Get-to-know-you Games & Ice Breakers
Sit around in a circle, and introduce yourself to the person on your left and the person on your right. The leader of the game starts, and walks into the middle of the circle performing some random task (like brushing teeth). The person on the leader's left in the circle then says “hey XYZ, whatcha doing?” The leader then says that she is doing some other activity (like wrestling crocodiles, not actually the teeth brushing that she is physically acting out). The individual who just asked the leader then steps out into the middle of the circle (the old leader retaking her position sitting in the circle) performing the action the leader just mentioned (wrestling crocs), and is asked the same question by the person to her left — "hey, whatcha doing?" — to which she replies with a new action that the next person must act out. This proceeds around the circle until everyone has participated.
People come up with two personal true stories and one lie. The rest of the group tries to distinguish between the truths and the lie, going around the circle until everyone has had a chance to make everyone guess.
Never Have I Ever The whole group stands in a circle except for one person in the middle. That person then says something that he has never done. Those in the circle who have done the statement must switch places with others in the circle (one of such places the person in the middle tries to grab). The person left without a space is the new person in the middle!
Like never have I ever, but for thigns you have done. Arrange chairs into a circle with one less chair than the number of people playing. Everyone in the group sits in a seat. The one person without a chair stands in the center of the circle and says, "a big wind blows for anyone who…," and then says a characteristic that is true about him/herself, such as "has red hair." Everyone who shares that trait must get up and find a new seat. It cannot be next to where they were sitting. While this is happening, the person who was in the middle finds a seat, leaving a new person in the middle. The next person continues, coming up with a different characteristic.
Everyone closes their eyes and a portion of the entire group is tapped as the “winkers.” The group then opens their eyes and proceeds to mill around with each other, shaking each other hands and introducing themselves. If, in the process of an introduction, someone gets winked at by a winker, that person is then the new winker. The object of the game is not to be a winker at the end.
This is a good game for a group of people who do not know each other that well. Everyone draws a personal portrait and includes under the portrait three physical descriptors (tall, blonde, glasses, etc.) and three character descriptors (outgoing, funny, quiet, etc.). The drawings are then shuffled up and redistributed. Those who match the person with the portrait they receive by the end of a designated event win!
This is an intense group “game” that takes a LONG time. Each person is given permission to spend as much time telling their own personal life story as they’d like. It helps to have someone who has done it before go first so people who follow feel comfortable divulging personal information.
Everyone is given a paperclip. The object of the game is to get the other people to say “no,” in which case the person who says "no" hands over his paperclip. The person who receives the paperclip then gets to attach the new paperclip to his own paperclip. You must hand over all your paperclips if you say the word, “no.” The person with the most paperclips at the end of a designated event wins!
Give each person a sheet of 10 stickers. The object of this game is to get rid of all your stickers by sticking them on others (one sticker per other). However, if the person you are "stickering" catches you, he gets to stick your sticker on you. But if someone falsely accuses you of "stickering" him, then you can automatically put one of your stickers on that person. The person with the least number of stickers at the end wins (no taking stickers off once they are fairly placed on you)!
Divide the group into two lines, and put a toothpick in each person’s mouth. Place a lifesaver on the toothpick of the first person in line. Now, without using hands or anything other than their mouths, each line must pass the lifesaver along the toothpicks. First group to finish wins. This can also be adapted to use a grapefruit passed along by the neck, and the game’s general benefit is physical contact and the breakdown of physical barriers on the way to bonding.
Basically, choose a characteristic (name, where you’re from, favorite animal, favorite world leader, favorite toy as a child, etc.) and have everyone go around and say that characteristic. Then the game commences. A person points across the circle and yells, “bang!” Whoever they point at then crouches down, and the people to the right and left of the crouching person are then locked in a mortal duel. Whoever says the chosen characteristic of the other person first (while also engaging in a mock “draw” with fingers in the shape of a gun or possibly a rubber-band shooter (for those conscientious objectors among us) wins. The person who did not win the “draw” steps out of the circle, the circle closes up, the person who was crouching then shouts “bang” to a person across the circle, and the cycle starts over.
