How to Connect with Family: Inside Out Movie Snack Activity

Movies can help us laugh, think and even connect with loved ones. We shared our movie night guide for the film Inside Out in our previous post, Inside Out Disney Movie Night: Emotion Sharing Guide. Today, we are expanding that discussion guide by adding a tasty movie night snack paired with its own set of discussion questions. Use today’s snack activity guide during your Inside Out movie night or as a way to keep the sharing going on another day

As with everything on Mouse Brief, this Inside Out snack and discussion is meant to be low-prep and low-stress for you. Please adapt this movie night family snack activity to work in your home. We have included some links to products we ourselves use. As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small commission off of products you buy using these links, but the price you pay remains the same. Let us head off to Headquarters and make some tasty memories!

Snack and Sharing with Inside Out

We find that working on a common task together helps us connect on a deeper level. For a recent movie night, we gathered as a family to create a colorful (and easy) snack together. While our hands were busy, we used this Inside Out snack activity to talk about how we were feeling. Here is your guide to making Inside Out Memory Sticks and cooking up some great conversation.

Gather Supplies for Inside Out Snack and Sharing

First, please find some skewers (wooden ones like these are great) or toothpicks. (No skewers? Keep reading to the end of the post for some snack alternatives.)

Next, gather fruit to represent each of the Emotions in Inside Out. We picked five different fruits that represented Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust. We used the colors of the fruits to relate them to the Emotions. When you are doing this activity at home, you can follow our lead and use fruit, or substitute in vegetables or other foods.

Here are some suggestions:

Joy: pineapple, banana, apple, mango, yellow pepper

Anger: strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, radish, red pepper, tomato

Fear: blackberries, purple grapes

Disgust: green grapes, kiwi, green apple, bell pepper, broccoli, cucumber

Sadness: blueberries… (Any other ideas for blue? Let us know in the comments!)

Prep Your Supplies for Inside Out Memory Sticks

Once you have gathered your fruit, cut it into chunks. We recommend making the pieces large enough to skewer without splitting but small enough to eat in one or two bites.

If your kids are very young, you may want to cut the fruit in advance or buy some pre-cut fruit. If you trust your kids with knives, you can do this together. We have a kid-friendly knife like these ones and this tough cutting board for our kids to use in the kitchen (under supervision).

At this point, we also used scissors to dull down the points on our wooden skewers. Of course, they are still sharp sticks, so we kept a close eye on our kids through all this.

Now, place all of your cut-up fruit and sticks within easy reach of the group. For our youngest, we placed toothpicks nearby, because they are easier for kids with shorter arms to maneuver.

Make Your Inside Out Sharing Snack Together

Are all of your supplies ready and within reach (mise en place everyone)? It is time to assemble your Inside Out Memory Sticks.

Of course, this is a sharing snack, so we have a series of discussion questions to go with the kebabs. You are going to read the prompts in the next section aloud. Everyone will answer the prompts with their skewers.

It is going to look something like this. First, you will read a prompt like, “Make a memory stick that shows the emotions you felt this morning.” Now, everyone should grab an empty skewer or toothpick and start placing fruit chunks on it.

Each person should grab a fruit chunk that represents how they felt when they first awoke. They should then pierce the fruit through the middle with the pointy end of their skewer. As they slide that piece of fruit down the skewer, they should explain why they chose it. For example, “I am putting this green piece of kiwi on my skewer, because I felt DISGUST over being forced to wake up so early!”

Everyone should keep filling their skewer with fruit and explaining until they run out of room. Each person can fill the skewer in the order they experienced those emotions that day or just as they think of them. There are no rules to what goes on the skewer or in what order: this is just a chance for everyone to get talking and sharing.

For example, “I am adding pineapple for joy, because we were all able to have breakfast together today! But I am also adding a strawberry for anger, because everyone took the cinnamon rolls before I could get one!”

Inside Out Sharing Snack Discussion Questions

Here is a list of discussion prompts to use as you make your Inside Out Memory Sticks. In the film Inside Out, the characters realize that memories and experiences can provoke mixed emotions. Joining mixed fruit “emotions” together on these skewers can help everyone process their own mixed memories and experiences. Talking about them out loud during this Inside Out snack activity can help everyone understand one another a little better.

Pick the prompts that work for you. Skip the ones that do not. Add ones that apply to your family. Here we go down memory lane!

• What feelings come to you when you think about the next holiday or birthday we will celebrate?
• What feelings have you experienced today?
• How did you feel during your most recent school or work day?
• Take us through an exciting day for you. What were the emotions you felt and memories you have from that day?
• Take us through a day when you overcame something you were scared about. What did you feel that day, and how do you feel about it now?
• Are there some emotions that often go together for you? Place them on a skewer and give an example of a time you felt that way
• Describe your relationship with a close friend. What emotions do you feel when you think about that person or what you have experienced together?
• How did you feel on our last family vacation or outing?
• What emotions do you have a hard time sharing?
• Finally… Make a skewer with the leftover fruit in front of you. Take a look at the skewer you have made and the emotions represented there. Does it remind you of an experience you have had? Why?

Alternative Inside Out Food Activities

If fruit skewers are not the right choice for your family, you can accompany these discussion prompts with other menu choices. Maybe you will make an Emotions Salad. Just gather some fruits or vegetables representing each emotion and invite everyone to toss them into their own bowl. No sticks required!

You can also use the popcorn toppings from our article Easy Popcorn Hacks for Family Movie Night to represent each emotion. Just think about it! With choices like sugar for Joy’s sweetness, salt for Sadness’s tears, cinnamon for Anger’s heat and more, you could make some pretty memorable popcorn toppings. Read that post for more ideas!

Want an even sweeter idea? Decorate cookies, cupcakes or ice cream sundaes with sprinkles representing each emotion! Yum!

Share Your Movie Night Snack

Have you filled those skewers (or cupcakes) with memories? After all that great conversation, it is time to enjoy your Inside Out movie night snack!

Of course, you can just eat the snacks you each made, but this activity is all about sharing. Instead, why not share your creations with your loved ones? Distribute your movie night snacks among all of your plates and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Thank you for reading about our Inside Out Movie Night snack activity.

Coming up, we have one more post with ideas for connecting with your family using the Disney Pixar film Inside Out. Interested in getting future posts in your inbox? Please subscribe below. Thanks again for reading, and do not forget to check-out Inside Out Disney Movie Night: Emotion Sharing Guide.