AIESEC Games, Icebreakers, Energisers

ORIENTEERING
RESOURCES
Two Orienteering Maps
One Ordnance Survey Map
Two Compasses
Nine Photographs
INFORMATION
Enclosed is a Forestry Commission Wayfaring Course map for the .................. area.
There are nine photographs, each showing one of the orienteering points on the map.
The points that these photographs have been taken at are part of a simple mathematical progression.
TASK
Your task is to visit all of the posts shown in the photographs.
Return to the College by 4.00 pm

HUMAN BINGO
Introduction
A game best used as an energizer, after lunch or a break away from each other. Not advised as an
icebreaker. A short, fun interactive exercise to help re-establish a sense of being in the group.
Process
1. Each person is given a copy of the sheet with the Bingo grid. It is suggested that twelve boxes form the
grid, with statements that group members must find the answer to. Therefore, statements like 'is a woman'
or 'is wearing a watch' are not appropriate, as these things can (usually) be clearly seen. The statements
should cover a variety of topics, suitable for the group you are working with. See enclosed sheet as an
example.
2. Ask the group to stand, push chairs away and retain only the Bingo sheet and a pen. The object of the
game is to get a full house (all twelve boxes completed) by funding one other person from the group for
each box. They should do this by mingling, forming pairs quickly, to ask one question each way. If they get
a positive response they put the name of that person in the box and circulate to find the next positive
response.
3. 7he winner is the person who fills all twelve boxes first. It is not allowed to put your own name in any
box. At the end, have a show of hands to test responses to each statement. The leader of the group should
usually join in.
Conclusion

Variations are possible. There can be more boxes or less. The statements can be on a theme. They can be
deliberately controversial, provocative or risque. If this latter option is chosen, then you may need to allow
more time to de-brief the exercise afterwards. In other words, although the main aim is as a group-bonding
exercise, it can also be used as a discussion starter.
Find someone who:
knows who Barbara Stanwyck was
is a car driver
has been on holiday in the last month
is a vegetarian
is a sports fan
has a pet
likes the same music as you
is a parent
has never smoked
is wearing white underwear
likes science fiction films
wears contact lenses

HUMOUR AND STEREOTYPES

Introduction
A few activities to encourage people to consider the nature and power of humour and to look at the
necessity and danger of humorous stereotypes.
Process
1. In small groups, investigate some of the following:
- What makes each of us laugh/smile?
- Are there many different things?
- Does it depend on mood? situation? company?
- Do we laugh at things we are afraid of or don't know anything about?
- Is it easy/difficult to make others laugh?
- How do you make others laugh?
2. Ask each group to prepare something for the other groups. The aim is to make them laugh. They may
prepare a story, a drawing, a drama, anything as long as it makes people laugh. After some planning time,
give each group the opportunity to make the others laugh.
Following this, have a discussion on how each group made decisions about what to do and whether they
were successful. Get people to consider what factors they took into account, for example, type of audience,
how well they know each other, etc.
3. Ask people to form pairs. Firstly alone, using a sheet of paper, get them to think of a time when they
found something really funny. Ask them to analyze it. Why they found it funny? What was it actually
about? They should then turn the paper over and think of a time when they didn't find something funny at
all, but they still laughed or smiled or joined in with the joke. This time they should analyze: why didn't
they find it funny? why did they still laugh/smile? who else was there? Encourage people to be honest with
this, even if it quite difficult. (Many people may well claim. At first not to be able to think of any situation
like this. If they cannot, ask them to think of a situation where they found something funny and others

clearly didn't). They should then share these two situations with their partner and discuss them a little
further.
Back in the large group, ask people not to share the situations but any general reflections on what this
showed about humour.
4. Many jokes and people's abilities to find things humorous depend on knowing the person or
understanding the situation or belonging to a certain group of people. Much humour makes little sense to
those who are not 'in' on them.
In small groups, ask people to do the following:
Firstly, consider:
What are in jokes? How people not 'in' react to them?
What do the mass media have to do to make us laugh at the same time at the same thing?
(Consider studio audiences, canned laughter, stereotypes, etc.)
Secondly, ask people to watch some TV entertainment programmes or listen to radio DJ's. Read some
cartoons. Look at advertisements. Then list some of the stereotypes that are frequently used.
Thirdly, ask groups to consider that stereotypes must be instantly recognizable and allow for no individual
differences. Think about hospital nurses, upper class women, radical trade union leaders,. gay men and
lesbians or any other groups that you have thought of. Then encourage them to discuss the following:
How real are the stereotypes?
Why do you think that they started?
Why are stereotypes sometimes very useful?
How would you feel if you were a member of the group talked about in this way? Or, if a member of your
family was?
How would you be affected if you didn't know anyone who was a member of that group?
How might you react if you met or heard of someone in that group after years of listening to the stereotype?
Why are some groups singled out for more jokes than others?
Why is it more worrying when jokes are directed at a whole community, rather than rich people or those
doing a specific job, like politicians?
Fourthly, ask groups to choose one group who are shown in a fairly negative, stereotypical way. Ask them
to collect examples of these stereotypes together. They should consider how these stereotypes happened.
They should think about how members of this group might feel about it. They could even ask members of
the group or read things from members of the group to see how they feel. They could think about whether
anything could, or should, be done to try to alter the stereotype.
After some time working on this in small groups they should present/demonstrate their findings to the large
group.
Some discussion should take place comparing the types of stereotypes, and reactions to them, as well as
possible strategies for changing them.
Conclusion
One or all of these activities could be used. Their purpose is to get people to think a little bit more about
whether some 'harmless fun' really is so harmless if it is directed at certain individuals or groups. It also
highlights how humour can be used as a propaganda weapon. Becoming conscious of it, and trying to
minimize its harmful effects, is something very practical that all individuals can do. Any work on
vulnerable groups, respecting difference and conflict can benefit from some attention to humour.

