Give everyone a small piece of paper and tell them they will have a couple minutes to write three statements about themselves. Two of the statements should be true, and the other one should be “stretching the truth,” meaning that it should be believable, but not true. When everyone has finished, each person should get a turn to read his or her three statements out loud. When each person is done reading their statements, ask the rest of the group to raise their hands to guess which statement wasn't true. If possible, have a facilitator share their statements first to model the activity.
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Explain to participants that you will be the captain, and they are all sailing on a ship at sea. The game begins by having all participants run around the available space at random, scrambling themselves. At any time, the captain must call out an order, and the participants must follow that order (see below). If a participant fails to do the correct order or is not part of a group when a particular order is called, he/she is considered to be “overboard” and must stand to the side of the playing area. Depending on the age group, feel free to pick and choose which/how many commands will be used, or ask students to come up with their own commands!
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Commands:
- Captain’s Waltz – participants must find a partner and pretend to waltz around the room. Anyone not in a group is considered “overboard.”
- Row Boat – participants must form groups of three, stand in a line and pretend to be rowing a boat while singing “row, row, row your boat.” Anyone not in a group is considered “overboard.”
- Captain’s Table – participants must form groups of four and pretend to be sitting around a table eating dinner. Anyone not in a group is considered “overboard.”
- Starfish – participants must form groups of five, put their arms together in the center of the circle and spin around, creating the five arms of a starfish. Anyone not in a group is considered “overboard.”
- Beached Whale – participants must lie down on their backs and put their arms and legs in the air. The last participant to do so is “overboard.”
- Port – all participants must run to the left hand side of the room. Participants who move in the wrong direction are considered “overboard.”
- Starboard - all participants must run to the right hand side of the room. Participants who move in the wrong direction are considered “overboard.”
- Bow - all participants must run to the front of the room. Participants who move in the wrong direction are considered “overboard.”
- Stern - all participants must run to the back of the room. Participants who move in the wrong direction are considered “overboard.”
- Attention! – All participants must face the captain and stand at attention. Once this command is called no one may move or perform other commands until the captain says “at ease.”
This game can be used to split a large group into smaller groups, to learn something new about people in the group, or just as a fun and active game.
Make sure there is enough room to move around freely. Explain that people are going to separate into groups as quickly as possible. Keep the questions moving quickly (i.e. give just enough time for people to introduce themselves or look around their group before asking the next question). Alternate between 50/50 questions and multiple-choice questions.
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Possible questions:
- Which leg do you put in your pants first when getting dressed?
- When you clap, is your left hand or right hand on top?
- Using your index finger, draw an imaginary circle in the air. Does your finger travel clockwise or counterclockwise?
- Which eye do you use to give a spontaneous wink?
- Can you roll your tongue?
- When eating ice cream cones, which way do you rotate the cone?
- What month were you born in?
- Fold your arms; is your right or left arm on top?
- How many siblings are in your family, including you?
This is a great game to get people moving and find new things that people have in common while thinking creatively.
Begin by telling people to get into groups of three. Tell them they have two minutes to find five things that they all have in common. (You could make it harder by ruling out obvious things like clothing, gender, skin color, etc.). After a couple minutes have passed, have each group find a new group to combine with. Have each original group share their commonalities before giving the newly combined group two more minutes to find three things that everyone has in common. (These new commonalities must be things that neither group shared from the first round). After the two minutes are over, repeat this until the entire group has merged together. As a whole group, everyone should search for at least one thing that they all have in common.
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As part of the debrief, have people share some of the things they learned about each other.
This game begins with everyone standing in a circle. The facilitator should explain that when the game begins, everyone should look down at the floor and pick a pair of shoes to look at. The facilitator will then count to five, and after counting, everyone should follow the shoes up to look at the person’s face. If two people are staring at each other, they both say “Dude” and switch places in the circle.
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Variation:
Word Association Dude: (Age: 10+) The game remains the same but instead of both people saying “dude,” one person will say the first word that comes to mind, and their partner replies by saying the first word they think of when they hear their partner’s word. (Example: the first person could say “peanut butter!” and their partner might reply with “jelly!”)
Explain that in this game everyone is “it”. Before the game begins all players should spread out. When play begins, anyone can tag anyone and they may be tagged by anyone. Whenever someone is tagged, they must sit down, but they can still tag people that run by. The game ends when everyone is sitting.
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Supplies: Paper, Pens
Give each person a blank piece of paper and have them write five facts or clues about them on the piece of paper. Have each person write their name on the bottom of the paper and collect the papers. Have the group try to figure out who the person is by reading the clues. Continue until all of the cards have been identified.
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There is a set area of play, and a facilitator who stands on the centerline of that area. The facilitator will say a color, and if a child is wearing that color, they are free to cross the field. If a player is not wearing that color, they must run to cross the area of play. The first player to be tagged by the facilitator is the next ‘gatekeeper’ (the facilitator).
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Variation: Substitute colors for something else (ex: If you have two siblings, cross the field, etc.)
