181208_Training-Module_interactive

Pendulum (Topic: Trust)
Duration
Number of
participants
15 minutes
10 people or more
Materials
No special materials
Idea
Activity
Reflective
discussion
Reflection for
the facilitator
Strengthening of trust, sensibility, cooperation
All participants, except one person, form a circle and hold on to each other’s shoulders. The last
person takes a position in the middle, closes her/his eyes, keeps their body strained and falls
down with their back to the circle. The people standing in the circle catch him/her and return them
to the starting position. In this way the person in the middle will be reached by the whole circle.
• How did you feel playing this?
• Was it easy or difficult to trust?
• Did you keep your eyes closed?
• How did you feel giving the support to the one in the middle?
• What does the exercise say about my trust, my borders, my courage?
Because of cultural imprints there are different understandings of body contact. The topic can be
discussed on the basis of this exercise.
Hunting (Topic: Communication)
Duration
Number of
participants
25 minutes
12 people or more
Materials
Idea
Activity
Small ‘Post-Its’ or pieces of paper, individually numbered from one up to the number of
participants, including the facilitator
Non-verbal communication, cooperation, attention
At the beginning, each participant gets a piece of paper with a number on it. They are not
allowed to show it to anyone. The facilitator can also join the game. The group form a circle. One
volunteer from the group stands in the middle of the circle and starts the game. He/she shouts
two numbers (e.g. 001 and 007). The two people with these numbers have to find each other
and make a sign without anyone noticing (especially the volunteer in the middle). Then these
two people have to swop seats quickly. The volunteer should try and notice who they are and,
when they change seats, should try and steal one of the seats so that there is a new person in the
middle. This person then calls out two new numbers.
Possible variation for a more advanced level is to make the circle smaller, to blindfold the eyes of
the person in the middle so that they have to find out who is changing seats simply by listening.
For groups with multiple languages, the numbers should be called out in all different languages.
Reflective
discussion
Reflection for
the facilitator
• How did you feel playing this?
• How did you recognise who is your partner?
• How did you communicate?
• How did you decide when was the best moment to switch seats?
• How did the volunteer feel being in the middle?
Non-verbal communication is a very important part of mutual understanding. Different non-verbal
signs have different meanings in different countries: eye contact, distance, facial expression etc. It’s
important to reflect on the consequences of different interpretations of non-verbal signs.
30 ASPIRE