100 ways to energize groups:
Games to use in workshops, meetings and the community
Acknowledgements 3
Introduction 3
1. Howdy Howdy 4
2. Juggling ball game 4
3. Names and adjectives 4
4. Three truths and a lie 4
5. Connecting eyes 4
6. Match the cards 5
7. Space on my right 5
8. What we have in common 5
9. Who is the leader? 5
10. Who are you? 5
11. What kind of animal? 6
12. Killer wink 6
13. The sun shines on... 6
14. COCONUT 6
15. Body writing 6
16. Names in the air 7
17. Family members 7
18. Who am I? 7
19. As and Bs 7
20. Group statues 7
21. Move to the spot 8
22. Banana game 8
23. Taxi rides 8
24. Fruit salad 8
25. “Prrr” and “Pukutu” 8
26. Dancing on paper 9
27. Tide’s in/tide’s out 9
28. Delhi buses 9
29. Rabbits 9
30. Port/starboard 10
31. I’m going on a trip 10
32. Find someone wearing... 10
33. Touch something blue 10
34. Simon says 10
35. What has changed? 11
36. Birthday graph 11
37. Body “tig” 11
38. Five islands 11
39. The animal game 11
40. Mime a lie 11
41. Bring me 12
42. The king is dead 12
43. Locomotion 12
44. Paper and straws 12
45. Don’t answer 13
46. Tug of war 13
47. Pass the parcel 13
48. Fox and rabbit 13
49. The longest line 14
50. Robots 14
51. King of the Jungle 14
52. Pass the energy 14
53. Bottle game 15
54. How do you like your neighbour? 15
55. Dragon’s tail 15
56. Group massage 15
57. Pass the person 15
58. Blindfold pairs 16
59. I like you because... 16
60. Heads to tummies 16
61. Ball under chins 16
62. Knees up 16
63. Get up, sit down! 16
64. Knots 17
65. Coin game 17
66. Countdown 17
67. Fizz buzz 17
68. Group balance 17
69. Leading and guiding 17
70. Clap exchange 17
71. People to people 18
72. Count to Seven 18
73. Football cheering 18
74. An orchestra without instruments 18
75. Hands slapping 18
76. Pass the action 18
77. Clap and point 19
78. Rainstorm 19
79. Statue stop 19
80. Orchestra 19
81. Stand, sit and sing 20
82. Passing the rhythm 20
83. Messenger 20
84. Drawing game 20
85. Mirror image 20
86. Hokey Cokey 21
87. Muddling messages 21
88. Talking object 21
89. Samson and Delilah 21
90. Yes/No game 21
91. The “E” game 22
92. Sagidi sagidi sapopo 22
93. What are we doing? 22
94. What is the adverb? 22
95. Shopping list 22
96. What am I feeling? 23
97. O Kabita! 23
98. Presenting gifts 23
99. Writing on backs 23
100. Reflecting on the day 23
100 ways to energise groups
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Things to consider when using Energisers
✔ Try to use energisers frequently during a workshop or meeting, whenever people look sleepy or tired or to create a natural break between activities.
✔ Try to choose games that are appropriate for the local context, for example, thinking carefully about games that involve touch, particularly of different body parts.
✔ Try to select games in which everyone can participate and be sensitive to the needs and circumstances of the group. For example, some of these games may exclude people with disabilites, such as difficulty walking or hearing, or people with different levels of comfort with literacy.
✔ Try to ensure the safety of the group, particularly with games that involve running. For example, try to make sure that there is enough space and that the floor is clear.
✘ Try not to use only competitive games but also include ones that encourage team building.
✘ Try to avoid energisers going on for too long. Keep them short and move on to the next planned activity when everyone has had a chance to move about and wake up!
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Howdy Howdy
Participants stand in a circle. One person walks around the outside of the circle and taps someone on the shoulder. That person walks the opposite way around the circle, until the two people meet. They greet each other three times by name, in their own language. The two people then race back, continuing in opposite directions around the circle, to take the empty place. Whoever loses walks around the outside of the circle again and the game continues until everyone has had a turn.
Juggling ball game
Everyone stands in a close circle. (If the group is very large, it may be necessary to split the group into two circles.) The facilitator starts by throwing the ball to someone in the circle, saying their name as they throw it. Continue catching and throwing the ball establishing a pattern for the group. (Each person must remember who they receive the ball from and who they have thrown it to.) Once everyone has received the ball and a pattern is established, introduce one or two more balls, so that there are always several balls being thrown at the same time, following the set pattern.
Names and adjectives Participants think of an adjective to describe how they are feeling or how they are.
The adjective must start with the same letter as their name, for instance, “I’m Henri and I’m happy”. Or, “I’m Arun and I’m amazing.”
