Participants: Works best with groups of 10-15
Props: Enough stuffies for each participant to have one
How to play:
Have each participant pick a stuffy, then have the group form a circle.
Each participant will introduce themselves and their stuffy with a name and key characteristic or backstory. Make sure that everyone knows to pay sharp attention to each introduction.
Everyone puts their stuffies in a pile in the center of the circle.
One participant is the detective and exits the circle to go somewhere that they cannot see or hear the group
The group chooses one stuffy to be the “big red button.” Make sure that everyone is aware of which stuffy is selected.
The detective returns and will start handing the stuffies back to their original owners. If they pick up the big red button, the group starts counting down from ten and that is the time that the detective has to give back all of the stuffies from the center of the circle as accurately as possible.
Variations:
Participants can share stuffies and try to come up with backstories in a partnership/group
Use as a name game -- the detective has to say the person's name as they give the stuffy back
Props:
At least one set of Chiji cards (may need 2 depending on group size)
How to play: Give each participant a Chiji Card or lay the cards out and have them pick a card.
Have them look at the picture and think of somehow that it relates to themselves or their life.
Each participant will introduce themselves to a partner and then share their card.
Once each partner has a turn, they swap cards and move to the next person. This is run very similar to question swap.
Variation:
Use this activity as a debriefing tool where the participants pick a card and share it in small groups on how the workshop went or something that they will take away
Participants: Larger sized groups of >15-20 in size works the best
How to play:
Ask the group to “mingle” (move around the space) and then say “stop”!
Instruct participants to find a group of 3-5 (or more) of the same people with a commonality. For example: Say, “find a group of four that use the same toothpaste as you!” or “…like the same type of movies as you”.
After finding groups you can have participants share their common theme with the large group and in the process welcome new members that share the same commonality to the group.
Participants: Groups >15-20 work the best
How to play: Demonstrate the dinner party scenario by walking up to someone, introducing oneself, having a bit of chit-chat and then moving on to meet someone else- "Hi, how are you?...I'm _____.....So, what kind of work do you do? Where are you from? Demo again that people should start each encounter by sharing names since learning some is often one of the goals of the exercise. Can introduce new scenarios (ie cocktail party, beach party, etc.)\
How to play:
One facilitator stands up in crowd of participants and calls, “Touch someone who…” and uses groupings like, “has the same astrological sign as you” “was born in the same month as you” “has the same number of siblings as you”, etc.
Participants hold hands or form groups of people who share their characteristics.
This game gets people an easy way to find something in common, and you can ask them to tell a funny story about their siblings, share whether or not they read their horoscopes, etc.
How to play: Ask the group to find a partner (in a creative way) and have them do one of the handshakes below.
That partner will now forever be their _________ handshake partner.
Repeat with any number of handshakes as you would like them to do or have time for. This is a fun, energetic way to get people to mix with other members of the group.
You can pose a question and have them discuss it with their partner—good way to get to know one other, set goals for the workshop, talk about one’s day, debrief an activity, and so on.
It can also be used as an attention getter and can be a tool to use throughout the workshop.
Example Handshakes:
High Five Partner – a regular high five
Foot Five Partner- go in for the high five but miss their hand and continue going until you reach the person’s foot.
Freeze Five Partner- do the high five but freeze on impact and stay still for a few seconds.
Jellyfish High Five- This has three parts: First is the medium size jellyfish, where you do a high five then wave (not like a good bye wave but like imitating the ocean) your hand away from one another making a jelly fish sound. Then is the baby jellyfish, where you wiggle your pinkies moving them away from each other and doing a baby jellyfish sound. Last is the giant jellyfish, where you move back from each other using your hands and legs to imitate a jellyfish swimming.
Transformer Dog Pound high five- dog pound it (fist bump), then with sound effects, have each finger spring out until all fingers in the dog pound hand have transformed into a fully stretched hand, and give the person a high five.
