The Mirthquake -- an ice-breaking or warmup exercise for adults and children

[Roy Blumenthal]

Here's how it works:

Rules: No talking, constant eye contact.

Step 1. Pair up, smile gently at partner. 10 or 20 seconds.

Step 2. Pretend to laugh, no actual sounds, but all the movements and
contortions of real laughing. Silent. 10 or 20 seconds.

Step 3: Release the mirthquake. Allow the laughter to tumble out. 10
or 20 seconds.

At the end of the second step, when I clapped my hands for the third
step, the part where they stop miming their laughter and allow their
real laughter to burst out, they blew the roof off with their
merriment.

If you want to use the Mirthquake in any of your facilitations or
classes, please feel free to use this. You can print it, project it,
put it on a t-shirt. Whatever. I'd appreciate it if you let me know if
you use it for something special. I love getting feedback.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/royblumenthal/2038770680/"
title="2007-11-16 Mirthquake by royblumenthal, on Flickr"><img
src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2134/2038770680_dab2fde9f3_b.jpg"
width="1024" height="906" alt="2007-11-16 Mirthquake" /></a>