As they say this, they can also mime an action that describes the adjective.
Three truths and a lie
Everyone writes their name, along with four pieces of information about themselves on a large sheet of paper. For example, ‘Alfonse likes singing, loves football, has five wives and loves PRA’. Participants then circulate with their sheets of paper. They meet in pairs, show their paper to each other, and try to guess which of the ‘facts’ is a lie.
Connecting eyes
Participants stand in a circle. Each person makes eye contact with another person across the circle. The two walk across the circle and exchange positions, while maintaining eye contact. Many pairs can exchange at the same time, and the group should try to make sure that everyone in the circle is included in the exchange. Begin by trying this in silence and then exchange greetings in the middle of the circle.
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100 ways to energise groups
Match the cards
The facilitator chooses a number of wellknown phrases, and writes half of each phrase on a piece of paper or card. For example, they write ‘Happy’ on one piece of paper and ‘Birthday’ on another. (The number of pieces of paper should match the number of participants in the group.) The folded pieces of paper are put into a hat.
Each participant takes a piece of paper from the hat and tries to find the member of the group with the matching half of the phrase.
Space on my right
Participants are seated in a circle. The facilitator arranges for the space on their right to remain empty. They then ask a member of the group to come and sit in the empty space; for example, “I would like Lili to come and sit on my right”. Lili moves and there is now a space on the right of another participant. The participant who is sitting next to the empty space calls the name of someone different to sit on his or her right. Continue until the entire group has moved once.
What we have in common
The facilitator calls out a characteristic of people in the group, such as ‘having children’. All those who have children should move to one corner of the room. As the facilitator calls out more characteristics, such as ‘likes football’, people with the characteristic move to the indicated space.
Who is the leader?
Participants sit in a circle. One person volunteers to leave the room. After they leave, the rest of the group chooses a
‘leader’. The leader must perform a series of actions, such as clapping, tapping a foot, etc, that are copied by the whole group. The volunteer comes back into the room, stands in the middle and tries to guess who is leading the actions. The group protects the leader by not looking at him/her. The leader must change the actions at regular intervals, without getting caught. When the volunteer spots the leader, they join the circle, and the person who was the leader leaves the room to allow the group to choose a new leader.
Who are you?
Ask for a volunteer to leave the room. While the volunteer is away, the rest of the participants decide on an occupation for him/her, such as a driver, or a fisherman.
When the volunteer returns, the rest of the participants mime activities. The volunteer must guess the occupation that has been chosen for him/her from the activities that are mimed.
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What kind of animal?
Ask participants to divide into pairs and to form a circle. Put enough chairs in the circle so that all but one pair has seats. Each pair secretly decides what type of animal they are. The two participants without chairs are the elephants. They walk around the circle calling the names of different animals.
Whenever they guess correctly, the animals named have to stand up and walk behind the elephants, walking in mime. This continues until the elephants can guess no more. Then they call “Lions!” and all pairs run for seats. The pair left without chairs become the elephants for the next round.
Killer wink
Before the game starts, ask someone to be the ‘the killer’ and ask them to keep their identity a secret. Explain that one person among the group is the killer and they can kill people by winking at them.
Everyone then walks around the room in different directions, keeping eye contact with everyone they pass. If the killer winks at you, you have to play dead. Everyone has to try and guess who the killer is.
The sun shines on...
Participants sit or stand in a tight circle with one person in the middle. The person in the middle shouts out “the sun shines on...” and names a colour or articles of clothing that some in the group possess.
For example, “the sun shines on all those wearing blue” or “the sun shines on all those wearing socks” or “the sun shines on all those with brown eyes”. All the participants who have that attribute must change places with one another. The person in the middle tries to take one of their places as they move, so that there is another person left in the middle without a place. The new person in the middle shouts out “the sun shines on...” and names a different colour or type of clothing.
COCONUT
The facilitator shows the group how to spell out
C-O-C-O-N-U-T by using full movements of the arms and the body. All participants then try this together.
Body writing
Ask participants to write their name in the air with a part of their body. They may choose to use an elbow, for example, or a leg. Continue in this way, until everyone has written his or her name with several body parts.
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100 ways to energise groups
Names in the air
Ask participants to write their name in the air first with their right hand, then their left hand. Finally, ask them to write their name in the air with both hands at the same time.
Family members
Prepare cards with family names. You can use different types of professions, such as
Mother Farmer, Father Farmer, Sister Farmer and Brother Farmer. Or you could use names of different animals or fruits. Each family should have four or five in it. Give each person one of the cards and ask everyone to walk around the room. Explain that when you call out, “family reunion”, everyone should try to form a ‘family group’ as quickly as possible.
Who am I?
