Talk about Stories

Winter break is a wonderful time for families to enjoy stories

together, whether you’re watching, listening, or reading!

Stories spark imagination, build empathy, and create rich

opportunities for conversations that strengthen literacy skills.

Heading out on a longer trip? Try listening to an audiobook—

many are free through your public library! You could also pick

a book for everyone to read and discuss together, or enjoy a

great movie as a family.

These stories are all great places to start conversations! Ask

each other questions about:

Your opinions on the story and what you each enjoyed

Things you’re each curious about

What connections each of you can make to other stories

or your own experiences.

Play Games Together

Games offer fun opportunites for conversational practice and

critical thinking around language. Word games are particulary

great at building language skills.

Consider games like Boggle, Quiddler,

Scrabble, Apples to Apples, or Codenames.

Try setting up a family Wordle challenge!

Share the Socials

Encourage your family to share what each person is seeing

online.

Have a daily social media round-up when each family

member shares their favourite meme, video or post.

Have everyone keep a eye out for fake news and share it!

Look for undercover AI, out of context clips or biased and

false information. Have a critical discussion about it.

Be mindful of the time spent on devices. Once students get

used to excessive screen time, cutting back can be challenging.

Try setting specific periods when the whole family puts devices

aside and focuses on enjoying the moment together.

Enjoy the Break!