Nudge Club

Nudge sessions—at your school.
How to facilitate your own Nudge sessions
Facilitate Your Own Nudge Sessions

“How?ˮ We can show you.

How to facilitate your own Nudge sessions

Our strategies involve deep research, design sessions, trials, and iteration. It’s important that our work comes from a place of embodied knowledge, understanding, and an acute awareness of how change at school can really happen. We have a host of frameworks, sessions, and activities that may be adopted and implemented by anyone and at any school to create the positive
impact that we strive for.

1. Everyone starts out a little bit nervous.

Begin the club by introducing everyone and playing a fun icebreaker game to get to  know each other better. This will set the tone for the rest of the activities and help everyone feel more comfortable.

Introductions and Icebreakers

Activity Purpose

Have the group introduce each other with mitigated pressure

Ball Toss

  1. Have the group stand in a circle.
  2. Start by holding the ball yourself, or designate someone to start with it.
  3. Share your name and a lesser-known fact about yourself.
  4. Toss the ball to another participant in the circle and ask them to do the same.
  5. Continue until everyone has introduced themselves.

2. Trust is not inevitable, it is a goal to work towards.

Engage in trust-building exercises like team building games and other activities designed to increase empathy and understanding between members.
Trust-building

Activity Purpose

Understand how important and difficult it is to build trust, and learn about
creating safety for themselves and for others.

Duckling Exercise

  1. Find a partner.
  2. With that partner, invent a secret sound.
  3. Choose who is Partner A and Partner B.
  4. Partner A will close their eyes, and Partner B will lead Partner A around, only by
    the sound.
  5. Remember to stretch your arms out in front of you to keep yourself safe and not bump into anything.
  6. Do this for 3 minutes and then switch partners to do the same exercise.
  7. Talk briefly with your partner about how that experience was.

Debrief

Did you feel safe all the time?
How many people did not feel safe? Why or why not?
What did you do to make sure your partner was safe? What else could you have done?

3. Teams who play together, work better together.

Use play therapy to encourage students to express themselves creatively and build a sense of community. Activities can include drawing, painting, writing, and other creative outlets. This can be a powerful way to help students process their emotions and build a sense of connection with others.

Play therapy

Activity Purpose

A fun, fast-paced, and physically active way to encourage communication and build rapport, while also challenging participants to think critically and act quickly as a group.

Line Up!

  1. Ask participants to form a straight line based on different criteria without speaking. They will need to communicate through gestures or facial expressions.
  2. Ask participants to form a straight line based on different criteria without
    speaking. They will need to communicate through gestures or facial expressions.
    Examples of prompts include:
    1. Line up by birthday (January to December)
    2. Line up by the length of time they’ve been in Kuwait
    3. Line up alphabetically by first name

Debrief

How did you manage to communicate without speaking?
Did you notice a pattern in how the group approached each task?
What strategies helped you organize yourselves more efficiently?
What could this activity teach us about working together and problem-solving as a team?

4. Schools are a place of the mind, and that inextricably involves the body.

Incorporate mindfulness activities like breathwork and guided meditations to help students relax, reduce stress, and improve their focus. This can also be a great way to teach students valuable self-care skills they can use outside of the club.
Mindfulness Activities

Activity Purpose

To deepen awareness of self, to increase ability to stay self-regulated.

Escalation and De-escalation - The Body Responds

  1. Draw a Thermometer: On a flip chart, label the bottom as “Neutral,” the middle as “Warm,” and the top as “Hot.”
  2. Neutral State: Ask participants to share their current feelings and sensations, considering this a neutral or “at rest” state (noting that neutrality varies by individual). Write their responses on the flip chart.
  3. Warm State: Have them imagine being asked to prepare for a public speaking event after lunch. Discuss their thoughts, feelings, and body sensations (e.g., temperature changes, breathing). Note that this might represent a “learning zone” for some.
  4. Hot State: Next, imagine someone enters, agitated, and says the event is in 10 minutes. Ask for thoughts, feelings, and sensations, focusing on heightened activation.
  5. Highlight a key point: the importance of self-awareness and connection as tools for managing these states.
  6. Sharing de-escalation tools: Discuss ways to “cool down” in the moment. List strategies on the flip chart (e.g., breathing, checking in with the body). Mention techniques like box breathing and emphasize taking a moment to breathe and stay present when entering the “Hot” zone.

