'What would happen, if...

Description of the tool

Preparation: A pile of ‘What would happen, if …..?’ cards and a feedback form for each small group. The questions can vary depending on the group and topic.

Procedure: The ‘What would happen, if....?’ cards lie upside down on the space indicated on the feedback form (the sheet with the beginnings of sentences). The game leader or the youngest player takes a card reads it aloud and passes it to a player of their choice to be answered. The player who now has the card should describe their ideas concerning the ‘What would happen, if....?’ situation. They can be serious or funny ideas, but they should certainly be personal and reflect the person’s own attitudes to the situation. The other players are allowed to and should ask questions at anytime.
When the player has described their ideas the others should one after another express their opinions on what they have heard (feedback). The opinions should definitely begin with one of the suggested sentence beginnings. A discussion on the topic can arise from this.
The player who gave their opinion now takes the next card from the pile, reads it aloud and passes it on to someone else whose ideas they would like to hear. The game finishes when all the cards have been used.

Suggestions for the question cards:
- What would happen, if all asylum seekers in all countries were accepted completely problem free?
- What would happen, if you suddenly noticed that your environment was behaving coldly towards you and was rejecting you (e.g. due to your appearance)?
- What would happen, if all national boundaries were abolished tomorrow?
- What would happen, if from tomorrow all foreigners had to leave your country?
- What would happen, if you were sent to another country for a year by your employer?
- What would happen, if from tomorrow all foreign co-citizens could vote?
- What would happen, if all people in Europe only spoke one language?
- What would happen, if you suddenly had to emergency land on an isolated island and only people from another culture lived there?
- What would happen, if North African countries wanted to join the EU?
- What would happen, if bus and train travel in Europe was free?
- What would happen, if your country were to leave the EU?
- What would happen, if all youth had to spend one year abroad as part of their training?

Sentences for the feedback form:
- I found your ideas interesting because…..
- In your description I had the feeling that…...
- I would like to criticise…..
- I found …… lacking in your description
- The first thing that strikes me about your description is……
- I didn’t really like………
- What personally appealed to me was…
- I found it very important that you….
You can put the pile of cards with WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF here.