Make the Most of Your Time With Your Family — and Your Hearing!
This time of year is all about giving thanks, celebrating, and being with the ones who mean the most. Make the most of your time with your family — and your hearing! — with these hearing-themed activities that focus on practicing better communication skills, active listening, learning about hearing loss, and celebrating better hearing!
Thanksgiving:
Though it’s popular to go around the table and give thanks during Thanksgiving dinner, it’s not the only way to convey your gratitude. Do something a little different this Thanksgiving and write a note to someone who can’t be at your table this year.
How to Do It:
If you have a specific person in mind, take a card or notepaper and pass it around the table for everyone to sign. Each person can write one nice thing about the recipient, or why they are grateful to have that person in their life.
Christmas and Hanukkah:
Playing charades fosters an understanding of what it’s like to communicate with hearing loss.
How to Do It:
Make a list of topics (maybe holiday-themed words!) and create teams. Have everyone wear earplugs so they experience what hearing loss can sound like. Challenge everyone to read each other’s lips. Look up a few sign language gestures to help everyone communicate in a different way.
New Year’s:
If you’ve obtained better hearing, you deserve to celebrate. Everyone starts the year with a goal in mind, and though that goal may have changed, it’s still fun to look back and think about your struggles and accomplishments over the past year.
How to Do It:
Ask everyone to think of something they accomplished this year. Have them share their hard times, motivations, and successes. Have everyone bring pictures or items that remind them of their goals. Sharing vulnerable moments like this is something we often forget to do in our busy lives, but it is so important for helping us feel motivated, loved, and appreciated.
If it’s been a while since you’ve seen us, contact us before we head out for the holidays!
