Ask your group to sit comfortably on the floor or in chairs.
Distribute a sheet of paper to each person.
Holding the paper in their hands, invite each person to close their eyes until you ask them to open them again.
Announce a set of very clear instructions, which you want everyone to follow.
No one is permitted to ask any questions.
Announce the following instructions, with short pauses between each one:
– FOLD YOUR PAPER IN HALF & KEEP IT FOLDED.
– TEAR OFF THE BOTTOM RIGHT-HAND CORNER.
– DISCARD THE TORN SECTION TO YOUR SIDE.
– FOLD YOUR PAPER IN HALF AGAIN & KEEP IT FOLDED.
– TEAR OFF THE TOP LEFT-HAND CORNER.
– DISCARD THE TORN SECTION.
– FOLD YOUR PAPER INTO HALF AGAIN & KEEP IT FOLDED.
– TEAR OFF THE BOTTOM LEFT-HAND CORNER.
– DISCARD THE TORN SECTION.
– FOLD YOUR PAPER INTO HALF AGAIN & KEEP IT FOLDED.
– USING YOUR TEETH IF NECESSARY, TEAR OFF THE TOP RIGHT-HAND CORNER.
– DISCARD THE TORN SECTION.
– FINALLY, FOLD YOUR PAPER IN HALF DIAGONALLY & PRESS ON FOLD AS BEST YOU CAN.
– YOU MAY NOW OPEN YOUR EYES.”
Invite your group to share with one another what they now observe.
Take a few minutes to debrief the exercise, exploring why every ‘snowflake’ looks different, and what this exercise says about communication, teamwork and valuing diversity.
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Have you played this activity? What worked, what didn't work? What type of group? Do you have useful advice for other users? Do you know a fun variation?
I recently used this activity to talk about applied learning. I gave them Paper folding and tearing “theory” and then they needed to learn from that and apply it to a real world (repeat the activity with 2-way dialogue) scenario. Worked like a charm.
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I recently used this activity to talk about applied learning. I gave them Paper folding and tearing “theory” and then they needed to learn from that and apply it to a real world (repeat the activity with 2-way dialogue) scenario. Worked like a charm.