Pin the name of a different famous person to each participant’s back, so that they cannot see it. Then ask participants to walk around the room, asking each other questions about the identity of their famous person.
The questions can only be answered by
“yes” or “no”. The game continues until everyone has figured out who they are. as and bs
Ask everyone to choose silently someone in the room that is their ‘A’ person and another person who is their ‘B’ person.
There are no particular criteria on which to base their choices – selections are entirely up to individuals. Once everyone has made their choices, tell them to get as close to their respective ‘A’ person as possible, while getting as far away from their ‘B’ person. People can move quickly but should not grab or hold anyone.
After a few minutes, participants stop and reverse the process, getting close to their ‘B’ persons and avoiding their
‘A’ persons.
Group statues
Ask the group to move around the room, loosely swinging their arms and gently relaxing their heads and necks.
After a short while, shout out a word. The group must form themselves into statues that describe the word. For example, the facilitator shouts
“peace”. All the participants have to instantly adopt, without talking, poses that show what ‘peace’ means to them. Repeat the exercise several times.
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Move to the spot
Ask everyone to choose a particular spot in the room. They start the game by standing on their ‘spot’. Instruct people to walk around the room and carry out a particular action, for example, hopping, saying hello to everyone wearing blue or walking backwards, etc. When the facilitator says
“Stop”, everyone must run to his or her original spots. The person who reaches their place first is the next leader and can instruct the group to do what they wish.
Banana game
A banana or other object such as a bunch of keys is selected. The participants stand in a circle with their hands behind their backs.
One person volunteers to stand in the middle. The facilitator walks around the outside of the circle and secretly slips the banana into someone’s hand. The banana is then secretly passed round the circle behind the participant’s backs. The job of the volunteer in the middle is to study people’s faces and work out who has the banana.
When successful, the volunteer takes that place in the circle and the game continues with a new person in the middle.
Taxi rides
Ask participants to pretend that they are getting into taxis. The taxis can only hold a certain number of people, such as two, four, or eight. When the taxis stop, the participants have to run to get into the right sized groups. This is a useful game for randomly dividing participants into groups.
Fruit salad
The facilitator divides the participants into an equal number of three to four fruits, such as oranges and bananas. Participants then sit on chairs in a circle. One person must stand in the centre of the circle of chairs.
The facilitator shouts out the name of one of the fruits, such as ‘oranges’, and all of the oranges must change places with one another. The person who is standing in the middle tries to take one of their places as they move, leaving another person in the middle without a chair. The new person in the middle shouts another fruit and the game continues. A call of ‘fruit salad’ means that everyone has to change seats.
“Prrr” and “Pukutu”
Ask everyone to imagine two birds. One calls ‘prrr’ and the other calls ‘pukutu’. If you call out ‘prrr’, all the participants need to stand on their toes and move their elbows out sideways, as if they were a bird ruffling its wings. If you call out ‘pukutu’, everyone has to stay still and not move a feather.
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100 ways to energise groups
Dancing on paper
Facilitators prepare equal sized sheets of newspaper or cloth. Participants split into pairs. Each pair is given either a piece of newspaper or cloth. They dance while the facilitator plays music or claps. When the music or clapping stops, each pair must stand on their sheet of newspaper or cloth.
The next time the music or clapping stops, the pair has to fold their paper or cloth in half before standing on it. After several rounds, the paper or cloth becomes very small by being folded again and again. It is increasingly difficult for two people to stand on. Pairs that have any part of their body on the floor are ‘out’ of the game. The game continues until there is a winning pair.
Tide’s in/tide’s out
Draw a line representing the seashore and ask participants to stand behind the line.
When the facilitator shouts “Tide’s out!”, everyone jumps forwards over the line.
When the leader shouts “Tide’s in!”, everyone jumps backwards over the line. If the facilitator shouts “Tide’s out!” twice in a row, participants who move have to drop out of the game.
Delhi buses
This game can be called after any type of local transport. Select a number of ‘drivers’.
Assign a certain number of passengers for each driver to pick up. (Make sure that you have counted correctly, so that no one is left without a ride!) Ask the drivers to go around the room making vehicle noises and touting for business. The passengers form up behind or alongside their driver to make it look like they are in a vehicle. Now all the
‘vehicles’ drive around as if in traffic, sounding their horns and shouting at other drivers and vehicles.
Rabbits
Someone starts by putting both hands up to their ears and waggling their fingers. The people on either side of this person put up one hand only, to the ear nearest the person with both hands up. The person with both hands up then points to another person across the circle. This person now puts both hands up to their ears and waggles their fingers. The people on either side have to put up the hand nearest the person with both hands up and waggle their fingers.
The game continues in this way until everyone has been a ‘rabbit’.
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Port/starboard
Participants stand in the centre of the room.
