Module 7 - Play

The Imagination Ball

1) For this game, my students make a big circle and I stand in the middle. 

2) I state that for class today, I brought my special Imagination Ball.  I pull this ball out of my pocket, and the students giggle because they don’t see anything.

3) I then use mime to toss the ball up and down a few times, then I stretch it out, bring it up to my mouth, and blow up a “balloon” which I then begin to play with. The room grows silent, because they now see the imaginary ball. 

4) I take the balloon and mime its transformation into a “baseball bat.” I do a few practice swings.  All of this has been done with no words, because we don’t need them!  We are all connected through our imaginations and fascinated by the world of the unknown. 

5) I then give my “baseball bat” to a student and he goes to the center to transform the bat into another object.  We watch as this happens, eager to see what is created next.

6) Each student takes at least one turn going to the middle. 

7) After everyone has played with the imaginary ball, I take it, shrink it down, and put it back in my pocket.

8) Applaud the imaginative work of your students, and thank them for using their imaginations in such a bold and brave way.

A) Play is the conscious process to make our own rules and techniques to reach and discover the unexpected.

B) The most important part of children’s theater is imagination.  In my introduction with a new group of learners, I want to incorporate this element right away.  With my current learners, I am often struggling against the language barrier that separates my students and myself.  Sometimes many of these learners can hardly state how old they are and where they are from.  Korea is also a very shy culture, and students at first are not eager to participate in a class setting that is different from the traditional lecture or presentational style. So I developed a game that is both playful and meaningful for them, but also connects us all through the power of imagination: “play breaks the rules of serious activity and establishes its own. Play is frivolous, wandering according to the whims of curiosity and interest” (248).

This activity ties into the world of play because we each have our different image and design of the objects created by the imaginary ball (whether it’s a balloon, a baseball bat, etc.).  However, we are all still working towards the same goal – a deeper understanding and connection of the stimuli around us.  I developed this activity because any age group can play it.  It takes no words, so it can also be applied to all ESL learners (or anyone for that matter).  There is no right or conventional answer in the activity: “in play, things are whatever we want them to be” (255).

C) I developed this activity because it effectively nurtures a healthy, productive environment of play by building upon the foundational tools already discussed in this course: “No single tool for thinking ever suffices“ (273).  I can easily connect it with my course topic. When I think about my deepest memories from grade school, I remember the children’s musicals and plays that I got to see at my school.  The small tours that traveled to my school brought a world of imagination with them.  They allowed me to follow a story and challenged me to use my imagination to invest in the world of the play, to literally believe that what I was seeing was real. 

This activity tests the imagination just as these children’s theater musicals do.  It is not an easy one – students observe and imagine the images being mimed in front of them, recognize patterns in the development of these new models, and apply bodily and dimensional thinking to efficiently present their ideas to others.  All of these tools must be consulted to effectively play and discover something new.  An activity like this is incredibly important to Korean culture, where theater and the arts are only for the select few admitted into the training academies. “The only difficulty with playing – and it’s a big one – is being able to remain enough of a child to do it” (263); this simple, short activity that allows students of any age to find their inner child and freedom that comes with it – and express it.

Here are some pictures from an adult class that I had at English Village. Such a neat experience working with them.  The members of this adult class were all Korean teachers. They were eager to share this activity with their students.