Warm Up Workshop Activities

Any creative endeavour can generate a certain amount of anxiety. The first step is always the hardest… has anyone not heard that before?

In his book ‘Being Creative’, Michael Avatar suggests that we draw inspiration from the Zen Buddhist idea of the 'beginner's mind' - where everything is beginning. In a beginner's mind there is possibility, openness, curiosity: all qualities that are useful for an exploration of creativity. This activity is a short, grounding ideation and exploration that taps into the beginner's mind.

A deep-dive method to reveal the subconscious reason why you are in a workshop. Facilitator goes first and by doing so invites the other participants to incorporate the

Dieses Spiel ist ein bisschen wie Stille Post, nur dass man das Gesagte absichtlich falsch versteht.

A simple, quick-thinking energizer played in a circle where players must respond with the correct hand gestures to stay in the game!

Die Teilnehmer sollen auf Kommando Dinge berühren, die vorgegebene Anforderungen erfüllen, z. B. „Berühre etwas Blaues”, „Berühre etwas aus Holz”, „Berühre deine Zehen”. Die Komplexität kann schrittweise erhöht werden, z. B. „Berühre etwas, das dich zum Lachen bringt” oder „Berühre etwas, das dich inspiriert”.

Circle players up and let them know they will play catch, which is very easy. The difference is that the "ball" is a sound they make up in the moment and it will change with every throw to the next player

Player 1 "throws" by making a sound accompanied by a gesture/eye contact to indicate who they are throwing to

Player 2 "catches" by making the same sound back to player 1

Player 2 is then player 1 and creates a new sound to throw to a new player 2

Play for a few minutes and see how players adjust and relax. Pause midway if needed to help them along with key questions like "are you looking for a right or a cool sound?" or "how much are you in your head?"

Debrief:

What improved it and smoothed it out?

What did you have to let go of?

How risky did it feel?

• Clear send/receive
• Waiting
• Willingness to look a little silly

Discussions can go in many directions, let the players discover their own answers.

Virtual Adaptation:

Number the players - make sure the numeral is in front of their name so it stays visible, ex 3 James, and have them "throw" to the next number.

OR

Have players call on one another before they "throw," ex "Mary, ooga boogah!"

Ein Spiel zum Kennenlernen

One at a time, players step to the center of the circle and pretend to be a cat engaging in some sort of occupation.  Other players try to guess what occupation it is.  The winner is the next to step into the center.  

Keep your creativity game strong with daily, colorful exercises. 

The first step to unleashing creativity is to build a more creative culture. Devoting daily time to a creative warm-up is an easy way to get started.

Get to know your group with a fun, physical game where teams take turns being human puppets and puppeteers.

establish pattern of passing within the group
pass a category of items on that pattern. 
Then establish a new pattern, add new categories, run both at the same time.