LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION TOOLKIT FOR ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN INDIA• 19
ACTIVITY THREE
Think Feel Do
Group Check In- Introduce the activity by saying that many events take place in life that each of us respond to
differently. Also, the same person responds to a similar situation differently at different times.
Remind the children of earlier sessions on self-esteem, that if you feel you can do it, you will be
able to do so. Remind the children also of making wise decisions, and that when they are very
sad or upset or angry they cannot think clearly and might behave in a way that is unsafe. - Talk to the children about how we “think” with our head and “feel” with our heart. Ask them to
imagine a situation where someone insults them. How would they react in the first instance: with
the heart (feeling) or with the head (thinking)? Generally, our first reactions are our feeling
reactions. If we know what we are feeling (and the earlier sessions explored this), then we can
think more clearly about what to do.
Explain to the children that we may have many feelings but we do not act on all of them. That is,
all feelings do not lead to some kind of action or behavior. The most important feelings are the
ones we should pay attention to, think about what to do with them and decide which thoughts
can lead to action or behavior. - Divide the children into three or four groups and give each a problem card. On this card the
children will have to describe what would happen if the feeling was negative:- What would be the thoughts?
- What would be the behavior?
Children would also discuss what would happen in the same situation if the feeling were positive: - What would be the thoughts?
- What would be the behavior?
The groups then share their stories.
- Some examples of problem statements are:
I have failed in my exams;
Negative Feelings: feel like crying, I am no good, I am not clever;
Thoughts: What is the point of trying if I cannot succeed, anyway the teacher does not like me;
Behavior: I will drop out;
Positive Feelings: I feel upset but I know I am okay;
Thoughts: I did not work as hard as I should have; I need to get some help so this does not
happen the next time;
Behavior: I will try again;