A ‘cootie catcher,’ a story prompt, and a group of strangers walk into a room…
No, this is not the start of an ill-attempted joke. This actually happened… and it was fun!
In February of 2022, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop titled, “Playing for Keeps,” facilitated through the South Mountain Community College Storytelling Institute. The workshop introduced participants to the use of toys and games as a tool to help “spark memories that lead to stories.”
While participating in the workshop, it was one toy and game in particular that not only helped spark memories but was also described as a good “ice-breaker” for groups of people in a variety of settings –the cootie catcher!
Yes, the cootie catcher! The strategically folded piece of paper that you remember from childhood sometimes called a ‘fortune teller.’ This cootie catcher, in lieu of omniscient fortunes, was prepared with story prompts to help spark memories that could later be crafted into full stories.
For example, one story prompt read, “Tell me about a time you survived…” and the participant would subsequently conclude the thought. In my case, I recalled surviving the crippling anxiety of waiting in line to ride my first upside down roller coaster, loving the ride experience and since conquering roller coasters in several other amusement parks!
Breaking the Ice
While not-so-meticulously folding my piece of paper to create the cootie-catcher-story-sparker, I latched onto the workshop facilitator’s statement of how this toy could be a great ice-breaker for newly acquainted teams.
The workshop experience was fortunate timing. I had the opportunity to leverage the cootie catcher during a team building event for work just a couple weeks later. This team building event brought the entire team together, in-person, for the first time in over 18 months. There were approximately 20 of us, a few new faces to the team, and we had only really engaged via video meetings as a result of the pandemic. So, this in-person team building event was long overdue.
As I introduced the activity and distributed the cootie catcher templates, I was met with curious smiles. But the team was up for the game! After breaking into groups and reading the first prompt, the room erupted with energy and sparked stories. And while we connected through play, here are a few things that I observed:
- It’s Kinetic: It gave the team something to do with their hands when initially folding the cootie catcher. And the toy requires hand movement throughout the activity. If you’re like me, sometimes you need to bounce or move to release nerves until you’re comfortable. No bouncing necessarily required for this activity, but you get to use your hands as a nice consolation.
- It’s Collaborative …and competitive: Off the bat, team members were leaning into one another to offer reminders to their partners about how to fold a corner –collaborating in the creation of the cootie catcher. But in the spirit of play, we walked away with a vivid memory of one team member proudly declaring they had been the first to complete their cootie catcher –and subsequently, who was the last. Friendly competition is part of games and play after all.
Additionally, by design, the game requires at least two people –one individual to use the cootie catcher, and the second to respond. The cootie catcher helps facilitate the dialogue between the two people or larger group.
- It’s a Tool to Celebrate Unique and Common Experiences: Diversity is a characteristic of a strong team. It’s people’s unique experiences, life lessons and skill set that add to a team’s ability to manage challenging situations and be more creative in developing and testing solutions. Story prompts help celebrate the diversity in team members’ varied experiences –no two stories seemed quite the same.
On the other hand, story prompts helped highlight common human experiences. More than one team member referenced skipping school or sneaking out of the house in response to the prompt, “Tell about a time you got in big, serious trouble…” A common experience –but also different.
The team reconnected after 18 months through play and sparked stories. Just as I pinched this activity from the workshop, several team members asked for the template so that they could deploy this activity again in the future with their teams.
Make Your Own Cootie-Catcher-Story-Sparker!
In practice, the cootie catcher is not overly complicated to enact. You can find a free template online to download and customize with your own questions or prompts, and then you play! And if you’re like me who needs a little extra instruction, you can find numerous videos showing you how to fold the cootie catcher template.
As for the story prompts, get creative! You can customize the questions to your specific team or event. Below are the story prompts that pulled me into the game!
- Tell me about a time when you survived…
- Tell me about a time when you saw something super crazy!
- Tell about a time you got in big, serious trouble.
- Tell about a time everything changed.
- Tell about a time when you experienced your first…
- Tell about the first lesson you learned from your first job with the department.
- The silliest thing I ever did was…
- Once upon a time, not long ago…
I hope you have fun. Go play, go spark stories!
Comments