Bucket List
Bucket List is an ideation warm-up exercise for divergent ideation: it helps participants open up more possible ideas before choosing a direction.
How to run it
- 1+20-40 mins None ← Back to all Activities Setup Pre-teach the meaning of the idiom ‘kick the bucket’ and a ‘bucket list’.
- If possible, you could then show the trailer for the movie The Bucket List, which really helps to illustrate the concept.
- Each student will need a piece of paper/notebook.
- Activity Students write down ten (or five for a shorter activity) things that they want to do in their life, using the target language.
- Much like the film of the same name, this simple energiser encourages participants to consider things they want to achieve in life and before death! However, this version concentrates on things they want to achieve within their current role.
- Explain the above to the participants and then give them 5 - 10 minutes to list things they want to achieve in their role. Ensure you focus them on the fact that it has to be things within their current job and they have to provide a time limit on the things in their list.
- You will be surprised how much advice and support this energiser can produce from the team.
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Prompts to use +
1+20-40 mins None ← Back to all Activities Setup Pre-teach the meaning of the idiom ‘kick the bucket’ and a ‘bucket list’.
If possible, you could then show the trailer for the movie The Bucket List, which really helps to illustrate the concept.
Activity Students write down ten (or five for a shorter activity) things that they want to do in their life, using the target language.
Explain the above to the participants and then give them 5 - 10 minutes to list things they want to achieve in their role. Ensure you focus them on the fact that it has to be things within their current job and they have to provide a time limit on the things in their list.
Run this with your AI assistant +
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.
Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Bucket List. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: 1+20-40 mins None ← Back to all Activities Setup Pre-teach the meaning of the idiom ‘kick the bucket’ and a ‘bucket list’.; If possible, you could then show the trailer for the movie The Bucket List, which really helps to illustrate the concept.; Activity Students write down ten (or five for a shorter activity) things that they want to do in their life, using the target language.; Explain the above to the participants and then give them 5 - 10 minutes to list things they want to achieve in their role. Ensure you focus them on the fact that it has to be things within their current job and they have to provide a time limit on the things in their list.. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.
Origin unverified
- Where we observed it: The exercise appears across 2 observed source organizations in the current corpus. (2 sources observed, including ESL Active, TrainerBubble.)
- What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
- No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.