ACT booklet

Adaptability and Creativity

through Theater
A training course to cultivate ability to adapt to change and
embrace the unknown with theater tools.
 about
This booklet was created by the facilitators and
participants of ACT training course and aims to
introduce a toolbox of theater improv, systemic
theater, applied theater, and embodiment
methods and exercises to build and foster
creativity, adaptability, and resilience skills.
 the project
ACT was a 7-day training course for youth
workers to use theater as a tool to cultivate
adapting-to-change skills.

Life is a constant adaptation. From changing

jobs to starting university or ending a
relationship, we are constantly having to say
goodbye to things as they were and welcome the
new and unexpected.

In the training, we focused on cultivating the

skills we need to navigate these moments of
transition; on gaining awareness of our own
relationship with change and uncertainty, and on
creating a playful and supportive environment to
practice embracing the unknown.

Participants explored how they can apply the

main methods of theater and embodiment in their
work with diverse groups of young people, and in
general - in education.
 booklet

Table of contents

Day 1 Intro. Getting to know and creating a safe space - 1

Day 2 Emotional regulation - 9

Day 3 Connect with the nature - 13

Day 4 Collaboration. Community. Adaptability - 14

Day 5 Fear. Embracing failure. Taking risks - 21

Day 6 Creativity. Cultivating positive emotions - 28

Day 7 Social footprint. Next steps - 35

 day 1
INTRO. GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AND CREATING A SAFE SPACE.

Who is here?
25 min

Aim: Participants will meet each other, introduce themselves by

their names and start diving into the methodology with theater
exercises.
Description
Starting with the round of names, everyone in the circle is taking
their turn to share their name with the rest of the group. The second
round comes with the name and a word that starts with the same
letter as the name, accompanied by a gesture. After each
introduction, the group repeats. In the last round - the dramatic
one, everyone is saying their name, the word and embodies the
gesture in the most exaggerated way, the group repeats as well.

Everyone starts walking around randomly and meeting people.

When we meet someone, the task is to share our first name with the
person in different ways - for example, as if it was a secret, as if it
was a joke, as if it was bad news, etc. Natural reactions and
emotions are highly appreciated, the encounters should be kept
short so that participants can meet many other participants and
exchange their names.

01
 day 1
INTRO. GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AND CREATING A SAFE SPACE.

Speed dating
20 min

Aim: The aim of the exercise is to facilitate rapid, dynamic

interactions among participants, enabling quick exchanges of
ideas, warming them up to the topic, and to foster connections in a
time-efficient and engaging manner.
Description
Participants form two lines of equal number of people standing up,
facing each other. Each pair has 2 minutes to discuss the
topic/question, and then one of the lines shifts left or right so new
pairs are formed to discuss the next topic. Some of the topics we
used are:
Share something about yourself.
Share something different about yourself.
What were you like as a child?
When was the last time you improvised and how?
What superpowers do you have?

Materials: Bell or alarm clock to mark the beginning and end of

each “date”.

02
 day 1
INTRO. GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AND CREATING A SAFE SPACE.

The agreements
40 min

Aim: To establish the training as a safe space, to introduce common

values which the groups agree to and to embody these values
through different processes.

Description
Tenderness - gentleness to yourself and to others.
Consent - ask and provide space for feedback.
Engagement - be here, be on time, it's ok to engage fully, it's also ok to observe.
Confidentiality - respect people, sharing their stories. Don't share outside without
permission.

For each agreement, first we share a brief description of what it entails, then we
do exercises which give participants a chance to feel these concepts in their
bodies.
Tenderness. The participants embody this agreement by splitting into pairs
and performing a short exercise. One participant represents the seaweed,
grounded with the feet, while the other represents the sea. The seaweed is
moving parts of the body that the sea waves gently touch, according to the
gentle impulses given by the sea waves.
Consent and engagement. The participants embody this agreement by
splitting into pairs to play the parent-child game. One of the participants is
the child which states their wish or idea to do something, and the other one -
the parent - always says yes to the child’s idea and both of them embody it
together. For example, the child wants to eat pizza, wants to sleep on the
ground, wants to ride a bike, etc. With this exercise, participants are
experimenting to what extent they want to engage with the activity and
other's ideas, but also they release their imagination while still making sure
the others are comfortable with following their ideas.
Confidentiality. The participants embody this agreement by simply agreeing
to not share any sensitive information outside of the group.