If the leader shouts “Starboard”, everyone runs to the right. If they shout “Port”, everyone runs left and if they shout “Man the ship”, everyone runs back to the centre.
Other statements can be introduced; for example, “Climb the rigging” when everyone pretends to climb, “Scrub the decks”, and so on.
I’m going on a trip
Everyone sits in a circle. Start by saying “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking a hug”, and hug the person to your right. That person then has to say “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking a hug and a pat on the back”, and then give the person on their right a hug and a pat on the back. Each person repeats what has been said and adds a new action to the list. Go round the circle until everyone has had a turn.
Find someone wearing...
Ask participants to walk around loosely, shaking their limbs and generally relaxing.
After a short while, the facilitator shouts out “Find someone...” and names an article of clothing. The participants have to rush to stand close to the person described. Repeat this exercise several times using different types of clothing.
Touch something blue
Ask participants to stand up. Explain that you will tell everyone to find something blue, and that they have to go and touch it.
This could be a blue shirt, pen, shoe or whatever. Continue the game in this way, asking participants to call out their own suggestions for things to touch.
Simon says
The facilitator tells the group that they should follow instructions when the facilitator starts the instruction by saying
“Simon says...” If the facilitator does not begin the instructions with the words
“Simon says”, then the group should not follow the instructions! The facilitator begins by saying something like “Simon says clap your hands” while clapping their hands. The participants follow. The facilitator speeds up the actions, always saying “Simon says” first. After a short while, the
“Simon says” is omitted. Those participants who do follow the instructions anyway are ‘out’ of the game. The game can be continued for as long as it remains fun.
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100 ways to energise groups
What has changed?
Participants break into pairs. Partners observe one another and try to memorise the appearance of each other. Then one turns their back while the other makes three changes to his/her appearance; for example, putting their watch on the other wrist, removing their glasses, and rolling up their sleeves. The other player then turns around and has to try to spot the three changes.
The players then switch roles.
Birthday graph
Ask people to line up according to their birthday months or seasons. Discuss which month or season has the largest number and what reasons there might be for this.
Body ‘tig’
Explain to participants that you will ‘tig’ someone. They then use just the part of their body that you have ‘tigged’ to ‘tig’ someone else in turn. Continue the game until everyone has been ‘tigged’.
Five islands
Draw five circles with chalk on the floor, big enough to accommodate all of the participants. Give each island a name. Ask everyone to choose the island that they would like to live on. Then warn participants that one of the islands will sink into the sea very soon and participants on that island will be forced to move quickly to another island. Allow the suspense to build and then call out the name of the island that is sinking. Participants run to the other four islands. The game continues until everyone is squashed onto one island.
The animal game
This game helps to divide a large group into smaller groups. Make slips of paper for each member of the large group. Write the name of an animal on each slip, using as many different animals as you need smaller groups. Hand the papers out at random and ask people to make the noise of their animal to find the other members of their smaller group.
Mime a lie
Everyone stands in a circle. The facilitator starts by miming an action. When the person on their right says their name and asks “What are you doing?”, they reply that they are doing something completely different; for example, the facilitator mimes swimming and says “I am washing my hair.”
The person to the facilitator’s right then has to mime what the facilitator said that they were doing (washing their hair), while saying that they are doing something completely different. Go around the circle in this way until everyone has had a turn.
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Bring me
Participants sort themselves into small teams, and the teams stand as far as possible from the facilitator. The facilitator then calls out “Bring me...”, and names an object close by. For example, “Bring me a man’s or woman’s shoes.” The teams race to bring what has been requested. You can repeat this several times, asking the teams to bring different things.
The king is dead
The first player turns to their neighbour and says, “The king is dead!” The neighbour asks, “How did he die?”, and the first player responds, “He died doing this”, and starts a simple gesture or movement. All participants repeat this gesture continuously.
The second player repeats the statement and the third player asks, “How did he die?”
The second player adds another gesture or movement. The whole group then copies these two movements. The process continues around the circle until there are too many movements to remember.
Locomotion
Everyone sits in a circle and a leader stands in the middle. The leader then walks or runs around the outside of the circle, imitating some means of locomotion such as a car, a train or swimming. S/he stops in front of several people, gives them a signal and they follow the leader, imitating the form of locomotion. When the leader has six to ten people behind him/her, s/he shouts
“All change” and everyone, including the leader, races for a seat. The person who is left without a seat must start the game again, with a different form of locomotion.
Paper and straws
Participants split into teams. Each team forms a line and places a piece of card at the beginning of their line. Each member of the team has a drinking straw or reed. When the game starts, the first person has to pick up the piece of card by sucking on the straw. The card then has to be passed to the next team member using the same method. If the card drops, it goes back to the first person and the whole sequence has to start again.
