This weather check-in and check-out is a simple strategy to divert boredom and avoid one-word responses when starting or ending an activity or session with participants. Questions such as “how are you feeling today?” or “describe your mood” can be overwhelming and uninspiring. It can be overwhelming to describe yourself to other people, especially when put on the spot or when in a group of strangers. Using weather to express moods and experiences can help participants who struggle to understand their feelings, are hesitant to share, or feel unengaged with the process.
Here’s how to do it:
How to Set Up for the Weather Check-In/Check-Out
You don’t need any special materials for this check-in/check-out. Explain the concept simply, avoiding unnecessary details when possible:
- It’s time for us to do a check-in/check-out. [Ask one of the questions listed below, or one of your own].
- Let’s take a minute to think about our responses, then everyone will have the opportunity to share and provide an explanation.
- Does anyone have any questions?
- If the group asks for clarification, provide an example like, “I feel foggy because I didn’t sleep well last night.”
Participation can be kicked up a notch with some tools, such as the following:
- Create flashcards or visual cutouts with different types of weather. Lay the images face up in a pile or neatly arranged on a flat surface. Ask participants to look at the options, chose which weather image best represents their mood, and hold the image for the group to see when explaining their response.
- For a virtual check in/out, make a PowerPoint slide with images of different types of weather. Ask participants to use a drawing feature on Zoom to circle or make a star next to their choice. Consider the difference between providing pictures with labels vs. pictures without labels.
- Provide paper and drawing utensils for participants to draw what kind of weather they’re experiencing.
Questions to Ask Participants
There are a lot of questions you could ask participants to encourage them to relate their mood to weather. Here are a few options:
- What kind of weather are you bringing to this space today? Why?
- What weather describes your mood? Why?
- What’s your internal weather reading? Why?
- What’s your personal weather forecast for today/this weekend/this semester? Why?
Debrief Strategies to Encourage Conversation and Connection
- If participants don’t know what kind of weather represents their mood, ask them some follow up questions:
- Do they like this kind of weather?
- What positive memories are associated with this weather?
- Is this weather scary to them?
- Is this weather energizing?
- Do they consider this weather exhausting?
- If you are doing this check-in/check-out with a group, you can point out any trends– “I noticed a few people are feeling snowy today…“- or encourage the group to make connections by asking, “what similarities are you seeing in the group?”.
- You could also gently bring awareness to contrasting weather types experienced by group members- “some group members are feeling sunny while others are experiencing a rainy day, what does that mean/what can we do with that/how should we, as a group, approach this?”.