| Aim | This exercise aims at developing one’s imagination, the ability to express oneself in an unconventional way and increases the intensity of creative work. |
| Trainee profile | For the exercise, manual assistance is required for participants. Be sure they are at ease with each other. |
| Learning Objectives | To develop social skills
To gain experience presenting to an audience To fearlessly express personality To be inspired by other people and vice-versa |
| n° participants | At least 10 people |
| Duration | 45 minutes |
| Materials | Fruits and/or vegetables and/or flowers with a strong and pleasant scent (e.g. lemon, cucumber, watermelon, …), which are to be placed on containers or Tupperware before the activity. |
| Preparation | Prepare a table with all the fragrance samples. Place the table at the center of the room. Participants will then form a circle around it. |
| Implementation | 1. Have all participants gather in a circle around the table with fragrances. You are part of the circle.
2. Pick the first container with fruit/vegetable/flower in it. Smell it and share with the group what emotions, memories, impressions or associations that scent revives in you. 3. Pass the container to the person on your left. Have all participants, one by one, share their emotions, memories, impressions when smelling that scent. Give them some time to process the information and ask all other participants to refrain from speaking. 4. Repeat the activity with the other scents. Ask volunteers to pick up the other scents. 5. When you have all shared 4 or 5 fragrance samples, ask participants to choose the fragrance they most associate with CREATIVITY and have them explain their opinion one by one. They can pick the container again if they like. |
| Debriefing | Facilitate an open discussion on how smells can influence our perception of the context we are in and our presence in each moment. |
| Tips and hints | Fruits/vegetables or flowers may fall off if participants with special needs are involved. It is advisable to provide an assistant to help pass and pick up items. |
| Safety measures | Make sure none of the participants are allergic to the vegetables, fruit or flowers you get to pick.
During the work, it is necessary to ensure that the vegetables, fruits or flowers are properly arranged in such a way that every participant has access to them and that passing successive samples of smell on to each other is easy and ensures the safety of participants. It is better to place the fragrance samples in plastic bowls so that they do not break if they fall off on the floor. It is also necessary to provide participants with paper towels to dry and clean their hands, which can get dirty during the activity. |
| Added value | The ability to express one’s thoughts through different senses is a skill we often forget. The experience of describing the world or emotions or memories through smells is therefore a skill worth remembering. |