Yes, and…
Even if you’ve never done improv, you may have heard of one of its big rules: “yes, and.” This means that when you’re improvising a scene and a scene partner offers a piece of information, you agree with it and add on – even if you don’t use the words “yes, and.” For example, if your scene partner says “Try this strawberry, it’s delicious!” and you say “That’s not a strawberry, it’s a turkey sandwich,” you have brought the scene to a grinding halt and forced them to figure out how to guide the scene in a new direction. But if you respond with, “Yum, it’s so juicy…oh no, I got strawberry juice all over my new shirt!” you’ve accepted their idea, added information to the scene, and given it somewhere to go!
The ”yes, and” principle lends itself to great improv scenes and a really fun and easy storytelling game (one person makes a statement: “Pizza is raining from the sky!” The next person adds on: “Yes, and I just got hit by a giant pepperoni!” and so on). But it’s not just fun. When we “yes, and” others, it helps us practice accepting other people’s ideas rather than insisting that our idea is the one that gets used, which is vital to success when we collaborate. And when others “yes, and” us, it can be a huge confidence boost and motivation to keep contributing our ideas.
You can also use the idea of “yes, and” to make plans and dream big! Ask your family to think about a question like “What we should do over summer break?” or “How should we decorate our playroom?” or “What should we do if we win the lottery?” Give each person a piece of paper and have them write a big idea for that question – it doesn’t have to be realistic, it can be fun and imaginative! Then trade papers and add on to the idea on the paper you receive – if they wrote “We should go to the beach” you could add on “yes, and we can learn how to surf.” You can trade papers as many times as you want, so every idea gets added on to lots of times, and by different people in the family.
You might not do all of the ideas. Some of them might be impossible, or complicated, or unaffordable, or just plain silly. But the concept of treating everybody’s ideas with respect enthusiasm, and following their thinking instead of shutting it down, might have some nice ripple effects in the way you interact with each other and the way you dream, plan, and problem-solve together! If you come up with some particularly exciting big ideas, share them with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
