royal chair

If larger than a group of 10, separate into smaller groups before instructing members to grab a piece of sticky paper and placing them somewhere in the room.
- Papers should be evenly spaced away from each other, and placed a few inches higher than eye-level.
- Each student should write their name at the top of their paper.
Decide which students will occupy the Royal Chair first; with their backs to their paper, have the remaining students write as many positive words/adjectives as they can on the paper for the person in the Royal Chair in 45 seconds.
- TIP: Only one person should be writing at a time.

Continue with rounds of 45 seconds, rotating until everyone in the Royal Chair has been visited by the Writers. Once finished, students will rotate to occupy the Royal Chair and repeat the process until everyone has a chance to have words written about them.
Once finished, have students read off the adjectives they received.
To wrap up, engage the group in a larger discussion about their experience using the prompts below.

How did it feel to occupy the Royal Chair?
What adjective surprised you the most? Why?
How did it feel to offer compliment/affirmation to others? How was it different from being on the receiving end?
Do you hear a lot of compliments given at school?
Does this activity change your attitude toward giving compliments or offering affirmations in everyday life?

Pay close attention to how club members may speak about themselves; discourage negative self-talk and deflection.
Note that in certain cultures, folks may be conditioned to deflect kind words in an effort to remain humble. For example, instead of saying “thank you” in response to a compliment, one may deny/downplay the praise or attribute the success to someone else.
In this case, it may be helpful to remind students that humility and accepting compliments do not have to be mutually exclusive. One can learn to appreciate their strengths and/or celebrate wins while making room for continuous growth.