Kiss the Ugly Frog

The facilitator sets a stool or upside-down bucket to represent a lily pad on one end of an oval space. Then the facilitator tells the group the story of the beautiful princess who was bored and very sad one day, so she decided to leave the castle and walk down by the lily ponds. As she was looking in the water and reflecting upon her life, a frog that was sitting on a lily pad begged her to kiss him. He said that no one ever valued him or recognized his beauty because he was a frog. He talk about how lonely and sad his life had been. After much persuasion, he convinced the princess to give him a kiss, and as she did he turned into a handsome prince. We, too, can feel like handsome princes and beautiful princesses if we receive the verbal "kisses" that let us know that we are valued and loved for who we are. After the story, the facilitator will ask for a volunteer to sit on the lily pad. After each group member gives the volunteer verbal kisses by expressing the positive things he/she has noticed about the person (the person is only allowed to say "thank you"), then that person chooses another person to sit on the lily pad. The activity continues until each group member has been "kissed."