Debrief

How was that activity for you?

Was it escalating even to do it? What are you feeling now?

What do you feel this has to do with Nudge Club and what we will be doing together?

Have you ever done any activity like this?
What does it remind you of in your own life?

This is a key skill to return to throughout this training and in particular at times when we might be doing  activities that “activateˮ people. This can both be empowering for participants and also give them language for talking to the facilitator when they need extra support.

5. Reflection is a powerful tool for progress.

Create space for open and honest discussion between students and teachers. Encourage participants to reflect on their experiences and share their thoughts and feelings. This can be a powerful way to build empathy and understanding between different groups in the school.
Discussion and Reflection

Activity Purpose

To begin to deepen and develop awareness of skills needed to communicate across differences.

Step In

  1. Have the group stand in a circle.
  2. Let them know that you will be doing an activity that involves sharing vulnerability and invite them to pay attention to their needs and to take care of themselves as discussed in Session 1, i.e. check in with their bodies, opt out of the
    activity or step out of the room for a few minutes if needed.
  3. Let them know that you will be reading statements and if you agree with the statement you step into the middle of the circle, notice and be with it for a moment and then step back out.
  4. Start slowly and build and here are some sample “step in” statements: Step in if you are someone who has:
    1. Had their ice cream fall on the ground
    2. Played with a street cat
    3. Donated a book
    4. Ever made a mistake
    5. Lost a close friendship
    6. Felt proud of yourself
    7. Been told you cannot study what you want
    8. Had someone or something you love die
    9. Failed a test or a class
    10. Helped to make a change in your family, school or community
    11. Felt sad for no apparent reason
    12. Had a family member with a secret or an issue that is hard to talk about
    13. Felt really overwhelmed
    14. Caused someone else pain

Debrief

What did you observe about this activity
How did participating in it make you feel?

6. Doing things together is a powerful way to build community.

Community is that magical difference between a group of individuals bound by vicinity versus a group of people bound by a ubiquitous sense of support. It reinforces accountability, empathy for one another, and resilience. Use these Nudge Club activities, and the Nudge Club framework, as a way to build a sense of camaraderie.
Team Building

Activity Purpose

Encourage participants to engage with others they might not normally interact with, and build a sense of community and familiarity among the group.

Human Scavenger Hunt

  1. Hand out printed scavenger hunt sheets to each participant and provide a pen.
  2. Explain that they’ll need to find different people who match each description
    and write down that person’s name next to the corresponding prompt.
  3. Encourage them to ask follow-up questions and not just rush to fill in names.
  4. Allow participants to move around the room freely, asking others questions that
    match the prompts.
  5. Remind participants that the goal isn’t just to finish first, but to genuinely
    engage in conversations.
  6. Encourage creativity and open-ended conversations. Participants can ask follow-up questions or share something about themselves when someone finds a
    match.

Debrief

What was it like interacting with so many different people?

Were there any answers that surprised you?

Did anyone find someone who matches multiple categories?

Whatʼs one thing you learned about someone else that stood out to you?

How did it feel to have conversations with people about topics you might not usually discuss?

What do these prompts teach us about our group?

Whatʼs something that surprised you about yourself in this activity?

How does connecting with people this way build a stronger community?

For a comprehensive curriculum, including more activities, facilitation notes and detailed instructions, please click here

“How?ˮ We can show you.

How to facilitate your own Nudge sessions

Our strategies involve deep research, design sessions, trials, and iteration. It’s important that our work comes from a place of embodied knowledge, understanding, and an acute awareness of how change at school can really happen. We have a host of frameworks, sessions, and activities that may be adopted and implemented by anyone and at any school to create the positive impact that we strive for.

THE CURRICULUM FINALLY FELT REAL

200+
Students empowered

38+
Teachers engaged

FROM RESISTANCE TO REFLECTION

Give us a nudge!

Bring the nudge club to your school.

If you’re interested in discussing how to integrate the Nudge Club within your school, please contact us! Send us your name, email, and let’s chat about how you can make change in your school.

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