- Hide all of the resources around the space you are using before the young people arrive.
- Gather the participants into a group and explain that due to climate change your home is no longer safe and you must set sail in search of a new place to live. This is an opportunity to talk about climate refugees.
- Divide into small groups and give them 3 minutes to decide upon 5 things that they would pack in an imaginary bag for their journey (it needs to fit in a backpack). After the time is up, ask them to share their lists. Discuss what essential items might not have been on any of the lists. Do you really need a mobile phone? What sort of provisions?
- Climb aboard your imaginary boat and set sail. BUT they encounter a terrible storm – wind howling, waves crashing – and their boat is overturned. This is an opportunity for role play, really go for it!
- Tell them their group has washed up on the shores of another country, and allow them to explore and begin to find the hidden items. For younger groups this might be items needed for survival and framed as a desert island, for older groups you might want to frame it as another country where they don’t speak the language and include things like a bag with play money and pretend identity documents.
REFLECT AND DISCUSS
Once all the items have been found, gather everyone together to discuss what you have found, what each item is and what they need to begin a new life:
- Can they survive alone?
- Do they need to help one another?
- What things do they need to do for their first night?
- Does anything they packed in their imaginary bag help?
With older groups you can move the discussion to include whether or not they picked up the money and identity documents, and how these things might help them or get them into trouble when trying to build a life in a new country.
This activity has been adapted from a programme designed and delivered by Mantle of the Expert, which is an educational approach built on drama and role play.
mantleoftheexpert.com, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 UK)