To spark conversation and promote friendships within your team

To understand the importance of keeping positive values alive

To trigger the understanding of how difficult it is to make a selection in life

For the facilitator: n° 1 hat or container where to collect the papers

If not possible, due to the lack of space, you may create two lines of chairs facing each other.

If not possible, due to the lack of chairs, you may create room for the participants to sit on the ground.

2.      Hand each person 10 pieces of paper and ask them to write down, individually, one core life value on each paper. These values can be friendship, family, integrity, self-esteem, kindness, altruism, respect, active listening, freedom of thought, education, health, courage, and so forth.

3.      Explain that life values are the fundamental core beliefs that guide your behaviours and goals and help you measure your overall success in your life. You may help your participants by creating an extensive list of values before the exercise and having them choose from it. Let the participants choose by themselves.

4.      Once all participants have written down their 10 values, ask them to discuss with the person in front of them the values they wrote down and the reasons why they have chosen those values. Give them 5 to 10 minutes.

5.      Restore the silence, walk around the circles and ask all participants to remove one of their values from their “deck” and let it fall into the hat/container. Do not answer questions that may arise.

6.      Ask the participants in the outer circle to stand up and move from one place on the left. They will all then face another person from the outer circle.

7.      Ask the newly formed pairs to explain to each other what value they had to give away and how they would feel if that value was removed/denied from their life. Give them up to 2 minutes to share.

8.      Repeat steps 5, 6 and 7 until all participants are left with only one value.

9.      Call for applause as a common gratitude to the whole group for sharing their values and thoughts.

To understand how different people may identify different core elements of the same concept

To foster active listening

To build critical thinking

To train our flexibility in accepting and appreciating different perspectives

If the number is odd, you may adapt to the number of people in the groups.

2.      Write down the word COMMUNITY, or the word TOLERANCE, on the top of the flipchart.

3.      Tell the participants they have 4-5 minutes to individually (and silently) identify and write down 5 words that belong to the selected concept. You may give examples: in relation to COMMUNITY, some examples are “active listening”, “collaboration”, “growth”, “inclusion”, and so forth.

4.      Ask the participants to pair up with somebody. When all pairs are formed, tell participants they must discuss with their peers to motivate the choice of their words and to select together 5 words out of those identified by each one of them. From 10 words, they need to choose 5. They have another 5 minutes so that they also motivate why they want to keep one word over another.

5.      Ask the pairs to join another pair, thus forming groups of four participants. When all the groups are formed, repeat step 4.

6.      If possible, ask the groups to join another group, thus forming bigger groups of eight people. When all the groups are formed, repeat step 4.

7.      Split the flipchart under the archetype concept in as many columns as the number of groups. Ask the groups to reveal the final 5 words selected and write them down in the respective column.

8.      Ask the groups to select all together the very final 5 words that belong to the selected concept out of all those written on the board. Facilitate the discussion and visually show on the flipchart what participants decide. Some words may be similar but may be perceived in different ways by the participants. Foster the active involvement of participants and have them motivate their ideas and decisions. This step should last up to 15 minutes

9.      In case of need, you may rewrite the very final 5 words on a blank flipchart paper or board.

How well did you think your group worked together?

What kind of roles were there in the group? Who took the role of the leader? Who decided to step aside and let others take decisions?

How does it feel to be in one or the other role?

What could have been done differently?

What are the lessons that we take with us in the future?

Well-being

Social Health

Democracy

Group cohesion

Etc.

To comprehend how our perception influences the outcomes in a group work

To experience how words and people roles may hinder the pursuit of common results

To experience the limitations of one-way communication

2.      Have the teams placed themselves far away from each other, ideally in two different rooms.

3.      Ask Team A to build a peculiar structure with the blocks. Specify there is no need to place all 15 of them. In the meantime, Team B has to wait, where they cannot hear or see Team A. While Team A builds the structure, they must write down step-by-step instructions on how to re-build the structure. Tell the team that once they have completed the task, the challenge for Team B will be to rebuild the structure by having only those instructions as a guide. Team A’s goal is therefore to help Team B complete an exact copy of the structure.

4.      After completing the structure, Team A goes to Team B with the instructions and the other set of blocks. Without further aid, Team B must rebuild the structure.

