As promised, this week we are going to start looking at some activities that can be used for debriefing more effectively. I find that, working with at-risk youth, we get a lot of visual learners. The following activity is great for those that need a little bit of visual stimulation in order to engage the mouth:
Post Cards:
Compile a collection of post cards (Borders books is a great place to start). You can also purchase “I am about” Cards from Project Adventure or a game called Hoopla. The idea is to have a wide variety of images for your group to choose from.
Activity 1:
Ask your group to choose an image that relates to a specific question. Good questions to ask are:
Choose a card that relates to a time when:
1) Your group worked well together
2) You became frustrated with your group
3) Your group accomplished a goal
4) You felt good about something that was happening
5) Your group made you smile
6) You assisted another person
Activity 2:
Have each member pick a card, then arrange those cards to tell a story. The story can be about how the group accomplished a goal, about how the team is interacting, or about how they solved the element.
Activity 3:
Have each person pick a card or two relating to how the group preformed on the activity. Have each person pick a partner and share out. Then, have each partner group discuss their observations with the large group.
As you can see, the options are limited only by your individual creativity. I have given you three here to get you started. Try this out, and in the comments section leave some more ideas for effective activities using Postcards.
