Partnership CoE/EC Pilot Training Course European Citizenship in youth work

"Interactive Group Building"

A note on the principles of the Workshop:
The process is designed to be accessible to all participants, whether or not they have experience o
doing this sort o activity! "t is inspired by the ideas o #oru$ Theatre ro$ Augusto Boal! %ll
exercises are optional & i a participant does not eel co$ortable with an exercise she/he can step out
o it at any ti$e! The $o$ents or relection in the process are intended as an outlet or eelings and
e$otions not as an opportunity or analysis o intellectual discussion! Participants are o course
welco$e to use these activities with their groups! "t is reco$$ended to try the$ out irst with a group
that the acilitator already eels co$ortable with and to bear in $ind the i$portance o building up to
the $ore challenging exercises!
Objectives
To acilitate the group building process
To explore individual and group perspectives 'ways o seeing(
To provide a context or co)operation which is not only dependent on oral discussion
To open up creative avenues or exploring the the$es o the course
To introduce participants to practical activities which could be used with a variety o groups
Descriptions
Pushing against each other (10 minutes)
Participants arrange the$selves in pairs, acing each other, and hold each other by the shoulders!
There is a line 'i$aginary or real( on the ground between the$! They start pushing with all their
strength!
*hen one person eels that her adversary is weaker, she eases o so as not to win! " the other person
increases his pushing, the irst does the sa$e, so that both are using all their strength building up the
tension but keeping the balance!
Can be tried back to back 'leaning on each other( or holding ar$s with eet together and leaning back!
The latter version can then be turned into a seesaw!
Hypnosis (10 minutes)
Partners stand acing each other! % holds his hand in ront o +,s ace! %s % slowly $oves his hand, +
keeps her ace at the sa$e plane as the pal$ o the hand! Tips o ingers to orehead, botto$ o hand
to chin! "t is i$portant not to put the hand too close! The ai$ is to put your partner into unusual
positions without $aking the$ do things that they can,t do! Test their li$its!
This can be extended by linking pairs together 'via hypnosis( so that there are dierent groups that are
all co)dependent on each other,s $ove$ent!
-hare thoughts with partners then with another pair 'ours( '. $inutes(
Salto-youth.net/toolbo
Partnership CoE/EC Pilot Training Course European Citizenship in youth work
Important notes for all blind games
Lead with the chest not with the head, do not stick arms out in front of you, make sure the room does
not have any sharp, sticking out obstacles and if necessary have spotters to turn people round who are
walking into danger.
tand ! "al# blind ($ minutes)
Everyone inds a space in the roo$! -tand with eyes closed, hands by sides or crossed in ront o
chest! #ind your center o gravity! Play with it by leaning ro$ side to side and backwards and
orwards and then co$e back to the center! People then walk as slowly as they like about the roo$! "
a person co$es into contact with another person they stop and, without talking or opening their eyes,
negotiate their way round each other!
Blind magnets (10 minutes)
/agnets repel and attract! Everyone walks around the space with eyes closed! 0o talking! %t irst
everyone repels so that it is i$possible to touch! *hen so$eone eels another person approaching
they sense each other and $ove away! Then they attract! " people touch they $ust re$ain touching
and keep $oving! 1everse this several ti$es! %t the end the group can be let in a bunch and then open
their eyes!
*ho did you end up next to2 *hy2
3iscuss in ours '. $inutes(
Blind cars (1$ minutes)
Partners! 4ne is the car, the other is the driver! The car is blind! The driver co$$unicates with the car
by pats! Patting on the top o the head $eans $ove orward! 4n the let shoulder $eans turn let! 4n
the right shoulder turn right! 4n the back $eans reverse! The car should turn on the spot not in a
curve! The car controls the speed! The idea is to $ove through the traic without crashing!
3iscuss with partner '. $inutes(
%omplete the image (&0 minutes)
The 5oker co$es into the $iddle o the circle and takes on a shape but doesn,t say what it is! -he asks
the group what they see! -he then explains what it $eant to her! -he then explains about not 6na$ing
i$ages that saying what an i$age is beore showing it narrows down the perspectives or possible
interpretations!
4ne person then co$es into the circle and $akes a rozen i$age, a second person then adds hi$sel to
co$plete the story he saw in the irst person,s i$age! The irst person is the replaced by a third person
who changes the i$age to it in with the story she saw in the second person,s shape!
3on,t discuss these at irst, 5ust see the$ and go! This can then be built up by adding $ore than two
people or done on a the$e!
culpting in pairs (&0 minutes)
Each participant stands acing a partner! % is the sculptor, + is 6intelligent clay! -he practises
$anipulating her partner,s body to $ake the i$age she wants! + tries to eel and understand what he is
which is what is $eant by 6intelligent clay! *hen both % and + have had a couple o practices,
working on the the$e o 6citizens, sculptors then bring their sculptures together to $ake one big
sculpture!
7ook at it! 3oes it tell a story2
3iscuss i$ages in two circles '. $inutes(
Salto-youth.net/toolbo
Partnership CoE/EC Pilot Training Course European Citizenship in youth work
'tom $!( ($ minutes)
Everyone $oves around the roo$, illing the roo$ and trying to keep an e8ual distance between each
person! The 5oker says a nu$ber and without stopping people or$ groups o that nu$ber! This is
repeated several ti$es, inishing with . 'or a nu$ber that will $ake groups o around six(!
%ollective poems ($$ minutes)
Each group writes one word inspired by the idea o Europe on one piece o paper! The group then
passes the paper to the group on their right! "n each group, each individual should now, on separate
pieces o paper, write a sentence or phrase inspired by this the$e without consulting each other! The
group then passes all these pieces o paper to the group on the right! Each group now has to asse$ble a
poe$ using the the$e as a title and arranging the sentences in an order that $akes sense to the$!
*hen they are happy with the order, they decide on a way o peror$ing the poe$! They should
decide i one person says one line, everyone says all the poe$ etc9 They should then decide on an
i$age using the group, which represents the poe$ and add one group/individual $ove$ent per line o
the poe$! %t the end they should have a $ove$ent se8uence along with a reading o their poe$! Each
group then peror$s this to the rest!
Salto-youth.net/toolbo