Activities

Virtual Team Building Events

Activity Description

What’s your Colour is an interesting and creative reflective strategy

Benefits of What’s your Colour Experiential Group Activity

  • Creative
  • Outcomes are Random
  • Plain and simple to perform
  • Many variations

Required Props

  • 3 x sets of coloured balls
  • Bag or another container

How to Play What’s your Colour Experiential Group Activity

This is a unique method that gets groups to interact and share their thoughts. The activity allows for creative and random outcomes, nobody knows exactly what to expect.

Beforehand, collect a number of similar objects, each of a different colour. These items could be coloured balls, scarfs, pieces of paper, each can represent 2 colours or, up to five different colours. Put these objects, let’s say balls, into a bag or container. Make sure to shake them and mix them up, especially if there are more than two colours.

Gather your group together and tell them that you are holding a number of different coloured balls in the bag. Instruct the group that you would like them to hand this bag around to everyone. Each person must then reach into the bag and randomly take out a coloured ball, no peeking.

Before passing the bag around, inform them that each of these coloured balls represents a different topic. For example, a red ball will represent something that is positive, a blue ball represents something negative. Other coloured balls could also represent something that needs improvement, it may represent a feeling, a lessened learned or a highlight.

Have a volunteer start by taking the bag and reaching inside for a ball, after seeing what colour ball they have, have them share their thoughts on the topic the ball represents. Hand the bag around until everyone has had a chance to retrieve a ball and share their thoughts.

Contextual Framing Ideas for What’s your Colour Activity

You could say:

  • “In my hand, you will notice I am holding a bag; this bag is filled with coloured balls. I will start by retrieving one of these balls, which represents something that is connected to this morning’s workshop. For instance, if I bring out a red ball, I want you to share with everyone something positive that occurred during the workshop today. If I pull out a blue ball, it represents something negative. I would like everyone to share something they didn’t enjoy about the workshop. When I pull out a green ball, everyone must share something they learned today. Here we go, the first coloured ball is green…”
  • “I have here in my hand a bag full of different coloured pieces of paper. I am going to hand the bag over to you to pass around the group. Each person must reach into the bag and retrieve a piece of paper. If you pull out a yellow piece of paper, I want you to share with the group how you think the group performed when it came to teamwork. A white piece of paper represents your feelings, how did you feel when performing a task?

Step-by-Step Instructions to facilitate What’s your Colour Group Activity

  • Prepare beforehand and gather together a bag and several objects of different colours.
  • Have the group come together and form a circle.
  • Show the group your bag and tell them that there are different coloured objects inside.
  • Pass the bag around the circle and have each person retrieve a coloured object randomly from the bag.
  • The different colours of these objects represent a different subjects.
  • Explain what each colour represents, for example, red means discuss something positive.
  • Hand the bag over to the first volunteer in the circle, have them reach into the bag and retrieve a coloured object. Ask them to share their thoughts, according to the colour of the object.
  • Pass the bag around the circle until everyone has retrieved a coloured object and had a chance to share their thoughts.

Leaders and Facilitators Tips

There are many benefits to a reflection or debriefing activity, which helps members process their experience. For this activity, you can ask members to return their coloured balls to the bag, once they have finished sharing, or if there are many objects of the same colour, have them keep the object until the end.

When deciding on the colours of the objects, consider what you want to discuss. If you want members to share their thoughts on similar topics, ensure you place a number of objects in the bag that are the same colour.

In order for everyone to understand better, a demonstration may come in handy. You, as the facilitator, can start by retrieving an object from the bag and sharing your thoughts according to the colour of the object. This will help the group understand how to respond correctly.

This method is a great way to keep a debriefing strategy on topic, without veering off your programmed objectives. The most effective way to proceed with this debrief is to hand the bag over and allow one person at a time to retrieve an object and then to share their thoughts, before moving on to the next person.

Variations of What’s your Colour Activity

  • Hold on: Hold the bag and do not pass it around, retrieve each object yourself for each person in the circle. This is for those instances where passing the bag around may cause a distraction.
  • Include the whole group: Instead of everyone responding individually, retrieve an object and ask the group as a whole.
  • Return object: Have each member return their coloured object, place it back into the bag before passing it on. This is for when you want other members to answer the same question.

What’s Your Colour

Basic Details
Property Type : Team Building
Listing Type : Placeholder
Activity Type : Team Building
Focus On : Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Having Fun
Outcome Based : Yes
Props Required : Minor
Duration : 6 - 15 minutes
Exertion Level : Low
Group Size : 1 - 8, 9 - 16, 17 - 30
Age : Children, Youth, Adults