bringing a smile to someone’s face

We played a new game the other day.  It’s a game I think you might want to play sometime.  So here’s how to play it. 

First of all, everyone needs a card with their name on it.  Next, the cards are shuffled and dealt.  You should not get your own name for this game!  Now, sit yourself down in a circle – a compliment circle.

And think.  What do you think a compliment circle might be?  Well the forest of waving arms certainly made me  smile rather smugly! 

Yes a compliment circle is a circle where everyone pays someone else a compliment.  And as Nicholas so ably demonstrates, if someone pays you a compliment, of course you say thank you!

Here, then, is a taster of the first round of out compliment circle game.  And who better to begin with than Nicholas.

‘Lakeisha,’ he began, ‘I like it when you play with me.’

After she had thanked him (unasked, I might add) she turned to Bianca.  ‘I like your drawing,’ Lakeisha told her.

Bianca smiled.  And then she made Emily smile.  ‘I like the piece of puzzle you made.’

And so the game went on.  And with every compliment that was paid, so the smiles broadened. 

Alexis told Anusha how much he liked it when she helped him with some fiddly cutting.

In turn, Anusha appreciated Nicholas’ ideas when we played sorting shoes.

Smiles and more smiles.  A whole circle of smiles!  How much better to pay someone a compliment than to say something careless and without thinking; something you’ve said in the heat of the moment, perhaps.  This is a game we will definitely play again.