5.      Once Team B has completed their structure, Team A brings the original structure and the two are compared.

6.      Have the two teams discussed the following questions:

a.      How accurate is the second structure?

b.      How helpful were Team A’s instructions?

c.      What worked? What did not?

d.      How did the team’ members behave in their achievement of their respective

goals?

7.      Ask the teams to go back to their initial locations.

8.      The process is repeated with opposite roles. Team B will be the builders and the writers of instructions, while Team A awaits to later rebuild the structure.

9.      The structures are compared again to see if the two teams were able to improve them communication skills the second time after the first round’s lesson learned.

How well did the other team follow the instructions?

How difficult was it to see how the other team struggle with your own instructions?

Can you give similar situations to this one in your everyday life?

How did your team’s perception differ from the other teams’ perception?

How did your personal perception influence your team’s perception?

What changed in round two?

In what ways the understanding of the activity increased from round one to round two?

What did you learn?

To create an atmosphere of positivity and support

To enhance communication skills

To foster positive and healthy relationships

If it is not possible, due to lack of space, you may create one or more separate circles on the ground.

2.      Provide each participant with a small sheet of paper and a pen or pencil.

3.      Instruct each participant to write their name at the top of their sheet and then pass it to the person on their left.

4.      Encourage participants to take a moment to think about the person whose sheet they have received.

5.      Ask them to write a genuine and heartfelt compliment about that person. It can be related to their personality, skills, achievements, or any positive qualities they possess.

6.      Once everyone has finished writing a compliment, instruct them to pass the sheet to the person on their left again.

7.      Participants now receive a new sheet with different names on it and write again a compliment based the new person.

8.      Repeat the passing and complimenting process for a few rounds until each participant has received their original sheet back (with their name).

9.      The leader takes the whole papers and loudly reads each piece of paper with the name and the compliments.

10.   Give big applause for the try.

To enhance the feeling of equality of the persons acting like one

To embrace the collaboration of the body and the mind

To develop a healthy competition that leads to the value of cooperation resulting in victory or a decent effort

n°1 blindfold for each of the participants BUT the first one in line.

n°1 chair. If participants are divided into teams, due to the high number, there should be one chair per team.

2.      Give out the balloons and have participants place one balloon between them, connecting someone’s chest with someone else’s shoulders. The balloons need to always stay up and participants cannot use their hands to hold them.

3.      When participants are comfortable with the balloons, blindfold all participants but the first one in line. Share with them that the goal is to reach the chair, go around it and go back to the other end of the room (or their initial line position) without any balloon to fall.

4.      Start the activity. If a balloon falls, the team must manage to pick it up again, reconnecting the line and keeping the other balloons from falling. The line cannot continue its walk until all balloons are up again.

5.      When the team reaches its destination, the game has successfully reached its end. Ask for a round of applause as a shared gratitude to the whole group.

In case disabled participants do not feel safe walking with the balloon between them, ask the group to implement the game without the help of the balloons, but by holding each other’s hand.

To concentrate and focus

To promote a positive body image, self-love and self esteem

To detoxify phobias and develop his/her personality

To build self-awareness and self-knowledge

If the chairs are not enough, the participants can sit on the ground.

2.      Having aligned the torso of our body, with our chin parallel to the ground, we gently place our hands on our knees.

3.      Take deep breaths of oxygen, filling our stomach with oxygen 7-10 times.

4.      We softly move our chin down and then up in the sky.

5.      First slowly and steadily rotate our shoulders in forward motion, along with our breaths. Then in a backwards motion.

6.      Slowly and steadily in conjunction with our breath we turn our head left and right.

7.      We Extent our arms forward to be parallel to the ground. Our hands create fists. We rotate our wrists in a circular, internal motion. Then switch to an external motion.

8.      We move our hands in a prayer position in front of our heart. Then we interlock our fingers and spread open our palms to touch the heart. Our elbows must be parallel to the ground, feeling a stretching on the back. Take deep and steady breaths.

9.      After a few minutes we are going to the prayer position. As we are, we put slowly our prayer hands above our head and then down to the chest. Repeat 10 times.

10.   We put our hands softly on our knees.

11.   In a gentle motion, we tilt our torso left and right.

12.   We stretch our arms forward again, bending our elbows, so the wrists are above our head and parallel with one another. As stationary as they are, we begin to open our arms to each side and put them back stationary to the center.

