Building a Story Together with Empathic Creativity
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Building a Story Together... with Empathic Creativity
The Idea
With empathic creativity, you learn to notice when something exciting happens and help each other in turning that into a story.
Inspiration
You will need:
- A non-see-through bag
- Ten items from your house that fit in the bag. The person who chooses the items and fills the bag doesn’t play and everyone who plays is not allowed to see what is in the bag!
Let’s play!
You can play this game with a minimum of two people, but more people is more fun!
- Put all the mystery items in the bag, making sure the players don’t see what they are.
- Take turns feeling an item in the bag and describe what you feel until you can guess what it is.
- When you know what it is, you can take it out of the bag and give it to the person to your right.
- This person starts a story: “Once upon a time, there was a …. “. You can tell anything you like, but you must make sure that the item you just got is part of the story. Don’t finish the story, this is just the beginning!
- Now it’s your turn to feel in the bag, describe what you feel while guessing the item and once you know what it is, pass it to the person to your right side.
- This person continues the story, making sure to incorporate the new item in the storyline.
- Continue this way until all items have been guessed and used. The last person can finish the story with the last item out of the bag.
Like playing Empathy? Check out the other games here.
If I were You with Imaginative Empathy
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If I were You... with Imaginative Empathy
The Idea
Stepping into the shoes of somebody else helps to see the world from their perspective. With this game, you are going to literally step into someone else’s shoes.
Inspiration
You will need:
- A favourite story or video with several characters (animals count too! If you can’t find a story, you can use the Little Prince video above).
- Pen and paper
- Optional: your wardrobes, to have a costume party
Let’s play!
You can do this exercise several times, changing roles every turn to try to play different perspectives.
- Read the story together or watch the video and note down all the characters in the story. If you have more players than characters, consider if there are objects in the story which play an important role and turn them into characters too.
- Let everyone choose one character they want to play, try to choose a character which is quite different from you.
- Before we start, have a look at your house and the clothes that are around and dress up to match your character.
- Everyone ready? Let’s go!
- Stand in a circle together and imagine what it is like to be this person/animal/object.
- What expression would you have with your face if you would be this person/animal/object? Make the expression and show it to each other.
- How would you hold your body? Your hands? Your feet? Take the body posture and show it to each other.
- What would this person/animal or object think? How would they feel? What would they want?
- Now all take one step backwards to literally step into your role. You are now your character.
- Re-enact the story, or make up your own, making sure to stay in your characters role.
- Have a little chat when your theatre play is done: what was it like to be this character? Was it difficult to play someone you are not?
Like playing Empathy? Check out the other games here.
Mirror Mirror on the Wall with Reflective Empathy
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Mirror Mirror on the Wall... with
Reflective Empathy
The Idea
Sometimes when we listen to people we only hear the things we want to hear. What we hear might be different from what they are trying to tell us. We can be a mirror to reflect what we hear, and check that we hear correctly what they are telling us.
Inspiration
You will need:
- Just yourselves
Let’s play!
You can play this game with a minimum of two people, but more people are more fun!
- Let everyone sit in a circle.
- The person who chooses to start the game thinks up a very short story.
- They turn to their right and whisper the story in the person’s ear.
- The listening person takes a moment to think about what they heard, then turns to their right and whispers the story they heard in the ear of the next person.
- Repeat this process until the last person whispers the story they heard in the ear of the person who started.
- The starting person tells the original story to the group and also the story as it was retold in the group.
- It can be very funny when the story is changed as in Broken down Telephone. But it is also important to learn to keep the story true. You might like to try the game both ways.
- When playing the game remember that for the story to be heard correctly depends on each person both listening well and speaking simply and clearly. When the story starts out too complicated it is very difficult for people to understand, remember and tell.
- Have a little chat after the game. Was it difficult to understand what the other person was saying? Did you manage to remember all the things to repeat? Where did the story change?
Like playing Empathy? Check out the other games here.
You Move I Move with Kinesthetic Empathy
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You Move I Move ... with Kinesthetic Empathy
The Idea
We understand each other much better if our bodies move together. In this exercise we are going to explore how it feels to move together.
Inspiration
I like to move it - Zumba Kids
You will need:
- All players need to find their favourite song (or two!) to dance to and something to play it on.
Let’s play!
You can play this game either in couples or in a group.
- Each player takes turns: playing their favourite song for a minute and dancing to it.
- All other players try to mirror the dance moves of the player who’s song is playing.
- When the minute is over, the dancer decides whether the others have been acting like proper mirrors.
- Then the next song is played and all players mirror the new dancer.
- When all songs are played, and you still fancy a bit more, you can either return to the same song of the first player and try a new dance, or change songs and keep going.
- Make sure there are plenty of drinks around, dancing makes you thirsty!
Like playing Empathy? Check out the other games here.
What we feel with Self-Empathy
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What we feel with Self-Empathy
The Idea
Sometimes we feel something but we don’t really notice we do. With this exercise we are going to explore our feelings together.
Inspiration
You will need:
- Yourselves and…
- Some colouring pencils and paper
Let’s play!
- Sit together, not touching each other and close your eyes
- Let’s start by taking some deep slow breaths, exhaling slowly through your mouths.
- Count how long it takes you: four seconds to breath in, five seconds to breath out.
- Now feel inside your body: do you notice a place where the feeling is stronger?
- Put your hand on that place and see what it feels like
- Maybe the feeling has a colour? What colour do you see?
- Maybe the feeling has a shape? Can you make the shape with your hands?
- The feeling probably also has a name. What name would you give it?
- Open your eyes and show us what you felt: can you draw it on the paper? Don’t forget to give it the colour and the name as well!
Like playing Empathy? Check out the other games here.
