INDUCTION SESSION: Confidence Building

INDUCTION SESSION: Confidence building

People Bingo

It's very easy to make your own bingo cards using regular printer paper, especially if you're on a tight budget or don't have much time to prepare. Check out these easy step-by step instructions: How to Make a People Bingo Card. Or you can use the example below.

When you’re ready to play, give each participant a bingo card and a pen. Explain that the group has 30 minutes to mingle, introducing themselves, and finding people who match the traits on the card. They must put the person’s name in the corresponding box or have the person sign the appropriate square.

The first person to fill five boxes across or down yells BINGO! And the game is over.

Ask participants to introduce themselves and share one of the interesting traits they learned about someone else.

Minefield

•Materials Required: A very large outdoor or indoor space; several light, soft objects to serve as obstacles (such as large paper cups, empty plastic bottles, cones, soft foam balls, etc.); a blindfold.

•Recommended Number of People: A small group of about 6 people can go at a time.

•Time Required: 30 minutes to an hour

•Can be easily adapted according to your needs.

How Do You Play the Mine Field Teambuilding Activity?

Setup

Find a good large outdoor field or large indoor space. Be sure there are no dangerous items or hazards nearby. Set up the “minefield” by placing “mines” (large paper cups, empty plastic bottles, cones, soft foam balls, etc.) in many places all over the space.

Once the minefield is set up, divide players into pairs. Create pairs carefully. In each pair, one person will be blindfolded and will be not allowed to see or talk. The other person is allowed to see and talk, but is not allowed to touch the other person or enter the minefield. Have each pair decide which role they want to play and distribute blindfolds.

Playing the Mine Field Game

As you lead the activity, try to inspire the players and emphasize the importance of trust and safety. Promote a serious environment.

The goal is for each blindfolded person to get from one side of the field to the other. He or she must safely avoid touching the “mines,” by carefully listening to the verbal guidance of their partners.

Give each pair a few minutes of planning and preparation for their communication strategy. Then, have all three pairs go to one end of the minefield. Once blindfolds are worn and everyone is ready, say “Go!” and the activity begins. The blindfolded person cannot talk; he or she just listens and walks. The guider can’t touch his or her partner, but he or she can speak to his partner and use whatever verbal strategy he or she wishes.

Minefield continued

After a pair successfully reaches the other side of the minefield, swap roles and repeat the process.

Note:

•Be careful that blindfolded people don’t crash into each other. The facilitator should ensure collisions don’t occur. He or she can walk around and help keep people separated.

•Create a penalty for touching a “mine”. Perhaps a time delay, or a loss of points, or (worse case) a restart.

•Perhaps suggest that a pair develop a unique communication system. When participants swap roles, give participants some review and planning time to refine their communication method.

•If a person prefers not to play, do not force a person to be blindfolded.

At the end of the time, debrief and allow for reflection; ask pairs what they learned from the experience.

Dealing with Nerves

• Materials Required: whiteboard, flip-chart paper, pens, activity sheet
• Recommended Number of People: small group of around 10 maximum
• Time Required: 30 minutes to an hour
• Can be easily adapted according to your needs.

Group discussion

Encourage discussion on ‘seen/physical’ and ‘unseen/mental’ symptoms of lacking in confidence, guiding the young people to record the 11 symptoms in column 1 and 2 of the activity sheet. Use as opportunity to discuss mental health issues?

Ask how might these symptoms be overcome? What strategies could the young people use? Guide them to record the possible strategies in column 3 of the activity sheet.

Some young people might prefer to do this in pairs/smaller groups so once thought of ideas, could match the symptoms and strategies.

Young people could then be challenged to think of times when that have experienced those symptoms and act out to others (small group or pairs) showing them using the strategies.

Finally, review the effectiveness of each of the strategies and when and how young people might use them in the future.

Stickmen

Resources

Flip chart paper, Marker pen, Post-it notes and Pens

Draw around two young people as they lie on the flip chart paper, label one of the drawings as Confident and the other as not confident.

Confident Not confident

Direct young people to write on post it notes observations of confidence and non-confidence eg

Stickmen cont.

Eye contact – confidencelooks at the ground – not confident

Easily talks - confidence stays quiet – not confident

Once everyone had placed their post-it notes on the drawings, have a group discussion about the observations, then discuss how to identify these in yourselves and how to overcome eg take deep breaths.

Cards review/ group discussion

Resources

A pack of playing cards

Shuffle the playing cards and hand out two cards to each person making sure they receive two different suits.

Ask each person to give feedback to the group with prompting from the cards as follows –

Hearts – I have loved ……

Spades – I had to dig in ……

Clubs – I will take away from todays session to my club ……

Diamonds – My diamond geezer is …….. Because they …….