Lumberjack handshake: extend arms, stick thumb up, partners alternate grabbing thumbs with their hands, move connected hands in a "sawing" motion back and forth
Salmon handshake: Instead of giving a high five on their hands, partners will give a high 5 to the inside of the other partner's forearm.....repeat this high five quickly and it sounds like a flopping fish!
Feel free to create your own!
Variations: Collaborative high fives- Have a pair create their own high fives. Have that pair join another pair and show each high five. Now have the two pairs put their high fives together (mixing the originals) into a 4 person high five. Bring two 4-person groups together and synthesize your high fives into one high five for your group of 8 people. They can continue until making a whole group high five involving every pairs’ original high five.
Modifications:
No touch: offer two versions of each handshake (one with and one without touch) and allow participants to choose
Participants: Works well in small groups around 5ish people.
How to play: Choose one person to be in the "hot seat."
They can choose to go in the middle of the circle or stay in their spot (it's easier to see everyone if they stay in their spot).
The entire group fires off any questions to this person in the hot seat for one minute. The facilitator will keep the time and let the group know when a minute is up.
When the minute is up, have the next person go in the hot seat, repeat until everyone has had a turn.
Variation: Two people could go in the middle with a dry erase board and marker. When someone in the group asks a question, the people in the middle have to answer the question how they think their partner would answer (Newlywed game style).
How to Play: Divide your group into groups of 3-5.
Ask the teams to add up their scores (based on the following survey) and compare final totals if they want to.
At some point, ask them which was more fun: participating, talking, sharing, laughing… or winning.
Categories: All categories are one point, unless otherwise noted.
Each different birthday month recorded (Born on a holiday = 5 pts.)
Each birth state represented (Born overseas = 5 pts.)
Each shoe size over 12 or under 4
Visiting each of the following: Grand Canyon, Sears Tower, Epcot, Waikiki (5 pts. if you’ve visited three, 7 pts. if you’ve visited four)
Each different make of car driven here today. (Car pooled = 5 pts. Walked = 10 pts.).
Appearing on TV, radio, or newspaper. (All three = 7 pts.)
Each sibling. (10 pts. for twins)
Each continent visited. (10 pts. for six continents, 15 for all seven)
Each last name starting with Z, Q, K, or U. (X = 7 pts.)
Each language spoken fluently (Three or more = 12 pts.)
Each state you have lived in for a minimum of six months (Overseas = 5 pts.)
Subtract the youngest age in the group from the oldest, and allow one point for each calendar year between the two (Over 65 = 3 pts.)
Each person NOT wearing a watch (No jewelry at all = 3 pts.)
Each person who can roll their tongue (Turn tongue upside down = 7 pts.)
Wearing colored underwear (No underwear = 10 pts.)
How to play: Split participants into small groups of between 4-5
Ask participants to come up with a list of things they have in common with one another
Each thing should be something not physical, ie Should not be something like "we are all over X feet tall", but rather "we all enjoy waterskiing" or "Our least favorite chemistry class was organic chemistry".
Tell participants to try and make the things as unique as they can
2. After a certain amount of time, each group shares their similarities, if more than half of the other groups also have that same fact, it cannot be counted.
3. Whatever team has the most amount of points at the end (with deductions) is the winner!
How to play: Locate a central spot.
Stand there and say, “I am Madison, WI”. Point to four corners around you and name them North, South, East, West.
Have the participants relocate their bodies to the area in Wisconsin, the US or the world for a certain category.
Have individuals located around each other form small groups. Participants state their name, and why they are located where they are/ something interesting/meaningful about the place.
Can continue with other prompts (i.e. where you spent your summer, dream vacation, etc.)
Possible Prompts: (Format: Go to X, Discuss Y)
Hometown, What was your favorite thing about growing up here?
Least/ Most favorite place on campus, Why?
Where you spent your summer, What was your favorite thing about that place?
Favorite place you've ever been, What makes this place so special?
If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be?, Why is this your decision?
If you were able to go anywhere in the world, where would you go?, What would you do here?
Think of your own!
