1. Introduction (10 mins): Explain the purpose of the activity (exploring listening as a form of fostering empathy). Ask the participants what ‘listening’ means to them.
2. What’s your soundtrack? (30-45 mins): Each participant introduces him/herself by playing a part of a song that represents them. They have up to 2-3 minutes to explain why they chose this song, in which way it is important for them and so on. It’s important to let the song be played first for some time and then when the person starts talking it gets turned down as a background soundtrack. The facilitator goes first to set the pace.
3. Stop ’n’ go (20 mins): Participants walk freely around the room while the facilitator plays music. Whenever the music pauses, they must freeze; when it resumes, they continue moving. After a few rounds, encourage participants to shift from walking to moving more freely or dancing. At this point, they can decide for themselves whether to move or stay still when the music plays or stops—adding up the concentration and listening.

VARIATION: If the group feels comfortable, you can add a task where participants form trios with the people nearest to them when the music stops, placing their hands on each other’s shoulders. At each stop, the facilitator gives a question for them to discuss within their trio. These can range from light and simple (‘The first thing I thought when I woke up this morning was…’ or ‘What was the last concert you attended?’) to more personal reflections (‘One thing I like about myself is…’ or ‘My best friend inspires me because…’). When the round is over, the people in the trio have to turn their backs to each other and when every trio is finished, the music is played again until the next stop with new groups’ combinations.

4. The sound of silence (15 mins): The participants form a cluster and are close to each other as much as they are comfortable. If someone is uncomfortable with standing close to the others or gets overwhelmed, they can leave the circle and stand a bit apart. If they want, they can rejoin the circle when they feel like it. They close their eyes, and the facilitator leads them through an exercise of listening. It is pointed out that listening extends beyond simply hearing, it is a method of perception that is both attentive and receptive, seeking what is not readily apparent and valuing uniqueness and diversity. The participants are invited to fine tune their ears and senses through physical and bodily approaches, exploring the sounds and senses that are coming and going. They listen to their own breath and the breathing of others, the sensations of the clothes on their skin, the smells and sounds that might come from close or from far, from within and even outside the room or building. Towards the end, the facilitator encourages them to gradually start to create some sounds like humming and progressively making it louder, they open their eyes and move around the room, continuing to make the collective sound, until they find a collective end.
5. Musical shower (20 min) – The facilitator points out that musical showers are very popular and asks the group if they will be willing to make a shower of their own. Everyone chooses a sound they find soothing and try it out as a group, making changes if needed. Then the facilitator asks them to make a close-knit circle (they can hug if comfortable) and asks for volunteers to stand in a circle. They can close their eyes. When they want, they can leave and ask for somebody else to take their place. Keep this up from 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Reflection and evaluation (15 min): At the end, participants sit in a circle and briefly reflect on how they feel and how the exercise was for them. The group discusses listening and what it means to them.

Reflection Questions:

• • • How did the activities make you feel?
    • What did you discover about listening? Did your understanding or perception of listening shift through these activities? How?
    • How did it feel to be listened to—or to listen in a different, more intentional way?

For evaluation, observe participant engagement and their willingness to share. Collect feedback verbally or via a quick survey.

1. Introduction (5 mins): Explain the purpose of the activity (self-expression through voice, exploring sound and listening together).

2. Sound circle (15 min): The group sits or stands in a circle and each person says her/his name and makes a sound. The next person repeats this and makes her/his own sound and so on, until the end of the circle. The task can omit the names if the participants already know each other. The name can be said in a normal tone before making the sound or the task can be to “sing” one’s name. If one can’t vocalise, it’s OK to write the name out and make a sound using the body or objects/instruments in the room.

3. The conductor exercise (15 min): Participants should choose their own sound using their voice or body parts, different from the previous exercise (e.g. humming, whistling, singing, babbling, clicking, tongue clicking, clapping). They can try it out while walking around the room, then standing with closed eyes, or sitting down. The facilitator then places the group in the form of a choir and explains the rules of the exercise. The facilitator shows hand movements for starting and stopping the sound, as well as making it louder (raising hand) or quieter (lowering hand). The facilitator “conducts” first and then calls upon another person to try. It is done for around 5 to 10 minutes, with 3 to 4 people conducting respectively.

4. Unusual jamming (20 min): The facilitator now invites the participants to find everyday objects in the room, like pencils, cups, papers etc. that can produce a sound. They are divided into two groups and each group organizes their sounds together as a band. They can choose rhythm, volume, and explore them like in a jam session. If needed, the facilitator explains the concept of jamming – freely experimenting with rhythm, volume, and timing to create something together without fixed rules. The groups should listen to each other, explore patterns, and organize their sounds into a short performance. After a bit of “rehearsing”, one group performs with their sound to the other group and vice versa.

