Body Part Debrief Thumball

The Body Part Debrief Thumball™ was designed to help facilitators, trainers and teachers ask participants thoughtful questions about their experiences.  The body-focused metaphors are easy for participants to relate to.  This process can help shift some of the responsibility for successful processing from the facilitator to the participants. The questions can be answered in a group setting or used with individuals.

Feel free at any time to reword or alter the question provided.  Each question is simply a starting point; take it in any direction you desire.

Be creative and avoid one-word answers.  Expand on your answer as often as you can.  Allow one question to lead into full conversations. 

Mid-morning Review:  Invite each participant to find a partner.  Toss the ball to one participant and ask them to announce the question under their thumb.  Have each pair share their response to the question announced.  After a few minutes of discussion time, toss the ball to a new participant and repeat the process.  Encourage 3-4 discussion questions. 

End of Day Review:  Invite participants to get into a circle.  Ask participants to toss the Thumball to another participant.  This person should catch it, look under their thumb and respond to the question found there.  We recommend one Body Part Debrief Thumball for every 10 participants.

Journaling:  There are 32 questions on the ball.  Pick one question each week and spend a minimum of 15 minutes journaling thoughts about your experiences.  Keep all of your writings in one location to look back and see how much you grow as a leader over the course of one year.

The Body Part Debrief Thumball™ offers excitement and variety to straight question-and-answer sessions or traditional processing.

Instructions: Get into small groups of 10-12 people. Throw it. Catch it. Look under your thumb. Answer it.  Repeat!