Paired Magnets: A Theater Game About Connection

Children walk in pairs while maintaining a point of contact during a theater exercise.

OBJECTIVES

Spatial awareness and relationships with fellow participants.

This is a simple sequence of paired walks.

I usually form the pairs randomly, just as I do when dividing the group for other exercises. It is important that participants learn to work with everyone.

Once they understand that the pairing is genuinely random and that they may be matched with someone they would not have chosen just as easily as with a friend, they readily accept the rule.

If changing partners does not take too much time, the pairs can be reshuffled for each stage of the sequence.

AGE

3 and up.

CONTACT RULE

Contact must always be light, respectful, and nonintrusive. No part of the sequence should ever be forced. If a particular point of contact causes discomfort, replace it with another.

The workshop leader should not automatically use the entire sequence, but select the points of contact best suited to the group’s age and characteristics.

RULES

Working in pairs, participants walk silently through a space free of obstacles, maintaining the point of contact specified by the workshop leader.

They should use all the available space while staying as far away from the other pairs as possible.

I deliberately avoid pairing participants of similar build. The taller person will need to lower themselves, while the shorter person will need to find a way to reach the point of contact.

The task is not to force the body, but to work together to find an adjustment that allows the pair to move.

WALKING SEQUENCE

• fingertip to fingertip;

• shoulder to shoulder;

• elbow to elbow;

• side of the foot to side of the foot;

• ear to ear;

• buttocks to buttocks;

• back to back, walking sideways for safety;

• forehead to forehead;

• cheek to cheek;

• tip of the nose to tip of the nose;

• both participants sit facing each other, with the soles of both feet touching;

• each participant simultaneously places one hand on their partner’s head and the other on one of their partner’s knees;

• each participant places one hand on their partner’s back and the other on their partner’s stomach.

Three-year-olds usually make contact with the tips of their noses without any difficulty; with adolescents, it can be much harder. The workshop leader should decide whether to include it: it must never be forced.

Finally, ask participants to invent a new point of contact and let the others try it.