A Game of Connections

This weekend I was at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, as the representative for my Area Meeting. The theme for the weekend was 'Developing Community'. We always have a session on Saturday evening when we entertain each other with songs, stories, games, poems, music or whatever else people want to bring to share.

So I decided to contribute a game about being connected to each other. The first person holds the ball of string and says: 'My name is [ ]. Please put your hand up if you're connected to me in some way'. The connection can be anything, and it's interesting to think about different ways in which we connect.

The first person then chooses one of the people who've put up their hands and says 'I'd like to connect with [ ].' You can point to them if you don't know their name. That person comes over and picks up the ball of string (with the first person holding onto one end) and unwinds it as they walk back to their seat.

Second person then says 'My name is [ ] and I'm connected to [name of first person] because [reason they've chosen]. Please put your hand up if you feel connected to me'.

Second person then chooses one of those who have put their hand up, and third person comes and takes the ball of string (with second person holding onto it at the point where it connects them to first person). They return to their seat, unwinding the string as they go. Third person then says 'My name is [ ]', etc, and so the string is gradually unwound, with each person holding onto it at the point where it connects them to someone else. Easier to do than describe, perhaps, but it worked very well.

Highlight of the game for me was the point when someone said they'd like to connect with the small son of one couple. He very adeptly found his way across the room, through the threads stretched across it, took the ball and crawled back to present it proudly to his parents - brilliant!