MY HERO
Introduction
The world of fantasy can be a useful tool in helping young people discover and express their thoughts and
feelings. For this exercise, we will use the notion of the 'hero figure' as another tool for helping young
people to look at their personal values in more depth.
In order to have a clearer understanding of the nature of the activity, the following remarks should be taken
into consideration:
1. Consciously or unconsciously, almost everyone has one or more 'hero figures';
2. Hero figures play an important role in the lives of young people since they normally serve as a centre of
attraction or as a figure with which to identify and in this way they help young people to adopt a number of
values;
3. It is therefore important to realize that hero figures are not 'neutral', they have a certain image and
convey a number of values;
4. Viewed from a collective dimension, hero figures can also play a very important role in the life of larger
communities, such as a racial or ethnic group or a country.
For this reason, a hero figure can be a most important factor in national unity (when it is shared by the
whole population of a country), but it can also cause division when it is shared by a particular sector of the
society, community or ethnic group and not recognized by other sectors of the population.
This aspect must be carefully taken into account for this exercise. Only the general setting is given here,
but it can and should be adapted to local circumstances.
The main aim is to encourage people to realize that other people in the same country, community or city
may have other 'heroes' and to understand and respect their choices.
Process
1. A few volunteers should be asked to give their definition of a hero. It is not important to give a
dictionary definition. Some of the following aspects may possibly emerge:
A hero is: a noble person admired for his or her achievements of noble qualities, someone with superhuman
qualities, someone who has special talents, someone who has dedicated his or her life to the service of
others, etc.
2. Give out the MY HERO form. State that:
a) A hero (for the purposes of this exercise) could be a real or fictitious character. It could be a patriot of
the country, a religious figure, a popular character from a TV series or commercial, an historical figure, a
hero from a book or film, etc;
b) Each person may have one or several heroes, but for the purpose of the exercise participants are asked to
concentrate on only one hero. They should therefore select the hero who is the most important to them.
3. Each person completes their form individually. There should be no communication between people.

4. Having completed the form, each person finds a partner and shares their answers with them. It is
recommended that each partner gives their answer to question No. 1 before going on to question No. 2 and
so on. This will make any comparison easier and keep the dialogue between partners flowing.
People should be ready to answer questions asked by their partner, e.g. At what age did you chose your
hero? Have you changed your hero figure many tiines? What were the reasons for your choice of hero
figure? etc.
Questions that appear critical or threatening should not be allowed, e.g. Don't you think it is wrong for
someone to have a war hero? etc.
5. Back in the large group ask people to name some of the qualities that their hero has. These can be
written on a board. Striking similarities between the qualities of very different heroes, both historical and
fictitious characters will probably be seen.
The names of heroes can be shared. If this happens, criticism of the choices should not be allowed.
6. Comments can be made about the positive and negative qualities of heroes in general and questions
raised about their influence. Discussion can also take place about the value of having hero figures for
individuals and communities. Points could also be made about the dangers of blindly accepting everything
about somebody you admire as opposed to keeping some kind of critical distance from them.
Conclusion
This activity can prove quite thought-provoking for people as it asks them to reveal a great deal about
themselves and their personal values. It then links this with the effects of hero identification on groups of
people and communities. The power of these personal and shared values can then be seen. Further work
on these aspects and the need to recognize and accept different values can follow.
MY HERO
1. if you were asked to select ONE hero, who would you chose?
2. a) What qualities of your hero do you admire the most? Why?
b) Are there any qualities/characteristics of your hero that you dislike? Why?
3.
a) Which of your hero's actions gives you the most joy? Why?
b) Which of your hero's actions disappoints you the most? Why?
Has your hero taught you what you consider to be a very valuable lesson as far as your own life is
concerned? If YES, briefly describe the lesson.

