Here's another installment of The A-Files. I run across short activity snippets in my piles and files (both paper and digital) all the time, from conference workshops to ideas generated in that space between asleep and awake. Some fast (short-form) fun that might catch on. Check out the others volumes: Vol.1, Vol.2, Vol.3
What You Say – Courageous or Play It Safe
What You Say is a staple icebreaker in my programming repertoire. It's a tell-things-about-yourself experience with some 'challeges' by choice built in. I often use it to frontload a program to talk about the adventures ahead, the opportunities everyone has to choose their level of challenge along the way, and the chance to explore ones comfort zones in a supportive environment. My friend Jon shared another challenge he includes with this one. (Jon told me he calls this Brave or Play it Safe. I use 'courageous' in order to weave in some of the work from Brene' Brown. See below.)
Using a deck of standard playing cards, take out the face cards and then scatter out the Aces through 10s on top of a table or on the floor, rank side up (making a pool of cards). Before getting into the instructions of the activity, frontload the experience with a discussion about the concepts of courage and playing it safe. (Brene' Brown talks about 'ordinary courage' – the fact that most people make courageous (i.e., brave) decisions every day. Being courageous is not always about epic deeds. Just getting up each morning and facing the day can be a courageous act.) Then, provide the instructions and share this final directive with everyone before they choose a card: "Before you choose a card, I'd like you to make a choice. For this first round, will you choose to play it safe, or be courageous? If your choice to play it safe, and remember this is your truth, your choice, choose a lower number. If you want to step out of your comfort zone a bit, be courageous, choose a higher number. Once you've picked up a card, pair up with someone in the group to share the information about yourself. If there is still some time left after sharing, ask each other questions about what you heard your parter tell you."
After the first round (e.g., 3 to 4 minutes), discuss with your group some of the reasons people chose the card/number they did. Be mindful about lining up this discussion with the program objectives of the group. After the discussion, collect all the cards, return them to the pool, mix them around, and then ask everyone to choose another card – playing it safe or being courageous. Play out a second round and then discuss the choices they made this time, and why?
Note: I've used this version of What You Say a few times now. However, I've placed it in the middle of my program sequence, reasoning that participants should have some time interacting experientially with each other before they are given a choice between being courageous and playing it safe. Using this one too early could force them to choose a higher number than they really want in order to 'save face' and not look 'weak' or 'chicken.' Build up some psychological safety and group support behaviors before this didactic choice and make the conversations meaningful.
What You Say is a staple icebreaker in my programming repertoire. It's a tell-things-about-yourself experience with some 'challeges' by choice built in. I often use it to frontload a program to talk about the adventures ahead, the opportunities everyone has to choose their level of challenge along the way, and the chance to explore ones comfort zones in a supportive environment. My friend Jon shared another challenge he includes with this one. (Jon told me he calls this Brave or Play it Safe. I use 'courageous' in order to weave in some of the work from Brene' Brown. See below.)
Using a deck of standard playing cards, take out the face cards and then scatter out the Aces through 10s on top of a table or on the floor, rank side up (making a pool of cards). Before getting into the instructions of the activity, frontload the experience with a discussion about the concepts of courage and playing it safe. (Brene' Brown talks about 'ordinary courage' – the fact that most people make courageous (i.e., brave) decisions every day. Being courageous is not always about epic deeds. Just getting up each morning and facing the day can be a courageous act.) Then, provide the instructions and share this final directive with everyone before they choose a card: "Before you choose a card, I'd like you to make a choice. For this first round, will you choose to play it safe, or be courageous? If your choice to play it safe, and remember this is your truth, your choice, choose a lower number. If you want to step out of your comfort zone a bit, be courageous, choose a higher number. Once you've picked up a card, pair up with someone in the group to share the information about yourself. If there is still some time left after sharing, ask each other questions about what you heard your parter tell you."
After the first round (e.g., 3 to 4 minutes), discuss with your group some of the reasons people chose the card/number they did. Be mindful about lining up this discussion with the program objectives of the group. After the discussion, collect all the cards, return them to the pool, mix them around, and then ask everyone to choose another card – playing it safe or being courageous. Play out a second round and then discuss the choices they made this time, and why?
Note: I've used this version of What You Say a few times now. However, I've placed it in the middle of my program sequence, reasoning that participants should have some time interacting experientially with each other before they are given a choice between being courageous and playing it safe. Using this one too early could force them to choose a higher number than they really want in order to 'save face' and not look 'weak' or 'chicken.' Build up some psychological safety and group support behaviors before this didactic choice and make the conversations meaningful.
Rope Challenge
I love to find (and develop) team building activities using webbing or rope. I found this energizer (my distinction) at the Develop Good Habits website (not a fan of all the adds, but I do run into content I like at this site from time-to-time).