03
 day 1
INTRO. GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AND CREATING A SAFE SPACE.

Intro to improv games

50 min

Aim: Participants start with some theater improv games to break

the ice, get to know each other better, and dive into the mindset of
the improvisor by developing creativity, partnership, adaptability,
concentration, and group creation.
Description
Life with me is like… Participants work in pairs, one of them finishes the phrase
“Life with me is like…” and the other one should complement with the justification
of the idea. For example, partner A: “Life with me is like a poem.”, partner B:
”Even though I rhyme and have a good rhythm, still some don't understand me.”.
The shelf. Participants work in pairs, one of them finds an interesting item on the
imaginary shelf of the other participant, and the other one develops the idea
offered, by explaining what is special about the item. E.g. partner A: “I see this
shining unicorn nail.”, partner B: ”It was given to me for my first anniversary as a
horse manicurist!”.
The machine. Start with one participant making a noise and a simple repeatable
gesture. When the participant has a rhythm and another participant has an idea
for a movement which connects to the first gesture, the second participant joins
the first participant by making a new sound and movement which connects to the
original gesture and sound. Each participant joins in with a new sound and
gesture and connects to the others in some way until all participants are involved
in creating the machine. Then the group gives the machine a name and purpose,
e.g. “Stardust recycling time machine”.
I’m a tree. The players stand on the stage/around the room. Player A goes to the
middle, strikes a pose and says who or what they represent. For example, they lift
they arms over their head and say "I am a tree." A second player arrives, adds to
the picture, and also says who or what they are. A third player enters the scene
and completes the suggestions from A and B. Now that the scene is finished,
player A leaves the stage choosing one of the other players to take with them.
The other player stays on the stage and repeats what they are (without changing
their pose). As a result, they offer a suggestion for a new scene. This exercise can
take place with any number of players. Later a bigger picture can be done with
the whole group, and when the last participant joins the picture, the group gives
it a name. 04
 day 1
INTRO. GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AND CREATING A SAFE SPACE.

Action in numbers
Energizer

In this energizer, participants walk around the space and meet a

partner number 1.

The pair should create their own greeting. They practice and
continue walking to find another partner for pair number 2.
Within this pair, they create their own dance, they practice and
then start walking to find their partner number 3.
Within this pair, a common song should be created.
And pair number 4 has the task to create a gif together.

The facilitator says random numbers from 1 to 4, and participants

have to quickly find the respective partner and execute the
respective action together.

05
 day 1
INTRO. GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AND CREATING A SAFE SPACE.

Open the door

40 min

Aim: Participants will be able to establish characters while

creating a scene together, learning to actively listen and adapt to
the offerings available.
Description

As a preparation, participants start walking around the room first

normally, then embodying different personas or objects, or
adopting specific attitudes. For example, walking like robots,
moving like octopuses, like feathers. Then they act when they meet
another person, like it's someone they really like but they try to play
it cool, or like they are meeting a neighbor who is also a member of
the mafia. The door game starts with everyone imagining their door
in front of them with as many details as possible. The improvised
scenes are created by pairs of improvisers, one is knocking on the
door of the other, and when a participant opens their door, they
are encouraged to open up for whatever comes from the one who
is knocking, and play it further as a scene, discovering the endless
possibilities.

06
 day 1
INTRO. GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AND CREATING A SAFE SPACE.

The museum of uncertainty

90 min

Aim: Participants will explore the topic of uncertainty and how it

manifests in life, by engaging in interactive exhibits that explore
ambiguity and diverse interpretations.

Description
Participants pair up, with one person taking on the role of the
sculptor and the other as the "sculpture." The sculptor uses their
partner's body to create a sculpture that represents how they felt in
a situation where they had to deal with uncertainty. Through
physical manipulation and positioning, the sculptor shapes their
partner's body to convey the chosen emotion in a visually
expressive manner. Afterwards, the sculptors walk around and we
reflect on the different emotions and strategies that come up in
these situations.

Then participants are split into groups where they share moments of
uncertainty in their lives, then each group creates together a scene
representing common stories or patterns or common mechanisms in
these situations of uncertainty. After each scene, there is a debrief
process in the bigger group.

