To celebrate the 2010 National Day of Listening on Thanksgiving weekend, the San Francisco StoryBooth and the Contemporary Jewish Museum collaborated to put on a fun-filled afternoon of family activities.

The program featured a “listening stick” art-making project, which was a big hit for all ages! In line with the event’s theme, kids and parents sat at tables hanging out together, telling stories, and adorning their crafty cardboard tubes with ears, collaged images, and even some written messages about the importance of listening in their lives.

On the other side of the classroom, StoryCorps staff and fabulous interns from the museum’s Teen Art Connect program set up StoryCorps-inspired interactive stations: one for listening and one for storytelling. At the listening station, kids and their parents sat laughing and listening through headphones to some favorite StoryCorps stories. At the storytelling station, we invited families to record StoryCorps-esque short interviews with each other about whatever they wanted – earliest memories, favorite moments in their lives…you name it. Several young kids chose to interview their parents, which was, as to be expected, VERY cute.

Witnessing these sweet family moments this National Day of Listening was a great reminder to take the time to listen even when it’s not a holiday.