Step 2: Selecting your activities

Step 2: Selecting your activities

Now you have chosen your topic, you need to select the most appropriate activities for your session. Choosing the right activities will help shape the feedback that you get from the session, so it’s worth spending some time on it.

 

A coding system has been suggested for each activity to help you choose the method of facilitation to suit the group you’re working with:

NR - No resources required	G - Group exercise	I - Individual exercise	YP - Young people friendly	DP - Digital platform optional

Don’t forget to come up with some ground rules for working together. These really help to address group dynamics and how they can work well together in the workshop. 

Let the group establish and agree upon boundaries that can be returned if necessary. This can include things such as not interrupting each other and respecting each other’s opinions.

 

Click Here to start planning your activities using our simple session plan template - accessible version

 

Select your Icebreaker

Icebreaker games are activities you play at the start of a session to help people get to know each other and to start working collaboratively.

You can find lots of ideas on the internet by searching ‘icebreakers’, or you can choose one from our suggestions.

• Six Words of You

  • Suggestion 1 Six Words of You

    G, NR, DP

    Six Words of You is a great icebreaker game that is guaranteed to start conversations between your participants. To play this game, each member of your team brainstorms six words to describe them, their personality or aspects of their life and then shares their Six Words with the group. As it limits each participant to six words, this will lead to questions about why these particular words stood out. Encourage questions about the words to discover interesting insights about each other.

• Paper Balls

  • Suggestion 2 Paper Balls

    G, YP

    Give each participant four bits of paper and ask them to write down four questions - they can be funny or general. Give examples such as, “What’s your favourite kind of a person, and why?” or “What do you think of giraffes?” Have all the players crumple up their four sheets of paper with questions on them into “snowballs.” Let everyone have a snowball fight with the paper snowballs for around 30 seconds. When time’s up, have everyone grab four paper balls as fast as they can and un-crumple them. Every player has to answer their four questions.

 

Select your Main Activities

Select the number of activities needed to fill the session time from the templates and exercise list.

• Community Mapping

  • Community Mapping

    I, YP

    What is it for? It is an opportunity to find out what is important in participants’ communities and how they can get from one place to another. It gives the facilitator an idea of how transport affects local communities and the activities they participate in. Great for: finding out what the issues/opportunities are in the local community. identifying community solutions. the Active Travel topic. Set-up Draw out a journey that you take often, using various modes of transport. This could be your journey to and from school, a favourite leisure activity or getting to a memorable day out, using various modes of transport. Demonstrate some of the things you may see on your journey, this may show some challenges on your journey or some highlights. Also including how long each journey takes. Where are you travelling to?   Download Activity Template

• Hot Potato

  • Hot Potato

    G, YP

    What is it for? This is a great activity to find out what participants know about a certain topic that can inform future sessions. Great for: helping participants to focus on any issues/opportunities in the area and state what these are. stimulating conversation around what objectives participants would like to see achieved for a specific issue. Keeps participants on topic. focusing participants on one topic to find out an array of solutions. a first activity. Set-up Set up hot potato by all standing or sitting in a circle or U shape. You can encourage discussion by allowing participants to throw a ball to each other to probe conversation. Encourage participants to say words or short sentences related to the topic. The facilitator can then use this sheet to note down all of the ideas and discussion. Top tip: Use the Probing Template for ideas   Download Activity Template

• Inform The Alien

  • Inform The Alien

    NR, G, YP, DP

    What is it for? This is used to help less informed participants of the group feel included on an issue. Great for: encouraging the more vocal members of larger groups to present their reasons to the less vocal members. narrowing down what the participants would like to achieve by getting the aliens to question the reasoning. encouraging the aliens to question the presenting participants to provide solutions. Set-up Divide the group into Informants and Aliens. The Informants are those who know the most about the chosen topic and the Alien’s role is to learn from their Informant. The Informants will note down all of their knowledge, whilst also being timed. Once the times up, they’ll inform their aliens. Once the aliens are informed, they must re-present all the new and foreign information that they learnt.   Download Activity Template

• Daily Round

  • Daily Round

    G, I, YP

    What is it for? It can reveal a lot about what participants are doing when they travel and how they choose to get around. Great for: finding out participants’ travel habits and identifying any issues/opportunities. finding out what objectives participants would like to see to encourage them to change their travel habits. getting participants to provide solutions to their daily travel habits, e.g more buses in the morning. the Active Travel, Safety, Customer Experience and ED&I topics. Set-up Time of day Weekday Weekend Impact Morning       Midday       Evening       Night       How and when do you travel? Use the four columns above to show us how and when you travel in an average week. Include the methods of travel in columns two and three, and what positive impact or challenges this has to your journey in column four. Think about how the way you travel might impact your chosen topic. Top tip: Think of all of the modes of travel, including Active Travel (walking/cycling).   Download Activity Template