Supplies: Soft Balls
The group should stand in a circle. One of the participants starts with a ball and tosses it underhand to someone else in the circle. As they toss the ball they should say “Here you go, .” When the ball is caught the person receiving it should say “Thanks, ___.” After someone catches the ball they should put their arms behind their back so that everyone gets a turn. After everyone has had a turn you can repeat the game starting with the same person and going in the same order, adding more balls to increase the frequency and difficulty of the games.
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Supplies: A light-weight object, such as a hula hoop or long stick
Have the group put their pointer finger underneath the object. Explain to the group that the task is to lower the object slowly to the ground, but the object must stay in contact with everyone’s finger or the challenge starts over.
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Everyone stands in a circle. You may not laugh. You must motion properly. The motion is having your hands flattened together and pointing either up above your head, or to another player, depending on what part of the game you are in.
One player begins by motioning up above his/her head and saying "huh." The two people on either side of him must then simultaneously motion to this person and say "huh." This person then must then motion to someone else in the circle and say "huh."
This begins the process over, and the new person must motion upward and say "huh" as the two on either side of him motion toward him and say "huh", and so on.
You are out if you laugh, or if you don't say "huh" or do not motion fast enough.
When two people are left, they must take turns pointing upward and at each other and must get faster and faster until one messes up. The last one standing is the winner.
Tips:
- If the last two players are just not laughing or messing up, have the game facilitator yell out a vegetable. The final two players act out that vegetable, and the rest of the group votes on the best actor.
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Supplies: One hula-hoop per group of 5
Before splitting the group up into smaller groups of 5, ask for volunteers to help demonstrate. Explain that the object of the game is for team members to work together to lower their hula-hoop to the ground. Ask the volunteers to stand in a tight circle. Than ask the volunteers to kindly raise their hands to shoulder level and pretend like they are pointing at something directly in front of them. Make sure that their fingers are level, and then place the hula-hoop on top of their fingertips. Make sure that all the group members understand they must always have both fingers touching the hula-hoop. Have monitors walking around and ensuring that everyone’s fingers are always in contact with the hula-hoops. If someone does not have both fingers on the hula-hoop, have their group start again. After each group has completed the task once, have the groups try a second time without speaking.
Supplies: Human bingo boards, Writing utensils
Start by giving everyone a Bingo Sheet. In each box is a characteristic or description of something such as “has a brother” or “can speak another language.” Once everyone has a sheet, people can walk around the room trying to fill their sheets with as many signatures as possible. Remind people that one person cannot sign another sheet more than once. As people finish, they can return to their seats. End the game as most people seem to be finishing.
Variation: Use another Bingo sheet, instead of characteristics, each box will have a sentence stem that another person can complete, such as “If I won the lottery, I would...” Have players mingle around the room, and after having a short conversation about one of the sentence stems, they can sign each other’s sheets and fill in the blank. The game ends when everyone has filled in their sheets, or when time runs out.
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Have the group stand in a tight circle. Tell everyone put their right hand into in the middle of the circle and grab the hand of someone else, making sure that it is not the person standing on their immediate left or right. Next, tell everyone put their left hand into the middle of the circle and grab someone else’s left hand, again making sure that it is not the person on their immediate left or right (and also making sure that they are holding the hands of two different people). To make sure that everyone is connected,have the groups quickly “pass a pulse” around the circle. When the group is well-tangled, explain that their job is to untangle themselves without letting go. Walk around the group and observe the strategies that players are using and the way different people are displaying leadership. Also, make sure that people are physically safe and mindful of each other.
Variation: Challenge the group to untangle the knot without talking.
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Supplies: Rope
Divide participants into groups of four or six. Group members move as if they would hold hands, but instead they hold pieces of rope between them. The goal of the exercise is to tie a not in the piece of rope between the middle two classmates. Participants must hold onto the rope at all times, but move in a way such that they make a knot.
Confused? Watch one of the many possible solutions here
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Supplies: A coin, an object to grab
Begin by dividing players into two teams. Have teams stand in two straight lines facing each other. Stand at one end of the lines and place a ball or a soft object, spaced evenly between the players, at the opposite end. Tell teams to hold hands and explain that the object of the game is to pass a pulse down the line. Practice this one time by having the players closest to the facilitator lightly squeeze the hand of the person next to them until the “pulse” reaches the end of the line; make sure that players do not squeeze hands until they have received the pulse. When the person at the end of the line receives a pulse, they must reach out and grab the object. The winning team then rotates players, so that the person at the end (closest to the object) moves to the beginning and everyone shifts down one space.
Explain that during the game everyone will have their eyes closed, except for the two people at the beginning of the line. They must have their eyes open to see the coin flip. Hold out a quarter or other coin and show the “heads” and “tails” side of the coin. Explain that the facilitator will flip the coin and that players should send a pulse only if the coin comes up heads. If a team sends a pulse when the coin comes up tails, then they must rotate backwards, meaning that the person at the beginning must go back to the end and everyone shifts one space. Ask if there are any questions, and then play a couple of practice rounds. When players are ready, begin playing. The game ends when one team has rotated completely through its line.