07
 day 1
INTRO. GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AND CREATING A SAFE SPACE.

Forming the support groups

40 min

Aim: To create an intimate support system and divide the group

into smaller groups for daily reflection and peer to peer support.

Description

The participants are asked to walk around, stopping when they

meet someone, and looking at each other for a while. After a
couple of interactions, participants are invited to find the
person/the group of people they feel most comfortable with
currently and that could support them the most (and at the same
time, they don't know them from before if possible). Together they
create groups of 3 to 6 people that last until the end of the training
and would serve as sharing, support, and reflection groups. After
some time dedicated to getting to know each other, the groups
reflect on how they are landing and how they are feeling after the
first day of the training.

08
 day 2
emotional regulation

The bunny
30 min

Aim: To facilitate connection between participants, break barriers

and create a fun and caring environment for what comes next.

Description

All participants stand in a circle and the facilitator brings out an

imaginary bunny. Participants are asked to “look at it” and to
visualize it as if it was the cutest creature they’ve ever seen. We
give it a name, and start passing it around in the circle. Each
participant will interact for a few seconds with it (petting it, talk to
it, playing, etc.), and then will pass it to the next person. Once
everyone was held and interacted with it, we will ask participants
to do another round, where one by one they will do whatever they
did to the bunny to the person in their right (asking for consent first,
and adapting it if needed so that they both feel comfortable).

09
 day 2
emotional regulation

Museum of emotions
50 min

Aim: Introducing the group to the topic of emotions and exploring

different cues we can use to distinguish them, by identifying how
each of the basic emotions manifest in our body, behaviors and
thoughts.
Description
We ask participants to walk around the room in a neutral manner.
We give them the cue that when we clap and say “freeze,” they
need to stand still like statues in whatever position they are in.
When we say “unfreeze”, they can resume moving normally. We
repeat this process several times. Then, we inform them that the
next time they “unfreeze” they are to embody a specific emotion
(e.g., anger) and continue walking as someone experiencing that
emotion. After exploring how they move and express themselves
with that emotion, we instruct them to freeze in whatever position
they are in. Some participants will be asked to remain frozen while
the rest unfreeze. This creates a “Museum of Anger” with statues
representing different expressions of that emotion. Participants will
observe and discuss the various expressions of anger they see. This
exercise can be repeated with different emotions to explore their
bodily manifestations and behavioral cues. Reflection questions
include examining where and how the emotion is felt in the body,
associated behaviors and thoughts, differences in expression
among statues, and challenges in re-enacting certain emotions. The
activity aims to introduce the topic of emotions, explore their
physical and behavioral cues, and reflect on personal emotional
expression.
10
 day 2
emotional regulation

The sad friend

50 min

Aim: The goal of this game is to become aware of the strategies

people usually use when dealing with sadness, and to realize how
important is to allow ourselves to feel the emotion before we can
transform it.
Description
The "Sad Friend" activity aims to explore how people typically
respond to sadness and explore healthy ways of dealing with it.
Participants sit in a circle with two chairs in the middle, one
occupied by a volunteer designated as "the sad friend." The person
acting as “the sad friend” is given a name and background story.
Other participants then take turns interacting with the sad friend as
they would with a real friend in distress. We will observe and
comment on the different strategies they try out, and the effect they
have on the person who is sad. This exercise works very well to bring
up common ways people react to sadness (both in themselves and
others), that don’t help to regulate the emotion, such as: trying to
get rid of it as fast as possible, numbing it with distractions, judging
or invalidating it (saying things like “you shouldn’t feel this way”, “it’s
not so bad”, etc.), exaggerating it and making it bigger, etc. And
explore healthy alternatives, that involve naming, embracing and
understanding the emotion, before trying to change it.

11
 day 2
emotional regulation

Exploring polarities
50 min

Aim: The objective of this exercise is to enable participants to

explore various personality tendencies by embodying them. Through
this exploration, participants will increase awareness of their own
patterns and experiment with new ways of moving and behaving
outside their typical patterns.

