Group Building Exercises

In conducting violence against women prevention work, group building exercises help develop a strong group, especially in Leadership Development efforts. These exercise can be used as ice breaker, warm up exercises, or closing activities . These exercises are often not specific to violence against women issues but highlight teamwork and respect for other members of the group. For some examples, see this guide from the One Circle Foundation.

For more exercise check ice breaker and closing activities .

Theater Games

Some people draw on exercises from theater games such , Many are highlighted in Viola Spolin: Theater Games for the Classroom CD-ROM. Theater games include Gibberish and Animals (see http://www.spolin.com/games.html for descriptions.)

• Circle Dash
  • This activity from a book called Theatre for Community Conflict and Dialogue by Michael Rohd
  • This works best with at least 10 people participating, and it could function well as an ice breaker because the youth can choose their level of participation.
  • Everyone stands in a circle around one person who stands in the middle. The object of the game is for 2 people in the circle to silently signal each other to switch places. The person in the middle tries to get to get to an open spot before the switchers. The person left takes the spot in the middle. This is a silent game.
  • You can debrief the exercise with a discussion on different forms of communication if you choose.