Variations
Use prompts that are not related to location (for example, instead of having a central location and the four cardinal directions, have the four quadrant be something like shoe styles or music genres).
Conversation Starters: Have participants choose a button when they enter the room with a slogan that represents their mood or attitude. You can have participants mingle, introduce themselves and share their buttons or do a partner concentric circles to share.
Postcards: have participants choose a postcard that represents a goal for the year, or a strength they bring to the group.
Postcards: Have participants choose a postcard when they enter the room that represents how they are feeling today. Have the participants mingle and discuss the postcard they chose and why they chose that particular one.
Keyboard Keys: Have participants choose a key that represents them, their perspective of a subject, a goal etc.
Dominos: Hand everyone a domino and have him or her match up one set of ‘spots’ with another participant. Challenge students to make sure EVERYONE has a partner. This means there is problem solving involved.
Number of Participants: 20 is an ideal number, can be smaller
How to Play: One volunteer will say a fun fact about themselves (tell them to make it unique! Give bad examples...ie I go to UW-Madison or I have brown hair....something more personal).
When someone from the group has the same thing in common with what the speaker it shared, they run up and link onto the speaker – arm to arm. NOTE: If participants are not comfortable linking arms, they can just stand next to the previous person.
If more than one person shares the commonality, only the first person to reach the speaker links on.
The person who has just connected shares a fact about themselves.
When another individual in the crowd shares a commonality with the new speaker, they will run up a link onto the line.
This continues until all participants are linked.
The final link must be between the first participant in line and the last participant. They must find something they have in common.
This can also work as a way to do a FVC or Debrief after the end of the activity.
How would you like to be treated during the workshop today?
How should we treat others during the workshop today?
What was one thing you will take away from this workshop and apply to your group?
Props:
Bowl of M&Ms: enough for each participant to have 3-5 each
Participants: 10-20
How to play: Pass around a bowl of M & Ms.
Tell the group to take a small handful (3-5).
After everyone has chosen, explain what each color represents.
Participants share information based on each M & M color they picked.
Color meanings can be tailored to each group, example: blue= goal within each organization. Or, it can be something as simple as: red=where you are from.
You could also use this as a way to initiate the full vale contract.
Variations: Also works with a roll of toilet paper. The number of sheets they take is the number of facts they should tell the group about themselves. Also use dum-dum suckers.
Props:
Markers/Pens/Pencils
Paper to write on
Participants: Works well with an even number
How to play: Get into teams of two.
Have one partner be the mind reader. Have the mind reader ask their partner a question.
Have the partner think of an answer, but not say it out loud.
The mind reader must then write down on a sheet of paper saying how they think their partner answered the questions.
Before reading the sheet of paper the partner answers the question out loud. They can then read the mind readers predictions and find out how close they were.
Participants: 6-20 Participants works best
Props: Polyspots (optional)
How to play:
Have participants stand in a circle (If using polyspots, set up the polyspots in a circle– one polyspot for every participant except one)
The first participant (or a facilitator) starts in the middle of the circle. This person will introduce themself to the group, and then make a statement that applies to them- Something they do, something they like, a group they belong to, etc. For example: “Find a new spot if you also play baseball” “If you are also from Wisconsin” “If you also have a dog” “If you also like chocolate better than vanilla”
If the statement applies to anyone in the outer circle, they need to find a new space in the circle (or a new polyspot) without going to either spot right next to them.
While everyone starts switching places, the person in the middle rejoins the circle.
The last person to rejoin the circle (or the person left without a polyspot) becomes the person in the middle and will come up with the next prompt.
Possible variations:
Partners: Instead of each individual running to another spot, assign partners or groups of three, which lock arms and have to run together if something is true for the whole cluster.
Pileup: Anyone can ask a question and if you can answer yes to the question you move one to your right and sit in that chair. If you answer no to the question, you stay seated where you are. This means somebody may be coming to sit on your lap from the seat to your left. Sometimes you get 3+ people sitting in sort of a lap-style game on top of you. Then, when they ask the next question to go one space to the right by answering yes, they peel off one at a time.
