The M&M Game

Objectives

• to help young people and older adults get to know more about what people in other age groups care about.
• to help participants learn that even though they may be in different age groups, as neighbors, they have some of the same concerns.
  

Steps

1. Break into mixed-age groups of 3-6 people in each group.
2. Give a bag or bowl of multi-colored M&Ms to each group.
3. Ask participants to take turns selecting M&Ms from the bag or bowl (without looking). For each M&M they choose, have them say something about how they feel about their neighborhood based on the color they choose.
   

Red: Say something that you dislike about your neighborhood.
Light Brown: Say something that you like about your neighborhood.
Green: Say something about what you like to do in your neighborhood.
Dark Brown: Say something about your neighborhood that you would like to change.
Orange: Say something about your neighborhood that you fear.
Yellow: Say something about the world that you would like to change.

* Derived from "Side by Side: Exploring Your Neighborhood through Intergenerational Activities" (Kaplan, 1994).