Openers, Energisers and Closers

From Peacebuilding

Openers, energisers and closers are dynamic activities you can use to start up your workshop, energise the group and bring a learning experience to an appropriate ending. They’re designed to suit almost any content. No matter whether you’re working on negotiation, nonviolence or other topics of your choice, these openers, energisers and closers provide models that will fit in with your materials and the group you’re working with.

These activities are not just for having fun. Whilst some of them can be used simply for “reviving” and energising the group in order to regain their attention, most of them are interactive strategies for learning and provide you with procedures for improving learning and achieving your workshop objectives.

As with all the materials included in this Resource Area, we encourage you to modify and adapt the activities as you think best. We believe that, when it comes to learning, nothing is universal and transferable. Likewise, the rule “one size fits all” is not applicable to these materials. Change these openers, energisers and closers to suit the content you’re dealing with, the group you’re working with or the context in which you’re facilitating.

Openers

An opener is an activity to jump-start your workshop. A good one can help you get off on the right foot. Different kinds of openers can be used for different purposes: introducing the workshop agenda and objectives; helping participants get to know you and each other; exploring participants’ expectations; setting together the ground rules for the rest of the workshop; getting started on the workshop topics, etc. Most openers encourage participation and convey the message that ultimate responsibility for learning lies not just with the facilitator but also with the participants.

• Using Name Tags. This activity helps participants to get to know each other and explore their motivations for attending the workshop. All participants pick a name tag on entering the room and choose a secret target for their interviews. After a few rounds of interviews, participants talk to the plenary about their secret target.

• Brief Interviews. A simple icebreaker that helps participants stay relaxed as they don’t have to report back to the plenary on themselves. After several quick rounds of interviews in pairs, participants return to the plenary. Choose one person at a time and ask the others: “Who’s this?”

• I Statements. This activity explores participants’ expectations and sets the ground rules for the workshop. Most of the work is done individually. After reflecting on what they expect from the workshop, participants are asked what everyone – including the facilitator – should do to ensure that their expectations are met.

• Expectations, Worries and Ground Rules. Sub-groups of 5-6 people reflect on their expectations and worries regarding the workshop and help set the ground rules to be followed during the rest of the session.

• Quick Expectations. This activity helps you gather participants’ expectations via a quick brainstorming session. To be used when you don’t have much time but still wish to explore participants’ expectations about the workshop.

Energisers

An energiser, as its name implies, is an activity for energising your participants. For instance, it’s 2.00 p.m. and the participants have just returned to the workshop after lunch. Most of them are suffering from “post-lunch-syndrome” and you know they’ll only be half-awake for the next hour, no matter how interesting the activities and content to be dealt with are. This is a perfect situation for doing an energiser. It’s usually a quick activity – perhaps involving physical action – that can “revive” the group and help them focus on subsequent work. An energiser may be connected to the content, the group or the context in which you’re working, but not necessarily. There are times during a workshop when five minutes of sheer fun can achieve a lot in terms of activating participants for learning.

• Name Ball. Participants stand up and form a circle. You start by passing a ball to a participant and calling out his or her name. Ask everyone to do the same, passing the ball and calling out the name of the person who receives it. After a while, introduce a second ball into the circle, then a third, fourth, and so on. Several balls are being thrown quickly, with everybody moving and shouting. A perfect energiser!

Closers

A closer is an activity that brings a learning experience to an appropriate ending. Many kinds of content can be dealt with during a workshop and a lot can emerge from the participants. If you’re unable to garner all the learning that takes place during a session and bring it to an appropriate ending you run the risk of letting it go and not fixing it. A closer provides an opportunity to summarise the content introduced, highlight participants’ “discoveries”, add final hints and motivate participants to put what they’ve learned into practice.

• • Under construction, activities to be added!!!**