A variation on “Bang!” that does not involve competition or elimination, merely the propagation of energy. Basically, everyone stands in a circle. One person shouts, “Wah” and points across the circle with both hands. The person who is pointed at raises their hands, shouts “Wah!”, and waits. The persons to the right and left of the person who has their hands raised then make chopping motions (as if chopping down a tree) to the “hands raised” person’s stomach. One these chopping motions have been made, the person with their hands raised lowers their arms, points across the circle at someone else, and yells, “Wah.” See how long you can keep the sequence going, and see how much energy and force you can get into each “Wah!”
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Fun & Active Games
Everyone should pair up with someone they do know (just to start things off rowdy) and sit in a circle. The pairs then sit down, cross legged, one in front of the other, both facing inwards. The one in back closes her eyes. There should be one person in the circle without a partner (the winker). The winker then winks at someone in the inner circle (the winkee). The winkee then attempts to haul ass across the circle without the person behind them tackling them (though that person’s eyes were closed, they are allowed to touch the person to sense for movement). If the winkee makes it to the winker, then the unsuccessful tackler is the new winker and the winkee is the tackler for the old winker. If the winkee fails (is tackled and held back for 5 seconds), then the winkee is now the winker and the tackler sits in front of the old winker as the new winker.
s A very scary game if played at night. One person, the first sardine, has thirty seconds to hide. The group then heads off to find the sardine. Anyone who then subsequently finds the sardine joins the sardine. The last one to find the group is the first sardine in the next game!
Everyone sits in a circle. One person starts by trying to get another to smile by saying, “baby if you love me, won’t you please please smile?” If a smile is cracked, then the smiler tries to get the next person in the circle to smile with the same saying. If no smile is cracked, then the person trying to make the other smile sits in the middle of the circle until another person fails at making someone smile.
Everyone sits in a circle. With everyone's eyes closed, a pre-designated leader acts as “god,” and walks around the outside of the circle tapping on shoulders to choose Mafia (two taps), Townspeople (one tap), and a Commondant (a.k.a. Spy or Common Pigeon — three taps). Out of the group, there is one Commondant, one quarter to one third are Mafia, and the rest are Townspeople. God then asks the Mafia to open their eyes stealthily so they know each other. After that the Mafia close their eyes, and the Commondant is asked to open his eyes so that god knows the Commondant was tapped correctly. The entire group then "wakes up" form their sleep and tries to figure out who the Mafia are. When people are accused of being Mafia, god allows them to give a defense and then takes a vote. If a majority of the circle votes to kill the person (guesses they are a Mafioso), then the person dies and discloses his identity. When someone is killed, the group goes back to sleep, at which point the Mafia wake up during the "night" and silently vote (by pointing) on someone who they will kill during the night (god announces the victim in the morning). After the Mafia decide on someone, the Commondant is allowed to wake up. As a special Townsperson, the Commondant is allowed to silently ask the identity of one person each night. After the Commondant asks god about someone and is given a thumbs up for yes (Mafioso) or no (Townsperson), the whole group wakes up and the process repeats itself until all Mafia are killed (Townspeople win) or the Mafia out-number the townspeople (Mafia win). Dead people tell no tales, so once a person is dead they should remain quiet (or at least out of the game) until the game is over!
One person leaves the room at which time the rest of the group decides on an “illness” that affects all of them. The person returns to the room as a psychiatrist whose mission is to diagnose the illness. The psychiatrist may ask any questions (except, “what is your illness”) to get at the illness. If a question is answered wrong of if the group feels the order of the circle needs to be mixed up, they may yell, “psychiatrist,” at which point the group gets up and mixes itself up. A very basic illness is everyone is the person to their right.
This is an elaborate game of rock, paper, scissors. The group divides into two sides and creates a middle line where both sides eventually line up facing each other. In a huddle, each group decides on what they will be for the round, Wizards, Elfs, or Giants. The motion for the Giants is for the players to stand on tiptoe and raise their hands up high and yell “raaahhhh.” The motion for the Wizards is for the players to step one foot forward while stretching out their hands to cast a spell and say “bzzzaaappp.” The motion for the Elfs is to crouch down, put their thumbs in their ears and say “boogey boogey boogey.” The order is as follows
- Giants stomp on Elfs
- Wizards zap Giants
- Elfs scare Wizards
Once decided, each team approaches the centerline, and at a count of one, two, three, everyone does the motion nd noise that was decided upon by their team. Whichever team wins, chases the other team back to their safety area. Any player tagged before he or she reaches the safe line changes sides. The sides then regroup and start over. If both sides use the same motion, everyone must go back and choose another motion again.