13.   We rest our hands back on our knees.

14.   Holding with both hands our left knee, we raised it to our chest. Breath. We continue with each other.

15.   Inhale, exhale. We cross our hands in our chest (like an X) trying to reach our knees. Trying our torso to be straight we go down and then up in the first-same position.

16.   Bend our torso and hold our feet tight. If it isn’t possible just bend your torso on your knees holding down your head between your feet. Stay there, breath.

17.   In the last step, we hug ourselves tight with our head down. Inhale-exhale.

18.   Ask for a round of applause as o common expression of gratitude to yourself and to the whole group.

If disabled participants cannot coordinate or even follow the rhythm of the activity, ask a partner to help them.

To gain experience presenting to an audience

To fearlessly express their personality

To be inspired by other people and the opposite

If it is not possible, due to the lack of space, you may create more small circles or two lines of chairs facing each other.

If not possible, due to the lack of chairs, you may create room for the participants to sit on the ground.

2.      Hand out paper and pen to all participants and ask them to think individually of an object or an animal that characterizes them as individuals. Give them from 3 to 5 minutes to figure it out. They need to have the WHY in mind as well.

3.      Ask the participants to write down, or better yet draw, the identified object or animal.

4.      When all have completed the task, ask one by one to stand up (one at a time in clockwise order) and analyses why they chose that object or that animal. Give them 5 to 10 minutes to express themselves.

5.      Once all participants have completed their analysis, ask for a round of applause as a shared gratitude to the whole group.

Why do you select that object/animal?

What makes you feel?

With what actions will you be one step closer to being that object/animal?

Have you had an experience that made you behave like that object/animal?

If you regret your decision, which other would you choose and why?

What similarities do you have with that object/animal?

Deeper and more authentic emotions make us more vulnerable, for example sadness, fear, shame, and loneliness, but they bring us closer to the person we are or can become.

To enhance the social skills of participants

To promote artistic thinking and point of view

To demonstrate the value of the proper use of the language depending on the feeling/situation that is selected.

2.      Ask them to write with their material a short dialogue that is related to a situation/feeling they have experienced. It does not have to be necessarily connected to the feelings previously listed in group. If it is not possible to write it down, they can memorize it. Give them up to 20 minutes.

3.      When all pairs are ready, ask the pairs to act out, one by one, the created dialogue. Improvisation is accepted too. Give time (up to 25 min) to think what feeling/situation will be presented.

4.      Each pair, one by one, stands up and presents the result.

5.      Only after the performance, let other participants guess the subject/feeling represented. The pair may also reveal it at the end.

To Identify the differences between long-term and short-term thinking

To develop planning skills and the ability to define goals

To be aware of opportunities and risks (personal and external) when reaching goals

A copy of the handout “Mountain peak” for each participant (see the Annexes)

Sheets of paper

3. Pens

2.      Give the participants a blank sheet of paper. Ask them to think of a specific long-term goal they would like to achieve and to write it down. Ask them to be as specific as possible, so as to identify a real vision of the future. If they are not at ease with defining a long- term exact goal, let them choose a dream or a wish for the future.

3.      Once everybody is ready, ask the participants to think of realistic steps they need to take to accomplish the chosen goal/dream. Give them up to 5 minutes.

4.      Hand out to each participant the handout “Mountain Peak” in the Annex section below and ask them to write down those realistic steps they would have to undertake in order to achieve the goal/ dream.

5.      Once the participants have completed the task, ask everyone who is willing to present to the group their goal/wish and the steps to achieve it. Give them up to 3 minutes to allow all participants to partake and discuss on those proposed steps.

6.      Ask for a round of applause as o common expression of gratitude to yourself and to the whole group.

You can ask them how they will proceed in case some of the steps present difficulties. You should encourage the students to think of a possible plan (B) actions/steps in order to assure the achievement of the goal.

Why do I need dreams/goals and planning to achieve them?

Is it important to be aware of my goals now and plan to achieve them? If yes. Why? If not, why? When is the best time to plan?

Which are my most important short-term or long-term goals? Why? How to make it easier for everyone to achieve their goals? What influences my dreams and life goals?

If the group is not too big, you may ask all participants to brainstorm together to think of a possible Plan B for each of the identified goals/dreams, with adapted actions/steps in order to assure the achievement of the goal.

