Snowball Toss Reflection Activity - Awesome Fun Way To Open Dialogue

Resources

Props

Paper & pens

Environment

Indoor
Outdoor

Step-by-Step Instructions

Distribute a sheet of paper and a pen to each person in your group.
Instruct each person to write a thought on the paper in regards to a particular topic you wish to explore, eg what frustrates you, or causes you stress.
When ready, invite each person to crumple their piece of paper.
Ask a question in regards to the thoughts which were written on the paper, eg what would you like to do with these frustrations? For example, your group may respond that they want to remove these thoughts.
Invite your group to toss their collective crumpled papers around the room for 20-30 seconds.
Instruct each person to collect a random ‘snowball’ and in turn, read the thought written on it to the rest of the group.
Invite your group to reflect and discuss these thoughts, as appropriate/required.

How To Play Narrative

This is a quick and fun strategy that fosters open dialogue while at the same time offering the opportunity to release the pent-up energy of your group.

I think it’s a wonderful way to reflect on and discuss issues of stress in our lives, especially as the exercise invites people to (metaphorically) release or get rid of their stress in a fun way.

Start by passing out a sheet of paper and a pen to each person.

Then, within an appropriate framing of your choice, ask each person to (privately) write a thought or a response to your question on the paper. Here are a few examples:

What is one thing that you wish you could remove from your life?
Describe one behaviour you have observed in this group that you do not think is healthy.
How could your group get better at [… enter attribute …?]
If there was one stress in your life that you could eliminate, what would it be?
Describe a unique quality about one other person in the group.

When ready, ask each person to them unceremoniously crumple their piece of paper. Then, comes the fun part.

Instruct your group to toss their collective crumpled papers (which now look like snowballs) into the air, across the room, whatever. Stray snowballs are permitted to be picked up and tossed right back across the room. Invite lots of movement, noise, whatever, if channelling or releasing pent-up energy is useful to you or your group.

Allow this pandemonium to continue for 20-30 seconds. Have fun, but as described in the Leadership Tips tab, beware the other impacts this part of the exercise may have on your group.

Then, curb the enthusiastic tossing of your group by asking each person to pick up any random snowball and hold onto it, but do not open it (yet.)

Again, perhaps within the context of the framing you opened the exercise with, pose a question to your group. Then, taking turns, ask each person to un-crumple the paper they are holding and read the thought (written on it) to the rest of the group.

Ordinarily, the thoughts which are shared do not belong to the person reading it, which is useful for several reasons. First, this process builds empathy for others. And second, it also provides a random mechanism to share the thoughts of people who feel less comfortable sharing them out loud (or in front of a large group.)

Stop, pause, reflect and discuss this thought, as appropriate, and continue around the group. For example, if your primary focus was to discuss stress, then your facilitation from this point may be to invite your group to discuss how one can identify stress and how to cope with it.

In a sense, the activity up to this point is the warm-up or unofficial start to prepare your group for the primary purpose of the exercise – sharing.

Practical Leadership Tips

Clearly, there is one element of this exercise as described that could get out of control, so consider what the impact of the tossing may have on the levels of trust and empathy that exist or you have nurtured in your group. If there is a risk the tossing could result in a negative outcome, take a look at the Variations tab for alternative or ‘safer’ options.

There’s something really powerful about writing thoughts down. For most, it helps us to organise our sometimes messy or confused thoughts. For others, it can make what they are thinking more real because it has left their head and appeared on paper in front of them. So, while at first glance the Snowball Toss may appear a frivolous activity, there can be great value to be revealed when appropriately framed.

Note, this exercise does not have to focus on difficult subjects or negative elements. The Snowball Toss is simply a mechanism to invite your group to share in a fun and engaging manner. So, it is equally useful at reflecting on positive attributes as much as it can be a powerful way to lead into more difficult topics.

Social-Emotional Learning

You could integrate Snowball Toss as part of a well-designed SEL program to develop your group’s ability to manage their emotions, thoughts and behaviours effectively in different situations and to achieve goals.

Specifically, this activity offers ample opportunities to explore and practice the following social & interpersonal skills:

Self-Awareness

Identifying Emotions
Linking Feelings, Values & Thoughts
Identifying Personal, Cultural & Linguistic Assets
Recognising Strengths, Prejudices & Biases
Demonstrating Self-Confidence, Honesty & Integrity
Experiencing Self-Efficacy

Self-Management

Controlling One’s Emotions
Identifying & Managing Stress
Demonstrating Self-Discipline & Self-Motivation
Setting Personal & Group Goals

Social Awareness

Taking Other’s Perspectives
Demonstrating Empathy & Compassion
Appreciating Diversity
Respecting Others

Relationship Skills

Communicate & Listen Effectively
Build Positive Relationships
Work Collaboratively

Responsible Decision-Making

Demonstrating Curiosity & Open-Mindedness
Promoting Personal & Collective Well-Being

You can learn more about SEL and how it can support character education here.

Health & Wellness Programming

Mindfulness

As a simple reflection exercise, this activity is ideal for integrating into a program designed to build mindfulness practices. It’s engaging and can be adapted to suit many different program goals. To this end, be sure to (a) frame your reflective question or statement carefully and (b) allow sufficient time for people to reflect.

Accountability

The simple act of writing stuff down not only puts one’s thoughts into existence, but they are more likely to help this person be accountable for them. If this is one of your program objectives, carefully consider how you will word your reflective question or statement to ensure your group will respond with responses that are imbued with “I” and “Me” statements.