5. Emotion Radio (20 min): The group forms a circle again. Now the goal is to produce musical motifs that could represent an emotion. First participants can think a bit about what emotions sound like. The facilitator names various emotions (e.g. fear, anger, sadness, joy) and lets the group harmonize for a bit. They can hum, sing, or make sounds using the objects in the room/instruments.

6. Reflection and evaluation (15 min): After the exercise, participants sit in a circle and briefly reflect on how they feel and how they experienced the exercise.

Reflection Questions:

How did you like the activities?

How did you connect to others through sound?

What did you learn about your emotions by giving them sound?

For evaluation, observe participant engagement and reactions. Collect feedback verbally or via a quick survey.

1. Introduction (5 mins): Explain the purpose of the activity (dance improvisation, self-expression, celebrating diversity).
2. Breaking the ice (20 min): Use 2-3 introduction activities (name game, energizer, warming-up) from the additional chapter at the end of the Toolbox, based on your needs.
3. Mirror dance (25 min): The facilitator asks the group to walk around the room with different prompts (slow, fast, as the floor is on fire, made of ice etc.). Then, allows them to do a small and gentle individual improvisation dance. When ready, the participants are divided into pairs. Two lines facing each other can be formed with a fun binary question (e.g., „Pineapple on pizza—yes or no?”), so the person you’re facing is your pair. Or the participants can all come together in a close-knit circle, close their eyes and stretch their hands forward, reaching someone’s hands – the person whose hand they’ve reached is their pair.

If the number is uneven, the facilitator can join.

The pairs are asked to look each other in the eyes without talking. Gentle music is played. They try to feel each other’s presence, and while they can laugh, they should really focus on not talking—just looking at each other (2-3 minutes). If they feel comfortable, they can come one step closer, but they need to be mindful of the other person’s comfort. The facilitator emphasizes the importance of consent and paying attention to the other person that you interact with.
Then, they receive instructions for mirroring: one person leads the dance by making a movement, and the other must follow it as if they were a mirror. After a set time, they switch roles and continue with the same instruction (5-7 minutes each). At this point they can start to move around the room. Then, the next task is to make a mirroring contrast. For instance, if the leading person makes a slow movement, the other needs to make it fast, if the lead makes an upward movement, the other person goes down and so on. The goal is to find a contrast or opposite movement of our pair. They switch roles after 5 minutes. In the end, the pairs are given the task of moving together in such a way that the tips of their index fingers are constantly touching (without letting go), if they feel comfortable to do so. They improvise together for 5-7 minutes.

4. The doll (25 min): The facilitator begins by breaking the pairs and asking the group to move freely around the space. While they move, the facilitator gives simple prompts such as: “stop,” “go,” “clap,” and “jump.” After a while, the meaning of the commands is reversed—“stop” now means “go,” and vice versa; then, “clap” means “jump,” and “jump” means “clap.” This playful confusion increases focus and engages participants’ attention. Next, the facilitator introduces new movement prompts, such as: “move as if your left elbow is leading,” “move from your right knee,” or “let the top of your head guide your movement.” After a few rounds, the facilitator stops the activity and asks participants to form trios with those nearest to them. In each trio, one person becomes “the doll,” while the other two act as guides, giving nonverbal instructions by gently touching parts of the doll’s body (e.g., elbow, head, knee, arm, back). The doll responds by initiating a movement that starts from the touched point, allowing the motion to unfold naturally from that impulse. After 5–7 minutes, the roles rotate so that each participant has the chance to be the doll.
   A simple variation is that one person in the trio is leading the movement, and the others follow, while the roles get switched in rounds, as they feel.
   To end the activity, all the trios can move freely, improvising together and moving through the whole space.
5. Reflection (15 min): The participants sit together in a circle and take time to reflect on the shared experience, discussing how they felt during the activity and what they are taking away from it.

Reflection Questions:

• • How did moving with each other make you feel? Was it nice, uncomfortable, new…?
  • What did you learn about yourself and others through movement?

If there is enough time, it is advised to make a small reflection after each activity.

For evaluation, observe participant engagement and mood, the way they move and react to each other in each activity. Collect feedback verbally, via a quick survey or through associative cards.