Description
In this exercise, participants explore different personality traits by
embodying them. They walk around the room. When the facilitator
signals, they will be asked to embody a certain trait such as shyness,
and make it as exaggerated as possible. Then, we will ask them to
embody the opposite trait, for example confidence. They will
engage in short role-plays based on these traits, such as boss-
employee. This process is repeated with other polarities like
dreamer-realist or talker-listener. Participants reflect on which
traits they felt most comfortable embodying and what insights this
provides about themselves.

12
 day 3
connect with the nature

Participants were provided this day for processing and individual

reflection of the intense first two days of the program, outside in
nature or indoors.

13
 day 4
COLLABORATION. COMMUNITY. ADAPTABILITY

Awesome
Energizer

The participants are standing in a circle, and each one takes a turn
to share a random thing they did recently.

The task for the group is to positively encourage that person by

shouting and embodying “Awesome!” after every statement by each
participant, no matter if it is the most boring thing or a major
accomplishment. “Awesome” can also be replaced with other words
and gestures for positive encouragement.

14
 day 4
COLLABORATION. COMMUNITY. ADAPTABILITY

Verbal expression in
70 min
improvisation
Aim: Enhance the participants’ communication skills, creativity, and
confidence in spontaneous storytelling through interactive and
engaging activities.
Description
Super hero game. Participants are split into pairs. In each pair, one of the
people is the superhero, the other one is the friend. The friend has the task to
always discover problems and challenging situations, while the superhero
should always respond with “I know exactly what to do” while making the
superhero gesture pointing one arm and the index finger up and immediately
offering a solution. Then the friend notices another problem, connected to the
previous solution, and the superhero offers another solution. After some time,
participants in the pair change roles.
Telling stories one word at a time. Participants work in small groups of 4 to 6
people. The objective of this game is for the whole group to tell a coherent
story “one word at a time”. They stand in a circle or a line, and each
participant adds a single word to the ongoing story. A good reminder is that
new sentences can be started, otherwise single sentences can go on for too
long. This game continues when a group takes the stage and the audience
gives them a topic or story title to begin with.
The Oracle. Using the same approach of “one word at a time”, groups of 3 to
5 create a creature called “oracle” that can answer all the questions and
knows all the truth and moves in a special flow. The audience is tasked to ask
important questions of big significance, and the oracle needs to give the
answer, one word at a time.

15
 day 4
COLLABORATION. COMMUNITY. ADAPTABILITY

Dance improvisation
60 min

Aim: Promote collaboration, creativity, non-verbal communication,

coordination, and physical expression among participants by
encouraging spontaneous movement exploration and the
development of unique dance sequences.
Description
Participants work in pairs facing each other, first partner A mirrors
partner B's movements real-time for the duration of one song, then
the roles are exchanged for another song. In the third song,
partners experiment with the flow and connection of switching
between leading and following, being the mirror and being
mirrored, always creating mirrored moves. Participants form groups
of 2 or 3 pairs, and optional 1 extra person to be “the equalizer” on
stage. The groups become dance companies, who have many years
of experience and are about the spontaneously create a
performance they need to dance with a confidence of professional
dancers who rehearsed it a lot. Pairs create mirroring moves, can
interact with each other, while the equalizer makes sure there's not
empty spaces on stage and can also interact with the pairs. The
audience or facilitator gives a name to the dance company and a
name of the performance before they start.
Materials: Music, speaker

16
 day 4
COLLABORATION. COMMUNITY. ADAPTABILITY

Counting as a group
Energizer

This game asks the participants to heighten their awareness of the

group, practice patience and listening, and work together to
accomplish a challenging group task of counting up to 20 (or more,
usually up to the number of participants).

The task is to count up to 20 out loud, in random order, with each

group member offering one number at a time. If two people say a
number at the same time, the game stops and begins again with 1.
Anyone can say a number whenever they wish, although they cannot
say two numbers in a row. To begin, ask everyone to close their eyes
or focus on the floor in the center of the circle, then say “Go!”. At
some point, it can be productive to stop the game and discuss
group strategy.

