What?
The mindyourmind team partnered with Strides Toronto and ten youth who participated in the Design Lab. Over an in-person weekend and followed up by Zoom sessions, youth identified themes in communication, understanding, and support between youth and caregivers.
Final Resource: When Lemons Give You Life. A print-ready card game developed to help youth and caregivers explore mental health concepts through a gamified, accessible format.
Why?
The main purpose of this collaboration was to co-create a new mental health resource or tool that reflects what youth actually need and helps caregivers (parents, guardians, or other trusted adults) better understand and support youth through their mental health journey.
Who?
The mindyourmind team, Strides Toronto and a group of ten amazing youth: Abigail, Ace, Amanda, Anne, Brooke, Cassandra, Deviann, Onisa, Raisa, and Vivian.
Tool?
The purpose of the “When Lemons Give You Life” game is to build empathy, have meaningful conversation, build supportive relationships, have a shared understanding and develop navigational skills for wellbeing.
Game Objective
To help youth and caregivers start conversations about mental health and wellness, to support each other through challenging moments and learn how to understand different perspectives.
Components:
- Game Board
- Tokens
- Spin wheel with paperclip and pencil or dice
- Lemon Cards (challenges, education, obstacles)
- Lemonade Cards (validation, support, coping strategies)
Gameplay Summary
- Prepare the deck and deal the cards.
- Player reads the scenario from a Lemon Card.
- Player spins the wheel or rolls the dice to determine if they read the positive (even number) or negative (odd number) response on the Lemon Card.
- Players move along the game board based on the scenario responses.
- Players can support another player using the Lemonade Cards.
- The game is done when players are out of Lemon Cards or all players reach the top.
- See the GamePlay.pdf for full instructions.
The game’s collaborative structure models shared responsibility, empathy, communication, and mental health learning.
Find out more about Design Labs, the tools mindyourmind created with young people, and the Design Labs we’ve done all over Canada.
