A Great Catch

I got this game from a conference I was at years ago.  I adapted it a little but I cannot take all the credit.

This is a fun game or students because they are doing something with equipment and it is a little different.  Everything in this activity is symbolism so it is useful to make kids do the activity using the pole and magnets rather than just picking cards.  I have used this activity as an intro and a closing activity.  Either way it is interesting to get kids thinking and talking about what is important in a potential mate.  the more mature the group, the better the discussion.

***This activity requires some prior set up and construction initially.  if you are looking to do this tomorrow you are going to be up late tonight ... ;-)  

First you will need to cut out a lot of cards ... I mean a lot!!  You may want to enlist the help of some students ahead of time or service aid kids if your school has those.  I laminated all my cards before cutting them out to make them more durable.

I also bought a roll of magnetic strip with adhesive on one side.  After cutting out all the cards you will need to cut a piece of magnet and stick it to the back of each card. 

I made fishing poles using dowel rods about 18" long.  I tied simple cotton string to the dowel and tied a steel nut to the end to stick to the magnetized cards.  

viola .... all your equipment is ready.  I used a glad sore & go container to keep all the cards in (I have a total of 8 sets)    

Ready:

• Great catch game cards (examples - feel free to make up more) with magnetic strip on the back
• Dowel rod fishing pole with string and a nut
• Great Catch record sheet

Set:

• Have students break up into groups of 4
• Each member gets a great catch record sheet
• Each group gets a tub of quality cards and fishing pole

Go:

Spread out blue cards, face down, in the middle of the table (like "Go Fish").  this is called "the Pond".  Each member takes turns using the fishing pole to “fish” out a quality. 

They read the quality card and explain to their group where they would rank that quality in a potential mate based on the 4 categories (Crucial, Significant, Perk or tackle Box).

That group member then records that quality in that category on their record sheet and passes the fishing pole to the next person..

Each member takes turns “fishing” until all the cards are gone, or time runs out.

The group does not have to get through all the cards.  It is more important that they are communicating to the group where they would categorize that quality and why.

Discussion:

Lots of discussion points with this activity:

• Why did we use the pole? (relationships take work and patience)
• How does this activity resemble real life in relationships?
• Don’t know what you are gonna get
• Lots of qualities
• Lots of thought goes into relationships

This game is a favorite in my class and really helps the kids learn some things about themselves and relationships.