A CHIILD ON TELEVISION
Introduction
An activity showing the power of the selection of images and words for television. Allows consideration of
some practical, creative and ethical issues about the Media. It is also about the importance of education
and upbringing in early childhood.
Process
Start either by introducing the topic of the child or by the method of television story-boarding (a plan of the
words, images and timing of a television broadcast).
1. The child

"Childhood is a time of innocence"

"Give me a child until he is seven and I'll create the Man"
Say or give out these old quotations about children, (You can explain that it is about women also, but in
older times they were not mentioned). Say that they may seem contradictory to some people and
complementary to others.
Split people in small groups of, perhaps, four or five. Give some groups the Six Statements and some the
Seven Statements. Ask them not to talk with, or show their statements to, other groups.
Six Statements
A child who is criticized - learns to condemn
A child who is punished - learns to fight
A child who is insulted - learned to be shy A child who experiences shame - learns to feel guilt
A child who is abused - learns self-loathing
A child who sees loved ones killed - learns to fear and hate
Seven Statements
A child who meets tolerance - learns patience
A child who is encouraged - learns confidence
A child who experiences security - learns trust
A child who experiences fair play - teams justice
A child who feels friendship - ]cams to show kindness
A child who is accepted - learns self respect
A child who receives care and love - learns to love
Ask each group to discuss the meaning of their statements and what they think about them.
2. Television story-boarding
Explain that story-boarding is a planning grid. People working on a television programme or advertisement
use storyboards to organize themselves. (Show them the Picture, Time and Sound diagrams). The
storyboard shows what pictures the viewer will see at any point during the progrannne or advert and the
words and sound effects that will go with the images. A useful tip is that it takes about 1 second to say 3
words. Images and sounds should match.
3. The task
Explain that each group needs to create a two minute news item, advertisement or small feature for
television about their six or seven statements by story-boarding. They can either have many copies of the
Picture, Time and Sound diagrams from you or create their own. They need to sketch the images, estimate
the number of seconds and write in any words or sound effects.
The following points need to be discussed:
What do you want to communicate with the audience?
What are the three main points you want to make?
How are you going to explain what is happening?
Are there any images or words you cannot or will not use?
How are you going ten keep your audience interested?
How can you compete with an action-adventure film, a football match or a prize-winning show?

Give a time limit for the group to discuss and prepare. An hour or an hour and a half at least. Explain that
at the end the groups will display their storyboards for others to see and will give other groups a brief
description.
4. The show
Put all the sequences on the wall. Ask people to look at the storyboards of all other groups. They should
try to notice if there are similarities and/or differences. They should see if each one makes an impression
on them. After some time for this, ask people if there are any questions they have for a certain group.
What something means? Why they chose it? (Ensure that questions are directed at all groups, not just one
or two). Ask if differences can be seen between the groups who had the six statements and those that had
the seven? Consider why this might be. You may need to ask someone from each group to read the six and
seven.
Ask each group whether they were able to agree on their storyboard easily and about their discussion on
which images and sounds could be used and how they were going to interest their audience in this topic.
There can then be a broader discussion on whether any of these sequences would be likely to be broadcast;
the difficulty of interesting people in topics like this; the need for television to be entertaining and whether
it is possible to remain true to your principles and to compromise with the reality of the Media.
5. Variations
You could make a competition between the groups. This would clearly reflect the reality of the media. The
best one being judged on how it grabs and holds the interest of the viewers. A small prize, of some kind,
could be offered.
Such an exercise can be done with any topic. Refugees. Gypsies. Disaster relief. Famine. In each case
some visual or verbal input needs to introduce the topic.
Instead of television story-boarding, a front-page of a newspaper could be laid out or a cassette recording of
a two-minute radio spot made. The structure of the exercise would be the same.
Conclusion
Humanitarian work needs the Media and vice versa. The relationship between the two is not always easy
because they have very different goals and practices. Some understanding of this reality can prove useful
and illuminating.

THE TREASURE, THE PIRATE AND THE KEY

Introduction:
Show a picture of a Treasure Chest being locked by a Pirate. Inside, treasure should be seen.
Explain that some treasure is going to be locked inside and that only one key will then be able to open the
chest. Show some copies of keys drawn on paper (all with seven different sized teeth). Give each person a
copy of the key and tell them that they will have to design a key that will open the chest.
The treasure:
Could be one of the following
1. Future generations of young people with an understanding of, and sympathy for, the work of the Red
Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
2. Human contentment.

The key:In these two cases it would be:

1. In our dissemination work, the seven main things young people need to be educated about.
2. The seven main things that a human being needs to be content.
The clues:
Some clues can be written on stickers and placed around the room. These are possible answers. Participants
can look at them, or not, as they wish.
The exercise:
1. Alone, each person comes up with the seven most important things that would unlock the treasure. They
must put them in order of priority (largest tooth = top priority).
2. Small groups should be formed (at least three, preferably not more than seven). Each group is given one
different colored copy of the key. They are told to somehow, someway, reach a group consensus of the
seven in order of priority.
3. The keys can then be put on the wall or the seven priorities written on a grid on a large sheet of paper.
Each group should be asked:
Was it easy or difficult to reach consensus?
Did everybody get to express their views?
Why did your first choice have top priority?
4. Either the large group should then be encouraged to discuss and come to a large group decision or a
general discussion should take place on the issues that arose.
Conclusion:
The discussion will largely depend in the nature of the treasure and the key that you originally chose. Some
points may well apply in every situation:
Is it necessary to have a large group key? Or, are the individual and/or small groups ones enough? Will any
key work?!
Is it useful, or not, to prioritize in this way?
Are there cultural differences of perspectives involved?
How did people feel during the various stages of the task?
Can anything be learnt from this exercise about difference and communication as well as the official
content?
Under no circumstances should the person running the exercise tell the group at the end that they have the
one and only correct key to the treasure. This would rather ruin the point of the whole exercise.
Note:
Depending on the topic and the structure you choose and the group and the level of discussion this exercise
can take a short time (45 minutes minimum) or it can provide the material for a 1/2 day session.
An example of the treasure, key and possible clues that could be used follows:
The Treasure : A world without violence and war.
The Key
The seven main things that individuals can do to achieve this.
The Clues

Learn to accept differences;

Gain wider knowledge of people and the world;
Show tolerance and respect;
Develop empathy and understanding for the views and actions of others; Read widely;
Challenge prejudice and discrimination - even in friends and family;
Write to, and lobby, politicians and other leaders;
Actively encourage more equal distribution of the world's resources; Consume less, so that others may
consume more;
Learn to deal with our own anger and fear in a constructive way;
Talk about problems rather than hiding from them;
Live non-violently and non-aggressively - be a good example;
Pretend it is the problem of everyone else but you;
Use your own knowledge and skills to convince others in your own life;
Support - by membership, fumce or promoting them - organizations working towards conflict prevention
and peace;
Complain, campaign, march and demonstrate if necessary;
Boycott companies and governments which actively encourage violence and war;
Support the death penalty for violent criminals and the assassination of religious and political leaders who
encourage violence;
Protect yourself and those you care about - and ignore the chaos and suffering elsewhere;
Feel it as all hopeless and rum to sex or drugs or materialism or career or...
These clues should be placed on slips of paper all around the room. People should be told that, like all
clues, some may be helpful and others not. Nobody has to look at them, they can choose whether to look at
them, before doing their own key, or after, or not at all.

Humor and Stereotypes

Introduction
A few activities to encourage people to consider the nature and power of humor and to look at the
necessity and danger of humorous stereotypes.
Process
1. In small groups, investigate some of the following:
- What makes each of us laugh/smile?
- Are there many different things?
- Does it depend on mood? situation? company?
- Do we laugh at things we are afraid of or don't know anything about?
- Is it easy/difficult to make others laugh?
- How do you make others laugh?
2. Ask each group to prepare something for the other groups. The aim is to make them laugh. They may
prepare a story, a drawing, a drama, anything as long as it makes people laugh. After some planning time,
give each group the opportunity to make the others laugh.
Following this, have a discussion on how each group made decisions about what to do and whether they
were successful. Get people to consider what factors they took into account, for example, type of audience,
how well they know each other, etc.
3. Ask people to form pairs. Firstly alone, using a sheet of paper, get them to think of a time when they
found something really funny. Ask them to analyze it. Why they found it funny? What was it actually
about? They should then turn the paper over and think of a time when they didn't find something funny at
all, but they still laughed or smiled or joined in with the joke. This time they should analyze: why didn't

they find it funny? Why did they still laugh/smile? who else was there? Encourage people to be honest
with this, even if it quite difficult. (Many people may well claim. At first not to be able to think of any
situation like this. If they cannot, ask them to think of a situation where they found something funny and
others clearly didn't). They should then share these two situations with their partner and discuss them a
little further.
Back in the large group, ask people not to share the situations but any general reflections on what this
showed about humour.
4.
Many jokes and people's abilities to find things humorous depend on knowing the person or
understanding the situation or belonging to a certain group of people. Much humour makes little sense to
those who are not 'in' on them.
In small groups, ask people to do the following:
Firstly, consider:
What are in jokes? How people not 'in' react to them?
What do the mass media have to do to make us laugh at the same time at the same thing?
(Consider studio audiences, canned laughter, stereotypes, etc.)
Secondly, ask people to watch some TV entertainment programmes or listen to radio DJ's. Read some
cartoons. Look at advertisements. Then list some of the stereotypes that are frequently used.
Thirdly, ask groups to consider that stereotypes must be instantly recognizable and allow for no individual
differences. Think about hospital nurses, upper class women, radical trade union leaders,. gay men and
lesbians or any other groups that you have thought of. Then encourage them to discuss the following:
How real are the stereotypes?
Why do you think that they started?
Why are stereotypes sometimes very useful?
How would you feel if you were a member of the group talked about in this way? Or, if a member of your
family was?
How would you be affected if you didn't know anyone who was a member of that group?
How might you react if you met or heard of someone in that group after years of listening to the stereotype?
Why are some groups singled out for more jokes than others?
Why is it more worrying when jokes are directed at a whole community, rather than rich people or those
doing a specific job, like politicians?
Fourthly, ask groups to choose one group who are shown in a fairly negative, stereotypical way. Ask them
to collect examples of these stereotypes together. They should consider how these stereotypes happened.
They should think about how members of this group might feel about it. They could even ask members of
the group or read things from members of the group to see how they feel. They could think about whether
anything could, or should, be done to try to alter the stereotype.
After some time working on this in small groups they should present/demonstrate their findings to the large
group.
Some discussion should take place comparing the types of stereotypes, and reactions to them, as well as
possible strategies for changing them.

