Module 1
Support and Appreciation
The main objectives of the Support and appreciation module are establishing connection (social and emotional) among you and other young mothers.
These exercises and methods will help you to deal with emotions, interests, and different types of knowledge.
Group activities
Activity 1 – Speed Netmoming
Activity 2 – Which one would you be?
Activity 3 – Draw it
SELF-Learning
PDF – Connection, social skills, and motherhood
HOMEWORK
Activity 1 – One feeling, one song
Activity 2 – Did I?
Activity 3 (Extra) – Read and empathise
Group Activities
Activity 1 – Speed Netmoming
Total duration face-to-face (45 – 60 min)
Total duration online (45 – 60 min)
MATERIALS
Worksheet NETMOMING (available on the NTC web platform)
Chalkboard and chalks or flip chart and markers (Face to face mode)
Objectives: Everyone knows what speed dating is, but what about speed networking. It’s an accelerated way to maximize the number of new connections the attending moms can make in a short amount of time. It also takes the awkwardness out of having to approach random people and will help the moms to meet each other and find some points in common.
Preparation: The activity consists of two main parts and it is aimed at a group of about 10 – 12 mothers.
This speed networking is about breaking the ice between the mothers in a rapid way. It will help them open up about some things about themselves and motherhood and also will be a great starting point to enhance empathy among them. They will be divided in two groups to make it easier.
A list of questions will be handed to the mothers to write down their answers. Here are some ideas about the questions in the list. The facilitator may adjust the questions to the target group.
- What is your name?
- How old are you?
- Where are you from?
- How many kids do you have?
- How old were you when you had your first kid?
- Are you happy?
- What are your dreams?
- What are your fears?
- What is the thing you miss most?
- What things are you good at?
Description for face-to-face training
PART 1
The whole group will be divided into two. The facilitator will put chairs for half of the mothers in front of the same number of chairs on the other side. The team A will be seated in the first row and then the team B will be seated in the other row. The team A will not move but the members of team B will move one seat to the right each time till the circle is completed.
The moms will receive a list of questions to follow to help them to know each other. Each conversation between the pair will last 5 minutes and then one of the mothers of the pair will move to the next till all of the group A and group B have had contact with each other.
Once finished, can repeat the dynamic among the members of the same team, that depends and how many moms are in the group
PART 2
All the moms will give their answers to the facilitator who will put them together and anonymously write them on the whiteboard (all of them but the names) and create a little talk about how many things they have in common, which will be for sure more than they think.
Description for online training
PART 1
The facilitator will send a link for the meeting to all the moms participating in the workshop. Then, he or she will introduce the workshop to the moms.
The facilitator has already divided the moms in two groups in a list. Beforehand the facilitator has already organized a list of to whom each mom has to talk. For example: Round 1 the pairs will be Anna and Maria, Elke and Fatima….and so on.
The mothers will be divided in pairs using the “breakout rooms” function of the meeting media being used. It will be organized in small rooms in the same videoconference and then after 5 minutes the sessions will finish and will start with the next mom. The facilitator will be organizing the new pairs of moms as soon as the previous chat ends.
The moms will receive a list of questions to follow to help them to know each other. Each conversation between the pair will last 5 minutes and then one of the mothers of the pair will move to the next till all of the group A and group B have had contact with each other.
Once finished, can repeat the dynamic among the members of the same team, that depends and how many moms there are in the group.
PART 2
All the moms will send a document with the answers to the facilitator that will talk and comment them out loud in the conference to the whole group.
Activity 2 – Which one would you be?
Total duration face-to-face (30 min)
Total duration online (30 min)
MATERIALS
Worksheet Which one would you be? (see below)
Whiteboard or flip chart and markers (Face to face training)
Objectives: The main objective of this activity is again to get the moms to connect to each other and also get some positive feedback from the rest of the group.
Preparation: This activity will help the mothers to talk about themselves, discover the preferences and feel more connected.
Each mom will have to answer the question:
1. If you were a song, which one would you be? Why?
2. If you were a movie, which one would you be? Why?
3. If you were a book, which one would you be? Why?
3. If you were a series, which one would you be? Why?
After responding the four questions about themselves, the rest of the group have to answer the question about the mother that has just talked. For example: “If I had to tell which movie you would be, the movie would be Tangled because you remind me of Rapunzel.”
Of course, everything should be positive encouragement. This will help the group to know each other better and also have a positive feedback and comments from the fellow moms. This is how team building works.
After all participants answer the questions, the facilitator and the mothers will have quite a lot of information about the preferences and hobbies of the mothers.
Description for face-to-face training
The mothers will be seated in circle while the facilitator writes each answer on the whiteboard or flip chart. He or she will also write down the positive things the rest say about each other. After finishing the dynamic, there will be a list of movies, songs, series and books that all mothers can reach out to know each other better and have a clearer view of the personalities of the rest.
Description for online training
It will be exactly the same but the facilitator will write all the information in a document that once the session is finished, will be sent to all the participants.
Activity 3 – Draw it
Total duration face-to-face (30 -45 min)
Total duration online (30 -45 min)
MATERIALS
Paper and markers
Objectives: The objective of the Draw it activity is encouraging and empowering the mothers in the group thanks to reassurance methods. Own reassurance and also from others. This activity will help them have a clear and positive view for themselves through drawing.
Preparation: After the previous activities, the group already knows each other so they already have some connection.
The facilitator will ask the first mother to draw herself and write down two things she likes about her and two things that she doesn’t like (the things can be physical and from their personality.)
While she is drawing herself, the rest will also draw her and write 2 qualities about her (just positive).
Once the mother finishes the drawing and tells what she wrote, the rest of the mothers will show her their drawings and tell her the positive comments.
The activity is finished when all the mothers have participated.
Description for face-to-face training
In the face-to-face mode, all the mothers will be seated in circle. After finishing, each mother will keep their drawing and the ones from their partners in the group about her.
Description for online training
In the online version, the facilitator will establish a turn and the mothers will show their drawings to the camera. After finishing, they will make a photo or scan their drawings to send to the rest of the mothers.
SELF-LEARNING
PDF – Connection, social skills, and motherhood
Homework
The following activities can be done as a homework to apply the learned content in practice and daily life.
Activity 1 – A feeling, a song
Objectives: The main objectives of this activity are to be aware of your own feelings and attitudes. How the rest of the world and the daily things affect our mood is important and with this activity, the mothers will learn to accept and deal with their emotions, no matter if they are positive or negative.
Activity 2 – Did I?
Objectives: The main objectives of this activity is “pushing” a bit the moms to get out of their comfort zone in relation to their social skills and how they act and connect with the rest of the world.
Activity 3 – Read and empathise
Objectives: The objective of this activity is getting familiar with the same feeling of isolation any young mother can feel but from other perspective. Seeing that it is totally normal to feel some things and that it is pretty common also.