Play Inside-Outside

Produced in collaboration with Hidden Disabilities Sunflower. 

Before you begin 

• Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There’s also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.   
• Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely. 
• Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help. 

Planning and setting up this activity 

• If anyone in the group has lived experience of disability, they could share their story if they feel comfortable to. It’s important that no one’s made to share anything they don’t want to, and no one should talk about someone else’s disability unless that person says it’s okay. All discussions should respect people’s privacy, and a person’s disability should never be disclosed without their direct consent.
• You may wish to use floor dots or mark spots using masking tape to show people where to position themselves. You could also use chairs.  
• Make sure to have a list of questions. You could use some of the questions on this page. 
• You may wish to tell everyone about the topic in advance of the session.
• You may need to offer reassurance to anyone who may find this topic difficult. Remember to always follow the Yellow Card.
• Find out more about young carers and disability inclusion in Scouts.

 

Running this activity

Play Inside-Outside

1. Gather everyone together and explain that you’re going to play a game to learn more about each other. People can share as much or as little as they feel comfortable to.
2. Ask everyone to get into two equal groups. The first group should get into a circle and face outwards, so they’re not looking at each other. They’ll be the inner circle.
3. The second group should form another circle around the first group. Each person should be facing someone in the inner circle. They’ll be the outer circle.
4. Explain that when the music starts, the outer circle will move clockwise. When the music stops, they'll be facing someone in the inner circle, who’ll be their partner. You’ll then ask them a question and they both need to share their answer with their partner. Then, the partners should swap places. The people who were in the outer circle move to the inner circle, and people who were in the inner circle move to the outer circle.
5. Start the music and let everyone start moving. If you don’t have a speaker or music device, you could all sing a song, and stop moving when you reach the end.
6. When you're ready, stop the music and read out the first question. Here’s some questions you could use:
   • What’s something you’re good at?
   • What’s something you find difficult?
   • What’s something you’re proud of?
   • What’s something you wish others understood about you?
   • What’s something that helps you when you’re having a hard time?
7. Repeat the activity, making sure the pairs are as different as possible each time. You could reuse the same question a few times or use a new question each time. If you want to, you can include a wider range of questions, such as asking what’s people's favourite food is or what superpower they’d choose if they were a superhero. We’ve shared some ideas on this page.
8. When you’re ready, end the game and gather everyone back together.

Talk about disability

1. Ask if anyone learned something they didn’t know about someone. What did they learn? Did it surprise them? Could they have guessed this just by looking at the person?
2. Explain that we often don’t know things about people, such as what they enjoy, their hobbies or the things they might struggle with, just by looking at them. There are things that aren’t always visible. This is the same with disabilities.
3. Ask if anyone knows what a disability is. A disability happens when a person has a condition, such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome or depression, and they face challenges because of how the world around them is set up. It can make it harder or impossible for them to do something or to be included. For example, some people might not be kind, places like buses or buildings might be hard to use, or there might not be enough help or support for them. (definition sourced from the World Health Organisation).
4. Explain that we can’t always tell whether someone is disabled just by looking at them. Sometimes it’s easier to tell that someone will have challenges – for example, if they’re using a wheelchair or have a guide dog. But there are lots of things you can’t see, for example, if some has difficulties with reading, hearing, seeing, walking for a long time, or staying focused. These may be called hidden or invisible disabilities.
5. Ask if anyone can think of the barriers in the world that people with non-visible disabilities might face. For example, someone might be unfairly challenged for using an accessible parking space or accessible toilet, even though they may need it. Someone else might not understand something if they don’t have access a BSL interpreter or subtitles, and another person may struggle to walk a long way if they don’t have somewhere to regularly rest.
6. Ask if anyone's heard of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower. Explain that people can choose to wear a Sunflower wearable item, such as a lanyard, wristband or pin badge (which are green with yellow sunflowers on) to discreetly let people know they’re disabled, and that they might need extra help, understanding or more time. It can help to reduce barriers that people may face.