aloud to them and/or to others in your household.

Create more

• Find a creative way to present your story and photo or drawing together, for example, as a poster or as if it was a page in a book.
• Repeat the activity as many times as you wish with the same or new people, creating more short stories. You can use one of the other questions that you wrote down in step 2.
• If you can connect with people outside your house via mobile phone or in any other way,
  interview someone who is not living in your household. This may be someone you know well, or someone new.
• Organize a story sharing event with others in your household or with friends over the phone and make an audio or video recording of your event.
• Create a fictional character and imagine how he or she would answer your questions. Write an original story about your character.

Share

Online

Send a photo of your creation or a recording of you reading the story aloud in the chat group.

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 interview material somewhere where you can read it again. You should share it with the person you interviewed, and they can give you permission to share it with other people as well if you wish to do so.

Talk with the person you interviewed or other people about what you enjoyed and learned from your interview.

Invite people from your household or friends to gather stories from each other, or from you, through one-question interviews. Write the stories you share and want to remember in a notebook.