Conclusion

One or all of these activities could be used. Their purpose is to get people to think a little bit
more about whether some 'harmless fun' really is so harmless if it is directed at certain individuals
or groups. It also highlights how humour can be used as a propaganda weapon. Becoming
conscious of it, and trying to minimize its harmful effects, is something very practical that all
individuals can do. Any work on vulnerable groups, respecting difference and conflict can
benefit from some attention to humour.

A child on television
Introduction
An activity showing the power of the selection of images and words for television. Allows
consideration of some practical, creative and ethical issues about the Media. It is also about the
importance of education and upbringing in early childhood.
Process
Start either by introducing the topic of the child or by the method of television story-boarding (a
plan of the words, images and timing of a television broadcast).
1. The child
"Childhood is a time of innocence"
"Give me a child until he is seven and I'll create the Man"
Say or give out these old quotations about children, (You can explain that it is about women also,
but in older times they were not mentioned). Say that they may seem contradictory to some
people and complementary to others.
Split people in small groups of, perhaps, four or five. Give some groups the Six Statements and
some the Seven Statements. Ask them not to talk with, or show their statements to, other groups.
Six Statements
A child who is criticized - learns to condemn
A child who is punished - learns to fight
A child who is insulted - learned to be shy
A child who experiences shame - learns to feel guilt
A child who is abused - learns self-loathing
A child who sees loved ones killed - learns to fear and hate
Seven Statements
A child who meets tolerance - learns patience
A child who is encouraged - learns confidence
A child who experiences security - learns trust
A child who experiences fair play - teams justice
A child who feels friendship - comes to show kindness
A child who is accepted - learns self respect
A child who receives care and love - learns to love
Ask each group to discuss the meaning of their statements and what they think about them.
2. Television story-boarding

Explain that story-boarding is a planning grid. People working on a television programme or

advertisement use storyboards to organize themselves. (Show them the Picture, Time and Sound
diagrams). The storyboard shows what pictures the viewer will see at any point during the
program or advert and the words and sound effects that will go with the images. A useful tip is
that it takes about 1 second to say 3 words. Images and sounds should match.
3. The task
Explain that each group needs to create a two minute news item, advertisement or small feature
for television about their six or seven statements by story-boarding. They can either have many
copies of the Picture, Time and Sound diagrams from you or create their own. They need to
sketch the images, estimate the number of seconds and write in any words or sound effects.
The following points need to be discussed:
What do you want to communicate with the audience?
What are the three main points you want to make?
How are you going to explain what is happening?
Are there any images or words you cannot or will not use?
How are you going to keep your audience interested?
How can you compete with an action-adventure film, a football match or a prize-winning show?
Give a time limit for the group to discuss and prepare. An hour or an hour and a half at least.
Explain that at the end the groups will display their storyboards for others to see and will give
other groups a brief description.
4. The show
Put all the sequences on the wall. Ask people to look at the storyboards of all other groups. They
should try to notice if there are similarities and/or differences. They should see if each one makes
an impression on them. After some time for this, ask people if there are any questions they have
for a certain group. What something means? Why they chose it? (Ensure that questions are
directed at all groups, not just one or two). Ask if differences can be seen between the groups who
had the six statements and those that had the seven? Consider why this might be. You may need
to ask someone from each group to read the six and seven.
Ask each group whether they were able to agree on their storyboard easily and about their
discussion on which images and sounds could be used and how they were going to interest their
audience in this topic.
There can then be a broader discussion on whether any of these sequences would be likely to be
broadcast; the difficulty of interesting people in topics like this; the need for television to be
entertaining and whether it is possible to remain true to your principles and to compromise with
the reality of the Media.
5. Variations
You could make a competition between the groups. This would clearly reflect the reality of the
media. The best one being judged on how it grabs and holds the interest of the viewers. A small
prize, of some kind, could be offered.
Such an exercise can be done with any topic. Refugees. Gypsies. Disaster relief. Famine. In each
case some visual or verbal input needs to introduce the topic.
Instead of television story-boarding, a front-page of a newspaper could be laid out or a cassette
recording of a two-minute radio spot made. The structure of the exercise would be the same.
Conclusion

Humanitarian work needs the Media and vice versa. The relationship between the two is not
always easy because they have very different goals and practices. Some understanding of this
reality can prove useful and illuminating.

