Ingredients for the project cake :)

Aims of the tool

- to prepare the participants for the project activities
- to stimulate them to share their fears, expectations and personal contributions for and to the develpment of the project
- to stimulate discussion and personal knowledge among the partcipants

Description of the tool

Introduce the project to the participants and stimulate them to reflect on fears, expectations and personal contributions to the activities.

Divide the particpants in small groups (made by 5/6 people): to facilitate the creation of mixed groups you could prepare some small papers with the shape of puzzle pieces, in different colours as the number of the groups you need, and distribute one piece per participant. Each participant should gather the participants with the puzzle piece in the same color.

Give to each group two sheets of paper in different colors and a marker and ask them to discuss in group and write down the fears and the expectations on a different paper. Give to each participant a small piece of paper where to write down how they can contribute to project activities and learning process, tell them to fold it and to put it in the jar of the ingredients.

After 15-20 minutes, make sure the participants put the ingredients in the jar and stimulate each group to share the results of their discussion, and to stck the summary of their expectations in the side of the flipchart with a dreaming smily and the fears on the side of the flipchart with a fearful smily.
Give some feedback about the shared feelings and present to the group the project cake: a flipchart paper with a big cake on it! Tell them that we are going to make the project cake with the ingredients they put in the jar: start to take and read the personal contributions of the participants and to stick them on the cake. Give some feedback about the ingredients.