Icebreaker: Geographical Map of Participants

Icebreaker: Geographical Map of Participants


Purpose

This is a handy exercise to get the delegates to know each other better. Each person reveals details of their life and the results are drawn on a map. The exercise can be extended to explore many areas.

Objective

Draw a geographical map of participants’ life using several data layers.

What You Need

  • A large white board or an area you can draw on.
  • Colour pens.
  • Optional: You can use a map of the world and use colour pins.

Setup

  • Draw the map of the world or optionally hang the map.
  • Ask the delegates, one by one, to explain which geographical place they consider home.
  • For each person place a dot, or their initials on the map.
  • Next, ask for place of birth, and this time use a different colour to mark dots or initials on the map.
  • Next, ask for place of birth of each delegate’s mother and add this set to the map.
  • You can carry on adding new data layers as you ask delegates to reveal more information about themselves. Examples of other data layers are:
    • Your ideal holiday destination
    • The furthest you have travelled
    • Your most favourite country other than your home country
    • Your most favourite city in your country, other than your home
    • Your most favourite city in the world, other than your home
    • The place you like to live your retirement in

Timing

Explaining the Exercise: 2 minutes.

Activity: 10 minutes

Group Feedback: 0 minutes. 

Discussion

Are there any patterns in the map? Are there areas with lots of marks? Are there areas that are effectively empty? What does this suggest about the delegates?

 

 


Comments

Rajah Manuri Nagaraj

By Rajah Manuri Nagaraj @ Monday, January 18, 2010 5:46 PM



Your material is wonderful. But I am not able to download the free training Material. please help me.


Chelsea Elm

By Chelsea Elm @ Monday, January 18, 2010 5:54 PM



Nagaraj, if you can see this page then you have got. Not sure what you want to download?


Nagaraj

By Nagaraj @ Wednesday, January 20, 2010 11:31 AM



I appreciate your amicability. I would like to know how these pages can be downloaded as files. Or at least as hard copies.

Thank you.


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