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Variation: Have both teams rotate after each round and play to a certain number of points. Give one point to a team for grabbing the object first and take one away for sending a pulse when the coin lands on tails.
Each child in the group is assigned an animal (gorilla, snake, crab, elephant, etc.). The children will then form their groups by acting as their animal – i.e., all of the snakes slither to their group’s location, while the elephants wave their trunks to find each other.
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Supplies: index cards/name tags/ small pieces of paper, pens/markers, tape
Give each player a marker and an index card and ask them to write down five characteristics that describe them best. Examples are race, ethnicity, gender, religion, likes, dislikes, talents, hobbies, goals, achievements, and values. For younger children you can offer a prompt such as favorite food, holiday, color or something they’re good at. After everyone finishes creating their label, give them tape and have them tape their cards to their shirts and walk around the room. Tell them to look at other people’s cards and talk about what they’ve written. They can ask questions about the different things people have chosen to represent themselves or talk about the similarities and differences between them.
The idea is to give participants the chance to have conversations about their identity based on the qualities they value the most about themselves and direct people’s attention toward these aspects of their identity. After about ten minutes, bring the group back to debrief.
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Target Themes: Safe space, Creativity, Self-control
Begin the game by having the group sit in a circle so everyone can see each other. The facilitator should then tell a story that should include the following:
When I was younger, I had a babysitter. Her name was Mrs. Jones.
Mrs. Jones wore dentures, but she thought it was funny when she took them out because it meant that she talked “like this.” (cover teeth with lips when saying “like this”)
When she would do this, we would all laugh together. She would call it playing “Mrs. Mumbles.”
One day, “Mrs. Mumbles” was running late for babysitting, so I went to look for her
Then explain that each person in the group will have a chance to ask the person next to them if they’ve seen Mrs. Mumbles. However they may not show their teeth when they are asking or being asked a question. If they do show their teeth or start laughing then they will sit out of the rest of the round and watch. NOTE: you can make a few players who are already out the “teeth police.”
Encourage people to exaggerate their questions, include details about Mrs. Mumbles that might help identify her (she’s about his tall, she’s wearing glasses, she was wearing a pink shirt etc.), and keep the conversation going. Encourage people being asked about her to probe their questioners with more questions. Give each exchange about 15-30 seconds before having the person being questioned turn to the next person and ask the same question. Make sure everyone gets a turn. The game should go on until there are only a few people left, or time runs out.
Target Themes: self awareness, embracing potential,
Supplies: none
NOTE: We only play the Museum version of this game, not the hunting version.
Have all of the students (except for one or two “hunters”) lie down on the floor in sleeping positions. Once they are settled, they are not allowed to move. The two hunters walk through the room and try to make the sleeping lions move by making them laugh, telling them jokes, and so on. However, the hunters are not allowed to touch the lions. Once any lion moves they are tapped and get up and join the hunters The last child on the floor wins!
NOTE: Many kids also refer to this game as “museum.” In this version of the game, children pose as statues in a museum and 1-2 “night guards” walk around trying to catch those who move.
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Target Themes: Introductions, Creativity, Observation
Have players sit in a circle. Tell them they are going to play a name game to help them get to know each other. Each person will say their name and they are going to a cookout/picnic/whatever. They should then say they are bringing something that starts with the same letter as their first name. For example, the first player says, “My name is Tom and I am going to a cookout. When I go, I am going to bring tamales.” Each successive person in the circle should introduce everyone who came before them in order before saying their name and their item.
Supplies: Parachute, small ball or stuffed animal
Organize kids evenly around the parachute so each is standing up and holding onto their own color section. Each color constitutes a team. The game facilitator throws a stuffed animal or light ball onto the parachute and, when he or she says go, all the kids shake the parachute, trying to get the object onto their team's color. The game facilitator will yell "Drop it!" randomly and everybody has to drop the parachute. Whichever color block the object lands on wins a point for that team! You can keep going for as many rounds as you want!
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Supplies: Paper or another token. Be Creative!
Pesek is similar to Duck Duck Goose. The kids sit in a circle with their eyes open and one will walk around the circle carrying something like a piece of paper. As they go around they'll sing a song and drop the paper behind someone's back, they'll continue going around like nothing happened and the person who has the paper behind them has to realize they're it. They then grab the paper behind them and chase the person who was it before, like Duck, Duck, Goose. This deals a lot with nonverbal communication and how one person's choices can affect another.
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Variation: use this space if necessary to include any useful variations (how to make it adapted to another theme, age group, energy level, etc.)
For People to People you need a large open space to move around in. Ask participants to find a partner and stand together. Tell them that you are going to call out instructions like “hand to hand” or “foot to foot:” and that they will then have to match up their hands, feet etc. with their partners. Tell them that when you say “people to people” they must find a new partner. Try to give only three or four commands with each set of partners so the participants get to interact with more people in the group.
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Variations:
Everyone for themselves
Acting instead of matching
Ex: People on a picnic
Debrief Pointers:
-Comfort Zone
-Humility
-Trust
-Lack of communication—issues?