There is a party going on at Grandma's house. To attend the party, a person must bring a certain type of object. Whether or not this object is acceptable depends on a specific rule. For each round of the game, one person gets to make up the rule for what objects are acceptable and unacceptable for admission to the party. This rule must remain constant throughout the round, but its effects may change depending on the situation. Once a player decides on a rule for the round, play begins. Players, in turn, say "I'm going to grandma's house, and I'm bringing a ___." After saying this, the rule maker replies with either "You can go" or "Sorry, Grandma doesn’t want you at her haus." When it is the rule maker’s turn, he gives an example of something that can or cannot be brought as well. When a player thinks he has figured out the rule, he should continue to tell what he would bring to Grandma's house. Players should not blurt out the rule before everyone has figured it out, as that would ruin the game for the other players. When all players have figured out the rule, the round ends, and someone else makes up a new rule for another round. Keep on playing until all players are bored, then play a few rounds more.
Two people start by doing a sketch of some everyday activity. People then have the opportunity to yell, “freeze” in the middle of the sketch, whereupon the two people freeze in whatever position they were just holding and the yeller the taps one of them out and assumes that person’s position. The new person then starts off the sketch in a new situation based on the position they took over.
Everyone sits in a circle except one who is blindfolded. The blindfolded person then walks around inside the circle until he bumps into someone, whereupon he sits on the person’s lap and says, “ducky ducky.” The person whose lap is being sat on responds by saying, “quacky quacky.” The response can only be given three times. If the blind folded person guesses the name of the person who he sat on, then they change places. If not, then the blindfolded person gets up and walks to another person.
This can be played in the form of a round-robin tournament. Competitors face each other and lock hands in “arm-wrestle” formation (though they are standing up). Each points their index finger toward the other. The object is to touch (can be played with one touch or best of three) the opposing player with your finger while not being touched yourself. Touches on head or private parts don’t count. Of course, bodies can move and arms can be twisted any which way, but hands can never unlock (and the general positioning makes it very non-advantageous to twist anyone’s arm in a way that would hurt them anyway.)
Very simple. Everyone ties a balloon to their ankle. The object is to pop other balloons with your shoe while not having your own balloon popped. Oh, and don’t hurt other people’s feet. You’re out when your balloon is popped, and it’s often fun to play with two balloons tied to various parts of the body just to give you a number of directions that you have to defend.
Each child, or teams of children and mentors, gets the chance to throw an egg off a very high place on campus (or off-campus, if you can find a nice tall building or cliff or tower). The trick is that each team gets to build a vehicle to hold their egg when they drop it. In most cases each team only gets a few things to work with, say newspaper, straws, tape, cardboard, etc. You can also throw in some more unique materials at your discretion. Then each team gets to drop their contraption, with the egg inside, and see if it survives the fall! (Hint if you want to be tricky, just sneak in a hard boiled egg — they don't break.)
This is a totally cool activity to do. The way we'd recommend running things would go as follows… Grab these materials A couple 6inch by 6inch pieces of aluminum foil per kid (you should cut these to size before, and you can only use one to make your craft, but the extra pieces are to test different designs or in case one rips), 100 pennies per kid, and something that will hold water (preferably something that is clear on the sides for the end of the day competition).
Then introduce the competition/project to the group as a whole, giving them some time to design and test their boats, and then announcing the competition after the design phase. The competition should be structured in this way One at a time, each team will come up to the central water container, and then put their craft in the water. Then the team will place 5 pennies at a time onto their craft. The pennies can be place anyway you want. Teams cannot touch their craft once they put it in the water. Once a craft is close to sinking, teams should start placing on just one penny at a time, and they have to wait 5 seconds before putting the next penny on (someone should be in charge of overseeing/timing this). Once a craft sinks, the record keeper records the number of pennies if held before the penny that sank it… The craft that hold the most pennies with out sinking wins!
You've all played the regular game of telephone, where everyone sits in a circle and one person whispers a sentence into the person's ear to their right, which proceeds around the circle… until it gets back to the originator, completely scrambled up. Now envision the same thing, but with drawings!
