Table toys R you

I’ve been involved in a great discussion on LinkedIn today started by Susan Landay, President at Trainers Warehouse about the use of toys in the training room

What surprised me was the huge variation in their use. Here are some of the nuggets:

Mike Willoughby  Customer Experience Solutions at Competitive Advantage said:

I usually use them as rewards, sometimes sharing them amongst the group.
I have also laid them out in the room as the group arrives. Allow them to PLAY with them for a short time and then explain their use i.e. Set exercises around them, allow the participant to fiddle with them if it helps them to concentrate (ideal for the feelers amongst us).

Lynnette Stevens Call Resource Centre Group Lead at Diebold, Inc. said;

Personally, I think whether to use stress toys in a training session completely depends on the interaction level and responsiveness of the entire audience. If your audience is already engaged, actively responsive and otherwise energetic, introducing stress toys into that audience will completely introduce distraction. On the other hand, for very low key audiences where you need to draw out interaction this type of tool may be extremely helpful. This is one of those training tools you keep in the toolbox until it can add value to the audience experience. Toys introduced to the wrong audience type can be a recipe for training chaos, a situation which then becomes a nightmare to draw attention back to key training objectives.

Stephanie Ringer Team Building Facilitator and Motivational Speaker. Co-Owner of WorkShop, the creative workplace offered this:

http://www.creativeworkplace.com/ as you can see by our place, we are all about toys and having fun. I agree with Mike, your meeting can be structured but allow them to fiddle with the toys and embrace what you have laid out for them and then start your meeting. You will much more positive results and better ideas from your team.

Julie Biddle Training Specialist at Government of Ontario added:

I try to structure an icebreaker or an exercise around the toys whenever I can. I provide craft items, markers, coloured paper, stickers, Lego, puzzles of various kinds, Play-dough etc. and have them build something to spark some discussion at the beginning.

I find it really helps loosen people up and gets them thinking creatively and our discussions really get to the topic. When I don’t use these kinds of toys I often find it takes a while for people to participate.

Carolyn Warman Executive Director at Leadership York said:

We use fiddles with a variety of groups from teens to adults in our leadership development programming. Fiddles have only enhanced the experience, never created a distraction. We tell participants in meetings, retreats, and planning sessions that these are learning materials that may help them focus better and can help them be more creative in their thinking. One of our board members regularly borrows the fiddles to use in corporate meetings to develop new packaging ideas for products.
Sometimes we will create an icebreaker using them such as: 1. Ask everyone to select one item. 2. Ask everyone to introduce themselves based on the colour of that fiddle (eg: blue fiddles – please share your favourite restaurant, red fiddles – please share your favourite type of music, etc.).

And my own contribution at the time:

I just like to put some fiddles out on the tables with the post-its and the smelly pens and leave them to it. Those that benefit from fiddling while learning will fiddle;  those who don’t seem to enjoy watching the fiddlers. Unless I am seeking a specific outcome from the toys I just leave them to it. Although, I have just remembered I used Bop-it on a management development programme a while back. It was fab. (I will share this on another posting later this week.)

As you can see there seems to be a wide variation in how people use toys in the training room.

So what are your favourites?

PS:  I’ve just remembered a “Doh!!!” moment from personal experience:  make sure you remember to make it OK for people to play. I once had a learner come up to me after a whole days training and said:

“So, I was waiting for the bit where we got to play with the toys. I saw everyone else fiddling with them and I thought they were going to get told off at any minute. When could I have started playing with them too?”

OUCH; memo to self – tell them it’s ok to play!

Purple koosh ball image by FredoAlvarez

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