To appreciate diversity

To get to know each other

To develop the skill of showing their emotional expression

To understand your own and others’ feelings at different moments or situations

Free space in the room

2.     Play one song and let the group move around the room to the rhythm of the music. Have them “fill all the empty spaces”. Keep the song for 2 minutes at least.

3.      Stop the music and ask the group to identify how they feel or what emotion they associate with that kind of music.

4.     Repeat this with all songs (and music types) in the playlist.

5.      You may decide to play the last 3 songs uninterruptedly, so as to have participants switch from one emotion to another without having to describe it.

Can music influence the way we feel?

Is it easy to define emotions and feelings?

How did you feel showing these emotions?

How did you feel seeing someone else showing these emotions?

Did your emotions differ from others? If yes - why?

What else affects your emotional state?

What can you do to help others feel better?

To develop leadership qualities

To Identify their strengths

To Enhance their self-esteem

To Enrich vocabulary

them to read carefully the list of values, attitudes and skills.

2.      Start a small conversation and make sure that participants are aware of the meanings and characteristics of the listed values, attitudes, and skills.

3.      Give a copy of the handout “My Competences” to each participant and ask them to select those they believe they already possess and those they think they do not possess but would like to develop.

4.     Have the participants write them down on the sheets.

5.      Ask the participants to share on by one their answers and the reasons behind their selection. After each share, invite all other participants to help the person in finding out what he/she should do or need in order to develop those desired values, attitudes, and skills.

Regarding the competences you think you possess, can you share a situation/circumstance that made you realize it? How do you think you developed that competence?

Regarding the competences you would like to develop, why did you select them? Can you share a particular personal/professional purpose they could serve?

In case of participants with special needs who cannot write down the values, ask a collaborator to help them out.

To develop team-work competences

To stimulate creative thinking

To make participants think about possible actions at the community level

To intervene and discover the importance of belonging to a certain community

Create and print a word file with the following content. On one page, list the fundamental rights:

Right to self-determination

Right to liberty

Right to due process of law

Right to freedom of movement

Right to privacy

Right to freedom of thought

Right to freedom of religion

Right to freedom of expression

Right to peaceful assembly

Right to freedom of association

On the other page, make a two-column table with the key elements for the development of an effective project:

The objectives and the motivation behind the project

The added value of the project and its outcomes

The partners and the stakeholders

The specific target group

The Implementation

The project results

The impact of the project

The title

The logo

The project title

2.      Prepare the groups to the topic of fundamental human rights, discussing with the participants the main milestones to their development.

3.      Hand out to all groups a copy of the paper with both the list of fundamental rights and the table with project key elements.

4.      Give 15-20 minutes to the group to build up and present a project of their own. Participants can propose topics that are close to their realities, as long as they refer to at least one of the fundamental rights.

5.      Ask the participants to create a presentation on the flipchart, or on a wide cardboard or sheet of paper, so that groups can, one by one, stand up and pitch their idea.

6.      Ask the first group to stand up and give a presentation of their idea. Ask all participants to listen carefully and not interrupt until the presentation is over.

-    Did you enjoy working in a group?

-    What were the difficulties?

-    Did you learn new things?

-    What did you like best?

-    What did you like the least?

-    What will be the impact that you would like to see?

The “Design thinking can be described as a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity. A design mindset is not problem-focused, it’s solution focused, and action oriented towards creating a preferred future."

Instructions:

1. EMPATHIZE / INITIATION PHASE: Conduct research in order to develop knowledge about the community you want to focus on. Imagine your goal is to improve on-boarding experience for new users. The first stage of Design Thinking is a deep understanding of the needs and problems of the user. The key is to identify hidden and intuitive motivations that influence people’s choices and behaviour

2.  DEFINING: At this stage, the teams make a synthesis of the information gathered in the empathy stage, in order to define what the exact problem is. This stage requires breaking the thinking frameworks and habits that limit the perspective.

3.  IDEATION: Ideation phase consists of creation and development of solutions. It is a generative stage of design thinking process. The basic tool here is Brainstorming

4. BUILDING PROTOTYPE: The goal of this phase is to understand what components of your ideas work, and which do not. In this phase you begin to weigh the impact vs. feasibility of your ideas through feedback on your prototypes. Make your ideas feasible. Gather opinions from the facilitators and the agronomist to obtain feedback.

