Tip #183: The Fun Factor

The first time I participated in one of your training sessions, I completely rejected the idea of 'playing'. Heaven forbid, I should have fun learning! I always consider the fun factor for my learners, why would I reject the idea for myself? Was I too mature for it? Would it make me look silly...less credible?

I forgot, too, that I never enter into a public speaking engagement without my "worry stone" in hand! Who was I kidding?

It didn't take me five minutes to start swooshing that old Koosh ball from one hand to the other...swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! The rhythm coincided with the pace of the activity. The sound was as soothing as my mother's heartbeat. The soft texture was comforting! I was hooked!

I remember, too, how we passed the ball to our teammates indicating our choice of "next" in many of our discussion assignments. It was great fun! We were kids again! We were playmates discovering our real personalities! It was a WOW!

But, don't forget to mention a couple other things you do. I laugh aloud when I recall how we fought to jump to our feet with just the right response and win a candy kiss from your larder of goodies! We stashed them in our book bags and brief cases knowing that we would be taking them to our rooms in anticipation of midnight!

And, finally, we can't forget the kites. Symbols to all of us that you were going to help us soar! And you always manage to take us to heights unimaginable!

Thanks Deb!

Thank you, Julie, for getting to the heart of the matter, as always! We need to create an enriched, colorful, pleasant, enticing learning environment- draw our participants back to the time when all learning was new and wonderful and fun and play. Remember Robert Fulghum’s book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten?

So, when participants come into your training room, look at all the colorful items on the tables and walls, and say, “What’s this? Kindergarten?” the wise and loving trainer’s answer is “Yes! Let’s make sure today is as fascinating and fulfilling as your time in kindergarten, when you wanted to learn everything and enjoyed the process!”

Next week, we’ll really start a discussion of my participants’ favorite give-aways and prizes, beginning with devil ducks!

September 3, 2007

Welcome to Laurel Learning Tips, which is published weekly by Laurel and Associates, Ltd. Please feel free to forward these Tips to anyone who may find them useful. Previous Tips #1-183 can be found on our website: http://www.laurelandassociates.com.

This week, we start a discussion of my participants’ favorite give-aways and prizes, beginning with devil ducks! However, before we do, here is another wonderful testimonial about the use of “learning aids” from Nancy C. Anderson of Hennepin County, Minnesota! By the way, Hennepin County is comprised of 26 cities, of which Minneapolis is the largest.

“I've been training, full time, for the past nine years. We ALWAYS have "learning aids" on the training tables in our classrooms. In fact, we created
a "travel kit" for our training offsite, so we can have toys at those classes, also. When I first started doing employee training (after being an
college instructor), I took a 4-day Accelerated Learning workshop that gave us plenty of reasons (based on research!) for making sure we used the
training aids, in particular for the kinesthetic learners. We always explain that before each class, and we've never had people gripe or complain
about the class being too juvenile. In fact, we often hear comments of appreciation!

Working for government, our training rooms lack color and stimulation, so for a year, we actually had colorful kites hanging from the ceilings of our
two main classrooms! We "retired" those and then bought colorful Chinese lanterns (bought on clearance from Pier 1), which also brighten our
classroom. I'm anxious to get more ideas, from this Learning Tips newsletter, so thanks in advance for the help!

Nancy C. Anderson
Learning & Development Consultant
Human Resources
Hennepin County, MN”

Nancy, thank you for so convincingly validating the importance of these learning aids and explaining how to introduce them!

Tip #182: Favorite Table Top “Toys”

Hopefully, by now everyone involved in promoting learning recognizes the importance of having materials on participant tables. The haptic and kinesthetic learners really need something to do with their hands to increase the probability of their learning.

The following table top “toys” are my favorites because they appear to be my participants’ favorites. “Toys” is in quotes because they are really learning tools. I’ve included information about where I purchase them, to give you at least a starting off point. I do not have stock in any of the companies that I mention (although I probably should look into that...) and it is entirely possible there are other companies who sell them at lower cost. If you can recommend other suppliers, that would be wonderful!

