Icebreaker - Thankfulness

Our opening activity was on the theme of appreciation and sharing what each of us is thankful for in our lives. We began with a moment of silence followed by a guided, brief sensory check in: with our eyes closed taking a deep breath, noticing the earth under us, what we can feel with our skin, what we could hear (noticing near sounds and far sounds), taking short breaths using our nose to bring our awareness to scents and then tastes, and finally opening our eyes and practicing wide-angle vision.

We handed out pieces of paper with raffia ties, and asked everyone to take a few moments to think of what they feel thankful for in their lives. It could be one thing or many, just today or in general. We let the group know that we'd be sharing our writings later. We gave everyone a few minutes to write, and then called the circle back together and asked people to read their writings aloud when they were ready. When the sharing was completed, we explained what the ties were so we could tie our papers on the branches of a tree. Each person hung their paper up and we took a picture of the tree with all the appreciations decorating its branches.

This activity works to build community among a group. As Elisabeth noted her prior experience with working with a group of children, it was harder to think of what to be thankful for, and expose vulnerability in a group setting at the beginning. This activity works differently depending on the time, is the group just getting to know each other, or have they developed relationships? Is this activity done at the beginning of class or at the end of class? It adds an element of spirituality and opens each participant up to each other, ultimately creating a positive state of mind.

As our cohort discussed, there are other elements you can add to this activity. This is a good exercise for children to practice reflective thinking, as at first they may think of a toy, to my Mom drove me to my friend’s house, to my Mom’s unconditional love. Other suggestions included everyone adding things that they are thankful for in a book and having the book open at all times so that students can add as they come up with new things that they are thankful for.