I Am An Oak Tree is an ice-breaker adapted from an improv game. It’s designed to get people relating to each other, acting creatively, and creating mini-narratives.
Activity
- Youth stand in a circle.
- Ask one person to stands in the middle and proclaim “I am an oak tree,” while making their body into a tree shape.
- Second person in the sequence goes into the circle and proclaim “I am a [anything / anyone doing something]”. This should relate in some way to the tree. E.g. “I am a squirrel eating a nut on the tree.”
- A third person does same action, relating their thing to the other two things. E.g. “I am a citizen scientist studying the tree and the squirrel to better understand the forest ecosystem.”
- A fourth person tells two of the people in the circle to leave and then proclaims whatever they are.
- The sequence continues around the circle. Whenever there are three people in the circle, the fourth person kick two them out, and enters as a new thing / person.
Discussion
I have found this game useful particularly for getting shyer youth out of their shells a bit. It has performative aspects to it, but the stakes are very low. Basically you just have to say what you are and make a shape that corresponds to it. It always results in funny juxtapositions and mini-narratives.
See other ice-breakers from my basket of tricks!