Respond to the Word

Play a panel game based on Family Fortunes . Have two teams of about four people in each. Ask ‘What will last the longest?’ Team members suggest an item of food which would rank high in a consumer survey as having long-lasting qualities (excluding tinned, bottled or frozen food). If they correctly identify one of those in a pre-prepared list they gain points. If they fail to identify more than three, the opposing team has the chance to complete the list. Answers might include: potatoes, figs, salt, sugar, rice, honey … Hold a second round with the opposite team starting first, using the same question, but using living creatures, and thinking about those that might avoid extinction. Answers might include: ants, bacteria, lichen, human beings, turtles… What are the things that last forever?

Play an endurance game. Invite contestants to hold something heavy, like a large book in each hand, with arms outstretched for as long as they can, or stand on one leg for as long as they can.

Retell the story of Babushka . Use a set of Babushka dolls to show how sometimes you can give away and still keep something. Give each doll to someone until you reach the last and smallest doll; when it is given away there is nothing left.

Play a game of riddles. Examples: What increases the more you share it with others? Joy. What is broken when you name it? Silence. What is it that you must keep after giving it to someone else? Your word.