Balance Bikes

The emotions we experience in certain situations have a significant impact on our overall well-being and functioning. It is very important to be in touch with our own feelings and to be aware of “balance bikes” that brought us to the desired situation and the ones we can use when we want to get away from an unwanted situation and, consequently, from feeling unwell.

Tools

  • Pencils
  • Paper

Steps

  • The facilitator asks the participants to sit in groups of at least 4 participants. Groups can be randomly selected or predefined.
  • Each of the participants chooses a situation and an emotion that provokes it (e.g.: fear, anxiety – writing a test/project; happiness – a good test/project result, tension – conflict…).
  • Each participant presents the situation and the emotion with a pantomime or a picture while others try to guess it.
  • The team determines for each of the presented situations what the “balance bike” is, with which they can achieve a desired situation and the desired emotion or which would help them get out of a certain situation or emotional state.. The balance bike should have at least four components (suggestions – sources of power) – two wheels, a frame and handlebars. 
    • Example: if the chosen situation is a test, the resulting emotion is fear, anxiety, the balance bike will, for example, consist of the following suggestions – sources of power: revising the required school content, focusing on the  goal, encouraging a desire for a good result.
  • They draw the balance bike and write their suggestions (at least four) on each component.
  • The activity concludes with a presentation of one balance bike, selected by the group.

Tips

  • The facilitator must have an active role in the beginning of the activity, by introducing its goals and rules.
  • The facilitator can have a ready-made drawing of a balance bike, and the participants write their own suggestions – sources of power on the drawing.
  • At the end of the activity, the facilitator must resume the activity and give space to any participant that wants to share what they liked most and less, as well as what they learn and are aware of after this experience.

Sources

Created by Slovenian teachers Aida Zorc, Anastazija Babič, Azira Kozjek in Mojca Vrečko

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.