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Don’t answer
Ask the group to stand in a circle. One person starts by going up to someone and asking them a question such as, “What is your most annoying habit?” However, they must not answer the question themselves – the person to their left must answer. People can make their answers as imaginative as possible!
Tug of war
The participants split into two teams. Each team takes one end of the rope. The teams have to pull on the rope to bring the opposite team towards them.
Pass the parcel
The facilitator has wrapped a small gift with many different layers of paper. On each layer they have written a task or a question.
Examples of tasks are ‘sing a song’ or ‘hug the person next to you’. Examples of questions are
‘What is your favourite colour?’ or ‘What is your name?’ The facilitator starts the music, or claps their hands if there is no music available. The participants pass the parcel around the circle, or throw it to each other.
When the facilitator stops the music or the clapping, the person who is holding the parcel tears off one layer of paper and carries out the task or answers the question that is written on the paper. The game continues until all the layers have been unwrapped.
The gift goes to the last person to take off the wrapping.
Fox and rabbit
You need two scarves for this game.
Participants stand in a circle. One scarf is called
‘Fox’ and the other is called ‘Rabbit’. ‘Fox’ must be tied around the neck with one knot.
‘Rabbit’ is tied around the neck with two knots. Start by choosing two participants who are opposite each other in the circle.
Tie the ‘Fox’ scarf around one person’s neck and the ‘Rabbit’ scarf around the other. Say “go”. People need to untie their scarves and retie them around the neck of the person on their right or left. The scarves should travel in the same direction around the circle. The ‘Fox’ scarf with only one knot will travel faster than the ‘Rabbit’ scarf. The people tying the two knots for the
‘Rabbit’ scarf will try to go faster and faster to get away from the ‘Fox’ scarf.
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The longest line
This game requires a lot of space and may need to be done outdoors. Divide into teams of eight to ten people. Each team must have the same number of members.
Explain that the task is to create the longest line using participants own bodies and any clothing or things in members pockets.
Participants are not allowed to collect other things from the room/outside. Give a signal for the game to start and set a time limit, such as two minutes. The team with the longest line wins.
Robots
Divide the participants into groups of three.
One person in each group is the robot controller and the other two are the robots.
Each controller must manage the movements of their two robots. The controller touches a robot on the right shoulder to move them to the right, and touches them on the left shoulder to move them to the left. The facilitator begins the game by telling the robots to walk in a specific direction. The controller must try to stop the robots from crashing into obstacles such as chairs and tables.
Ask participants to swap roles so that everyone has a chance to be the controller and a robot.
King of the Jungle
The group sits in a semi-circle. The ‘King of the Jungle’ (usually an elephant) sits on one end of the semi-circle. This person makes a sign to show they are sitting in the elephant’s position. At the other end of the semi-circle sits the monkey, and the person in this seat makes an appropriate sign. All the seats in between belong to different animals, such as lions, fish, and snakes, which people define with different signs.
Once everyone has defined the sign for their seat, the game begins. The elephant makes their sign, and then makes the sign of another animal. That animal makes his or her own sign, then the sign of another animal, and so it continues. If someone makes a mistake, or doesn’t notice that their sign has been made, they have to swap places with the person next to them, moving down towards the monkey. They then take on the sign of the seat they now occupy, and the person who moves up a place takes their sign. The aim is to move all the way up to take the place of the King of the Jungle.
Pass the energy
Participants stand or sit in a circle, hold hands and silently concentrate. The facilitator sends a series of ‘pulses’ both ways round the group by discreetly squeezing the hands of those next to her/him. Participants pass these pulses round the circle, as in an electric current, by squeezing the hand of the person next to them and literally ‘energising’ the group.
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Bottle game
Participants stand in a circle. In the first round, a bottle (or some other object) is passed around the circle. Participants have to do something with the bottle, such as kiss it, rub it, or turn it upside down. In the second round, tell participants to remember what they did with the bottle, and do the same thing to the person standing on their right.
How do you like your neighbour?
Ask participants to sit in a circle. Go around the circle and number each person one, two, three, four, etc. One person stands in the middle and one chair is removed. The person in the centre points to someone and asks them, “How do you like your neighbour?” If the person replies “I like him”, everyone gets up and moves to another chair. There will be one person left standing, who then takes their turn in the centre of the circle and asks someone, “How do you like your neighbour?” If the person replies “I don’t like him”, the person in the middle asks him/her “Who do you want?”
The person calls out two numbers. The two people whose numbers have been called have to get up and change chairs with the two people on either side of the answerer.
