RECYCLING STORIES THROUGH ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Ice-breaking, Group-building
& Communication
through visual arts related activities
SPICE STORIES
Objectives
1. Group cohesion, building trust and getting to know each other
2. Sharing personal experiences
3. Storytelling
4. Developing vocabulary in the local language
Tips
It is useful to have linguistic skills in the participants' language of origin and some knowledge about their culture of origin.
The exercise is ideal for a group with mixed cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Material needed
- Colorful spices and grains
- Small plastic or glass containers
Time frame
Between 30 and 60 minutes depending on the number of participants
If you were asked which one of our five senses can the most likely create immediate affinities between two people, you might say taste. Indeed, tastes are the fist things that we begin to miss from home when we live elsewhere, tastes can make us also quite talkative and ready to express our preferences with no restraint. Sharing stories about spices and herbs while showing and smelling them is a first step to get closer to each other before actually discovering what else spices can be used for than giving the taste to our meals.
1. Collect as many kinds of spices as you can from different regions, countries and cultures.
You can also ask participants to bring with them spices that they like or use often.
2. Ask participants to select a set of spices and to smell each other's spices trying to find out where they come from.
Ask them to tell the name of the spice in their own language and to repeat its name in the local language.
3. Ask them how they use the spice or how would they use it and to what other spices, flavors, dishes they could imagine to associate it.
You can also ask if the spice evoke any specific souvenirs and ask to tell it.
Recommendations to combine "Spices Stories" with other activities: