I have run these ‘connections and play-for-grown ups’ gatherings in a variety of guises (and a couple of venues) a few times now. (No we don’t hang about lighting each others’ cigarettes.) No two sessions have been the same and Spark Up! is definitely ever-changing and still evolving. I have been lucky enough to run two of these in Norwich Arts’ Centre – definitely my absolute-and-utter favourite venue in Norwich and many agree.
One important thing I have realised about Spark Up! is the need to pitch it clearly. Play is not for everyone. I listened to a brilliant woman (Amy Wragg who runs Get on the Soapbox in Ipswich) once say that when you run something, although it’s tempting to try and persuade everyone to attend, it’s unwise. You don’t want people turning up and not enjoying themselves because it’s really not their thing. So I am trying hard to make it very clear in the blurb that Spark Up! is for people who both love to play and connect with others.
I absolutely LOVE creating and running these events! They tick three of my most ginormous boxes: play, creativity and connection. I am brimming with ideas, and become very excited when I get the opportunity to actualise them! I have to hone down the many ideas. At first I might have played the sessions a bit safe, but slowly, slightly more bonkers activities have been creeping in.
Examples of the kind of activities I have included so far have been:
- Introduce yourself as if…Starting by choosing a cardboard disc to write your name on and wear around your neck. Then everyone realises (and I point out!) there is a ‘way of behaving’ written on the back that dictates how you are going to ‘be’ when you attempt to introduce yourself to everyone in the room. e.g. as if you are playing hockey, as if everyone’s a long-lost friend, as if you suspect someone is following you etc. Everyone’s is different. This creates a very entertaining thing to watch!
- A rock, paper scissors tournament. This wasn’t my idea (I got it from the internet) but it works exceptionally well – albeit not for long. The idea is you start as a pair, play a round of rock, paper, scissors and the loser becomes your number one fan. Your fan stands behind you and rowdily cheers you on in subsequent games. That pair then finds another pair and repeat the process so the winner ends up with three enthusiastic fans this time. At the end, there’s one final game with extremely raucous cheering. You do actually have to check that everyone knows what you mean by ‘rock, paper, scissors’ at the start though.
- A find your twin activity where you’re told that two of you are doing the same thing – but there are decoys! (I gave them a piece of paper which secretly informed them what they were doing at the start.)I explained that if you think you’ve found your twin, you sit down and become an audience member. Examples of twin behaviour included: two people… had multiple super-powers, were searching for their credit card that they were sure they had dropped, were playing water polo etc. It turned out the decoys had worked as several people were not with their twin at the end.
- For an unusual spectrum, I asked everyone to think of something unusual that had happened to them that could be explained in a sentence or so. My examples were: I was carried once round Norwich is a sedan chair followed by a pantomime horse. I broke my little toe with a snap, jumping up onto the sofa quickly because I was scared by the horror movie I was watching. I spent an evening getting tipsy with Bill Oddie. The idea was for people to share their story and decide whose was more or less unusual and eventually arrange themselves from the person with the most unusual story, to the least – in a line. It really didn’t matter that the line created was a shambles. Everyone was interacting beautifully!
- Taking part in an auction where you bid for things that could fill your blank-canvas day (or another theme). For the blank-canvas day, I started with ordinary things such as a pub lunch or a massage but moved on to things like a coffee date with your future self or a deep-clean for your house while you went for a walk (surprisingly popular). What I love about this activity is how unruly it becomes. People start cheating, clubbing together and bargaining in unusual ways! It’s really a values exploration but it also becomes extremely funny.
- An activity where the aim is to get rid of your pet! I set five people off with ‘pets’ (created from toilet rolls. pom-poms, pipe-cleaners etc.) with the aim of getting rid of them. At the top of their wire ‘leads’ were the criteria that needed to be fulfilled in order for the pet to be passed over to a new owner. e.g. It becomes theirs if they step out of its way as it approaches them. This was also visually entertaining and people were concentrating hard to work out what might mean they ended up with each pet. ‘That’s the one that pees on you! No it’s that one,’ I overheard at one frantic point.
I start each session with ground rules just to set the tone (e.g. aim to connect. more than impress), but for the most recent session, I did a silly – yet still with a bit of a message – input about ‘play’ at the start (see the poster above).
I find it interesting how much more ready some people are to play than others. I also find that it doesn’t usually take too much encouragement for initially reluctant people to start playing, given the right prompts. Those prompts might be the safety of the ground rules, a ‘flavour ‘ set, reassurance that anything playful goes, the scaffolding of the activities and also feeling like you’ll never be put completely on the spot – all of which I try to do, to nurture willingness to play. Play after all is expansive, creative and allows you to enjoyably explore nonsense! Within the boundary of respect – anything goes and you can risk being somewhat silly!
After the ‘interval’ I always organise something less led-by-me and lower energy e.g. conversation menus, graffiti walls, small competing tasks (create the longest list) etc. This allows time for people to interact more casually without me bossing them about!
As part of the event, I also give trophies – either for winning or as commiseration for the opposite – also made of toilet rolls. Our household toilet rolls are being put to great use!
Playing for playing’s sake is my favourite! I don’t need a reason. I think this lot might have agreed at this point too.