Dragon’s tail
Ask the group to divide into two. The two groups form dragons by holding on to one another’s waists in a long line. The last person in the line has a brightly coloured scarf tucked into his/her trousers or belt, to form the dragon’s tail. The object is to catch the tail of the other dragon without losing your own tail in the process.
Group massage
Ask the group to stand in a circle and turn sideways so that each person is facing the back of the person in front of them. People then massage the shoulders of the person in front of them.
Pass the person
Participants stand in two lines facing each other. Each person tightly grasps the arms of the person opposite. A volunteer lies face up across the arms of the pairs at the beginning of the line. Pairs lift their arms up and down to move the volunteer gently on to the next pair. The game continues until the volunteer is ‘bumped’ all the way to the end of the line.
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Blindfold pairs
An obstacle course is set out on the floor for everyone to look at. Participants split into pairs. One of the pair puts a scarf around their eyes, or closes their eyes tightly so they cannot see. The obstacles are quietly removed. The other member of the pair now gives advice and direction to their partner to help them safely negotiate what are now imaginary obstacles.
I like you because...
Ask participants to sit in a circle and say what they like about the person on their right. Give them time to think about it first!
Heads to tummies
People lie on the floor in a chain so that each person has their head on another person’s stomach. Someone will laugh.
Hearing someone laugh through their stomach makes the next person laugh and so on round the chain.
Ball under chins
Make some small balls out of any material that is available, such as crumpled paper.
Participants split into teams and each team forms a line. The line passes a ball under their chins. If the ball drops, it has to go back to the beginning of the line. The game continues until one team has finished passing the ball along their line.
Knees up
Participants stand in a close circle with their shoulders touching and then turn, so that their right shoulders are facing into the centre of the circle. Ask everyone to put their hand on the shoulder of the person in front and to carefully sit down so that everyone is sitting on the knees of the person behind them.
Get up, sit down!
Give each participant a number (several participants could have the same number).
Then tell a story that involves lots of numbers – when you say a number, the person(s) with this number has (have) to stand up.
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Knots
Participants stand in a circle and join hands. Keeping their hands joined, they move in any way that they want, twisting and turning and creating a
‘knot’. They must then unravel this knot, without letting go of one another’s hands.
Coin game
Participants divide into two lines. The two people at the end of each line start the race by dropping a coin down their clothes.
When it drops free on the floor, they hand the coin to the next person in the line who does the same. The race continues until the coin has reached the end of one of the lines.
Countdown
Ask participants to form a circle. Explain that the group needs to count together from one to 50. There are a few rules: they are not to say ‘seven’ or any number which is a multiple of seven. Instead, they have to clap their hands. Once someone claps their hands, the group must count the numbers in reverse. If someone says seven or a multiple of seven, start the counting again.
Fizz buzz
Go round the group counting upwards. The group replaces any number divisible by three with ‘fizz’, any number divisible by five with
‘buzz’, and any number divisible by both three and five with ‘fizz buzz’. Count up and see how high you can go!
Group balance
Ask participants to get into pairs. Ask pairs to hold hands and sit down then stand up, without letting go of one another’s hands.
Repeat the same exercise in groups of four people. Then form into groups of eight people holding hands in a circle. Ask members in each group to number off in even and odd numbers. At a signal, ask the even numbers to fall backwards while the odd numbers fall forwards, achieving a group balance.
Leading and guiding
Participants split into pairs. One participant puts on a blindfold. Their partner then leads them carefully around the area making sure they don’t trip or bump into anything. After some time, the facilitator asks the pairs to swap roles. At the end, participants discuss how they felt when they had to trust someone else to keep them safe.
Clap exchange
Participants sit or stand in a circle. They send a clap around the circle by facing and clapping in unison with the person on their right, who repeats the clap with the person on their right, and so on. Do this as fast as possible. Send many claps, with different rhythms, around the circle at the same time.
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People to people
Everyone finds a partner. A leader calls out actions such as “nose to nose”, “back to back”, “head to knee”, etc. Participants have to follow these instructions in their pairs. When the leader calls “people to people” everyone must change partners. Count to Seven
The group sits in a circle and someone starts the process of counting. Each person counts in sequence. When the counting reaches seven, the next person starts over with the number one. Every time someone says a number, they use their hands to point out the direction that the counting should go in.
Football cheering
The group pretends that they are attending a football game. The facilitator allocates specific cheers to various sections of the circle, such as ‘Pass’, ‘Kick’,
‘Dribble’ or ‘Header’. When the facilitator points at a section, that section shouts their cheer. When the facilitator raises his/her hands in the air, everyone shouts “Goal!”
An orchestra without instruments Explain to the group that they are going to create an ‘orchestra’ without instruments.
The orchestra will only use sounds that can be made by the human body. Players can use hands, feet, voice etc, but no words; for example, they could whistle, hum, sigh or stomp their feet. Each player should select a sound. Choose a well-known tune and ask everyone to play along, using the
‘instrument’ that they have chosen.
