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The support circle

Talk through everyday challenges and choose helpful coping strategies together in this group activity.

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You’ll need

  • Scissors
Support circle cards
PDF – 69.9KB
Download Support circle cards

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. 
  • Discussions about feelings can sometimes lead to disclosures of harm. Always follow the Safeguarding Code of Conduct (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Mental health and wellbeing research

This activity is part of our mental health and wellbeing research. 

Please make sure you've got consent from the parents or carers of all young people taking part, using the Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form you’ve been given.

When you've completed the activity, please share your feedback on the activities using this form.

Submit your feedback

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. 
  • Discussions about feelings can sometimes lead to disclosures of harm. Always follow the Safeguarding Code of Conduct (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Planning and setting up this activity

  • You'll need to print out, write out, or create your own scenario cards and coping strategy cards. These should include situations that your young people might encounter in their everyday lives, such as things to do with school, at home, with friends or family, or hobbies. 

Running this activity

  1. Bring everyone together and explain that this activity is all about giving and receiving support when someone faces a tricky or difficult situation. Emphasise that it is a safe space where everyone’s ideas and feelings are respected.
  2. Ask everyone to form a circle so they can all see each other. Young people can be sitting or standing, whichever is most comfortable.
  3. Mix up the scenario and coping strategy cards and give one to each young person in the circle. If there are more cards than people, continue giving them out until all cards are handed out.
  4. Explain that the scenarios will be used in number order. When it’s a young person’s turn, they will enter the middle of the circle and read their scenario out loud to the group, if they're comfortable to. If anyone feels shy or nervous, they can read their scenario from where they're sat instead.
  5. Once a scenario has been shared, the rest of the group should decide together on a coping strategy that the person in the middle could use. These discussions should be calm, respectful, and supportive, with everyone listening carefully to each other.
  6. After the group has decided on a supportive action, the young person in the middle returns to the circle, and the next person takes their turn in the middle.
  7. When all the cards have been completed, take a moment to ask the young people how they found the activity. Encourage them to think about whether the scenarios were relatable and if they already knew the coping strategies, or if there was anything new that they hadn’t considered before. You can also ask how they might use these strategies in real-life situations, helping them to reflect on what they have learned and how it could support themselves and others in the future. 

Reflection

This activity was all about learning how to give and receive support. We practised listening carefully, understanding how others feel, and offering helpful ideas when someone has a problem. 

You could also ask some follow-up questions to encourage discussion, such as:  

  • Which supportive actions were most helpful?
  • How can you ask for help when you need it?
  • Was there anything new you learned about helping or supporting others?

This reflection gives everyone a chance to share their experiences, understand each other better, and think about how they can use these skills outside the activity. 

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Scissors

Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

  • To make this activity easier, you could split the group into pairs and give six scenarios to each pair. Each pair could take it in turns to match the scenarios with the strategies.
  • To make this activity harder, you could ask the young people to show support in different ways, such as through drawing, roleplay, or writing a poem. Or you could ask them to come up with their own scenarios and supportive ideas. 
  • You could provide a script structure or prompts for young people or groups who may find it tricky to start conversations in large groups or confidently come up with their own ideas. 
  • You could provide different ways to communicate for young people who find it hard to express themselves verbally.  For example, pointing, drawing, writing or reading from a card. 
  • For young people who do not want to speak up, they could sit and listen, run the timer, or help lead the activity. This ensures everyone can participate in a way that is comfortable for them and still contribute to the session. 
  • Make sure everyone can see and understand the scenario and coping strategy cards. You may need to use large, easy-to-read fonts or simple words. For those with dyslexia, light-coloured paper (such as cream or pale pink) can make reading easier. Always encourage people to ask if they don’t understand any words.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Cubs Communicator Activity Badge

If you enjoyed this activity, you could write anonymous support notes to a friend or peer. 

Young people could take the lead in shaping the activity by designing their own scenarios and coming up with coping strategies that feel relevant to them. They could also create a different way to run or deliver the game, such as using roleplay, drawing, or other creative methods.

They could share their own experiences and offer advice to the group, helping everyone learn from real-life situations and adding a personal, youth-led perspective to the activity.