• Plant Your Ideas

  • Plant Your Ideas

    G, I, YP

    What is it for? It is an opportunity to find out what is important in participants’ communities. It gives the facilitator an idea of how transport affects local communities and the activities they participate in. Great for: finding out who is affected by a certain community issue. encouraging participants to provide solutions to the issues identified from the perspective of the groups affected.  Set-up Use the flower pot to show the issues of your chosen topic and what could be done to resolve those issues. List your ideas in the areas below: Pot – What is your chosen topic? Leaves – What solutions can you come up with to resolve those issues? Flowers – What issues might your topics present or cause?   Download Activity Template

• Problem Tree

  • Problem Tree

    G, I, YP

    What is it for? This highlights the root causes of local issues within transportation and their effects. Great for: finding out the issues behind a specific problem and the root causes. Set-up Use the tree to show the challenges of your chosen topic, the effects these have and what could be done to resolve hose issues. Discuss your solutions as a group. List your ideas in the areas as follows: Roots - Challenges | Trunk - Topic | Leaves - Effect | Apples - Solution   Download Activity Template

• Draw Me

  • Draw Me

    I, YP

    What is it for? A quick way to find out groups feelings around a specific topic. Great for: finding out what are the issues in the community regarding the subject that you have chosen. Gives everyone equal opportunity to speak their thoughts. gives participants individual opportunity to express their thoughts on objectives to address the issues/opportunities raised. gives participants to suggest individual solutions. Set-up Use the template below to draw your feelings towards your chosen topic. Think about how this issue can affect you emotionally, mentally, financially and physically, labelling those feelings in the associated places of the body.   Download Activity Template

• Diamond Ranking

  • Diamond Ranking

    G, I, YP

    What is it for? Helpful to prioritise ideas or issues in communities. Useful for understanding conflicting or similar issues and needs. Great for: asking the participants for the objectives that will address the issue/opportunity that they have highlighted and giving them priority. prioritising solutions identified for the issue/opportunity raised. Set-up Write on as many cards as you like what you feel is most important about you topic. You can choose to diamond rank your own or prioritise as a group by including everyone’s cards. Top tip: Take a photo of your completed diamond.   Download Activity Template

• Thought Bubbles

  • Thought Bubbles

    ​G, I, YP, NR​

    What is it for? A quick way to link 3 different topic or 3 different issues within the same topic. Helping the participant(s) to find similarities and solutions. Great for: finding out how participants feel about a specific issue in their community. Set-up Use the bubbles below to either discuss multiple topic or 3 ‘buzz words’ on your chosen topic within your group. Where they overlap, discuss how each topic might impact or influence each other.   Download Activity Template

• Carbon Footprint

  • Carbon Footprint

    I, YP

    What is it for? A creative and visual method to think about steps we can take to address sustainability concerns. Great for: generates creative solutions for the issues and objectives raised in the previous activities. the sustainability topic. Set-up In your group, discuss what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint while using transport or give your ideas on how to improve sustainability. Use the footprint below to write your ideas or alternatively, draw around your own foot. Top tip: Discuss realistic solutions and expectations, thinking about your what your community and the transport sector already have to offer.   Download Activity Template

 

Select your Closing Activity

Closing a session is just as important as the icebreaker and the main body of the session. A good closure will create a lasting impression and will have participants reflecting on what they have learnt. It will also make the session more meaningful and relevant.

As the facilitator, you will be able to summarise the session and capture key information and leave the participants feeling valued.

It also enables participants to have the opportunity to express any concerns, ask questions, and clarify their own understandings.

• Snowstorm

  • Snowstorm	G, YP
    Participants write down what they learnt on a piece of scrap paper and wad it up.  Given a signal, they throw their paper snowballs in the air. Then each learner picks up a nearby response and reads it aloud.

• Quiz

  • Quiz	G, DP
    Give a short quiz using some of the recommended digital tools below to cement learning.

• One Word

  • One Word	NR, G, DP
    One Word is another quick but effective closing activity that can be used at the end of any lesson. Their one word may relate to their understanding of the lesson, how they felt about the lesson, a question or a celebration.

• 3-2-1 Feedback

  • 3-2-1 Feedback	NR, G, I, YP, DP
    Participants write down three things they learnt in the session, two fun facts, and one question that they have.

• Post-It Evaluation

  • Post-It Evaluation

    Give everyone a sticky note and ask them to write 3 things before they leave the session. What was good, bad and to be improved. Ask them to stick the note on the door as they leave.

• Scale

  • Scale

    Ask participants at the start and end of a workshop to star on a scale how they felt about a certain topic or workshop challenge.

 

If you would like to use the closing template you can, however it’s not required.

Download closing activity Template

A closing activity needs to be followed by completion of the evaluation.

 

Step 3: Evaluate the session

Click here to access the facilitator’s survey

 

Digital tools