Fun with Character: The Oranges
This exercise can be done in one of several ways. You can start with a discussion of what you expect from certain people based on the behavior that you have witnessed already. Use an orange to demonstrate this expectation. You can place a small slice in the orange and then squeeze the orange juice from the orange into a glass. When you see an orange, you expect to get orange juice from it. If you want to get tricky, you can use a needle-like turkey baster to inject food dye into the orange. Injecting via the navel of the orange is the best way to disguise the injection site. When you squeeze this prepared orange, it won’t look like orange juice. This will demonstrate authenticity– being the same on the inside as how we act on the outside.
To process this activity, ask these questions:
Were you surprised to see orange juice coming from the first orange?
Were you surprised to see the other color coming from the second orange?
Have you ever seen somebody act differently than you expected?
Have you ever acted differently than a teacher or parent expected you to act?
How does it feel when you act out wrongly?
Will you think of the orange the next time you are tempted to act out?