17
 day 4
COLLABORATION. COMMUNITY. ADAPTABILITY

Balance the marker

30 min

Aim: The aim of balancing an object between two people with

different parts of the body is to enhance coordination,
concentration, and interpersonal communication while fostering a
sense of teamwork and shared physical engagement.
Description

Participants work in pairs, and each pair has an object (marker)

they have to balance in the pair using one point of contact at each
partner. Different points of contact can be palms, fingers,
foreheads and shoulders (for the last two, participants in the pair
should be of similar height). The experimentation can go further
with moving around space, trying to go to different levels (low,
medium, high).
Materials: Markers / wooden sticks / pens

18
 day 4
COLLABORATION. COMMUNITY. ADAPTABILITY

Street fight
40 min

Aim: The aim is to promote creativity, teamwork, and rhythm while

providing an entertaining and energetic platform for self-
expression within a dance-based competition.

Description
This game is done in a few steps. First each participant prepares
their 4 to 5 dance moves by themselves. Then, participants practice
the moves, focused on a point in space that doesn't move. Then they
split into pairs, and practice their own moves against the other
person in the pair, staying at a safe distance and having zero
physical contact. At the final stage, participants are split into two
“gangs” facing each other. At a given time, only one member of
each gang can fight the opponent. A fighting member can be
replaced by someone on their team by a touch on the shoulder.
Speaking is not allowed and there should be no physical contact at
any time. Dancers can only do their own street fight dance moves.
When the gangs start the street fight, different styles and tempos of
music are played.
Materials: Music, speaker

19
 day 4
COLLABORATION. COMMUNITY. ADAPTABILITY

Dance vs Act
40 min

Aim: The aim is to explore a spectrum of expressive possibilities,

fostering adaptability, creativity and self-awareness while blending
actions with elements of dance and movement.
Description

Each participant is starting to embody a simple action individually,

for example brushing the teeth, with as many details and adjacent
actions as preferred (e.g. entering the bathroom, going to the
toilet, smiling in the mirror, etc.). Once participants have mastered
embodying the action and acting it, they receive instructions on
how much they should start dancing the action, and how much they
should act out the action, for example 30% dance and 70% action,
80% dance and 20 percent action, only dance, etc. Playing around
with this scale, the facilitator will give participants the opportunity
to explore the expression possibilities that come with mixing acting
and dancing.
The next stage is creating a universe on stage, with 5-6 improvisors
exploring the scale of action/dance together, each doing a
different action part of the same universe. The audience gives the
topic/name of the universe - for example, it can be a gym, spa
center, hotel, intergalaxy disco, etc.

Materials: Music, speaker

20
 day 5
FEAR. EMBRACING FAILURE. TAKING RISKS.

1,2,3 game
20 min

Aim: The first round serves as a warm-up to bring focus and

attention. The second round serves as an exercise to practice
saying the first thing that comes to mind, and have fun being silly
and making mistakes.
Description

Participants will get in pairs. First round they will count together
from 1 to 3, non-stop. For example:
Partner A: One | Partner B: Two | Partner A: Three | Partner B: One…

Second round they will substitute the number 1 for a movement. For
example:
Partner A: (shakes hands up) | Partner B: Two | Partner A: Three |
Partner B (shakes hands up) | Partner A: Two ...

Third round they will also substitute the number 2 for a sound.
Partner A: (shakes hands up) | Partner B: (bird sound) | Partner A:
Three | Partner B (shakes hands up) | Partner A: (bird sound) ...

Fourth round they will also substitute the number 3 for a word.
Partner A: (shakes hands up) | Partner B: (bird sound) | Partner A:
Apple | Partner B (shakes hands up) | Partner A: (bird sound) ...

Fifth round they will have to do the same as fourth round, but now
every time they will have to make up a different movement, sound
and word.

21
 day 5
FEAR. EMBRACING FAILURE. TAKING RISKS.

Whiskey Mixer-Mister
20 min
Whiskers
Aim: To embrace making mistakes and have fun with them. The idea
is that participants will get this game wrong, so instead of
apologizing or re-starting, participants will practice “staying in
character” and owning it.
Description

Everyone stands in a circle. The group will pass a phrase around the
circle in either direction, one by one. Going clockwise the phrase is
"Whisky Mixer", going counterclockwise the phrase is "Mister
Whisker". When it's their turn, any player can reverse the direction
the phrase travels by saying "Misty Vista". It doesn't matter if the
players mess up the words; what matters is keeping a straight face
the whole time. If any player cracks a smile or laughs at any time
(no matter if it was their turn or not), that player will be eliminated.
They will have a few rounds to get used to the game, and then we
will start with the eliminations. Players can do anything to try to
make others laugh, including those who have been eliminated.

