Five ways to wellbeing chatterbox

Before you begin

• This is a great activity to run during an online session. Check out the advice on using Zoom and other popular digital platforms and the guidance on being safe online.
• Decide how you’ll explain the ‘Five ways to wellbeing’. Depending on your audience, you may want to find some items to represent them, for example, a ball to represent ‘be active’ and a phone to represent ‘connect’.
• Send everyone a copy of the template to use. Any square of paper would work just as well – the lines on the template just make it a bit easier to follow.

Talk about the five ways to wellbeing

1. The person leading the activity should welcome everyone to the meeting and mute them.
2. The person leading the activity should use the ‘Five ways to wellbeing’ above to help explain that research found five things that help to boost wellbeing. Everyone could guess what sorts of things might be on the list, before the person leading the activity tells them.

These aren’t the only ways to boost wellbeing, so welcome other sensible answers too. You might need to gently emphasise that while these things are all great, doing them doesn’t guarantee that someone won’t experience a mental health problem. These things on their own might not be enough for someone’s mental health problem to get better, too.

2. For each way to wellbeing, everyone should work together to think of a few examples of things they do or would like to do.
3. The person leading the activity should check that everyone has the equipment they need ready to go.
4. The person leading the activity should show everyone how to complete each step of the instructions to make their chatterbox. Remind everyone that they can look at the instructions below to help them.

Try to do each step so it’s on camera. Give everyone time to copy and catch up before you move on to the next step.

How to make a chatterbox

1. Take the template and cut out the square chatterbox. 
2. Put the template face down on the table, so you can’t see any of the writing. Fold it diagonally in half and unfold. Fold it diagonally in half the other way and then unfold.

Make sure you press your finger along the crease so it’s clear. 

3. You should now have a square with a diagonal cross folded across the middle. 
4. Fold each corner of the square into the middle of the diagonal cross. You should now have a smaller square – one side should be covered in numbers, and the other with the Scout logo. 
5. Turn the chatterbox over so the Scout logo is face up. It should have a cross folded across the middle. 
6. Fold each corner of the square into the middle of the cross. You should now have an even smaller square. 
7. Fold the chatterbox in half and then in half again, and then unfold. 
8. Gently push out a blank square, to make a pocket for a finger or thumb. Repeat with all of the other blank squares on the outside. 
9. Put your fingers inside these pockets, and pinch together. The top of your chatterbox should now come to a point – a bit like a pyramid.

Use the chatterboxes to talk about wellbeing

1. Once everyone’s finished folding their chatterbox they should colour each of the outside blank squares (the sides of the pyramid) a different colour.

If you’re not using the template, people will need to label each of the inside triangles with a number from one to eight. 

2. Everyone should write (or draw) a message about the five ways of wellbeing under each number, for example, ‘how do you stay active?’ or ‘spend time with others you care about’.
3. To finish, you could take it turns to use your new chatterboxes on your call, or challenge the group to use them to chat to some of the people they live with. 
4. Everyone should keep their chatterboxes safe – they may need them for another activity or to show someone else how to boost their mood.

This activity helps contribute towards some of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Find out more about the SDGs, and how Scouts across the world are getting involved.