Exclusion Game
Once upon a time when 4 was Peer-Led (& an insane amount of work...) there was a bullying topic (to help Unit Leaders tackle the topic, not a how-to guide, obviously) & the version of the Exclusion Game I know comes from there, but doubtless exists in other forms elsewhere. Idea is that you get children to consider behaviours involved in bullying situations & how it makes everyone involved feel. My huge 4[CaST] folder is buried somewhere (not needed it since I turned Officially Old) so doing this from memory...
• split children into three groups - they’ll be in the roles of targets, bullies & bystanders & will rotate through the roles so they play each part
• bullies can tell their targets to do anything they want them to as long as it is safe; if you have enough time (& it won’t create future issues) your Unit can agree a list of names the bully group can call the targets in place of ACTUAL mean words (Brownies are often good at this: “ugh, get OVER here you flurbleDOINKump” can sound VERY rude...) & targets have to obey (having some examples - eg do 10 starjumps, stand in the corner, tell me how awesome I am, do your best impression of a cat [we’d often provide food so bully group could demand snacks])
• target group have to do what they’re told by bullies
• bystanders have to watch - if they reach a point where they feel uncomfortable doing so, they can turn away: they should try to remember what’s happening when they do so
• you rotate your bullies to bystanders, bystanders to targets, and targets to bullies; then round again - each turn should be about 1-2 minutes: just long enough for girls to experience the role
Then you get the girls together to reflect on what it felt like in each role & why they think people might behave in those ways when they see people being bullied. It can work very well but you obviously have to keep on top of things to ensure you’ve not got any “clever” ideas coming from your “bully” group (er, no, licking your shoes isn’t safe, thank you) & watch for anyone actually getting upset etc.
(Bullying was always a tricky topic to run - always had to go in with assumption there would be children in the Unit who’d experienced bullying, but Leaders who were having issues in Unit & didn’t tell you beforehand [despite the helpful space on booking form where they could do just that...]. Had a few times where girls disclosed serious bullying issues in session feedback though, which was good, as meant Leaders were able to get them appropriate help. Sorry, epic digression...)
Am aware that in this case it’s not bullying being discussed - though deliberate exclusion is a form of bullying, so I suppose it MIGHT be, after all, depending on what turns out to be going in! - but being a bystander feeds into questions about what stops girls from being the one to go & talk to/play with a new Brownie; & an isolated Brownie will often share feelings & experiences with a bullied one.