5. PRESENTING THE PROTOTYPE

To break down barriers

To experience being “Different”

To experience different situations and analyses what it is like when we are dependent on someone; how supportive, tolerant we are of others

To Get to know each other

To Develop the skills of work and cooperation

Items to place around the room to sweep off the floor (scissors, candies, tennis balls, cones, etc.)

Chairs

2.      For each group, give one participant a blindfold (becoming the “blind”) and another participant a chair (becoming the “lame”). The third participant will be the “dumb”.

3.      The “lame” sits on the chair with his/her back to the “blind”. The “lame” therefore does not see the “blind” but only the “dumb”. The latter is facing the “lame” and can see both the “blind” and the “lame”.

4.     When all groups are set, place a number of items on the ground around or in front of the “blind” in each group.

5.      Explain the rules: the “dumb” can show something to the “lame” but is not able to talk; the “lame” can speak and explain to the “blind” where and how to go after the placed items but must not turn his/her back and look at the “blind”. The “blind” listens to the “lame” and tries to find the items placed on the floor and is able to talk to ask better directions.

6.     Give the start. The “blind” in each group must find and lift up all items placed on the ground.

7.      When everyone has completed the task, the roles in the same groups change so that everyone tries all three roles.

Ask the following questions:

Which “role” did you feel most comfortable in? Why?

Which role did you dislike? Why?

Who helped you?

Was there something bothering you?

Which role was harder to trust? Why?

Have you ever met in your life a blind person or a person with a movement disorder? How did you feel? Did they need help? Did you help?

What did you think of him/her? What did you think of yourself? If there was a person with special needs in our class, how would you feel? Does he/she need help? Would you help? Why?

Are these people eligible to learn in the same contexts as a fully able-bodied person?

Teams are not allowed to pick up items in other team areas. Also, make sure that there are no other objects on the way to avoid danger for the “blind”.

To foster active listening

To understand and talk about other people’s opinions.

To appreciate other people’s personal characteristics, even though they are different from ours

2.      Invite the participants to tell their partner about their role models and their features or virtues. Tell the participants to remember the other person’s answers. They can write them down if necessary. Give them 10 minutes.

3.      When all pairs have shared their role models, all participants gather up in a circle and ask each participant to describe his/her pairs’ role models and key features or virtues. Give them up to 20 minutes.

Take notes of the characteristics told by the group to remind them during debrief if needed.

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/confidence.html

To accept and act towards potential solutions to social problems.

To practice communication and social skills in a safe, non-threatening environment.

2.     Divide the participants into groups of four people and give them one category of social situations: “Workplace”, “At a party” and “One on One”.

3.     Provide the following questions to the groups to get inspired on their respective topic:

Workplace

   “How was your commute in this morning?”

   “Do you have any ideas to help kick off this project?”

   “What are your priority tasks that need attention right now?”

   “Is there anything I can do to help you with project?”

   “I could really use your input/advice on project.”

At a party

   “How do you know (host’s name)?”

   “Are you enjoying yourself?”

   “I really like your outfit. Where did you get it?”

   “This music is interesting. What kind of music do you           usually listen to?”

   “Let’s head over to the food/drink table.”

One on One

   “How are you doing?”

   “Are you enjoying your day/week?”

   “How did you get involved in (activity).”

   “The weather is       today.”

   “What are you up to today?”

   “Hope you’re staying safe and well.”

Replies (valid in all settings)

   “That’s good.”

   “Really?”

   “That sounds interesting.”

   “Thanks for the feedback/insight.”

   “Good, glad to hear it.”

   “Wow.”

4.      Have the groups prepare and roleplay a similar social situation of 3 minutes. Invite them to imagine the situation is set in a real context.

5.      Ask the groups to discuss and identify others, they replied they would have liked to say to better their social interaction.

Do you think it is helpful to practice social discussion as a  role play?

     Do you usually practice it with friends?

     How can role play help us build social skills?

     How can these apply in our everyday life?

Role play scenarios: https://busyteacher.org/classroom_activities-speaking/roleplays/ https://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guides/instructional-guide/role-playing.shtml

To increase speaking skills.

To foster active listening.

To raise self-awareness.

To build emotional rapport and understanding

A printed paper with the following questions:

What is a valuable lesson you learned in your life?

What are you truly good at?

