Playful Toolkit Activities for Civic Collaboration
Three activities that use imagination and play to enhance civic collaboration
Dear collaborative discussion friends,
This week we are highlighting three activities from the Civic Collaboration module that use play to help participants choose a civic cause or topic they care about, creatively reimagine and challenge the existing discourse on different issues, and practice collaborating with others on these issues in different ways. All the activities in the toolkit have an activity key that indicates the level of the activity (beginner or advanced) and other characteristics using icons. Activities that use playful methods are denoted with the following icon.
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This week's activities:
Activity 5.1 – Identifying Your Civic Passion
Activity 5.6 – Building and Shifting the Discourse
Activity 5.7 – Practicing Collaboration with Others
Three activities that use imagination and play to enhance perspective taking
Activity 5.1 Identifying Your Civic Passion uses the fun, playful technique of sports competition brackets, similar to that seen in March Madness, to discuss and decide together on what civic causes or issues they are most passionate or concerned about individually and as a group. By playing this “Civic Topics Sweet Sixteen Competition”, participants are able to practice advocating for issues that are important to them, as well as negotiating with a group to reach a decision.
Participants begin the activity by individually writing down 3-5 topics that are important to them (such as climate change, public health, etc.). The facilitator then combines and consolidates this list to create a single list of at least 16 topics. Participants are then asked to vote for their top issues using a rank choice voting method. The top 16 topics are then used to fill in the sweet sixteen brackets, with the topic that ranks #1 facing off against #16, #2 against #15, and so on.
Participants are then invited to begin playing the game in small groups, discussing each face-off. They are asked to consider which topic they would pick if they had to devote their whole life (or a semester) to that topic or which one they would choose if they were trying to convince others to join them in taking action on this issue. They are also encouraged to discuss which topic resonates with them the most and what values are behind their reasoning for choosing one topic over the other. In this way, participants work with their small groups to choose one of the two topics in each face off, moving through the brackets in this fashion, until they decide on a winning issue.
Each small group is then invited to share their winning civic issue with the full group. Participants then debrief as a full group, discussing whether the competition was hard, which was the most difficult face-off, how their group negotiated and decided on the winner if there were different opinions, and what was the hardest part of the game.
Using this “Civic Topics Sweet Sixteen Competition”, this activity offers a fun, playful method for discussion groups to discuss what they are passionate about and practice deliberating to make shared decisions together.
Activity 5.6 Building and Shifting the Discourse helps participants understand the concept of discourse through the playful use of memes. Participants discuss how ideas shape our perspective about the world and everyone in it. This activity also explores different methods that are used to make particular ideas gain momentum or become part of the discourse. It encourages participants to imagine how they can creatively challenge such methods and create change by shifting the discourse around a particular topic.
This activity introduces participants to the concept of discourse. Participants discuss memes and how they can be part of discourse. Participants then brainstorm strategies for creating memes, such as thinking about the unstated assumptions behind different perspectives on a an issue and how to change these assumptions, creating memes to appeal to emotions, etc. They then work in small groups to create memes for the scenario assigned to their group. When creating their memes, participants are asked to think about and discuss who their audience is, what their values are, how their audience currently thinks about their world and their place in it, and what needs to change in the way their audience thinks for them to be persuaded of the viewpoint the memes are expressing, etc. Each group then share their memes with the full group. Participants then debrief as a full group, discussing what similarities and differences in content or strategies they see between the different memes shared, as well as how they would order all the memes for the greatest effect is they were a single collection.
This activity helps participants understand how ideas shape our worldview, uncover the hidden assumptions behind these ideas, recognize different methods used to make ideas gain popularity or enter the discourse, resist these tactics in creative ways, and change the world by transforming ideas about it.
Activity 5.7 Practicing Collaboration with Others uses tactile play to enhance collaboration. Participants are invited to sit together around a table and start building their ideal city using LEGOs. While they are collectively building this LEGOs city, three participant or guests are invited to present 5 minute pitches for implementing changes in their community, workplace, or on their campus. Participants are then asked to share their own ideas or responses to these pitches in quick 2 minute elevator speeches. They then debrief as a full group, discussing what common themes emerged in the three pitches or elevator speeches and if there was anything surprising in what was proposed. Participants also reflect on the LEGOs city they built and discuss the different features of this ideal city.
By engaging participants in a playful activity while discussing an important issue, this creates a synergetic and creative environment in which to explore initiatives related to a particular topic. It encourages them to listen from an open and collaborative frame of mind. This further enhances how participants work together to incorporate different ideas into a shared vision.
Upcoming Events
Mark your calendars! Our next community gathering is Friday, May 3rd at 12 pm (EDT). All are welcome! More details on how to register coming soon.
Registration is now open for our annual Collaborative Discussion Coach Summer Training! The cost of the training is $265. We are able to offer a discounted price due to the generous support of the Interactivity Foundation. Our programming should never be cost prohibitive. Please contact us if a scholarship is needed. The deadline to register is May 5, 2024. Learn more and register here!
Looking forward to collaborating,
Ritu Thomas & the Collaborative Discussion Team