THE TEN SYMBOLS OF THE PACK METHODOLOGY

The methods used in the pack are very simple. They are mostly not difficult and not dangerous. They are,
though, harder work for those running them and those participating. They will be for some people a change
from what they are used to. (For a description of people's varying reactions to change, see the exercise
Change). The following ten symbols explain something about the methods and their rationale.
1. The lecturer or expert style of telling people what they need to know is not encouraged. Nor is sitting in
rows or behind desks. Sitting in circles, so that everyone can see each other with no barriers, is encouraged.
Also, breaking up into smaller groups of two, three or five people gives everybody the opportunity to
contribute, as well as providing variety.
2. Any activity or session or workshop or pack cannot provide everything for people. It is, rather, like
building blocks. It can add some more blocks to whatever the individual is building (a wall, a house, a
palace etc). Some things can be offered which some people will find useful and others may find less so.
Some people may reject any kind of blocks which are different shapes to the ones they expected. Others
can transform blocks into shapes suitable for their own building.
3. Although strengths and positive aspects are concentrated on, weaknesses and more negative things
should not be ignored. All people can learn new things if they are open to do so. By facing difficulties and
problems and less pleasant things about ourselves, we can learn and develop.
4. Any activity/session/course/pack can stay on a safe, secure level and people will, of course, learn and
move forward. If, however, things move beneath the surface a little... if some risks are taken.... if
participation and dealing with real issues and feelings are promoted, then difficulties and some unhappiness
can occur. The chances are much greater though, that real learning and development will take place at a
much higher level.
5. If the left-side of the brain only is engaged then learning can only possibly reach a certain level. This
side is the logical, rational one that controls reading, writing, number, tasks. If, however, the right-side is
also engaged (the side of imagination and feelings and creativity) than the whole person is involved and
learning can reach a much higher level. So colour; visual, musical and dramatic aspects; emotions and
creativity, should be used and stimulated.
6. The educational theory underlying this work is based on Dale's Cone of Experience. This suggests that
people only remember 10 to 20% of what they read or hear. If they see and hear then it approaches 50%.
To get higher they need to see, hear, say and do. If they are actively involved they can integrate up to 90%.
These methods all involve active participation and experiencing to encourage the greatest learning possible.
7. Sharing and equality are two of the key elements of the approach. Not the patronizing Adult telling
Child; Man telling Woman; North telling South; West telling East or Geneva telling everybody, what to do
and how to do. Instead, a belief that everybody can learn from each other, if they are open to receive as well
as to give.
8. Accepting difference, in the world at large and within the group, are stressed. It means accepting people
from different cultures and backgrounds; those with different lifestyles and opinions; those who want to be
a part of everything and those who sometimes want to withdraw; that people are individuals as well as
members of a Society. It means giving quite a lot of responsibility - including for their own learning or lack
of it - to people themselves and not trying to lead, control or shape too much.

9. The hope of this work is that people will feel motivated to do something about it themselves in their own
local/personal situation. It can then have a snowball effect. gathering pace and momentum and increasing in
size. First comes some awareness and sharing together and then can come some action with solidarity. Like
light, weak snowflakes joining together until they form a formidable snowball.
10. People - whether on a course; in school; at work; in a refugee camp; in a relationship etc - can be
treated like one of three vegetables.
The Green Bean: the grower tightly controls its growth, to make it perfect. The grower knows what size,
shape, color and texture it should be to make it marketable. It becomes perfect but at a cost: no freedom.
People treated this way are controlled to ensure that they have the right/best information, skills, etc.
The Mushroom: the grower places them in a dark place (a dungeon, under a box) and leaves them to grow.
They might occasionally be given some manure. They grow or they don't.
People treated this way are given nothing. They are ignored, not told anything, except on occasions,
something useless.
The Tomato: the grower prepares the ground well; protects them from birds, waters them and cares for their
growth, especially at first. After a while some may grow smaller/larger; greener/redder; sweeter; different
shapes etc. All are considered worthwhile.
This way of treating people, is to offer some things, especially at first, but then they are free to grow and
develop themselves.
The whole ethos of this pack is that it is better to try to treat people like tomatoes, rather than green beans
or mushrooms. Neither perfection nor total freedom are the goals. The goal is to offer something, to share
and to encourage real awareness and responsibility.

