Note to the trainer: Help participants recognise how clearly emotions can be communicated without words and how strongly their own posture can affect children.
Method: Role-play / enactment.
Materials: Small pieces of paper with emotion names written on them.
1. “What Is My Body Language Saying?” game: Participants form pairs. One person in each pair secretly draws an emotion card from a bag (for example, disappointment, anxiety, guilt or enthusiasm). 2. Enactment rules: The participant who draws the card acts out the situation without speaking, using only body language, eye contact, posture and facial expressions. Their partner tries to identify the emotion by using the RULER skill of “Recognising”. 3. Discussion: At the end of the game, the following question is put to the group: “Children do not always communicate with us in words. How does reading non-verbal communication affect a disadvantaged child’s need to be ‘seen and understood’?”