On a regular basis I find myself exploring the activities I know for different ways to use them. Particularly in ways that help my group members interact with each other a little more. One of the most common questions I ask myself is, “How can I add another ‘problem’ to the experience.” Problems invite interaction.
A recent exploration involved ‘Line Ups’ – the no prop activity where a group is given some parameter, followed by everyone finding their place. For example, “Line up in alphabetical order by your first name.” Or “Line up in birthday order my month and day, not the year.” Raise your hand if like to program Line Ups.
For years I’ve been providing the parameters for Line Ups. And each time I use the activity I challenged myself to bring in one or two parameters I hadn’t used before. When Ryan Eller shared ‘100 Ways to Line Up a Group’ I was all over it. Here are some of my favorites from Ryan:
A recent exploration involved ‘Line Ups’ – the no prop activity where a group is given some parameter, followed by everyone finding their place. For example, “Line up in alphabetical order by your first name.” Or “Line up in birthday order my month and day, not the year.” Raise your hand if like to program Line Ups.
For years I’ve been providing the parameters for Line Ups. And each time I use the activity I challenged myself to bring in one or two parameters I hadn’t used before. When Ryan Eller shared ‘100 Ways to Line Up a Group’ I was all over it. Here are some of my favorites from Ryan:
- Straightest to Curliest Hair
- Who lives the furthest to the closest distance from where you’re standing.
- Average time to get ready in the morning – least to most.
- The furthest travelled away from home.
- Number of times you’ve moved to a new house or apartment.
- Number of first cousins.
Beyond the Basic Line Ups
Extension 1:
Years ago, my first extension of Line Ups was to include some time for a short conversation related to the parameter. For example, “Get together with one or two people near you and share the story of your name.” Or “Get together with one or two people around you and share your experience of a favorite birthday.”
Thought Experiment: What would be a question to discuss related to each of the parameters I picked up from Ryan? (It’s common to invite people to share a ‘scar’ story. What about a ‘hair’ story?)
Extension 2:
My latest change to Line Ups involves adding an additional problem to the process - choosing the Line Up. Instead of me providing the parameters, I ask the group to provide them. Specifically, I challenge them to come up with 10 different line ups to accomplish. (Why 10? The first few line ups will be the ‘easy’ ones. Then the group is going to have to work a little harder – take the time it takes – to come up with ones that everyone can be, or wants to be, part of.)
I frontload the challenge with a consideration: “As you discuss line up ideas, consider if the parameter you suggest include everyone in the group. For example, if you want the group to line up numerically by the sum of their cell phone number, does everyone in the group have a cell number? How do you know? How will you know?”
What I want to do, purposefully, is to get participants to think a little more about what they want to ask the group to do. How will they inquire? Who will lead the ‘thinking’ process? Will participants ‘share’ the space for suggestions? How will the group decide on a line up? Will they ‘check in’ with everyone? Will everyone be comfortable with the line up? Will people speak up about their level of comfort?
Yes, Line Ups, of course, can just be a fun way to get participants to interact, talk with each other, and ‘connect’. And, when you want to/can, dive in a little deeper, extend the process. Get them into some conversations to build more understanding, more awareness of each other.
My favorite processing question after this one:
What is something you found out during this activity that you didn’t know before?
Extension 1:
Years ago, my first extension of Line Ups was to include some time for a short conversation related to the parameter. For example, “Get together with one or two people near you and share the story of your name.” Or “Get together with one or two people around you and share your experience of a favorite birthday.”
Thought Experiment: What would be a question to discuss related to each of the parameters I picked up from Ryan? (It’s common to invite people to share a ‘scar’ story. What about a ‘hair’ story?)
Extension 2:
My latest change to Line Ups involves adding an additional problem to the process - choosing the Line Up. Instead of me providing the parameters, I ask the group to provide them. Specifically, I challenge them to come up with 10 different line ups to accomplish. (Why 10? The first few line ups will be the ‘easy’ ones. Then the group is going to have to work a little harder – take the time it takes – to come up with ones that everyone can be, or wants to be, part of.)
I frontload the challenge with a consideration: “As you discuss line up ideas, consider if the parameter you suggest include everyone in the group. For example, if you want the group to line up numerically by the sum of their cell phone number, does everyone in the group have a cell number? How do you know? How will you know?”
What I want to do, purposefully, is to get participants to think a little more about what they want to ask the group to do. How will they inquire? Who will lead the ‘thinking’ process? Will participants ‘share’ the space for suggestions? How will the group decide on a line up? Will they ‘check in’ with everyone? Will everyone be comfortable with the line up? Will people speak up about their level of comfort?
Yes, Line Ups, of course, can just be a fun way to get participants to interact, talk with each other, and ‘connect’. And, when you want to/can, dive in a little deeper, extend the process. Get them into some conversations to build more understanding, more awareness of each other.
My favorite processing question after this one:
What is something you found out during this activity that you didn’t know before?
How have you extended Line Ups? Leave us a Comment below!
All the best,
Chris Cavert, Ed.D.
All the best,
Chris Cavert, Ed.D.
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