Nairobits E-learning > 'Behind the screens' > warming up exercises
	Warming-up Exercises
	Name Game Zip Zap Spatial Game Blind Trust Drawing a representation of myself About you / About me Viewfinder Sketch My Name Is... A new story My Name Is... and I am Spiders's Web
Name Game ± 15 mins	This game stimulates the concentration and the ability to retain information. It demands an immediate response. It involves movement and exchange of bodies in space. The group form a circle. Each person in turn calls out their name. One person is chosen to start the game. He /she must call out the name of another in the circle and immediately start walking towards them. For example John calls out Mary’s name and starts to walk towards her, but before he reaches her she has to select someone else (i.e. Rose) call out the name of Rose and walk towards her and so it continues. When John reaches the place where Mary was standing he stops and joins the circle again. As the game continues it should build in speed and should last as long as it takes for each student to know the name of the others.
Zip Zap ± 15 mins	This is a competitive concentration game, to stimulate awareness. A good start to the day, or for any point in teh day when the group needs to refocus or wake up. The group form a circle. With arms pointing to the person on their left they say ZIP, and with arms pointing to the person on their right they say ZAP. Begin the game with a practice run whereby each student in turn ZIPs the student to there left and when a couple of rounds are done the each student will in turn ZAP each student on their right. The game starts with one participant choosing to ZIP or ZAP one of the two people by his side. This person in turn must instantly make their choice. The game continues this way and should gain speed with practice. A contendant is knocked out of the game when he/she ZIPs to the right or ZAPs to the left or stalls for more than a moment. He or she must then step out of the circle and the circle becomes smaller until there is eventually only two participants left.
Spatial Game ± 15 mins	This game builds an awareness of the surrounding environment and the factors which effect it. The whole group leaves the space and stands outside the door and at a small distance away from the door. Present are two group leaders. One of the leaders stands with the group and the other stands at the doorway. Before each student in turn re-enters the space the leader at the doorway whispers an instruction to them. Examples of instructions are as follows: - Find the highest place in the space. - Find the most dangerous place in the space. - Find the most open place in the space. - Find the coldest place in the space. - Find the brightest place in the space. - and so on. The same instruction may be given to two different students. After this exercise has been completed, participants remain in their places and a discussion will be had about the different perceptions that occurred during this game.
Blind Trust ± 15 mins	There are three ways of playing this game, what they all have in ocmmon is that someone gets blindfolded and has to act on the instructions of a partner of group. 1. Version 1: The group is divided into pairs. On if the two is blindfolded. Their partner has to lead them outside, or into the back area, somewhere a little bit difficult to reach. The one who is blindfolded has to depend on the partner for instructions. It is an exercise is giving control to another and team working. 2. Version 2: On person is blindfolded. It is the task of the rest of the group to lead that person by calling to them and giving instructions to get them through a small obstacle course which has been set up, with for example chairs and tables or buckets. Again this is an exercise is giving control to another and team working. 3. Version 3: The group is divided into pairs, like in version 2 an obstacle course is set up. Of each pair one is blindfolded and has to make their way through the obstcale course. The partner gives instructions. As there are a group of people trying to make their way through the obstacle course at the same time and many people shouting instructions to their partner, each pair has to agree on a signal wso that they can know that's my partner calling to me. A signal could be like a dog' bark or a bird or a whistel or shouting a certain word before giving the instruction. Good Luck
Drawing a representation of myself ± 15 mins	This is suitable as a home work exercise and it is a good means of self awareness. Each student will be asked select an object, animal, plant which they believe to be representational of themselves. In making this selection they must consider their size, physicality, how they move and what colour they are, their favourite food, hobbies, their function in life, their ambitions etc. They should be able to explain what they have in common with their chosen object, animal or plant. They then must make a drawing of what they have chosen.
About you/ About me ± 15 mins	Take two pieces of paper, on one paper you write your name on at the top, on the other you write your name and a description of yourself. Pass the paper with your name at the top around, each person who gets the paper write something about that person at the bottom of the page and then folds it upawards so that you cant read what's written. Then they pass the paper on for the next tow rite somethign and fold it up. WHen it is full it can be returned to the owner. Finally you will receive your paper, with all things written on it saying something about you, how you appear to different people around you. Put your two papers together and write description about yourself.
The Viewfinder Sketch ± 30 mins	The purpose of this exercise is to allow the participant to become familiar with the relationship between text and image. It encourages the participant to isolate details in their surrounding environments. It also provides a better understanding of how one views something through a camera, screen or monitor, which may involve moving or still image. A sentence is selected by the trainer with the same number of words as there is students. Each participant is given a word from this sentence to work with. Each participant is also given a practise camera. This practise camera then acts as a viewfinder. The group is divided into pairs. Each pair work in partnership to help each other. By the end of the allocated time (30-40 minutes) each student will have devised with the aid of his/her partner, a moving or still image relating to the given word, which will be viewed by the rest of the group through their viewfinders. Existing or found objects and backgrounds should be used in the creation of these images. After an initial presentation by each of the students, if there is time the students will present their image a second time, in turn, in the order of the words, to create a visual sentence. A short discussion will conclude this session.
My Name Is... ± 15 mins	The group form a line sitting on chairs with a wide open space in front of them. This wide open space becomes a stage. Each student must in turn place him/herself at the side of the stage and then walk to the centre of the stage while being observed by his fellow students who sit in front of him. When he reaches the centre he must stop and face his audience, make eye contact with them and then and then say aloud MY NAME IS……. whatever. Comments will be made afterwards about how well the performances were in general.
A New Story ± 15 mins	The students will sit around in a circle. One of the students will be asked to say a sentence which will open a new story. The second student will then be asked in turn for a sentence which will continue the story and so on around the group taking turns to add a sentence. At the introduction to this game the students will be told to consider the PLOT, the CONTINUITY, the ORIGINALITY, the BEGINNING, the MIDDLE, and the END.
My Name Is… And I Am… ± 15 mins	This game is an elaboration of the game MY NAME IS… The participants will be also asked to tell the audience a few sentence about themselves, only this time the exercise will be done in gibberish. (A made up language devised by each student individually on the spot.)
Spiders' Web ± 15 mins	This game is an energizer and reminds the students that they are each an important part of the group. It also helps students understand how the web works. A ball of string is unravelled and held tight by everyone, like a spiders web. What To Do: Everyone should sit in a circle on the floor. The first person should hold on to the end of the ball of string and then roll it across the ground to someone sitting on the opposite end of the circle. Then that person should hold onto the string so that it makes a line between the two people. He or she should then roll the ball of string across the circle to someone else. The ball of string is rolled until every person is holding onto the string. It should finally be rolled back to the first person so that they are holding both the beginning and the end of the string. Next, ask everyone to look at how the string connects you all, like a spiders web. You are all dependent on one another to keep the web firm and supportive. If anyone were to take their hand away from the web, that part of it would collapse The trainer asks students what this makes them think off and points out that this is both how communities of people work and how the internet works connecting computer.
Visualising A Song ± 15 mins	A song will be chosen and sung by the trainer. This song should have plenty of repetition. A good example is “My Bonny Lies Over The Ocean” Depending on the length of the song each student will be given one or two words NOT in a following order. Each student is then asked to devise a simple action for this word which can be carried out in a standing position. The students will be then asked to stand in a line or form a circle. The trainer will then sing the song again slowly and the student will give his/her action in time with the word of the song.

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