Interactive Games and Activities
Icebreakers
Team Building
Worksheet-based Activities
Feedback & Evaluation Templates
“Find Something soft/bright/red/…”
Following a break, getting a group back into a focused energy to continue with the program can be challenging. This activity is designed to help bring a group back.
The facilitator announces that participants will need to listen to their cues and either move with their bodies or their focus to items in the room that match the prompts. The facilitator will then start listing colours, shapes, textures to prompt the participants' responses.
“Everyone in the room move towards something that is blue.” wait... Once the group settles, “Everyone in the room find something that is hard” wait... Once the group settles, “Everyone in the room find something that is bright”.
There are no “wrong answers” in this activity, it is just about bringing participants into the room, assisting in awareness building and focusing of energy.
Where the Wind Blows/All My Relations
This activity has a higher physical demand and may not be appropriate for a group that is new to working together, has complex mobility challenges or is resistant to “games”.
Seat all players in a circle with seats. One player will be in the middle of the circle without a seat. They are the caller. The caller will say something that is true for them, but that is still a general or common enough statement to have others in the circle in agreement. All players who share the truth of the statement move to another seat in the circle, while the caller tries to claim a seat. The player without a seat becomes the caller.
“The wind blows for all my friends who’ve been in the ocean”
“The wind blows for everyone wearing mismatched socks”
“The wind blows for anyone who’s ever had a shitty experience with a doctor”
It is up to the caller how vulnerable they would like to be, and it is always up to the participants if they wish to move during any particular turn. In introducing the game players should be reminded that we are not policing each other's participation, so if you know something is true for someone and they are not moving, do not out them or make assumptions about why they may not want to share that with the group.
This activity has been used in the ANKORS party safe workshops as a way of opening conversations about risk. Statements made by the caller can pertain to risk, but we can explore that broadly and could include statements like,
“.... if you have ever been on a boat without a life jacket”
“.... if you have ever jaywalked”
“.... if you have ever gone to a party without a plan of how to get home”
“... taken drugs that you weren’t 100% sure of the contents of”
“... applied for a job or school program you wanted to get into”
“... left a situation that felt unsafe”
An important debrief note if running the game in this way is that no one has a “risk-free” life. Some of the risks we take are imposed or increased based on circumstances beyond our control like poverty, gender or geography. Taking risks is something that can easily be ranked into a good/bad dichotomy, but rather a necessary part of life. Discuss as a group how we can support each other’s autonomy and interconnection around risk while being mindful of stigma and structures of oppression.
Feedback & Evaluation Templates
The gathering of primary and secondary statistics in a program like this are crucial to show funders the impacts of the program and ensure consistent and ongoing support. Some of the statistics that may be worth gathering are trackable social service interactions like meals served, clothing donations, referrals made, advocacy etc. Other pieces that may feel worth tracking are demographic information of participants, especially when participants may have identities or experiences that can support accessing special funding pools. When tracking things like gender, ancestry, disability, or sexual or drug use practices be sure to do so in ways that respect confidentiality, are optional and produce non-attributing statistics. Recognizing that this is challenging in some small towns, (for example; you may only have one, 2-spirited injection-using woman in town, and so statistics that make it obvious that it is her must not be used in a way that could compromise her safety or willingness to attend the program.)
Remember that we cannot assume identity assignments and find ways for participants to anonymously self declare association with labels, understanding the stigma that can come with public declarations.
Some of the noted outcomes of a program of this nature are much harder to track. We cannot know if someone feels empowered to engage in a bystander intervention on the bus ride home, or if domestic violence occurrences are decreasing, or if the minute details of how someone injects have changed in a way that prevents an abscess that would’ve otherwise occurred. These incidences are only things we can witness anecdotally or gather in personal accounts from participants. Provide opportunity for the praxis feedback aspects of the program to include evaluation, including self-evaluation, that recognizes the challenge of tracking such outcomes.
Program facilitators and adjacent support staff may need to ask consent from participants to record their feelings about the project into testimonials.
Evaluation sheets and follow-up online surveys can be helpful, but burdening participants with huge amount of paperwork may feel overwhelming. Be sure to have ways for data to be collected that don’t rely on evaluation sheets.
