4 Playful April Activities
A month of reflection
As April comes and goes, the weather heats or cools (depending on your hemisphere) and it is the month of rest. Easter, Passover, Ramadan and many other festivals occur around this time of year, which is why many people refrain from their ‘return to office’ policy.
For this reason, I felt it probable to offer up another 4 activities that can be done online. Small, intimate things you can do to connect, or challenge thinking, get comfortable with failure or enhance creativity.
Enjoy your break. Your celebrations. And your daily grind. Humans are astounding (that includes you) so celebrate it!
ACTIVITY 1 – EMBODY THE MUNDANE
To kick off your online meeting, have everybody introduce themselves as some kind of inanimate object. Get as creative as you like with this. And have the other members of the meeting attempt to work out what the object is.
‘I’m Trudi. I’m am drawn to things. Some say I have superpowers. If you put me near something – I’ll stick. Even if there is something between us. I’ll stick to you. Not all the time though. I don’t like everything. I do have enemies though, and if you are my polar opposite – I will be repulsed by you. Who am I?
Team: A magnet.
WHY? A great way to shake off the day, help people listen to each other at the beginning of a meeting and connect.
ACTIVITY 2 – WHAT WOULD ______ DO?
This one is for when you are hit with a problem. Often, we get stuck in repetitive and habitual responses to our habits, so this is a fun one when you are all caught in a bind and find yourself unable to see the wood from the trees.
Simply have a discussion about your problem and ask yourself – ‘what would ___ do?’ – My suggestion is make it as random and far fetched as possible. This will garner up some interesting solutions to your problem. Some of my favourites include:
Cookie Monster
Fozzy Bear
Marilyn Monroe
Mike Tyson
The Queen
Gordon Ramsay
Pauline Hanson
WHY? A creative problem solver that is non-confrontational but may elicit some new and different solutions
ACTIVITY 3 – NO NAMES NO FACES
I can’t take credit for this one. This one came from Dr Myriam Hadnes and her amazing People at Never Done Before
This one works well if you are holding something that is bringing people together to speak on a sensitive topic, don’t know each other well – or if you are after a free space to play in.
Ask all participants entering the meeting to change their name to the number 12345 (or all the same name… say GARY) and then switch their cameras off.
WHY? a discussion can be had anonymously. For the right project, this can create a safe way for people to express themselves, their opinions in a safe and anonymous way.
ACTIVITY 4 – THE WORST
This is another problem solver. Whatever your problem is – you are going to spend 10-15 minutes coming up with the worst possible solutions. Say your problem is: ‘We need to improve margins by 12%’ the answers might be:
Hold a bunnings sausage sizzle
Sell a precious item each
Rob a granny
Write to Donald Trump
As bad as you can. See who can out-worst each other.
WHY? Sometimes, when we are unafraid to fail, unexpected outcomes can arise. Often, when we focus on a different issues, the right one will pop-up unexpectedly.