Behavioural Norms

The subtleties of this fun reflection strategy will invite your group to interact and engage with each other in a manner that would necessarily speak to the benefits of having developed a set of supportive and healthy behavioural norms in advance. Or, if not, you could focus on any less-than-desired interactions or outcomes to explore what sorts of behaviours your group would prefer to see and commit to in the future. For example, observe the manner in which your group tosses their snowballs at one another. Are these behaviours sourced from a position of fun or malice?

Popular Variations

Pull Out & Share: Rather than toss, collect all of the crumpled snowballs of thought into a container and then, taking turns, invite each person to randomly pull one out to share with the group.
Deeper Writing: Take a look at Journalling to explore another powerful reflection technique that invites your group to express their thoughts on paper.

You Might Also Like...

Line of people forming part of a storyline

Become a Member
to Access this Activity

Join Now or Continue to
Browse Free Activities

Storyline

Engaging technique to tell a story about an experience.

Group of people thinking about their response to the Memory Game reflection exercise

Become a Member
to Access this Activity

Join Now or Continue to
Browse Free Activities

Memory Game Debrief

Simple processing strategy to inspire deeper reflection.

Man walking over to two interlocked people in Build A Story game

Become a Member
to Access this Activity

Join Now or Continue to
Browse Free Activities

Build A Story

Creative story-making exercise to build connections.

Useful Framing Ideas

It may sound like:

“WRITE DOWN ONE THOUGHT ON YOUR PAPER WHICH REPRESENTS A QUALITY OR CHARACTERISTIC OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE TEAMS THAT YOU THINK IS MISSING FROM THIS GROUP…”
“THINK ABOUT ONE MOMENT OF STRESS IN YOUR LIFE. WE ALL EXPERIENCE STRESS, BUT SOMETIMES IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY WHEN WE ARE FEELING STRESSED. WRITE ON YOUR PAPER ONE OF THE SIGNS YOU HAVE NOTICED WHEN YOU ARE FEELING UNDER STRESS…”
“IF YOU HAD ONE WISH AND COULD ELIMINATE JUST ONE THING FROM YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? CONSIDER THIS CAREFULLY, AND THEN WRITE IT DOWN BRIEFLY ON YOUR PAPER…”

Source

The inspiration for Snowball Toss was sourced from the video library of Edutopia, a wonderful online resource for teachers and other professional educators. Definitely worth a look.

Contributor Mark

Add your Comments...

Have you played this activity? What worked, what didn't work? What type of group? Do you have useful advice for other users? Do you know a fun variation?

Comments (1)

David Piang-Nee June 28, 2021
I like this activity as it creates a sense of anonymity which can be useful at times depending on the subject being explored.

This could be really useful in classes as a strategy to ask for either feedback or relevant questions to a subject without singling anyone out. For example. If a student has not quite grasped a concept or a participant had additional questions or thoughts that they might want to bring up or look further into, they could express that and it would be brought up anonymously through the process.

If you needed to have an anonymous vote on an activity or something that could also be a fun way of doing it.

It would be important to frame that the questions were to be relevant and appropriate to the session for example. There would also be the opportunity for the group to one at a time read the comments (so snowballs tossed across the room) or it could be the facilitator who pluck out the comments and then helps moderate the questions. (Basketball shots taken towards a bucket next to facilitator)

Log in to Reply

No Props No Problem

Brand NEW book featuring 150+ outrageously fun group games & activities. Scan QR codes to connect to tons of digital content including video tutorials.

Add to Cart

Activity Type

Program Outcome

Skill Development

Memberships (7)

Books (7)

Props (8)

Digital (5)

Specials (5)

Snowball Toss

Snowball Toss

Resources

Props

Environment

Step-by-Step Instructions

How To Play Narrative

Practical Leadership Tips

Social-Emotional Learning

Health & Wellness Programming

Popular Variations

You Might Also Like...

Become a Member
to Access this Activity

Storyline

Become a Member
to Access this Activity

Memory Game Debrief

Become a Member
to Access this Activity

Build A Story

Useful Framing Ideas

Source

Add your Comments...

Comments (1)

No Props No Problem

Get 10 of our Best Ice-Breakers

Do you have a programming question?

Looking for activity suggestions?

Want to know what others think?

Start a 7-Day Free Trial &

Get $20 OFF our Annual Plan

Select preferred language

Memberships (7)

Books (7)

Props (8)

Digital (5)

Specials (5)

Snowball Toss

Snowball Toss

Save to Playlist

Resources

Props

Environment

Step-by-Step Instructions

How To Play Narrative

Practical Leadership Tips

Social-Emotional Learning

Health & Wellness Programming

Popular Variations

You Might Also Like...

Become a Memberto Access this Activity

Storyline

Become a Memberto Access this Activity

Memory Game Debrief

Become a Memberto Access this Activity

Build A Story

Useful Framing Ideas

Source

Add your Comments...

Comments (1)

No Props No Problem

Become A Seriously Fun Facilitator

You’ve found a great activity, but…

NEW – No Props No Problem

Free Ice-Breakers & Group Games

Get 10 of our Best Ice-Breakers

Snowball Toss

This feature is currently unavailable

Choose a plan that’s right for you

Individual

Enterprise

Login

Do you have a programming question?

Looking for activity suggestions?

Want to know what others think?

Start a 7-Day Free Trial &

Get $20 OFF our Annual Plan

Become a Member
to Access this Activity

Become a Member
to Access this Activity

Become a Member
to Access this Activity