Mood Check-In
What is the Mood Check-In card?
Embrace emotions and practise listening to each other with attention and empathy.
Research has shown links between emotional awareness and creativity. The simple act of checking in can help people build this muscle.
Encourage people to express their moods using GIFs, memes, and other offbeat imagery.
How to use the Mood Check-In card
Tip: this is a group activity that works best online, but can also be done using digital devices in person.
1. Tell everyone to take a few slow breaths, and tune into how they’re feeling right now – both in their heads, and in their bodies.
2. Invite everyone to spend 3 minutes finding a GIF, meme, or other image online that does a good job of expressing their current mood.
• Make it clear that you don’t expect anyone to fake positivity. It's OK to feel a bit low, or a bit stressed, or even a bit guilty about attending a creative workshop when you have other jobs to get done.
• Even if someone’s not feeling great, is there a playful way they can express their less than pleasant mood?
• Remind people that both positive and negative feelings can be used as creative fuel.
3. Ask everyone to display their image and give each person up to 30 seconds to elaborate.
Tip: as facilitator, pay attention to what everyone shares. What people reveal in this exercise can help you run the rest of the session more sensitively, and more effectively.
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Mood Check-In is one of 54 ideation workshop cards inside the Idea Tactics card deck.
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