22
 day 5
FEAR. EMBRACING FAILURE. TAKING RISKS.

Find another way

20 min

Aim: Encourage creativity and flexibility in problem-solving. Accept

failure.

Description

Participants are tasked to intentionally fail at a task given by their

partner. The task should be a simple one, for example, “open the
door” or “put the pencil on the table” However, instead of giving up,
they must find an alternative way to fail while the partner gently
encourages them to “Find another way”. The goal is to explore
different approaches and embrace failure as an opportunity for
innovation.

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 day 5
FEAR. EMBRACING FAILURE. TAKING RISKS.

The worst performance

90 min

Aim: Develop improvisational skills and adaptability, learn to

embrace failure.

Description

Participants are split into groups of 3-5 people and each group has
to create the worst improvised performance ever. The challenge is
to stay committed to the performance while embracing the humor
of failure. After the performances, a debriefing session is necessary
to reflect on the experience, as it delves deeper into the
vulnerability, acceptance, and others topics.

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 day 5
FEAR. EMBRACING FAILURE. TAKING RISKS.

Close your eyes

30 min

Aim: It's a great activity to explore fear, uncertainty and trust in a

very experiential way.

Description

The participants will be invited to lie down with their eyes closed
and take a few moments to relax. Then, they will be encouraged to
explore the space around them while keeping their eyes closed.
They will focus on the different textures and sounds they encounter
with a curious attitude. As they gain confidence, they can start
moving around the space, being careful not to bump into others,
and silently interacting with their peers if they wish.
They can do this for a few minutes, to get used to having their eyes
closed. Then they will be asked to open their eyes and move to the
back of the room. The facilitator will position themselves at the
opposite end.

One by one they will be asked to run to the other side with their
eyes closed, knowing that the facilitator will be at the other side to
stop them before they get to the other side of the room.

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 day 5
FEAR. EMBRACING FAILURE. TAKING RISKS.

The spotlight
40 min

Aim: Enhance presence, vulnerability on stage, and confidence.

Explore improvisation and find patterns that might prevent us from
spontaneity.
Description

Each performer steps into the spotlight (center of stage) and has to
stay there for 60 seconds. They can do whatever they want to do
but have to be on stage and have all the attention of the audience.
The audience is not allowed to interact. Once the 60 seconds are
over, the audience applauses the person under the spotlight and
the next person comes.

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 day 5
FEAR. EMBRACING FAILURE. TAKING RISKS.

The “toaster”
40 min

Aim: Encourage creativity, adaptability, and collaboration.

Description

In this improv theater game, 4 participants sit down with their eyes
closed. The audience says random words to them, that they can use
as inspiration for the scenes they will create in the game. The
facilitator rolls the bell and participants can choose to stand up or
to stay seated. Those who stand up, no matter the number of
people, start improvising a scene together. They play for a few
minutes, until the facilitator rolls the bell and they go back to sit
with their eyes closed. Then the process begins again. If the
combination of participants that stand up is repeated, they will
have to continue the scene that they started before. If it's a new
combination of people, they will start a completely new scene that
is completely unrelated to the other scenes.

Materials: Bell or alarm clock

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 day 6
CREATIVITY. CULTIVATING POSITIVE EMOTIONS.

Narrating the dream

30 min

Aim: The goal of this exercise is to create connections between

participants, generate positive emotions and build a caring and
safe atmosphere.
Description

We ask participants to find a partner. One is A and the other is B. We ask

partner A to lay down comfortably. Partner B will have the goal to create
partners A’s perfect dream where partner A is the protagonist, and partner B
will be narrating to Partner A as if it was a bedtime story. As partner B tells the
story, partner A will have the instruction to say “No” every time the “dream”
goes in a direction they don’t like. Then partner B will
need to come up with a different idea. For example:

Partner A: You are walking on a quiet beach and you can hear the sound of the
sea.
Suddenly, a tall man appears in the distance…
Partner B: No.
Partner A: Suddenly, a little dog appears from behind and comes to cuddle
with you.
Parner A: *stays in silence*

We will ask those narrating the dream to focus on listening to what the other
person needs/wants and adapt to create the best experience possible, and
for the person “dreaming” to truly listen to what resonates with them in that
moment and express it freely.

