Goals of the exercise: To show how easy it is to misunderstand what people are feeling by just looking at their body language and facial expressions, and how easy it can be to hide true feelings.
Age of the participants: 10+
Number of participants: any
Duration of the exercise: 20 minutes
Materials: Large jar or container, felt pens, papers

Step by step

1. Ask participants to think of as many words as they can that describe feelings and emotions, both positive and negative.
2. Cut up the words into individual slips of paper and put them in the jar or container.
3. Ask participants to pick from the jar and mime the word on the paper. The group then have to guess what feeling or emotion is being mimed.

Debriefing

• Was it difficult for you to guess the feeling or emotion?
• Do you think you can easily guess someone’s feelings by just looking at his/her body language?
• Is it easy/hard for you to hide your feelings?
• Why do you usually try to hide your feelings from the other people?

Authorship/adaptation or source: BullyingFree NZ Week 2018 Activity Pack
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