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Exercises/Relationship Mapping/SALTO-YOUTH - Toolbox - The wishing tree and scarecrow
Youth Group Game · Relationship Mapping

SALTO-YOUTH - Toolbox - The wishing tree and scarecrow

SALTO-YOUTH - Toolbox - The wishing tree and scarecrow is a youth group game exercise for relationship mapping: it helps participants build useful connections and understand how people, roles, or ideas relate.

5 to 15 minutesTIME
PairsGROUP SIZE
ActiveENERGY
In person, RemoteSETTING
High cognitive loadCOGNITIVE LOAD
Strengthens Network Design This relationship mapping exercise strengthens Network Design, one of the eight Gathering Effectiveness pillars.

How to run it

  1. Make ready the Power Point Presentation, while one trainer is reading the story one will show Power Point Presentation and play music.
  2. Give some time for participants to come back from the story and stand up. Remind them once more of your questions and ask them to write down their answers in the relevant post-it (dark pink for fears and green for hopes).
  3. Conclude the session by giving a general idea of what are the main motivations and expectations among the group.
  4. Ask if the participants have anything to add.
  5. Also mention that the group will come back to this wishing tree to check if the participants’ expectations have been fulfilled and aims have been reached.
  6. Ask the participants how they felt during the activity.
  7. There will be pink and green post-its on the flipcharts with the same number of participants or more.
Live facilitator

Run this exercise live

The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.

Prompts to use +

Make ready the Power Point Presentation, while one trainer is reading the story one will show Power Point Presentation and play music.

Give some time for participants to come back from the story and stand up. Remind them once more of your questions and ask them to write down their answers in the relevant post-it (dark pink for fears and green for hopes).

Ask if the participants have anything to add.

Also mention that the group will come back to this wishing tree to check if the participants’ expectations have been fulfilled and aims have been reached.

Ask the participants how they felt during the activity.

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: SALTO-YOUTH - Toolbox - The wishing tree and scarecrow. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Make ready the Power Point Presentation, while one trainer is reading the story one will show Power Point Presentation and play music.; Give some time for participants to come back from the story and stand up. Remind them once more of your questions and ask them to write down their answers in the relevant post-it (dark pink for fears and green for hopes).; Ask if the participants have anything to add.; Also mention that the group will come back to this wishing tree to check if the participants’ expectations have been fulfilled and aims have been reached.. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.

Origin unverified

  • Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from SALTO-YOUTH; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including SALTO-YOUTH.)
  • 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.

Pairs well with