So many ways to use!
Recommended by Educators
Used by teachers and counselors in all 50 US states and 50+ countries. Endless possibilities for social circles, SEL lessons, and reflective journaling.
Picture: CASEL Senior District Advisor (Dr. Hector Montenegro) using cards at a workshop with school leaders.
For Home, School, Therapy, and Travel
Easy-to-use and engaging cards packed with essential topics and skills. It's like eating vegetables that taste like sugar!
Picture: Speech Language Pathologist (Adeena) using the cards in small group intervention with Elementary students.
Youth Approved
100+ thought-provoking questions that build competencies in Self-Awareness, Self Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, Responsible Decision-Making, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Quality Learning & Bonding for All
Build belonging and communication and social emotional skills! Practice active listening skills, mindfulness, empathy, and academic English language skills.
Picture: Orientation icebreaker activity with 52 Essential Conversations for college Freshmen.
Testimonials
52 Essential Conversations is a wonderful tool for teachers and parents alike to have anytime, anywhere conversations with young people to build our mutual understanding and our SEL competencies together.
Children – and their parents – need help navigating a screen-based world that’s more concerned about ‘me’ than ‘us. This seemingly simple deck of cards prompts discussion about honesty, kindness, disappointment, and compassion. Our judges recognized ‘52 Essential Conversations’ for making these often-intimidating conversations as easy to spark as playing Go Fish. Turns out, families were waiting for the opportunity.
Case Study
Cultivate a culture of care for 750+ teachers and staff using 52 Essential Conversations.
Strengthen relationships for 11,000+ students using 52 Essential Relationships.
Support counselors and psychologists with 52 Essential Coping Skills.
Making learning accessible and adaptive
View ResearchUse together with these decks to maximize experience
S
The 52 Essential Conversations as well asThe 52 Essential Relationships &The 52 Essential Coping Skills card decks are very well designed and thought out. They spur important dialogue with all members of the family and the kids even get them out themselves to start the process off at various times.These 3 card decks are at the very top of the best decisions I have ever made as a parent who is trying to help my kids develop, grow and become well rounded critical thinkers who can negotiate the trials and tribulations of life.
C
Whether you are a parent looking to deepen conversations with your child or an experienced educator wanting to impact dozens of students, 52 Essential Conversations provides just the right amount structure to get you going. Simple to use if you want it to be - just read the questions and discuss - but also ready to develop whole lessons around the topics. In fact, several lesson plans are also available online already.As an educator specializing in social and emotional learning, I've found 52 Essential Conversations to be the perfect resource for supporting SEL efforts at my school.
J
This deck of 52 Essential Conversations draws from the research base showing that the most important skills for children to build are social and emotional skills -- and they begin to develop at home with family. This game offers families ways to deeply connect on topics that really matter. My family has played it time and again and it's a gift I continue to give to other families. We truly laughed and cried while we played. If there's one game that's important for all families, it's this one. Just excellent!
N
There is so much information about social emotional development and no-screen family time but my life is hectic and it was challenging to find something that worked for my 7 year old and my 13 year old twins but then a mom at my girls' school told me about the 52 Essential Conversations cards. I LOVE THEM!! They're easy to use, we have real conversations and all 3 of my kids can participate! Our long drive home has been the best time to play and a good way to keep them off the devices. I usually give our family friends board games or personalized ornaments for the holidays, but now I have my perfect stocking stuffers.
A
What an incredible product! I just received my "52 Essential Conversations" card game from MindBrainParenting.org this weekend. I took the game in the car when we had a family drive and I asked each family member a question. As a former educator, I love how the cards align to Casel's 5 competencies, so I picked a card on "friendship" since we had some problems with this topic in the week with my youngest daughter. We all gave our own answer of "what makes a good friend" so it was clear to my daughter with all of our examples. I'm sure this game will help her to remember the lessons outside of the car, and into everyday life when it matters the most. I'm thrilled with the quality of the questions, and look forward to diving deeper into the cards when we have that down time. Instead of looking at our phones, we will be creating meaningful discussions.