1. Introduction (5 min): Explain the purpose of the activity (movement and dance expression, body awareness and non-verbal communication).
2. Breaking the ice (15 min): It’s really important to get participants into their bodies and connect with movement before starting the next activity. Use 1-2 introduction activities (name game, energizer, grounding) from the additional chapter at the end of the Toolbox, based on your needs. For example, ask the participants to move around the room with different prompts, like: walk as if you must catch the bus, walk as if you won the lottery, walk as if you were on the moon/the floor is on fire/made of ice.
3. Connecting and warming up (25 min): Participants stand in a circle and hold hands (be sure to check if everyone is comfortable with this). The facilitator sends a signal (a hand squeeze) that travels around the circle. The facilitator changes directions and, at one point, sends the signal in both directions simultaneously.
   Then, the facilitator leads a body scan and a couple of warming up exercises. Participants are invited to focus on their breathing and the sensations in their bodies, scanning each body part from head to toe and relaxing it. Here they should be invited to become more aware of the contact with the floor, of the room and of other participants. The warming up can be really basic and gentle, making circles with the main joints (neck, shoulders, pelvis, knees and ankles). Then, the participants are invited to continue to move freely as they like, in their place and then around the room, while the facilitator intensifies the music.
4. Movement and emotions (30 min): This session continues from the previous one in a flow. With music prepared in advance* by the facilitators, the group is guided to form pairs in the following way.

*Choose songs and compositions that are relatively neutral but capable of evoking various moods and emotions—such as classical, ethnic, instrumental, or atmospheric music.

Participants walk around the room while music plays in the background. They are guided to become aware of their bodies, muscles, and bodily sensations. They are encouraged to observe how their body wants to move and follow that instinct. After some time, they are invited to make contact with others in the group and sense the energy in the space. At one point, they stop and find the person nearest to them, forming pairs. In these pairs, guided by the facilitator’s voice, they are asked to move to express different feelings, for instance: happy, nervous, irritated, excited, shocked, scared, surprised, angry, in love, feeling friendship (each should last at least 3 minutes). They try to align their movements with their teammates, feeling who is the one leading and who is following in which moment, inter-changing these roles constantly. Then, each pair finds another pair and forms a group of four, continuing with the same task and with different emotions (sadness, excitement, happyness…). In the end, all groups merge into one large group in a circle  and dance to express more emotions (e.g. gratitude, calmness). After the large group dance, participants are invited to refocus again on themselves, noticing how their bodies want to move. They are guided to transition out of the emotions they expressed through dance and focus on their breathing. As a way of de-roling and re-centering, they are invited to shake off the feelings they’ve just experienced through movement.

5. Reflection and evaluation (15 min): After the exercise, participants sit in a large circle and briefly reflect on how they feel and how the exercise was for them. The group discusses emotions and their function.

Reflection Questions:

• What was this experience like for you?
• How did you feel while dancing alone, in pairs, and in a large group?
• Was it easy or hard for you to complete the tasks? Was it easier to express some emotions?
• Did you learn something new about yourself and others during the activities?

For evaluation, observe participant engagement and mood, the way they react to the assignment and how they collaborate in groups. Collect feedback verbally, via a quick survey or through associative cards.

1. Introduction (10 min): The facilitator welcomes the participants and explains the workshop activities (music, movement and creating with non-conventional materials).
2. Making music (10 min): The participants are asked to find some object in the room with which they can produce some sound. They try out different ways to make sound together with their object, experimenting with rhythms, volume etc.
3. Music and tactile drawing (30 min): Now the participants are split into two groups. One group continues with making music while the other is placed around a blank paper, are offered some “unconventional” materials (clay, slime, soil, seeds) and are invited to draw with their hands, splashing the materials to the rhythms and flow of the music. After 10-15 minutes, the groups switch. The group that was drawing takes a couple of minutes to wash their hands, while the other group is given a new, blank piece of paper. The activity repeats as previously.
4. Reflection and evaluation (10 min): The facilitator sums up the practice and invites the group to observe their two creations. Participants share how the activity was for them, what did they like/didn’t like, how they feel. The artwork can be cut into smaller pieces and exposed on the wall, or it can be sown in the soil somewhere outdoors, since all the materials are natural and the seeds might germinate and grow into a plant (if there’s some garden available and if it’s the right time of the year).

Reflection Questions:

• • How was the workshop for you?
  • Was it difficult to create music and to draw with your hands based on the music?
  • What part did you like the most?

For evaluation, observe participant engagement and mood, the way they react to the assignment and how they collaborate in groups. Collect feedback verbally.