All you need is a piece of paper and pen/pencil for each player. First, everyone sits in a circle. If there are more than ten people, break up into smaller groups of about around 6 people or it will take forever. Then it goes like this [1] When the game starts, each person comes up with an interesting sentence (something DREAM related is fun, like "two DREAM mentors sled down a hill at night with their socks on their ears") and writes it at the top of their paper. Try to make your sentence only take up the top inch or so of the paper! You need a lot of space to draw. Once everyone is ready (or you can set time limits), they pass the paper to the right. [2] The next person draws their interpretation of the sentence, then folds the top of the paper down backwards so the sentence isn’t showing (you should only be able to see the drawing). [3] Everyone passes their paper to the right again, this time seeing a drawing rather than a sentence. This round, everyone interprets the picture they see, and writes a new sentence below it, then folds the paper so the picture isn't showing (just the new sentence). [4] The paper is passed again to the right, and so on…
The game should end where it began. Each “pass” should only have either a picture or sentence showing at any time. At the end of the game, each person should end with their original piece of paper, and unravel it so all of the sentences and pictures are showing. Then, you can laugh at the progression from once sentence to picture to the next!
Divide the group into two teams. Each team should stand in a straight line, shoulder to shoulder, facing the other team. You sit at the back of the lines, flipping a coin so that only the last person in each line can see it. If the coin lands on heads, the two people watching squeeze the hand of the person in front of them. This sends an impulse down the line.
No one may talk or make any noises. When the person at the front of the line receives the impulse, they grab for the ball, which is positioned evenly between the two teams. The team that successfully sends the impulse most quickly and obtains the ball can send the person from the front of the line to the back, and the process begins again with a new coin flip. If someone grabs the ball without heads being flipped, then they must send the person from the back of the line to the front, so that the team has to win one more round in order to rotate through. Once one team has rotated all members through, it wins.
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Teamwork Building Games
Everyone should pair up with someone they don’t know well. The teams line up at a start line (race should be done on grass), with a finish line just 10 feet away. Facing each other, partners should sit down on the other person’s feet. Both individuals should then wrap their arms around the other. Using a rocking motion, the team can actually move towards the finish line (though not fast, which is why 10 feet is plenty to travel).
The larger group is split into smaller groups of 6 or 7 people. Each smaller group then huddles together and devises a human machine where each person is a different component of the machine (for example, a zipper, or a washing machine, etc.). The groups then perform for the larger group, and other groups have to guess what machine they are acting out.
(or whatever is handy) Everyone pairs off. Each pair holds an apple between their foreheads. The leader gives different commands, such as "Three steps to the left!", "Three steps to the right!", "Squat!", "Jump!" etc. The last pair with an apple between their foreheads wins!
[[collapsible show="Battletanks" hide="Battletanks"]]
First, grab a bunch of sheets of newspaper. Crumple them into balls and throw them on the ground. Then, grab enough blindfolds to cover half of the people in your group. Ask people to pair up, and then choose one person in each pair to be the tank and one person to be the commander. The commander must command the tank entirely verbally. The commander cannot touch the tank, nor can the commander move any of the tank’s appendages for him/her. Each tank must crawl on all fours (or hop on all fours). The object of the game is to direct your tank partner to find the paper balls and throw them at the other battletanks. You can limit the game to a certain area on which each battletank has to be hit (like the rump) or a certain number of times that each tank has to be hit (like three). Last tank standing wins. Then switch it up.
(Simon says for grown-ups) In this game, everyone stands in a circle in pairs. Each pair stands one in front of the other so that there is actually an inner and outer circle of folks. The inner person is the “horse” and the outer person is the “jockey.” One person, designated the “caller,” stands outside the circle and shouts any of the following commands Jockeys up, jockeys down, jockeys around, jockey switch. Basically, on “Jockey’s up” the “jockey” or back person in the pair, jumps on his horse, either by fully jumping in the horse’s back or by merely lifting a leg for the horse to grab and putting their hands on the horse’s shoulders. “Jockey down” is the inverse of this (get down off your horse). “Jockey switch” means that the jockey becomes the horse and the horse becomes the jockey. “Jockeys around” is the most complicated. This means that, while the horses stay stationary, the jockeys run around the entire circle and back to their horse. There are two ways to get out. First, you can be the last jockey back to their horse after the command of “jockeys around,” (caller decides who is out), or you can obey a comment that is not preceded by the word “jockey.” This is the “Simon says” aspect of the game. For example, if someone just says “up,” and one of the jockeys jumps on their horse, that pair is out. The caller must say "jockeys up" for the move to need to happen.
