The cover on the New Yorker this week made me really sad. It seems the light of the Lady of Liberty has gone out. I just signed up to lead an effort in support of immigration and refugee rights. Not sure what I’m getting into, but it will be an adventure. I love the diversity of Des Moines. It has … Read
Strengthen Relationships
Whether online, at work or at home, I measure the quality of my life by the health of my relationships. How am I feeling about the people and organizations I connect with? What am I accomplishing through those relationships? Are they helping me grow? Or distracting me from my hopes and dreams? Cyndy Erickson, Shelly Johnson and I presented a … Read
Meet Cyndy
One of my dearest friends Cyndy Erickson is starting her own consulting practice–CE Consulting. She’s collaborating with us on some projects, and co-presenting tomorrow at the Iowa Non-Profit Summit. The topic is “Strengthening Relationships to Create a High Performing Team.”
Meet Someone
Sometimes it’s hard to find a new activity to help break the ice at a class or meeting. I’m always looking for new ideas. I found this one that I put together a long time ago (I’m cleaning my office!) and thought I’d share it. It’s certainly not unique, but it might add a twist on things you’ve done before. And … Read
Play Triangle Tag
Triangle Tag is always fun, but especially when you play in the water. It wears you out too. Wearing people out–the main objective of parenting, puppy raising and camp. Not sure how you’d play Triangle Tag game with a puppy, but I think we could figure it out. On this hot September day it’s appealing to think about. The Triangle … Read
Reflect on Service
I love service learning. It’s fun to help kids help people, in preschools, retirement communities, parks and gardens. Service learning is a respected way to get kids involved in their own educations. But it’s not just about doing projects that help communities. For service learning to be valuable to young people as well as to the people they work with, … Read
Cross a Chocolate River
This is a great team building activity I’ve used for many years. Once at a 4-H Camp, we used 4-H Box Lids as the “marshmallows.” When I facilitated a program based on the Wizard of Oz, I challenged the group to cross the field of poppies instead of a chocolate river. Creating a powerful story or metaphor is key to … Read
Tie a Knot
Yesterday I visited the Junior Bridges Chrysalis After-School Group at Southeast Polk Junior High School. It was really fun to see the girls surfing my Web site and then using some of the ideas they found there. While they were in the computer lab, they asked me about the game, “Human Knots” and I told them I would put the directions … Read
Break the Ice
Eric Martin and Beth Mensing are masters at this icebreaker. At Chrysalis After-School Facilitator Training, Beth pulled HANDSHAKES (download it here) out of her fertile mind at a moment’s notice and taught it to the rest of the mentors. It works in any size group and is a great way to get your group to mingle and get to know … Read
Play Elbow Tag
This is another great game for mixing up your group and busting cliques. The action gets so frantic that people don’t pay attention to who they’re grabbing onto. You do have to lay some ground rules to keep the game fair though. Boundaries are really important so the “chasee” has to stay in the vicinity. Some groups may need the … Read
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