R
HELPFUL
b
My 13 yr old son and I had a great conversation after asking him a question on one of the cards.
M
This is a great card game to start a conservation. I'm a Mental Health Peer Counselor in the Mental Health Inpatient unit as a Group. The patients love the card game and they shared their experiences with own coping strategies.
J
They make you think and some make you laugh.
B
A+++++
A
The quality of the book and speed of delivery was excellent.
A
I use in therapy. It was very helpful.
L
We have been using these cards at dinner time to help our three kids focus on one thing, learn how to take turns, and (greatly) improve their ability to fully listen to others. All of our children have ADHD, and we were noticing a wild dynamic at dinner time that made it hard to enjoy each others company. These cards help to slow things down, to show respect / interest and empathy toward others, and to better understand that everyone’s minds process questions differently. These are truly great for all families that simply want to raise good kids with polite conversational abilities.
T
Bought for my high school students! They really like them!
A
Great product for parents - good prompts, well organized, and researched. Kudos to the creator
Q
I loved this product! It was fun to read these cards as a family. One young man entered the scene and wanted to play. He later on became my son-in-law! 😁It really promotes honesty and helps you get to know people really well. I can say that this game brought them together. Who knows, you could build stronger relationships with anyone through this game, at least that’s what I’ve found! I would highly recommend, but at your own risk of building stronger relationships and I wouldn’t recommend playing this with someone you don’t want a good relationship with!
C
I like the idea of these cards, and find them useful in my practice. However, they aren’t not as thick as playing cards and don’t hold up to regular use. I’m disappointed. Not worth the cost.
I
Muy buenas para conversar y compartir ideas.
C
I ordered these to use with my sons who have difficulties expressing their emotions. These cards have great questions and have started wonderful conversations!
N
I didn't know what to expect when I received the cards. Once I opened the package, and read the very first card, I realized that the questions made me pause. They made me sit with my own feelings and explore and ask the "why" questions. These cards will be a mainstay in my household, no matter how young or old, we will continue to "play" the game to grow as humans and as a family.
A
This is a great Ice breaker with new friends and a great way to start dinner conversations with the kiddos.
D
Very good convo starters for teaching social skills
A
This is really a great card set. Trying to teach my young 8 yo kiddo social emotional skills while opening up conversation with my husband. This hits two birds with one stones and really forces us to open up communication as a family and especially with the hubby who is non communicative. Awesome buy. Recommend highly. Kiddo finds it to be very fun too and wants to play it often and thereby engages hubby who is reluctant but now he finds it fun to play too so it's helping to build the bond between all of us. Life saver.
V
I purchased this to use with my therapy clients, particularly teens, who sometimes have difficulty expressing their thoughts and emotions. It's a great way to get them talking and making those connections to enhance their social-emotional skills.
S
My family thoroughly enjoyed using this product. They offered great conversation pieces that allowed us to expand on the topic and even come up with tangent conversational pieces. It was interesting for me to view how my children would answer the questions and understand their social and emotional levels.
B
There cards were recently recommended to me by a fellow educator and they are wonderful! As a teacher and parent, I have found these cards to be a tremendous resource for starting engaging conversations. I have already had many meaningful and thought provoking conversations. The cards are great for any age and really provide great lessons including socials skills, problem solving and building relationships.I love how the cards are categorized into different social and emotional focus areas which is useful when planning social emotional learning curriculum. As a family, we have been using the cards during dinner as conversation starters, I could see them being helpful during long road trips or carpool rides. I am so happy that I found these cards and I can already see the benefits with my class and family.
J
It is really difficult to get through to my son and establish real conversations. I recently used the 52 "Essential Conversations" deck on a long car trip during memorial day weekend and it was really amazing to see my son open up when prompted with meaningful questions. This deck will definitely help me engage more deeply with my son and develop his emotional intelligence, empathy and intuition - highly recommend!.
D
I used this product 1:1 with my young client during therapeutic session and was surprised that both client and therapist was able to tackle important issues and expand on the topic. Each card we used led to a 3-5 minute conversation, open-ended type questions that require thoughtful responses to answer.
P
Not sure if I will order again