What would you like to learn to do really, well? What can you do today to begin?

What is a great achievement in your life?

What makes you truly excited about life?

What do you love most about yourself?

When was the last time you did something for the very first time?

What do you imagine yourself doing 1 year and 5 years from now?

What has the fear of failure stopped you from doing? What one step could you take today to begin overcoming that fear?

What motivates you to do and be the very best of yourself?

What is your number one goal in the next 6 months?

What is the biggest obstacle that stands in the way of your happiness and how would you overcome it?

How would you describe yourself or what are the key words that represent you?

2.      Tell the participants that in each group there will be 1 interviewer, 1 interviewee and 1 assistant. The interviewer will read the questions in the printed paper to the interviewee, who will have to answer them at their pace. The assistant will write down in the post the key words or values or strengths or positive actions that the interviewee reveals. One post should contain one key word or one key sentence and should remain attached to the stack. The interviewer may ask other related questions if they feel like.

3.     Give 10 minutes to answer the questions.

4.     After that, the assistant will draw one post of it per time and place it on the interview’s body (arms, chest, legs, forehead, etc.) while telling him/her what is written on it and why. Soon the interviewee will see himself/herself filled with positive key words that he/she was not aware of possessing.

5. At the end, have the participants swap roles until they have all been the interviewees

Let the participants know it is normal if they have difficulty answering it immediately

To increase creativity.

To embrace communication with the group.

2.      Tell the group that the person who holds the soft ball (or another soft object) must continue the story that you start and that will be created collectively.

3.      Begin with the story. Toss the ball (or walk towards the person you want to give it to) to the person who must continue the story.

NOTE: Shy people can participate by providing only one word.

Unfortunately, I lost my keys.

Fortunately, my friend had spare keys to my house.

Unfortunately, my friend wasn’t in town.

Fortunately, my friend’s mother had spare keys to her house.

To improve attention skills

To focus and enhance other senses, besides sight

To increase patience

The first person starts drawing on the back of the person standing in front.

Once they feel that the person behind them starts drawing on their back, they start reproducing the drawing as they feel it.

When they finish, they put the drawings next to each other and see if they are similar.

To enhance people’s capacity for reflection and critical thinking

To facilitate intercultural sensitivity

2.      When they are all ready, ask them to go stand under the picture that has shocked them the most either in a positive or in a negative way.

3.      Ask who would like to share with the rest of the group the reason why they have chosen that specific picture. Ask then the participant answers the following questions:

Please, describe objectively the image. What do you see?

How does the picture make you feel? Write down your emotions.

What values does the picture tackle?

4.      Ask more participants to share their thoughts and ask the same questions.

How our values influence the level of cultural shock.

How difficult it is to be objective and observe without prejudices.

How to accept the differences.

To be able to describe and explain ideas

To enhance your perception of new perspectives

To foster curiosity

Do you think focusing on details makes you feel like you are more present and in control of the situation?

Why do we usually lower our attention to what we have around?

How does changing perspective influence the way you perceive things?

Do you think that embracing other people’s perspectives may enhance our perception of the world?

Τo improve the ability of understanding different ways of behaviour

To develop psychological and social imagination

Story 1.

Charles is studying at a technical high school. His brother is visually impaired and Charles has come up with the idea that it would be nice to build new small movement sensors that make certain sounds when they spot someone approaching, instead of keeping the common ones that beep, in such a boring way. Charles wonders what kind of sounds may be nice to hear if you are visually impaired at home.

Story 2.

Gregory would very much like to help people with disabilities. He is very empathetic and believes that society thrives when people help each other. He is thus looking for opportunities (job, volunteering, etc.) to become an accompanying and supporting person for elderly visually impaired people. He is making research on communication and social skills to acquire in perspective of this opportunity. What competences should he work on?

Story 3.

Hania is about to start a new job position in the administration of a VET provider working with visually impaired people. For her curiosity, she wonders how colours and tones are perceived by people with visual impairment and how they could have conveyed them. The first thing that has come to her mind is temperature: white is cold, red is warm, but this distinction is too simplified in her opinion. She then realizes that maybe textures can do the case, assigning, for instance, smoothness to white, roughness to grey, sharpness to red. What other concepts could we identify for colour associations that people with visual impairment can visualize?

