Bucket List Activity

I recently attended the Play Conference presented by the US Play Coalition (free to join) at Clemson University.  Incredible sessions provided a ton of information on the importance of play, how play increases creativity and productivity, how to integrate play into our daily lives, what is play, and so much more.  I attended sessions covering an array of topics, all of which were inspiring!

During the entire conference, I was constantly thinking about how I could add some aspects of play into my faculty meetings.  We usually have around 50 participants, who begrudgingly stay two hours after work to hear important information.  Well, what administration thinks is important information.  My administration and I have wanted to add elements of fun to our meetings, but everything we have previously attempted was voted down or laughed at by most of the faculty.  After attending the Play Conference, I had a renewed passion for bringing fun and play to my meetings.

I found a great activity on Pinterest (my obsession) through the Dream Share Project, and tweaked it just a little so that I could use it as a quick (20 minute) opener to a faculty meeting.

The first thing I did was give a brief description of what a bucket list represents, and then I gave my faculty 10 minutes to write down as many things as they could for their bucket list. At first it was quiet. All of a sudden, you could hear laughing, giggling, out-right knee slapping! People started sharing some of their ideas, which got the rest of the group going, and it helped those who were experiencing writer's block.  It was eye-opening to hear what some people were putting on their list.  One person wants to learn how to throw knives.  Interesting.  Many want to travel, and the same destinations came up over and over.

After the 10 minutes, I had everyone look at their lists and see if their items had a common theme, and what personality traits does their bucket list items exhibit. One person said they were having trouble with this, so we had her read her items out loud and the group found the theme and personality trait. It was obvious that this person was charitable and ambitious.

Next, I had participants write down one small action they could take today to start exploring or accomplishing one of the items on their list. They also had to tell the people at their table what this action would be.

Finally, I asked everyone to write five mini-goals that they could do this month to start exploring some of the items on their list.

After the meeting, I realized that I should have asked everyone to save their lists and bring it back to a future meeting. A couple days later, I figured out that I didn't have to ask anyone how they were doing with their goals; they would come to me. One colleague told me that she looked up classes in crocheting. I, personally, checked something off my bucket list when I went to a conference for reading and had the pleasure of wearing the Clifford costume!

Thank you Play Conference for inspiring me to bring some fun and play into my faculty meetings. Next month, we're going to learn how to balance peacock feathers.