We allow the exercise to go for 3-5 minutes, and then we ask them to switch
roles.

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CREATIVITY. CULTIVATING POSITIVE EMOTIONS.

No, yes and yes, and

40 min

Aim: Demonstrate the power of support and collaboration in

creative processes.
Description
By exploring saying “No”, “Yes” and “Yes, and” to each other, players experience how much
farther a group gets when the members support each other and build on each other’s ideas.
Practice no and yes
Everyone finds a partner. First round, partner A will say random statements and the other
person will say “No” to every statement.
Here is an example:
Partner A: I love ice-cream!
Partner B: No.
Partner A: This room is full of elephants.
Partner B: No.

After exploring it for some minutes, we will ask them to switch roles.
Then we will do it again, but the partner replying to the statements will say “Yes” to
everything.
After they do both roles, we will reflect on how hearing yes or no impacts their creativity and
their energy. Most of the time, the second round is a lot easier and more fun.
The dream vacation
We ask participants to find a partner. Together they will “remember” a trip they took
together by responding to everything their partner says with, “Yes, and, remember when …”
Here’s an example:
Me: “Hey, remember that time we took that trip to Mexico?” Partner: “Yes, and, remember
how we ended up on that deserted beach?” Me: “Yes, and, remember how we found a
treasure chest buried in the sand?” Partner: “Yes, and remember that it was full of gold
coins?” etc.
Let the pairs reminisce about their shared memory for a couple of minutes, and then call
time. Ask for each of the pair to share with the group the last line they spoke. Often the last
lines are hilarious, and no two last lines are alike.
Debrief with the group how it felt to say “Yes, and” to everything. Point out to how embracing
the other person’s ideas and creating collaboratively can take us to interesting and
unexpected places.

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No, yes and yes, and

40 min

Aim: Demonstrate the power of support and collaboration in

creative processes.
Description

What comes next?

Participants work in pairs - telling and embodying a story together.
Partners in each pair contribute one sentence to the story, and
each partner can respond to a statement by a) “What comes next”
if they agree with the statement from the other partner, b) “No”, if
they don’t agree, immediately followed by “What comes next?”
coming from the partner who wants to provide space for the
partner who didn't agree to create the next statement, or c) “What
comes next?” to provide the space for the other partner to take the
initiative and propose a statement. For example:
Partner A: Let's go to the beach!
Partner B: Cool! What comes next? (both walking to the beach)
Partner A: Then we go straight to the ocean!
Partner B: What comes next? (both embody swimming)
Partner A: We start swimming to the deep!
Partner B: No!
Partner A: We stay in the shallow!
Partner B: What comes next? (both staying in the shallow)
Partner A: What comes next?
Partner B: We pick up seashells to make art!
Partner A: What comes next? (both picking up shells)

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The Soulmate
40 min

Aim: To practice enthusiastically accepting other people’s

suggestions and building on them, and exploring the effect it has
when we want to connect with others.
Description
"Soulmates" is an improv game where two actors step onto the
stage with a suggestion of a location or relationship and must
improvise a scene in which two strangers meet and gradually
discover they have a lot in common. The objective is to search for
similarities or connections in everything the other person says, while
also co-creating a story together. Example:
A: I am flying to Canada.
B: What a coincidence, me too! I’m also going there, to a
Bodybuilder Convention.
A: That’s crazy, I literally own a shop for bodybuilders. We sell the
best protein bars.
B: What? I’m obsessed with protein bars. I actually think I might
have an addiction.
A: OMG, me too! I always sleep with one under my pillow, just to
make sure I always have one with me.
B: Are you kidding? I literally always have a few of them next to the
toilet, in case I’m there for too long.

Similar to “Soulmates”, the “Fortune teller” is a game where

participants work in pairs and one is the one asking questions, the
other one can see the future and provide answers. A hint here is to
focus on generosity and creating opportunities for the other partner
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The dolphin trainer

40 min

Aim: Experience the power of positive reinforcement, group joy and

unity.
Description

One person from the group is the dolphin and leaves the room, the
others are dolphin trainers. With the dolphin absent, the dolphin
trainers decide the action that the dolphin should be trained to do.
The trainers have to guide the dolphin to whatever action they
choose, using the principle of positive reinforcement: reward
movement toward the behavior they seek and ignore the rest.