2.     Ask participants to give a brief introduction of themselves, as in a story.

3.     Once all participants have introduced themselves, read the first story.

4.     Ask participants to form groups of 3. They can stay in their respective positions as long as the groups have the space to discuss without distractions.

5.      Provide pen and paper to the groups and tell them they have 5 minutes to continue and find an ending to the story, imagining the protagonist’s actions and feelings. It is important to point out that any version of the ending is equally real and possible. The time allowance is set to 5 minutes because the creation of the ending should be mainly emotional, triggered by their first thoughts and associations.

6.      Once they are ready, ask the first group to start narrating the story they created. Other participants should refrain from giving comments.

7.     Repeat step 6 with the other groups.

8.      After all ending have been told, start an open conversation on the story endings, on the protagonist’s actions, and on the feeling that ending activates on us. While conversing, ensure that the participants respect each other.

9.     Repeat the activity with another story.

10.   Repeat the activity with the third story if the time allows it. Priority should be given to the quality of the narration and the discussion after the story ends, which can be emotional.

Emotional security is key to fulfil the principles of tolerance and empathy in the discussion.

To foster curiosity about other participants’ personalities and perception of themselves

To develop communication and presentation skills

Some examples are:

What colour represents you the most?

What element represents you the most?

What kind of fruit are you?

What kind of music do you listen to when you are at home alone or outside by yourself?

What kind of superpower would you like to possess?

Where do you want to spend your dream vacation?

What would be your dream day?

Participants are allowed to use digital devices to express themselves.

2.      Tell them you will ask self-descriptive questions for which they will have to identify an answer. Then everybody will share their answer, one by one.

3.      Start the first round and ask the first question to all participants (for instance, “what colour represents you the most?”). Tell the participants they can also use their mobile phone to play music or represents a sound. Give them a couple of minutes to think about their answer.

4.      Ask the participants to answer, one by one, the question and to then explain the reasons behind their choice (for instance, “I feel that green represents me a lot, because I immediately feel comfort when I look at it or I am around it”). Ask the other participants to respect their turn and to not speak while others are.

5.     Repeat step 3 and 4 with all other questions.

Determine together whether the question refers to their self-definition or their current emotional state.

To develop cooperation in a group.

To strengthen participants' communication skills.

Beyond the seven mountains in a cottage on the edge of the forest lived resourceful Mary, who was friends with...

Once upon a time, brave Prince Peter woke up in his castle and decided...

In a big castle lived an angry King and a good Queen. Every morning the King strolled around...

2.      Tell participants that together you are going to co-create a story. You will start reading the introduction and they, one by one, will have to continue that story by contributing with at least one sentence.

3.      Begin the story by reading the introduction and pass the word onto the person on your left. You are therefore the last one to speak.

4.      When the story has been passed on back to you, conclude it with an ending. You may repeat the whole story if you feel like it is a wrap up.

5.     Ask a big round of applause for this co-creation.

To gain experience presenting to an audience

To fearlessly express personality

To be inspired by other people and vice-versa

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.

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.

To test ways to deal with our emotions

To look for new ways to discharge emotions, especially violent or negative ones

2.      Tell participants how important it is to be able to embrace and positively deal with our emotions (also the bad ones), since our daily life interactions and our presence in each context is inevitably influenced by emotions.

3.      Ask everybody now to pick one emotion (either positive or negative), to embrace it, and to walk in the room meeting and greeting other people with that emotion in their body. They can exaggerate if they want to but respect towards others should always be ensured.

4.      Have all participants walk in the room and see how our current emotions make us change the way we greet others.

5.      After a couple of minutes, ask the participants to pick another emotion, embrace it, and repeat step 4.

6.     Repeat this part with 2 or 3 more emotions.

7.     Have all participants gather up and create a circle with chairs. You are part of the circle.

8.      Start a brief debriefing on this part of the activity, how they felt when greeting others with a specific emotion, what emotions they have chosen, and how our emotions do change the way we perceive and are perceived by others.

9.      Ask now the group how they deal with negative emotions that might hinder our social life or important interactions in a daily basis. They can answer questions like what emotion makes you feel, how you react to it, what techniques you use to proactively and positively deal with that emotion so that your personal and social life is not ruined. Allow volunteers to speak up and trigger the moment for sharing.

10.  Once they have shared their ways of discharging negative emotion (e.g. breathing exercises), you may test them out and try that technique on their own.

