We visited the Auguste Rodin special exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts yesterday. We learned something interesting that caught my attention: at lot of Rodin’s work as a sculptor was done collaboratively by “the school” of Rodin. In other words, while Rodin was the creative genius behind the design of his works, there were dozens of people involved in actually creating the sculptures.
Rodin’s most iconic piece is The Thinker. This is a plaster cast in the traveling exhibit. When looking at it, you realize the man is not only thinking with his mind, but with his whole being – mind, body, and spirit.
The same can be said of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture and Louis Comfort Tiffany’s stained glass works. There were scores of people behind these individuals who brought their creations to fruition. Modern Western culture usually celebrates the triumph of the individual, but there is so much more to be gained from appreciating the collective work of many.
While we give credit to Rodin, Wright, and Tiffany, it is important to understand that without the help of their “schools” of artists, they simply would not have been able to produce as much art as they all did in their lifetimes.
I am a person who likes to do things on my own, but when I stop and realize that the result can be exponentially better when I collaborate with other people, I am reminded that two (or a thousand) heads really are better than one. It takes humility. It takes patience. It takes time. But fly over any city in an airplane and ask yourself, “could that have been built by one person?”
I just read a great book on this for my PhD class called Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation by Linda A. Hill, Greg Brandeau, Emily Truelove, and Kent Lineback. Check it out and enjoy the journey of creative collaboration!
Are you looking for some ideas for the bring me game? You’ve come to the right place! I’ve got both free and for-purchase options. Read on….
Maligayang pagdating sa lahat ng aking mga kaibigan sa Pilipinas!
(a message to my friends in the Philippines)
The Bring Me! Slideshow
I created a slideshow of the Bring Me! game so that you can project the game on a screen for your party. There are 20 unique objects or commands (some not in the list below) with lots of pop and color to make your event as fun as possible! Only $5!
Purchase the full game slideshow at Deeper KidMin by clicking here or click the large image below. You get 20 colorful rounds of the game plus instructions so you can have a great party! The slides are JPEGS, so they are easy to use on just about any computer or application (such as Keynote, Power Point, ProPresenter, etc).
What do you do when you have a room full of children causing havoc (or could potentially do so) and need to engage them in a way that is both fun and simple to execute? Well, education is a good idea. But perhaps you’ve taught and they’ve learned all day and it’s time to kick back and play a good old-fashioned group game.
Play the “Bring Me” Game!
The Bring Me Game concept is simple and the variations are endless. You, the game leader, should stand up front with a microphone (or not if your group is small enough) and ask for random objects/items. I’ve got a list to get you going below.
The first person or group or team to produce the requested item and bring it to you gets a point for their team. WARNING: Kids tend to RUN a lot in this game. So make sure you remind them to not trample one another or trip over anything in their effort to bring the items up to you. You can decide how long to play the bring me game (such as “first team to ten points wins”).
One major thing to keep in mind when playing the game and coming up with ideas is the fact that nearly everyone has a device these days (even youth). If you’re at an event where most everyone has a device on them or at least some representatives of each team (such as adults in mostly-kid events) have devices, then make the most of technology in your requests. The internet is an endless supply of “scavenger-hunt” challenges. Just ask for a picture of BB-8 from Star Wars or a map of the country of Malaysia or any other fun idea they can search for.
The types of things you call up in the bring me game will vary depending on the size and the average age of your group. For example, not many kids will have a credit card on them if you ask for one. So be creative with ideas that fit what you think is out there in everyone’s pockets, purses, and accessories.
A Starter List
Here is a FREE list of ideas to get you going. You can come up with your own ideas by thinking of other things similar to or related to items on this list.
two different shoelaces tied together
five different socks bundled up in a ball
a selfie on a device
a photograph of exactly ten people on a device
something edible
chocolate
something that has a picture of a rainbow on it
a double-A battery and a triple-A battery
something that is completely blue
two people wearing glasses doing jumping jacks next to one another
two unrelated people with red hair
a human hair
a non-human living thing (this will usually be a bug or insect found on the floor)
lipstick
chapstick
nail clippers
six people forming a human pyramid
a red pen or marker
something with a Disney symbol or character on it
two unrelated people with braces
a nail file
a one dollar bill, a five dollar bill, and a ten dollar bill (exactly)
a penny, a nickel, a dime, and a quarter (exactly)
a liquid
something that feels cold
something that feels warm
something that lights up (that is not a phone or tablet device)
ten people in a line that goes from tallest person to shortest person
a pencil
a tissue
a crumpled up piece of paper
something silver
something gold
a person wearing two different kinds of shoes
a rock
a visible piece of dust/dustball
something sharp (and if it is a dangerous/forbidden object, you can confiscate it 🙂
something conical
something circular
something in the shape of a cube
a ball of some sort
something chewable
five breath mints
three different kinds of breath mints
a picture on a device of the White House in Washington D.C.
a picture on a device of a mother and a son
someone who can say the alphabet backwards (for real, not someone saying, “alphabet backwards”)
pocket fuzz/lint
a device playing the United States’ National Anthem
Today, I posted a short video on how to juggle five balls. That completes the “trilogy” of instructional videos on three, four, and five ball juggling. Here are all three (in order of three, four, and five). Let me know what you think!