Whether they want a jumping jack, seated lotus position, or picking

up an object, whenever the dolphin moves in that direction, the
group offers a simple, emotion-free “ding.” The closer the dolphin
gets to the task, the more “dings” it will hear. When the dolphin goes
away from the chosen task, the trainers remain silent.

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Slow-motion battles
40 min

Aim: Experience the power of slowed-down embodiment, foster

adaptability and creativity in a group creation.

Description

In the first part, everyone is invited to embody a tai chi master,

practicing their art individually with very slow and flowing
movements. Then participants execute slow-motion battles from a
distance in pairs, where everyone has imaginary toolboxes of all
sorts of tools and weapons.
In the last parts, 2 teams of equal number of people (4 - 6 in each)
are formed, the audience gives them professions, like “chefs”,
“programmers”, “doctors”, “priests”, “accountants”. The two battling
teams start from the opposite sides of the room with their
respective trophy behind, and each team has to get to the trophy
of the other team, using for the fight only “weapons” allowed for
their profession, e.g. pots, forks, kitchen robots for the chefs. The
battle should be in very slow-motion and teams should stay true to
their professions at all times.
Note: Avoid physical contact when having a close battle, and
encourage practicing embellishment instead.

Materials: Slow (epic) music, speaker

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Participants workshops

In this part of the training, participants proposed and delivered

workshops on a variety of topics, to complement the tools and
methods of working with young people, adults, using non-formal
education and experiential learning, as well as building life skills.

Example workshops:
Stretching and meditation
Acro yoga
Basic Life Support
Constellations
Ukrainian quiz
Flirting & the four relationship archetypes
Massage techniques
Capoeira

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SOCIAL FOOTPRINT. NEXT STEPS.

Bunny, Bunny
Energizer

Aim: "Bunny Bunny" warm-up game aims to foster group connection,

encourage participants to be comfortable with making mistakes,
and promote focus through energetic engagement.
Description

Participants start standing in a big circle, then the game will have
different phases:
Level 1: One person in the circle is “passing the ball” to another
person. This is done by looking at someone in the circle and making
air quotes with both hands toward their eyes twice while saying
“Bunny, bunny”. The person that receives it will say “Bunny, bunny”
and make the air quotes towards that person as a gesture of
acceptance, and will then pass this action to another person by
repeating the air quotes towards this new person while saying
"Bunny, bunny”. The game continues with everyone passing it around
the circle.
Level 2: Keep the "Bunny Bunny" going, but now the two people on
either side of the person saying "Bunny Bunny" turn and face them.
They say "Ticky Tocky Ticky Tocky" while jumping side to side with
their hands in the air.
Level 3: All participants that are not engaged in "Bunny, bunny" or
"Ticky Tocky", will pump their arms up and down as if running, while
chanting, "OOH – AH, OOH – AH" repeatedly.

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The lovers
40 min

Aim: The aim is to celebrate the dynamics of the group that was
built in the days of the training, to promote active observation,
concentration, and non-verbal connection, to empower
participants to speak up and challenge their imagination.
Description
In this game, all the participants in the group are citizens, most of
them random citizens, and only 2 of them are also “lovers”. The
facilitator requires everyone in the room to close their eyes. The
facilitators choose the two lovers with a tap on the shoulder. When
participants open their eyes, they know what their role is (random
citizen or lover) but each of the lovers doesn't know how the other
lover is. The purpose of this game is for the lovers to find each other
and hug, and the purpose of the random citizens is to prevent the
lovers from finding each other by discovering who they are. If the
lovers manage to hug each other - they win, if the random citizens
manage to guess who the lovers are, they win. If a citizen wants to
have a guess who the two lovers are, they can raise an arm and say
“I have a suspicion”, and the facilitator can allow them to share
their suggestion, e.g. “X and Y are lovers”. After each suggestion, the
facilitator shares if the lovers were guessed or not. Otherwise
speaking is not allowed during the game. In order to win the game,
citizens should guess the two lovers right within the same suggestion.

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 Booklet Team

Content
Bistra Yakimova
Paula Valero Sancho

Design
Nace Sapundjiev

Photos
Sara Wittmann