Parachute: Have participants hold onto the edge of the parachute at chest height. After giving a prompt, everyone will throw the parachute above their heads, and people who are moving must run underneath it to find a new spot before the parachute drops.
Participants: at least 10
How to play:
Everyone gets a partner and is given a set period of time to learn everything they can about their partner. This can range from one minute and up, depending upon how much time you have or how much pressure you wish to add to the situation.
After the allotted period of time, each person then introduces his/her partner to the rest of the group. They may use paper and pen if they wish.
Variations: Give partners questions to discuss.
How to play: Everyone stands in a circle.
One person starts and asks the person to their left a question. That person answers then immediately turns to their left and asks the next person a question.
This continues on until someone breaks one of the rules:
You cannot repeat questions
You cannot delay or stumble when asking questions
If you are the question asker or receiver, you may not laugh
If you break a rule, you are out of the circle and the game continues until there is only one person left!
Props:
Markers/Pens/Pencils
Small scrap pieces of paper/post it notes
How to play:
Everyone writes a CRAZY question on a sheet of paper. They then walk around and mingle with everyone.
They will ask their question to someone and then answer their partner’s question.
They then swap (not switch) the questions and go along to another person to ask their new question.
How to play: Based on a question you give the group, have people write up the answer in only six words. For example, sum up your life in 6 words; sum up how you are feeling today in 6 words; describe your summer in 6 words, etc.
Variation: This activity could also be used at the end of the day as a debrief activity. Have each person come up with a 6 word blurb to describe their day!
How to play: Each individual in the group is to share a story (they can share an interesting thing about them, but the story is more interesting and conducive towards getting to know you).
One individual of the group is chosen to be the “representative” and goes in front of the other teams and shares all the stories.
With each story, the other groups try to guess which person of the group the story belongs to.
Teams compete to get the most name-to-story matched up.
Once the first group shares all the stories, they reveal who each story belonged to. Then the next group goes.
Strategy can vary by team—maybe a team would like to share stories only about concerts they have attended, or travel stories. This will add another challenge for the opposing groups/teams.
Props:
Markers/Pens/Pencils
Pieces of scrap paper for each person
Participants: Works best if they split into smaller groups between 8-12.
How to play:
Each person writes something about themselves that no one else in the rooms knows. They do not put their name on it.
This game works the best with "fun" facts. Tell participants to try to make it original and unique to yourself. For example "I have one dog" would be a bad fact, where as "I broke my finger during my exam once in 3rd grade", would be a good fact.
All of the slips of paper go in the middle. A facilitator mixes the slips around.
Everyone picks out a slip and tries to find the person that wrote it, to have them elaborate on it. If there’s time, each person can introduce who they found, and can explain that person’s fact.
Variations: Have participants write a question on the piece of paper about anything, and the person who picked the paper has to answer that question.
How to play:
Ask a question and have the people get into groups with people who have the same answers. An example question would be favorite pizza.
Then, once everyone is in a group (or couldn’t find anyone to fit with) then you go around and have everyone say their answers.
Variation: Can be blindfolded or not allow speaking.
Debriefing Ideas: With variations it may be easier for debriefing, talking about struggles and frustrations of not being able to talk or see. You can also have them say their favorite part or something that they learned about someone.
Formerly known as "Speed dating"
Participants: At least 10, if there is an odd number of people a facilitator might have to play otherwise make a group of 3.
How to play: You will need a list of questions for this activity. Use get-to-know-you questions or pose debriefing ones depending on how you use this.
Split the group in half. Create 2 concentric circles—one circle facing outwards, the other one, facing inwards toward the inner group.
Make sure each person has a person directly facing them.
Pose one question, have the partners introduce themselves, and allow the partners to discuss for as long you as you like.
Now, move the inner or outer group X many number of people to either the right or left.....now they have a new partner.
Pose another question and let the discussion ensue. Have the circles move as many times as you want.
Make sure you are rotating the circles so that participants are matched up with a new partner each time.