Alternatively, don’t give a tune and let the group surprise itself by creating a unique sound.
Hands slapping
Ask participants to kneel on the floor, link arms with the people on either side of them, and place their palms flat on the floor.
Now ask people to slap their palms on the floor in turn so that it goes round the circle.
Having linked arms makes it difficult to work out which hand is your own! If someone makes a mistake, they have to put a hand behind their back and the game continues.
Pass the action
Participants sit in a circle. One person (A) stands in the centre. A moves towards another person (B) using a specific action, such as jumping. When s/he reaches B, s/he takes B’s place and B then moves to the centre of the circle using A’s action or movement. When B reaches the centre, s/he walks towards C, using a new action or movement. The game continues in this way until everyone has taken part.
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Clap and point
Participants form a circle. The facilitator sends a clap all the way around the circle, first in one direction, then in the other direction. The facilitator then shows participants how they can change the direction of the clap, by pointing the clapping hands in the opposite direction.
Repeat this until the clap is running smoothly around the group and changing direction without missing a beat. Finally, show how you can ‘throw’ the clap by pointing the clapping hands at someone across the circle.
Rainstorm
Everyone sits quietly in a circle, with their eyes closed, waiting for the facilitator’s first movement. The facilitator rubs their palms together to create the sound of rain. The person to their right makes this sound, and then the next person until everyone in the group is making the same sound. Once everyone is rubbing palms, the facilitator makes the rain sound louder by snapping his/her fingers, and that sound in turn is passed around the circle. Then the facilitator claps both hands together, and that sound is passed around the circle to create a rainstorm. Then the facilitator slaps their thighs, and the group follows. When the facilitator and the group stomp their feet, the rain becomes a hurricane. To indicate the storm is stopping, the facilitator reverses the order, thigh slapping, then hand clapping, finger snapping, and palm rubbing, ending in silence.
Statue stop
Ask participants to form two circles of people of equal numbers. The people in the inner circle should face outwards. The people in the outer circle should face inwards. Each person in the outer circle uses the person opposite them in the inner circle to create a ‘statue’.
They have only ten seconds to do this. The person in the inner circle allows the ‘sculptor’ to bend and twist their body into any shape that they wish, provided they do not hurt them. The ‘statue’ must remain in that position without speaking, until you call
‘time’. The outer circle then moves round one person to the left and they begin sculpting again. The people in the inner circle are bent and twisted into new positions through this process. Continue in this way and then ask people in the inner circle to change with people in the outer circle so that everyone has a chance to be
‘sculptor’ and ‘statue’.
Orchestra
Divide the group into two and ask half to slap their knees and the other half to clap their hands. The facilitator acts as the conductor of the orchestra, controlling the volume by raising or lowering their arms.
The game can continue with different members of the group taking the role of conductor.
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Stand, sit and sing
Participants sit in a circle and sing a song they all know. Choose two letters which occur frequently in the song, and ask the men to stand up when they sing a word beginning with one letter and the women to stand up when they sing a word beginning with the other letter. For example, all the men have to stand up each time the group sings a word that starts with the letter ‘m’, while all the females have to stand up every time the group sings a word that starts with the letter ‘f’.
Passing the rhythm
Participants sit in a circle. The facilitator establishes a rhythm; for example, clapping your thighs, clapping your hands together, then clapping your neighbour’s hands. This rhythm is then passed around the circle. Once the rhythm is moving steadily through the group, try to speed it up. Once the group can do this, try inserting more rhythms into the circle so that several rhythms are being passed around the circle at the same time.
Messenger
Before the game starts, the facilitator builds something out of blocks and covers it with a cloth. Participants are divided into small groups and each group is given a set of blocks. Each group selects a ‘messenger’ to look under the cloth. The messengers report back to their groups about what they have seen under the cloth. They must give their group instructions for how to build the same thing. The messengers are not allowed to touch the blocks or to demonstrate how it should be done – they can only describe how it should look. The group can send the messenger to have a second look at the structure. When all the groups are finished, the structures are compared to the original.
Drawing game
Participants work in pairs, sitting back to back. One person in each pair has a simple drawing. The other person has a blank piece of paper and a pen. The person with the drawing describes it in detail so that the other person can reproduce the drawing on their sheet of paper.
Mirror image
Participants sort themselves into pairs. Each pair decides which one of them will be the
‘mirror’. This person then copies
(mirrors) the actions of their partner. After some time, ask the pair to swap roles so that the other person can be the ‘mirror’.