Camera
TASK
Your task is to accumulate at least 100 points.
RESOURCES
A minibus
One Polaroid camera with film
A map
METHOD
Points are awarded on the similarity of match of the picture you have taken against the master picture you
are given. For instance 100% match gives 100% of allocated points.
You are limited to taking 10 pictures during the day. Furthermore you are allowed only one shot per
location.
TOPOLOGICAL MAP BRIEF
Enclosed is a topological map of the area showing A & B roads, information access points and multiple
junction areas .
When you reach the junctions marked in green you will receive further information about the photographic
sites.
The areas marked in blue are multiple junctions where several roads may meet within a radius of
approximately 400 meters.

NEW INSTRUCTIONS
Your organization has been set new productivity targets. You must now obtain 200 points.
NEW INSTRUCTIONS
Raw materials are in short supply. You may only take 6 photographs.
NEW INSTRUCTIONS
There is a fixed charge of 10 points plus a levy of 20% of scored value per photograph.
This will be deducted at the close of the task.

Hello
Hello1
Purpose:
To collect background information about the participants.
Time: 15 to 30 minutes.
Participants:
At least 10.
Supplies:
Flipcharts or blank transparencies
Timer
Whistle
Preliminaries. Before the workshop, figure out what types of information you want. In order of priority,
here is a sample list for a workshop on simulation games: participants' needs, participants' jobs, simulation
gaming experience, attitude toward simulation gaming, reason for attending the workshop, and preferred
mode of learning.
Team Formation
At the start of the workshop, divide the participants into as many teams as there are categories of
information you want. Assign each team to a different topic.
Planning Session
Ask the teams to retire to convenient corners and spend 3 minutes devising a strategy for efficiently
collecting the information from all participants. Warn everyone that the total time for collecting all the data
will be only 3 minutes.
Data Collection
Announce the beginning of the data collection period. Ask the teams to collect the data (using whatever
strategies they devised earlier) within the next 3 minutes. Step back to avoid being trampled in the hectic
rush to interview each other.
Summarizing Data
After 3 minutes, call time. Ask the teams to retire to their corners, process the data, and produce a summary
report on a transparency or a poster.
Presenting Results
1

Copyright (c) 1996, Sivasailam Thiagarajan. All rights reserved.

After 3 minutes, announce the start of the show-and-tell period. Call on teams in a random order and give
each team a minute to make its presentation.
Variations:
Too many people? Assign the same topic to different teams.
Not enough time? Suggest that teams sample representative participants rather than attempting to interview
everybody.
Too much time? Conduct a preliminary brainstorming activity to identify relevant areas of information to
be collected. Ask teams to design a questionnaire before collecting the data.
Too late? Use the game as an end-of-workshop activity. Here are some suggested topics: the best feature of
the workshop, the worst feature of the workshop, the most useful skill learned, plans for using the skill, and
suggestions for improving the workshop. Use the same frame, but call your game GOODBYE!

Im a
2

Here's a fast-paced activity to highlight different cultural variables.

Ask participants to complete this sentence:
I am a(n) _______________ .
After they have done this, ask them to complete the same sentence 10 different ways.
Ask each person to place his or her list (written side down) on a table and pick up some else's.
Debrief by calling out various categories and asking for examples from different lists.
Here are some suggested categories:

activity level (couch potato)

age (senior citizen)
association membership (Mensa member)
astrological sign (Aries)
belief (pro-life proponent)
birth order (first born)
ethnicity (hispanic)
family type (person from a large family)
gender (woman)
interests (mystery-story reader)
language (Spanish speaker)
marital status (divorced woman)
national origin (African)
national politics (Democrat)
organization (IBM employee)
personal characteristic (impatient person)
personality type (introvert)
physical characteristic (tall person)
political ideology (capitalist)
profession (trainer)

Copyright 1997, Sivasailam Thiagarajan. All rights reserved.

professional approach (behaviorist)

race (Caucasian)
region (Southerner)
religion (Roman Catholic)
socioeconomic status (yuppie)
thinking style (analytical)
tribe (Kpelle)

Stress the main learning point that there are more dimensions of difference than race or national origin.

The other side

3

Here's a quick game that demonstrates how mindlessly we go through life, paying scant attention to
everyday objects.
The game described below uses a dollar bill. You can play the game with any two-sided object that can be
conveniently held in your hands. This object should have approximately equal amounts of information on
both sides: You cannot use a picture postcard because one side contains a skimpy amount of information
compared to the other. However, you can use two picture postcards pasted to each other. You can also use a
credit card, a quarter, a double-sided brochure, a playing card (with a picture on its back), a page from a
menu, or a canceled check.
You can also use the game to train people about key features of the object. Example: training bank tellers to
recognize the features of a 100-dollar bill so that they can recognize counterfeits.
Here's the flow of the game:

1.

Ask each participant to find a partner. If you have an odd number of participants, pair yourself with
the unpopular individual who gets left out.

