This activity will support your group to discuss the need for communication in conflict situations and reflect on strategies for conflict resolution
What to do
Divide the participants into two groups. Ask Group A to go outside and wait for you. Tell Group B that their goal is to get the orange because they need its juice to make orange juice.
Go outside and tell Group A that their goal in this activity is to get the orange because they need the peel of the orange to make an orange cake.
Bring both groups together and ask each group to sit in a line facing the other group.
Tell the groups that they have three minutes to get what they need. Emphasise that they should not use violence. Then place one orange between them and say go.
The way the groups deal with the situation will be a surprise. Sometimes groups will try to negotiate to divide the orange in half. At other times they will not negotiate at all. Sometimes the groups will communicate further and realise that they both need different parts of the orange. Do not interfere. After three minutes say stop.
Finish the activity with a discussion
Tips for facilitators
- After the three minutes, take the orange, or what is left of it, to avoid distraction during the debriefing.
- During the three minutes, you should not try and influence the results but be careful to emphasise that they should not use violence in order to get what they want.
Discussion question
- Did your group get what it wanted before the three minutes were up?
- What was the outcome of the conflict over the orange?
- What did you do to achieve this outcome? What could you have done differently?
- Why is it important for people to communicate in order to resolve conflicts?
- Do people always communicate with each other when they are in a conflict? Why (not)?
- Do people always want the same thing in a conflict?
- Have you ever experienced similar situations? What was the outcome?
This activity is published in ‘Compasito: Manual on Human Rights Education for Children’ (Council of Europe Publishing, 2009).