Family Activities

The following family learning activities are all adaptable and easy to use with family members of different ages. They can also be adapted for use with young people on a summer school or campus visit, or for a staff development activity. See also staff development materials, some of these activities can also be adapted for use with families. Family Activities 11, 12 and 13 contain images from the leaflet Preparing for Further and Higher Education whilst in the Primary School: Never too young to start

• Family Activity 1 – University Word Game
  This is a fun activity for families to generate ideas as well as record information that they know about university. It can be adapted using different words such as the name of your institution or the topic of your family-learning day. If families are struggling to find answers for some of the boxes, you can encourage creative suggestions, which can add to the fun of the day
• Family Activity 2 - The Significance of your Name
  This is an ideal way of getting family members to introduce themselves and learn something about other people attending the event. It is an excellent way of showing how even our name is influenced by a range of cultural, geographical, historical, media and family factors.
• Famly Activity 3 – Grating World Aromas
  This is an unusual activity, involving the grating of aromatic spices or foods, which stimulates conversation and encourages people to share experiences or preferences. This activity is popular with all age groups
• Family Activity 4 – Alphabetical Order
  A highly adaptable activity which can be used as a general ‘getting to know you’ activity or as part of a family literacy activity. The non-verbal phase can result in some very creative solutions as well as dramatic performances.
• Family Activity 6 – Hopes and Concerns About Higher Education
  This activity provides an opportunity for parents to share with one another their hopes and concerns they have about their young person accessing Higher Education. Within this activity an alternative adaptation is given for when practitioners are working with a group of parents whose first language is not English.
• Family Activity 7: Higher Education Subjects and Graduate Careers
  A set of cards each with a letter from the word ‘Higher Education’ and ‘University’ to be used as an introduction prior to parents exploring Higher Education subjects and employment routes in more depth. A highly adaptable activity that can be used as an alternative to, or in conjunction with, Family Activity 1.
• Family Activity 8: Emotion Flash Cards
  A set of cards with cartoon character faces depicting different emotions. These cards can be used in icebreaker activities, group work and as an evaluation tool for parents to highlight their feelings on a chosen issue or question.
• Family Activity 9: Hopes, Dreams and Aspirations
  A worksheet with questions that allow parents an opportunity to reflect upon the hopes, dreams and aspirations they have for their young person
• Family Activity 11: Primary Leaflet Images
  These images can provide the basis for discussion about things that parents can do to help their child to become more independent and find out about options available after they leave school.
• Family Activity 12: Primary Leaflet Ladder
  This document includes a list of possible reasons to go to university taken from the primary leaflet. These statements provide a basis for discussion and give parents / guardians a chance to reflect on the different reasons why someone might go to university.
• Family Activity 13: Aimhigher Insect Images
  You can use the cards in this game with Family Activity 7. They provide a more appealing stimulus for when working in a family context for thinking about subjects and careers, or as an example of the way parents can encourage their children to think about different subjects.