{"id":591,"date":"2007-05-30T08:59:30","date_gmt":"2007-05-30T08:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.creativeyouthideas.com\/resources\/?p=591"},"modified":"2021-04-08T21:38:13","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T13:38:13","slug":"watch-your-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creativeyouthideas.com\/resources\/creative-teaching-ideas\/watch-your-step\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch Your Step!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Description<\/strong>
\nIn this creative icebreaker, youth will make some important observations based upon footprints or photos of feet and relate these to our personal walk \u2013 our personal journey in life.<\/p>\n

Resources<\/strong>
\nFor this activity you will need a fairly accurate representation of each participant\u2019s feet. There are a variety of ways you can achieve this.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. My personal preference is to have sheets of colored paper \u2013 the type that does not leave a stain when wet. (Test it first so you don\u2019t have permanent footprints across your carpet!). Have the participants remove their shoes and socks, then step on a damp towel and then finally step on the paper. A wet footprint will be left behind. Quickly trace it with a dark colored marker and let it dry! For a quick meeting just paste the sheets of paper around the room or project them on a wall using an OHP. If you have a longer event for a couple of days, like at a youth camp, you can also cut them out and place them around the teaching area.<\/li>\n
  2. Alternatively, you can have students remove their socks and take digital photos of their feet. Paste them into a powerpoint presentation or a photo slide show and project them on a wall for students to see.<\/li>\n
  3. A little messier variation is to use water soluble finger paints and have participants step into a tray of finger paint and then onto a white sheet of paper. Be sure to have a damp towel ready to thoroughly clean their feet before they leave a mess of prints across your meeting area!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You might also want to number the prints and have a numbered name list so that you can correctly identify the prints later.<\/p>\n

    Preparation<\/strong>
    \nPreparation will depend upon how you plan to make the footprints.<\/p>\n

    What to Do<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. As the youth arrive, collect their footprints.<\/li>\n
    2. Prepare the prints for display by making them into photo enlargements, slides, overhead transparencies, powerpoint slides, digistal slideshows, or etc so that the pictures are large enough for the entire group to view them at the same time.<\/li>\n
    3. For fun, you can also throw in a few gag prints, such as animal feet, baby feet, big clown’s shoes, and two feet side-by-side but facing in opposite directions. These will be your beautiful feet pageant.<\/li>\n
    4. Go through the numbered prints and have youth match the print with the person who made it. Can you even identify your own footprint?<\/li>\n
    5. Award the person who correctly identifies the most feet! With the Incredible FEAT award!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      A lot of our idioms and common sayings refer to \u201cfeet\u201d. Share a few appropriate idioms or the entire list of idoms with the group. Which of these idioms best describes you? Why?<\/p>\n

      Idioms referring to feet
      \n\u2022 back on your feet again
      \n\u2022 dip your toes in the water
      \n\u2022 drag one’s feet
      \n\u2022 fall at his feet
      \n\u2022 find your feet
      \n\u2022 fleet of foot
      \n\u2022 foot the bill
      \n\u2022 get a foot in the door
      \n\u2022 get cold feet
      \n\u2022 get off on the wrong foot
      \n\u2022 get to one’s feet
      \n\u2022 get your feet wet
      \n\u2022 has two left feet
      \n\u2022 have a foot in both camps
      \n\u2022 have feet of clay
      \n\u2022 have one foot in the grave
      \n\u2022 have your feet on the ground
      \n\u2022 hold someone’s feet to the fire
      \n\u2022 hot foot out of here
      \n\u2022 land on your feet
      \n\u2022 make an about face
      \n\u2022 My foot!
      \n\u2022 on foot
      \n\u2022 on your back foot
      \n\u2022 pussyfoot around
      \n\u2022 put a foot wrong
      \n\u2022 put your best foot forward
      \n\u2022 put your feet up
      \n\u2022 put your foot down
      \n\u2022 put your foot in it
      \n\u2022 put your foot in your mouth
      \n\u2022 shoot yourself in the foot
      \n\u2022 sit at the foot of a teacher
      \n\u2022 stand on your own two feet
      \n\u2022 step on another person\u2019s foot
      \n\u2022 step on the gas
      \n\u2022 stop dead in your tracks
      \n\u2022 sweep someone off his\/her feet
      \n\u2022 take a load off your feet
      \n\u2022 take a stand
      \n\u2022 take steps toward something
      \n\u2022 the ball is at your feet
      \n\u2022 thinking on your feet
      \n\u2022 throw yourself at someone’s feet
      \n\u2022 tiptoe through it
      \n\u2022 to get under foot
      \n\u2022 vote with your feet
      \n\u2022 watch your step
      \n\u2022 world’s at your feet<\/p>\n

      Taking It to the Next Level<\/strong>
      \nMany times when we talk about the characteristics of a person, we refer to their heart. But we reference the feet almost as often in our expressions. That’s because the feet tell us two very important facts about someone: where one’s standing and which way someone is going. A firm stand and a consistent walk are both traits we admire in others. When we talk about our journey in life we often talk about those times we slip and stumble as well as those times when we took a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n