My long time favorite table top “toy” is the classic Koosh ball. As large as an orange, their many colors are visually appealing and their rubber strands invite bouncing, twirling, braiding, and squeezing. They are excellent stress reducers, useful for times when participants need to introduce themselves or make report outs in front of the rest of the group. Usually, there is even someone who knows how to juggle, which is fun for everyone to watch (during a break!). The Koosh ball can be used for an instant energizer: just tell everyone to grab a Koosh and, when the music starts, throw them at each other and try to keep as many in the air as possible. A few minutes of this Koosh toss, and the laughter that accompanies hits and misses, will invigorate any group. To purchase classic Koosh balls at an economical price, I do a web search. Star Magic at http://www.starmagic.com currently sells them at $2.25 each, which is a terrific price!

A recent happy find is pipe cleaners. Not only are their inexpensive, light, and easy to pack, the creativity that they inspire is absolutely amazing! The long, brightly colored chenille pipe cleaners are also wonderfully soft to the touch, which adds to the pleasure of working with them. Oriental Trading Company at http://www.orientaltrading.com sells them in bulk.

Different blocks of colored non-hardening and reusable modeling clay also inspire amazing creativity. They are heavy to pack, however, and you need to make sure that the dye doesn’t come off on people’s hands, which can make a real mess. As you can tell, I have a love/hate relationship with modeling clay. I still make sure to bring it, because I’ve seen participants make incredible creations with it. I typically find these at craft markets. I am reasonably certain that the 5 color EZ modeling clay I just purchased at Joann Fabric does not leave dye on your hands. I’m certainly hoping that’s the case, since I have six packages of them!

Another winner are colorful plastic snap together tubes and snap together cubes and triangles. They are light and easy to carry and folks are extremely creative with them. One particularly inspired fellow actually made an entire castle with working drawbridge out of them (using pipe cleaners). Very impressive!
Oriental Trading Company sells these.

One more table top “toy” I love is a clear plastic tube about 10” long filled with colorful glitter and other bits in a liquid. I need to warn you, however, that I typically lose at least one a session because participants get so enamored with them . I purchase them at J.T. Puffins in Madison, Wisconsin, which is a specialty toy store. I haven’t found a good economical supplier on the web, so if you know of one, please let me know!

Another caution: If you are going to place these items on participant tables, it is helpful to isolate them at one end of the table. That way, those participants who enjoy them can access them, and those participants who are less interested in them don’t feel that they are cluttering up the table. The only item I place in front of each of the participants is a Koosh ball.

In the following weeks, we will discuss participants’ favorite give-aways and prizes.

Last week, I said that today we would start a discussion of my participants’ favorite give-aways and prizes. However, my good friend and a wonderful trainer, Julie Almont from Delaware Park, wrote to remind me about the philosophy behind the use of table top “toys,” prizes, give aways, and peripherals (such as kites on the walls). She says it best, so this is what this week’s Tip is all about:

Tip #181: More Useful Countdown Timers

am so appreciative when you respond to these Tips and offer your expertise and great finds. Last week's Tip discussed two countdown timers that I use on my Mac. Here is information about two more countdown timers that are PC-friendly from my friend Lori Becker:

"Deb,

The timer sounded like a great idea since I have trouble getting people to come back from breaks. So, I had to do some pc timer searches and found the following.

Cool Timer can be found on this website. The timer can be small or big on the screen. You can change its colors. You can download .wav files for the alarm. http://www.harmonyhollow.net/ct.shtml.

This is a 'pizza timer". It's a cool shape and you can use MP3's for the alarm.
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/downloads/free/countdown_timer_info/index1.htm
Thanks for the neat idea!

Lori Becker"

Don't they sound like fun to use? Thanks so much, Lori!