Hobbies And Interests
Miming
Miming means to act out something without words, which makes it an ideal activity for practicing nonverbal communication. Have participants write a short comic sketch that tells a story in small groups and then perform it to the others. Set a time limit for the length of the sketch. Alternatively, have each member take turns to stand before the group and mime out an activity without communicating out loud. Some examples of activities may be walking the dog or serving cake. The rest of the group tries to guess which activity is being mimed.
Statue Building
In this activity, participants split into pairs and communicate emotions and situations nonverbally through body language. One person becomes the statue; the other becomes the statue builder. Call out a feeling, such as happy, sad or tired, or a situation, such as dancing or driving a car. The person who is the statue builder moves his partner into a physical posture that represents the feelings or situation. He can move his partner's head, arms and legs to express the emotion or situation to the rest of the group, which then tries to guess what the statue is communicating. When the feeling or situation has correctly been identified, the pair swap roles so that each can have a turn at being the statue builder and the statue.
Psychic Shake
Psychic shake is an activity done in complete silence. Each person, without talking, chooses the number one, two or three. All participants must then mingle by shaking hands with each other the number of times that they have chosen. For example, someone who chose the number one would shake the other people's hands once. Once members meet another person who chose the same number, they must stick together to mingle with others. The aim is for all participants to be divided into three different groups by the end of the activity.
Circle Clap
Circle clap involves listening to nonverbal communication and working together to overcome obstacles. Have all of the participants form a circle and stand with their feet shoulder-width apart. Nominate a leader and have him start the activity by turning his waist to either the left or right. When the leader makes eye contact with the person he turns to, both the leader and the other person should clap their hands at the same time. The other person then turns to the next person in the circle and makes eye contact, and those two members should then clap their hands at the same time. This clap travels round the circle until a consistent rhythm develops. If two people do not clap their hands at exactly the same time, the clap cannot continue around the circle until they do by communicating silently with eye contact.