Activity: Me, Myself and I – by Mia Gray.
Aims:
• To have some time for self-reflection and introspection, with a focus on positivity
• To come away with positive messages/actions
• To celebrate our own uniqueness as well as those around us.
Age: Best suited to young people aged 11+, but can be adapted to younger children.
Resources Needed: Large pieces of paper/banqueting paper, colouring pens.
Method: Give everyone a large piece of paper and split them into pairs. In turn they should lie on the paper and have the other person trace around them, leaving a big silhouette of themselves on the paper. If they are uncomfortable doing this they can just draw a rough silhouette of a person on paper. The leader then reads out a body part and tells the group what to write in that body part, for example:
Hands – how you connect to those around you
Heart – a time when you’ve been really brave
Gut – a time when you have followed your instinct
Feet – what’s the next step in your personal journey
Legs – what principles will you always stand by
Arms – what makes you strong
Etc.
The leaders should give everyone a couple of minutes for each body part and keep going until they’ve filled their body/are getting restless with the task.
It is important that no one feels they NEED to share their work, as it can be very personal, but give everyone in the group the opportunity to share something they have written in their body.
Conclusion: Celebrate the differences between each people’s drawings and thoughts.
Read Yoni’s aphorism:
‘Every human being is beautiful. Each has his own needs, wants, desires, passions which serve to complement and influence our experiences. This realisation not only heightens our empathy towards each other but sets each person a mission.’
It’s a great way of talking about our personal strengths, journeys, and values without comparing anyone to each other. Encourage the participants to share their thoughts if they are comfortable to. Give out small wallet sized pieces of card with ‘Every human being is beautiful’ on one side (see below) and ask them to write down the most important things they want to remember/do and keep the card with them.
Have fun!
About Mia Gray
Mia Gray was the Yoni Jesner Scholar in 2016-17. She spent her gap year in Israel on the Bnei Akiva Lahava programme and is now at university. She recently participated in the Chief Rabbi’s Ben Azzai programme.