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Hokey Cokey
Participants stand in a circle to sing the song and do the actions. The first verse goes like this:
You put your RIGHT FOOT in
You put your RIGHT FOOT out
In, out, in, out
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey-cokey (wiggling waist)
And you turn around
That’s what it’s all about!
With each new verse substitute a different body part for ‘right foot’ – left foot, right arm, left arm, head, and whole self.
Muddling messages
Participants sit in a circle. Think of a long message, such as “I’m going to go to the market to buy some bananas and mangos tomorrow morning, and then I am going to meet my cousin for lunch”. Whisper this message to the person sitting on your right.
That person then whispers the same message to the person on their right and so on. Once the message has been passed around the circle, ask the last person to say the message aloud. Compare the final message with the original version.
Talking object
Participants sit in a circle. An object is passed around the circle. The person who receives the object has to talk continuously until his/her neighbour decides to take the object.
Samson and Delilah
The game revolves around the story of
Samson and Delilah and the lion.
Participants divide into two teams and stand in two lines, with their backs to the other team. Each team decides whether they will be Samson, Delilah or the lion, without telling the other team. They turn around to face the other team and mime an action representing who they are. For example, a sexy pose could represent Delilah, flexed muscles could be
Samson, and a ferocious roar could represent the lion.
Delilah defeats
Samson, Samson defeats the lion, and the lion defeats
Delilah. Sometimes, neither group will defeat the other because they will both choose to be the same thing!
Yes/No game
Participants split into two lines, so that each person faces a partner. Line one has to say “Yes” in as many different ways as possible, and line two has to try to change their partner’s minds by saying “No” as convincingly as possible. Give both lines a chance to say both “Yes” and “No”. Then discuss how people felt. How did it feel to say “Yes” or “No”? Was it easier to say one than another?
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The “E” game
Write a large, curvy letter E on a piece of flipchart paper and place it in the centre of the circle.
Ask participants to describe exactly what they see on the piece of paper, from where they are standing/sitting. Depending on where they are in the circle, they will either see an
‘m’, a ‘w’, a ‘3’ or an
‘E’. Participants can then move places so that they see the letter from a different perspective. This is a useful activity to highlight the fact that people see things very differently, according to their own specific perspective. Alternatively, put a person in the centre of the circle and ask those around to describe exactly what they see from their perspective.
Sagidi sagidi sapopo
The group forms a circle or a line. The facilitator teaches everyone the simple chant
“Sagidi sagidi sapopo”. Every time the group chants “Sagidi sagidi sapopo”, the facilitator makes a different action, such as clicking fingers or clapping, to the rhythm of the chant. With each new repetition of the chant, each person copies the actions of the person to their left so that everyone is always one move behind the person to their left.
What are we doing?
Two teams line up at opposite ends of the room. Team A are the Mimes and
Team B are the Tigers. Team A decides secretly on an activity to be mimed. They walk toward Team B, coming as close as they dare, and then act out their mime. Team B tries to guess what is being mimed. When they succeed they try to tag members of Team A before they can get back to their goal line. All who are tagged join the Tiger’s side. After the first round, get the teams to swap roles.
What is the adverb?
One participant leaves the room and the others choose an adverb; for example,
‘quickly’ or ‘sleepily’. When the leaver returns, s/he must find out what the adverb is by commanding people to do various actions ‘in that way’. For example, if the leaver says “Talk that way”, the group must talk ‘quickly’ or ‘sleepily’. After each command, the participant tries to guess the word.
Shopping list
The group forms a circle. One person starts by saying “I am going to the market to buy fish.” The next person says, “I am going to the market to buy fish and potatoes.” Each person repeats the list, and then adds an item. The aim is to be able to remember all of the items that all of the people before you have listed.
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What am I feeling?
Participants sit in a circle. Each person takes a turn acting out an emotion. Other participants try to guess what feeling the person is acting out. The person who guesses correctly acts out the next emotion.
O Kabita!
Everyone in turn has to say “O
Kabita!” (or another name) in as many different ways as possible, for example with anger, with fear, with laughter, and so on.
Presenting
gifts
This can be used at the end of a workshop. Put participants’ names in a box or bag. Pass the box or bag around and ask each person to pick a name. If they get their own name they have to put it back and choose another. Give the group a few minutes to think of an imaginary gift they would present to the person whose name they have drawn. Ask them also to think how they would present it. Go round the group asking each person to present their imaginary gift.
Writing on backs
At the end of a workshop, ask participants to stick a piece of paper on their backs.
Each participant then writes something they like, admire or appreciate about that person on the paper on their backs. When they have all finished, participants can take their papers home with them as a reminder.
Reflecting on the day
To help people to reflect on the activities of the day, make a ball out of paper and ask the group to throw the ball to each other in turn. When they have the ball, participants can say one thing they thought about the day.
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