Shoe-Box Memory Keeper – Small Group Activity

Middle school can be chaotic, confusing, overwhelming, loud, AND it can also be joyful, creative, surprising, exciting! Regardless of what word conglomeration you or your middle school friends might use to describe these years, middle school is worth remembering. It is a powerful, transitional, formative time – so let’s help our friends hold onto and learn from all that they are experiencing.

Invite a few (or all!) of your middle school friends over. Girls might love this more than boys, but if you’re a guy leader who is excited about this activity, bring that positivity and your middle school fellas will love it too.

Each person should have their own box, which you can encourage them to bring from home! It doesn’t need to be cute or even in the best condition, so long as it has 4 sides and a way of closing. Gather the supplies listed below, set music to play low, and maybe even include some fun sentence starters to get kids talking!

Let them just go for it, sharing the supplies to cut and paste and put their wondrous creations together! Some students might need encouragement to be creative, but YOU are going to be the best at helping your friends be themselves and let comparison ruin the fun.

Some suggested supplies:

• Snacks, snacks, snacks (I mean, obviously.)
• Shoe boxes with lids
• Scissors
• Glue
• Tape (clear, bright, black, or printed – bring it all on!)
• Colorful paper, solid and prints, which can totally include various scraps
• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Photos
• Markers
• Coloring pages (They can color and then cut out what they like.)