To start dealing with each group’s random words (see Random words project) we started with an improvisation exercise. Each group had to improvise the 5 random words they had picked and try different combinations. We took advantage of the nice weather and had our actors performing outdoor!
This improvisation exercise can be used as an ice-breaker or to gain energy as a team while working. The participants form groups of 5-6 people. The goal for each group is to hide one of the people in the group using the bodies of the remaining team-mates. It can be done for all the people of the team and it’s really funny if they have to hide their group mate from someone specific that looks for uncovered clothes, feet, etc.
This is an ice breaker activity for smaller groups (8-15 people) which helps participants get to know each other in a creative and fast way.
Participants make a circle and each one receives a magazine (weekly/monthly magazines with pictures work best). Each participant has 60-90 seconds to leaf through the magazine and find one picture which represents them in some way. When the time is up, the magazine needs to be passed on their left to the next participant. The process is repeated until all magazines circle through and each participant has in front of themselves 8-15 pictures (depending on the group size).
The participants then take time to arrange their pictures on a piece of A3 paper to make a collage of random pictures. Each participant presents themselves in 60 seconds using a collage as a visual support.
The main goal of this activity is to realise how difficult is to communicate graphically and not only ideas that for us are clear. Often spending a lot of time working on a specific project we forget to describe milestones or details that can be necessary for the understanding of our ideas and instead we communicate misleading information. It is also a good exercise to identify key-words from a visual message.
Material: paper for poster, markers
People: 3 groups of 3-5 people, each group is supposed to have already brainstormed and defined a project
Approximate time: 1h 30 min
Each group has 15 minutes to draw a poster for their already-defined project. They are allowed to draw a scheme, different smaller images representing steps of their project, graphs, maps or whatever they want to use to communicate, but they cannot write words, numbers or draw arrows.
Then, the posters are swapped between the groups. Each group has now an illustrated poster representing the project of another group. The next 15 minutes are dedicated to add keywords to the poster, trying to identify the most appropriate ones. The groups can now use words, numbers and arrows.
Next, the posters are swapped again. The last group adds a title for the project that is a combination of drawings and keywords from two different groups and uses 15 minutes discuss a 10 minutes presentation of the commonly designed poster.
Then each group presents the project they have been discussed in the last 15 minutes. After the presentations each group is invited to ask question and add comments about the discussed projects, the original ones and the intermediate steps.
Mosaic of Life 