Draw two lines in the dirt about 25 feet apart. Designate a pair of “magic shoes.” Basically, any person in the group can only wear the “magic shoes” once, and no one can touch the ground between the two lines unless they are wearing the magic shoes. The task is to get the entire group across while following these rules. As usual, some people are blind, and some are mute. Most solutions involve piggybacking rather than throwing the shoes back across the space. (which is sometimes outlawed).
Very simple. Everyone stands in a circle facing each other. You then must grab the hands two separate people with your own two hands. Once everyone is connected to two other people, the group is locked in a “human knot.” First, you can play pass the squeeze to make sure people are all connected. Then they must untie themselves. They cannot break hands, and they must maneuver by rolling, ducking, combusting, imploding, etc.
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Ropes Course Elements (up at camp!)
Basically, in this element, there are three wires or wooden balance beams set up at odd angles to each other (though generally forming one continuous line). There are also a few trees that are strategically located at a distance from the balance beams so that one or two people might be able to lean on them. The object is to get the entire group across the balance beams, but a few people will be blindfolded, and a few members of the group will be forbidden to speak. Normally, the first solution that anyone comes up with involves locking arms and having athletic people lead unathletic (or blind) folks across the wires, but final solutions that work generally involve creative teamwork.
The group is told to stand on one side of a stick placed across two cinder blocks. A little ways away (and downhill) is a platform, and in between the cinder blocks and the platform, there is a rope hanging down from a tree. The group is also given a bucket of water in which they are told the “cure for cancer” is held. Their task transport their entire group across the “ravine of death and man-eating squirrels” to the “platform of peace.” Provisions some of the group are blindfolded, some are not allowed to speak, they cannot use any sticks or touch the ground of the ravine, they cannot knock the stick of the cinder blocks, and they MUST not spill the cure for cancer. Also, if anyone falls off the platform, they have to go back to the beginning. Let the CREATIVITY flow!
Basically, this is a web horizontally suspended about 2 feet above the ground (just enough so it takes effort to step over). Teams have to get from one side of the web to another. However, once they step into any compartment of the web, they must forever have someone’s body part inside that compartment or risk closing it forever. Also, if the group hits the web itself a certain number of times (usually you let the group set their own standard because they tend to overestimate their dexterity), they have to go back to the beginning. As usual, some people are blindfolded, and some can’t speak. There are many creative solutions!
Involving the same principles as the horizontal spider web, this is a tire hung about six feet off the ground. The object is to get the entire group through the tire and onto the other side. There are many ways of lifting folks and getting them through, and, of course, there are always some blindfolded and mute folks!
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Closing Activities
The DREAM classic. The whole group sits in a circle and two or three kids get up and start to sing
We're making a purple stew, snap snap (snap fingers twice).
We're making a purple stew, doobie doobie do (said while shaking rear & flapping elbows).
With purple potatoes and purple tomatoes,
I choose you (point to a person sitting down)!
Then, the people who are pointed to jump up and join in the song, which is sung again and again, until everyone is pointed to and is up and singing.
Everyone sits in a circle, and one-by-one says one good thing about the day (a rose) and one thing that could be better about the day (thorn).
Everyone gets a sheet of paper with their name on it. And either it is passed around a circle or taped to their backs, and everyone else has to write something nice about that person on it. At the end everyone gets their own piece of paper back and it has all sorts of nice anonymous messages on it.
Everyone stands or sits in a circle, and someone starts to count backwards, starting with the total number of people present. Counting proceeds person by person around the circle until everyone has gone (counted down to one). The catch is that each number must be associated with something good (that's wide open to interpretation), and each person must repeat the full list that came before them. So, for example, if there are 37 people in the circle, the first person would start by saying "37 amazing smiles." Then the person to their left would say "37 amazing smiles, 36 weird jokes." Then the person to their left would say "37 amazing smiles, 36 weird jokes, 35 times in line at the snack bar with tommy standing on his head trying to get free ice cream from the person behind the counter…" And so on.
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Other Websites
TeamBonding http://www.teambonding.com/programs.html
YouthLearn http://www.youthlearn.org/learning/teaching/community.asp