Activity: Emotional Jenga
A great game for groups of kids, or just a family ready to talk about addiction as a whole and their
personal experiences dealing with it. Get a group of at least two people together and talk through the
long list of emotions we feel when dealing with depression
Materials:
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Jenga Blocks
Marker
Instructions:
1. Take Jenga blocks and write down emotions on most of the blocks
2. Each person takes a turn pulling out a block and reading off the emotion listed
a. Examples of emotions associated with addiction:
i. Anger
ii. Fear
iii. Loneliness
iv. Stress
v. Sadness
vi. Pain
vii. Depression
viii. Helpless
3. Participant then describes a time they felt that way.
a. Can either be based on a family member’s addiction or general experience
i. This is to help youth identify and describe emotions
Pull blocks until the tower falls and talk about all of the emotions that can make us fail and fall apart like
the tower when overwhelmed. Talking through and opening up about addiction allows us understand
and process the emotions we feel and how we can use them in a positive way instead of falling apart like
a Jenga tower.