Have You Ever

NYS SEL Standard: Goal 2 B and 2C

Materials

  • Poly spots or markers of some kind (one for each participant, minus one).

Objective

  • Participants get to know each other and things they have in common by moving based on yes or no questions.

Procedure

  1. Place poly spots in a circle, with facilitator in the center. 
  2. Facilitator asks the group a yes or no question (ex. Have you ever been in a canoe? Do you like pineapple on your pizza?).
  3. If a participant’s answer is yes to the question, they will move to another open poly spot in the circle. If the answer is no, they remain on the spot.   
  4. A new person will be in the center and ask the group the next question.

Reflections

  1. How did you feel when you were in the center and had to ask the group a question? Did you feel put on the spot?
  2. How can a group help support each other when they notice someone feeling uncomfortable?

Variations

  1. If a person ends up in the center and they can’t think of a question, you can have a word built in that makes everyone move. For example, if a person in the middle says “teamwork,” everyone has to move to a new spot.
  2. On a virtual platform, you can encourage everyone to be in gallery view, and if their answer is yes, they can do a preselected movement. If their answer is no, they stay sitting.  Participants can take turns asking the group a question.