Shiny Coppers

Here is a fun thing to try.
Take a bunch of old, grimy 1 cent pieces, pennies or coppers and give one out to each participant.
Ask them to get to know their penny.
Examine the penny for design, date and general condition.
Then have them work in groups of four.
Give each group a small plastic dish and pour in a couple of spoons of the "Magic Liquid". (white vinegar)
Add a teaspoon of salt and stir the liquid.
Now have each of the four people bid goodbye to his or her penny and pop it in the liquid.
Wait ten minutes to see what happens.
Take the pennies out, rinse them and dry them.
They will be hardly recognizable, all shiny and new.

What is basically happen is the vinegar (being an acid) is just stripping the coating off the pennies. They all started out shiny and new, but over time their coats became dull and lost lustre. The vinegar and salt together bring the pennies back to their former glory.

How could you use this? Lots of ways. This could represent the skills of the participants; they were always there, but they needed a little spit and polish. How about the pennies representing lost values that have been reclaimed or regained?

Now I know you will get lots of your own ideas, but I need you to do something. Don't take my word about this experiment, go and try it and let them sit while you do some work on the computer. When you see the pennies all lovely and shiny I think you will be even more encouraged to come up with your own metaphors and ideas.