Deserted Island

The activity starts with the sentence:

"There are days when we hear words that hurt us or when we experience bad feelings that come from specific behaviours from ourselves or others. These behaviours, words, feelings, thoughts,... have made us feel bad, so we would like to throw them far away to an abandoned island, never to return".

After that, the facilitator explains:

Participants will close their eyes. They have 2 minutes to think

of a behaviour, thought, event or experience they didn't like or have felt bad

about. Once they have thought of something, they briefly write it down on a

small piece of paper. They fold the paper and place it in the middle of the

group.

Once they are all done, the facilitator selects one piece of paper and reads it out loud. If the person who wrote that piece of paper wishes to explain why he/she choose that behaviour, thought, or experience and why he/she wants to throw it away on the abandoned island, he/she can do so. If the person does not want to express him-/herself, however, the group starts discussing what's on the piece of paper together.

Then, the facilitator reads the next piece of paper, and so on.

The facilitator can start the game with a personal example to encourage participation and to help start up the activity.

For example: "I choose to throw away offensive words on the

deserted island, because when I heard them from others I felt very bad, so I

don't want to hear them again."

The feedback at the end of the activity is very important. Discuss the activity together with the players, asking questions such as: How did the activity go? How did they feel? What did they learn? etc.