11.   If you have time, have two (or three) volunteers stand up to test the proposed technique to deal with the given emotion.

12.  Ask for a big round of applause.

To foster inclusivity by learning about the backgrounds and interests of others.

To improve integration skills by interacting with people from diverse backgrounds.

Pens/pencils

Using the template provided in the Annexes, create a bingo card with 5x5 squares. Each square should contain one of the interesting traits from the list.

Print enough copies of the bingo card for each participant.

Instruct participants to go around the room and find people who fit the descriptions in each square of their bingo card.

Participants should write the name of the person who fits the description in the card.

The first person to fill out their entire bingo card should call out "Bingo!". He/she should then describe the traits described in the Bingo cards and the persons they associated them with.

Continue the activity until the second and third person would also call out “Bingo!”

Facilitate a discussion about the importance of inclusivity and the benefits of getting to know people from diverse backgrounds.

Ask participants to reflect on how they can use the skills they learned in the game to improve their integration in other settings.

Customize the bingo card to fit the specific group of participants, such as using traits related to a specific industry or field.

Have a small prize for the winners to make the game more exciting.

You can make your own bingo cards here.

To understand the impact of positive self-talk on self-esteem and confidence

To develop a toolkit for practicing positive self-talk in daily life

Small pieces of paper or index cards

Pens or pencils

Write a few examples of negative self-talk under the Negative Self-Talk column. You may ask your participants to help you out identifying those examples.

Create small pieces of paper or index cards with positive affirmations or statements.

Prepare a space where participants can sit or stand in a circle.

Explain that negative self-talk can be damaging to our self-esteem and that we can replace it with positive self-talk.

Give participants a few minutes to reflect on negative self-talk patterns that they may have noticed in themselves and write them down on the flipchart.

Introduce the positive affirmation cards and explain that each participant will receive a card and read it aloud to the group.

Ask them to stand in a circle and pass the affirmation cards around until everyone has received a card.

Invite them to read their affirmation out loud to the group and share how it makes them feel.

Discuss the impact of positive self-talk on self-esteem and confidence.

Encourage them to use positive self-talk in their daily lives and develop a toolkit of positive affirmations or statements that they can use.

Encourage participants to be open and honest during the activity but also respect their boundaries if they do not feel comfortable sharing personal experiences.

Respect the participants’ privacy and confidentiality.

To practice mindfulness and being present in the moment.

To deepen relationships with others through effective communication.

Prepare any necessary instructions or guidelines for the activity.

Ask one participant to share a personal emotional story or experience with the group while the others listen silently.

After the participant has finished sharing, the others should take a moment to reflect on what they heard and how it made them feel.

The next participant should then share, and the process repeats.

After everyone has had a chance to share debrief with the group and discuss what they learned from the experience.

What did you learn about active listening during the activity?

How did it feel to share your personal story with the group?

How did it feel to listen mindfully to others?

Emphasize the importance of active listening and being present in the moment.

Provide a safe and non-judgmental space for participants to share.

To foster a sense of connection and trust among group members.

To help participants build confidence and self-esteem by sharing their unique qualities and abilities.

Have each participant prepare two true statements about themselves and one false statement.

After each person has shared their statements, the other participants must try to guess which statement is false.

Once everyone has had a chance to share their statements, the group can discuss their observations and reactions.

Encourage participants to share any insights or new perspectives they gained from the activity.

Facilitate a group discussion to process any common themes or trends that emerged during the activity.

Remind participants that the purpose of the game is to have fun and build connections, not to deceive or embarrass others.

Consider offering a small prize to the participant with the most difficult-to-guess statement.

To develop interpersonal skills such as empathy, respect, and cooperation.

To build confidence in social situations.

Index cards or pieces of paper

Pens or pencils

Write each scenario on an index card or piece of paper.

Divide participants into pairs.

Ask each pair to choose a scenario card and to read it to each other.

Give participants 5-10 minutes to practice interaction with their partner.

Ask participants to switch partners and choose a different scenario card.

Repeat steps 2-4 for as many rounds as desired.

Ask participants to share their experiences and discuss what they learned about social interactions.

What did you learn from the activity?

What was challenging about the activity?

How can you apply what you learned to your everyday life?

Emphasize the importance of active listening and effective communication.

Provide positive feedback and support throughout the activity.