Closing activities for service leaders' training
Abstract
Finding or creating closing activities for service leaders' training can sometimes prove difficult. Closing activities are especially important because they provide a chance for participants to reflect on what has been learned, and leave trainees with an overall positive feeling about the training. This effective practice, submitted by Gail Minichiello with AmeriCorps *VISTA, presents a compilation of appropriate closing activities for service leaders' training that have been used by other service coordinators and professionals. These ideas were posted in January 2002 on the HE-SL (service-learning) e-mail discussion list hosted by the National-Service Learning Clearinghouse.Issue
Closing activities provide a sense of completion after a day of training, and they are the content that participants leave with.
Action
Below are seven examples of closing activities that allow participants to reflect on what has been learned, leaving them with an overall positive feeling about the training experience. Minor alterations may be implemented to create a more appropriate activity for your program.- The training leader draws a picture of a tree that includes the roots, trunk, branches, leaves, and fruit, and gives each participant a leaf cut out from construction paper. Participants write on the leaf something they are taking with them from the training. Then participants sit or stand in a circle while each takes a turn sharing what is written on their leaf while attaching it to the tree. Participants may place their leaf in different places on the tree, depending on what they are taking with them from the training. Trainers then note the significance of what it means to be the roots, trunks, leaves, or fruit of the tree. [Idea submitted to the Service-Learning E-mail Discussion List in January 2002 by Elizabeth Manning, Consultant, Texas Center for Service Learning.]
- The training leader places a variety of objects on the floor in the middle of a participants' circle. Objects can be small toys, pictures, postcards, play money, magnetic letters, figurines representing different backgrounds, or other items that can be purchased at a dollar store or toy store. Each participant selects one object that represents some key idea or concept they are taking with him or her from the training. Participants share why they picked that particular symbolic object and what it means to them. Participants may keep their object to take with them, to remind them of what they have gained from the training. [Idea submitted to the Service-Learning E-mail Discussion List in January 2002 by Xavier Benavides, National Outreach Coordinator, Oxfam America.]
- The training leader gives all participants a small tub or piece of Play-dough (this can be purchased in bulk at stores like Target or Wal-Mart). Each participant creates an object that reflects something important they learned at the training that they would like to take away with them. Participants gather in a circle and show the object they have created and explain its meaning. Then they pass the object to the next person who mashes the object together with theirs and so on, until a big colorful ball of Play-dough is formed. When everyone has finished contributing his or her piece, the large ball is passed around the circle again. Each participant takes a piece of the large ball, so that they can carry away not just their own learning and experiences, but also a part of the whole group. [Idea submitted to the Service-Learning E-mail Discussion List in January 2002 by Elizabeth Manning, Consultant, Texas Center for Service Learning.]
- The training leader takes a black and white Polaroid picture of each participant's hand. As the photo develops, each participant thinks about what they gave to the other participants or what they would like to be giving to the community or the agency they serve. Once the photos develop, participants write down a message (symbolic or literal) to accompany the image of their hand. The trainer then assembles the photos on a piece of mat board for all participants to view. Participants then take turns discussing the statements they have written to go with their hand. [Hand to Hand exercise submitted to the Service-Learning E-mail Discussion List in January 2002 by Kelley Argie.]
- The trainer supplies a plain white banner, approximately twelve feet long and two feet wide, with the title of the training clearly marked. Also provided are magazines, paints, glue sticks, rubber stamps, modeling clay, stickers, markers, and tape. With these materials, participants create a symbolic picture of what the training meant to them. Once completed, all the pictures are transferred to the banner. [Idea submitted to the Service-Learning E-mail Discussion List in January 2002 by Carol McCannon, Office of Community Service and Volunteerism, University of Minnesota.]
- The training leader asks participants to form a circle. One participant hands a ball of twine to another participant, holding onto the end of the ball while stating something they appreciate about the other participant, something notable that took place in the training regarding the other participant, or support they felt they needed or got from the other participant. Then that participant, while holding on to the end of the ball, passes the ball to another participant who is admired or respected. By the end of this process, the string forms an intricate web among team members. The trainer then cuts through the twine, symbolically cutting the ties to the workshop and leaving each participant a piece of twine in their hand to remind them of the new connections they have made and the ideas they will take away from the training. [Idea submitted to the Service-Learning E-mail Discussion List in January 2002 by Elizabeth Dilkes, Coordinator, Psychology Field Study Program, University of California, Santa Cruz.]
- A variation on the ball of twine activity is to ask the question, "How do you as service leaders feel more connected after today's training?" Then the ball of yarn is thrown from participant to participant, making a web of connectivity. This modification can also symbolically illustrate what happens when someone drops their piece of yarn or when there is a knot in the yarn. [Idea submitted in April 2002 by Gail Minichiello, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Allegheny College.]
Context
These closing activities have been used at universities and service-learning centers with success. The banner activity was used at the University of Minnesota for a Philosophy of Feminism class that mentored teenage girls at a nearby girls' ranch. Mentors/mentees worked in pairs to create pictures for the banner.Outcome
These creative activities allowed participants to reflect upon each other and the work they accomplished during the training. The activities allow for nonverbal and/or artistic expressions of what the participants have experienced in the training. Training leaders often report these activities can be "cathartic" for the participants.Posted On
April 8, 2002For More Information
Related Practices
Related sites
Starting Strong: A Guide to Pre-Service Training
Offering Structured Opportunities for Reflection
Training Briefs, Number 9, August 1998