Team Building
Worksheet-based Activities
Feedback & Evaluation Templates
“Find Something soft/bright/red/…”
Following a break, getting a group back into a focused energy to continue with the program can be challenging. This activity is designed to help bring a group back.
The facilitator announces that participants will need to listen to their cues and either move with their bodies or their focus to items in the room that match the prompts. The facilitator will then start listing colours, shapes, textures to prompt the participants' responses.
“Everyone in the room move towards something that is blue.” wait... Once the group settles, “Everyone in the room find something that is hard” wait... Once the group settles, “Everyone in the room find something that is bright”.
There are no “wrong answers” in this activity, it is just about bringing participants into the room, assisting in awareness building and focusing of energy.
Where the Wind Blows/All My Relations
This activity has a higher physical demand and may not be appropriate for a group that is new to working together, has complex mobility challenges or is resistant to “games”.
Seat all players in a circle with seats. One player will be in the middle of the circle without a seat. They are the caller. The caller will say something that is true for them, but that is still a general or common enough statement to have others in the circle in agreement. All players who share the truth of the statement move to another seat in the circle, while the caller tries to claim a seat. The player without a seat becomes the caller.
“The wind blows for all my friends who’ve been in the ocean”
“The wind blows for everyone wearing mismatched socks”
“The wind blows for anyone who’s ever had a shitty experience with a doctor”
It is up to the caller how vulnerable they would like to be, and it is always up to the participants if they wish to move during any particular turn. In introducing the game players should be reminded that we are not policing each other's participation, so if you know something is true for someone and they are not moving, do not out them or make assumptions about why they may not want to share that with the group.
This activity has been used in the ANKORS party safe workshops as a way of opening conversations about risk. Statements made by the caller can pertain to risk, but we can explore that broadly and could include statements like,
“.... if you have ever been on a boat without a life jacket”
“.... if you have ever jaywalked”
“.... if you have ever gone to a party without a plan of how to get home”
“... taken drugs that you weren’t 100% sure of the contents of”
“... applied for a job or school program you wanted to get into”
“... left a situation that felt unsafe”
An important debrief note if running the game in this way is that no one has a “risk-free” life. Some of the risks we take are imposed or increased based on circumstances beyond our control like poverty, gender or geography. Taking risks is something that can easily be ranked into a good/bad dichotomy, but rather a necessary part of life. Discuss as a group how we can support each other’s autonomy and interconnection around risk while being mindful of stigma and structures of oppression.
Feedback & Evaluation Templates
The gathering of primary and secondary statistics in a program like this are crucial to show funders the impacts of the program and ensure consistent and ongoing support. Some of the statistics that may be worth gathering are trackable social service interactions like meals served, clothing donations, referrals made, advocacy etc. Other pieces that may feel worth tracking are demographic information of participants, especially when participants may have identities or experiences that can support accessing special funding pools. When tracking things like gender, ancestry, disability, or sexual or drug use practices be sure to do so in ways that respect confidentiality, are optional and produce non-attributing statistics. Recognizing that this is challenging in some small towns, (for example; you may only have one, 2-spirited injection-using woman in town, and so statistics that make it obvious that it is her must not be used in a way that could compromise her safety or willingness to attend the program.)
Remember that we cannot assume identity assignments and find ways for participants to anonymously self declare association with labels, understanding the stigma that can come with public declarations.
Some of the noted outcomes of a program of this nature are much harder to track. We cannot know if someone feels empowered to engage in a bystander intervention on the bus ride home, or if domestic violence occurrences are decreasing, or if the minute details of how someone injects have changed in a way that prevents an abscess that would’ve otherwise occurred. These incidences are only things we can witness anecdotally or gather in personal accounts from participants. Provide opportunity for the praxis feedback aspects of the program to include evaluation, including self-evaluation, that recognizes the challenge of tracking such outcomes.
Program facilitators and adjacent support staff may need to ask consent from participants to record their feelings about the project into testimonials.
Evaluation sheets and follow-up online surveys can be helpful, but burdening participants with huge amount of paperwork may feel overwhelming. Be sure to have ways for data to be collected that don’t rely on evaluation sheets.