Needs & Numbers: Use a 15-foot webbing (Raccoon) circle with groups of 4 or 5 or a 50-foot ropes circle with one group of 10 to 20.
Process:
I love to find (and develop) team building activities using webbing or rope. I found this energizer (my distinction) at the Develop Good Habits website (not a fan of all the adds, but I do run into content I like at this site from time-to-time).
Needs & Numbers: Use a 15-foot webbing (Raccoon) circle with groups of 4 or 5 or a 50-foot ropes circle with one group of 10 to 20.
Process:
- Make a circle (tie the ends) out of your webbing/rope for each group in play.
- Each group lays out their circle on the ground or floor.
- Each group stands inside their circle and sets up their webbing/rope so it is taut on the back of their ankles.
- The challenge, for each group in play, is to move the webbing/rope up from their ankles to their wrists without touching the webbing/rope with their hands.
- When the webbing/rope reaches waist level, everyone in the group must raise their arms/hands up over their heads and keep moving the webbing/rope until it reaches their wrists.
'Hummdinger'
My circle of fun grew recently. My new acquaintance Silvio reached out and shared one of his adventures with me – the "Activities and Games by Silvio" YouTube channel. He's just getting started – you know I Subscribed. In his current batch of videos I found 'Hummdinger.' Love it! A nice interactive group clustering activity requiring audio communication – Humming. Do check out Silvio's video and explanation (link above).
Quick Synopsis: Provide and practice, by humming, four well-known songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; Row, Row, Row Your Boat; The Alphabet Song – "A, B, C, D, E, F, G....; Queen Songs, ABBA Songs, or Songs from musicals – anything popular with your group. Have some fun practicing the songs so everyone is humming loudly in preparation. Then, ask everyone to quietly choose one of the songs – don't tell anyone. When ready, ask everyone to start humming their chosen song, mingle around the group and find others in the group humming the same song. Same songs stay together, humming and gathering up others humming their tune. When everyone is in a group, go around and let each group hum a few lines of their song to identify themselves to everyone – nice and loud.
My circle of fun grew recently. My new acquaintance Silvio reached out and shared one of his adventures with me – the "Activities and Games by Silvio" YouTube channel. He's just getting started – you know I Subscribed. In his current batch of videos I found 'Hummdinger.' Love it! A nice interactive group clustering activity requiring audio communication – Humming. Do check out Silvio's video and explanation (link above).
Quick Synopsis: Provide and practice, by humming, four well-known songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; Row, Row, Row Your Boat; The Alphabet Song – "A, B, C, D, E, F, G....; Queen Songs, ABBA Songs, or Songs from musicals – anything popular with your group. Have some fun practicing the songs so everyone is humming loudly in preparation. Then, ask everyone to quietly choose one of the songs – don't tell anyone. When ready, ask everyone to start humming their chosen song, mingle around the group and find others in the group humming the same song. Same songs stay together, humming and gathering up others humming their tune. When everyone is in a group, go around and let each group hum a few lines of their song to identify themselves to everyone – nice and loud.
One Breath Feedback
I'm often asked about how to prevent (or limit) over-sharing (i.e., talking to much), especially during a reflection session when time is limited. Here is a crafty way to set a boundary on talking (click on title above for full details). I found this idea at the SessionLab Post 1/21/25 (This particular activity is way down in the 'Check Out and Recap' section of the page – I thought you might like to see the entire post. LOTS of activity ideas.)
Quick Synopsis: After sitting down for a reflection session, ask your group a question that will highlight some learning from the last activity. Tell everyone to quietly THINK about the question, then SHRINK down their thoughts into the important points, and then (breath deeply and) SHARE their highlights with the group using only one exhaled breath. After everyone has had the opportunity to share, ask another question participants can respond to in one exhaled breath of time.
I'm often asked about how to prevent (or limit) over-sharing (i.e., talking to much), especially during a reflection session when time is limited. Here is a crafty way to set a boundary on talking (click on title above for full details). I found this idea at the SessionLab Post 1/21/25 (This particular activity is way down in the 'Check Out and Recap' section of the page – I thought you might like to see the entire post. LOTS of activity ideas.)
Quick Synopsis: After sitting down for a reflection session, ask your group a question that will highlight some learning from the last activity. Tell everyone to quietly THINK about the question, then SHRINK down their thoughts into the important points, and then (breath deeply and) SHARE their highlights with the group using only one exhaled breath. After everyone has had the opportunity to share, ask another question participants can respond to in one exhaled breath of time.
Thank you for the work you do. Be courageous out there!
Chris Cavert, Ed.D.
Chris Cavert, Ed.D.
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