2.

Ask each pair to pull out a dollar bill. Have them carefully inspect both sides of the bill for 30
seconds.

3.

Ask one member of the pair to hold up the dollar bill by its narrower edges so that each player sees
a different side. It is important that neither player can see the other side.

4.

Explain how the game is played: The players take turns to make statements about what they see on
their side of the dollar bill. This statement could be true (example: The word one is spelled out six
times) or false (example: The signature of the U. S. President appears on the dollar bill). The other
player announces whether this statement is true or false.

5.

Encourage the players to make generic statements (example: The serial number of the bill begins
with a letter) rather than a specific statement (example: The serial number of this bill begins with the
letter G). Also encourage the players to make sentences that contain a single element (example: The
dollar bill contains two signatures) instead of multiple elements (example: The dollar bill has two
signatures on either side of the picture of Washington with the titles of the people under their
signatures). In other words, we do not want any statements that are partially true and partially false.

6.

Explain the scoring system. If the second player's announcement is correct, neither player scores
anything. However, if the second player's statement is incorrect, then the first player scores a point.

Copyright 1997, Sivasailam Thiagarajan. All rights reserved.

7.

Explain how the game ends. The player who reaches the total score of 5 points first wins the game.

8.

Let the game begin. After a few rounds, suggest that if the hands that are holding up the dollar bill
are getting tired, the other player may take a turn to be the bill-holder (keeping the same sides of the
bill facing the same players).

9.

To repeat the game, ask the players to turn the dollar bill around for the next round. Or, ask the
players to use a $100 bill or some other convenient object.
Copyright 1997, Sivasailam Thiagarajan. All rights reserved.

Who said that?

Purpose:
To help the participants share background information.
Time:
10 to 20 minutes
Supplies:
Blank index cards.
A flipchart with four or five questions that suit the participants and your topic.
Example: Here are the five questions that we used in a workshop on learning to use the World-Wide Web:
1.What is your primary reason for coming to this workshop?
2.What is a major worry that you have about this workshop?
3.How would you rate your current knowledge of the Internet?
4.What type of computer do you use?
5.What do you think a Web page is?
Participants:
3 to 7. If you have more participants, divide them into roughly equal-sized groups, and have these groups
play in a parallel fashion.
Flow of the game:
1.Display the list of questions.
2.Ask the participants to take one of their cards, and write the number "1" and their answer to the first
question. They should repeat the process with each of the other questions, writing one answer per card. Ask
the participants to place their answer cards face down in the middle of the table.
3.Ask one participant to shuffle the answer cards and deal them out, face down, one card at a time.
4.Announce that the activity will last for 10 more minutes. Start a timer.
5.Ask the first participant to take one of the cards and read it aloud. If asked, this participant may read the
card again, but may not show the card to anyone. (This is to prevent participants from recognizing the
handwriting on the card.)
6.All the participants (except the reader) now guess who wrote the card, and write down their guess. (The
person who actually wrote the card should write down his or her own name, assuming that he or she is not
the reader.)
7.After everyone has finished writing, they reveal their guesses. The person who wrote the card identifies
himself or herself. Those who guessed correctly score a point. The card is then placed face up in the
middle of the table.
8.The second participant now selects one of his or her cards and reads it aloud. The same procedure is
repeated.

9.If a card has the last remaining answer to a particular question, the person merely reads it and places it in
the middle of the table. (There is no point in guessing, since everyone knows who wrote that card, through
a process of elimination.) Play continues with the next person.
10.Stop the game at the end of 10 minutes. Declare the person with the most correct guesses to be the
winner.
11.To bring things to a close, ask the participants to read the answers on the remaining cards and ask the
writers to identify themselves.
Copyright 1997, Sivasailam Thiagarajan. All rights reserved.

The Dragons Eggs

A long long time ago there was a Dragon living in Snowdonia. The Dragon was a big red dragon and aside
from hoarding treasure it used to amuse itself by ravaging the surrounding valleys, flying in and eating the
cattle, scaring the people, burning their houses and generally making a nuisance of itself.
The people of the countryside petitioned the King to come and rid them of the beast and so it came to pass
that the King, his men and an old man named Myrddyn arrived and gave battle to the monster for several
days, finally driving the dragon to its mountain hideaway where they cornered it.
The Dragon realised that its last moments had come and in an act of preservation laid two eggs.
The King captured the dragon and Myrddyn with his secret arts imprisoned it upon the flag of Wales.
The two eggs which the dragon laid upon the topmost peak of a high mountain in Snowdonia are still there,
clearly visible ( weather permitting ) from the valley below.
Myrddyn left a fairly convincing prophesy behind before he left.
This is roughly it.
The Dragons eggs will hatch out on midsummer night and two red Dragons will emerge to wreak havoc
and do those unspeakable deeds that you often hear about.................unless. .......... a collective act of
courage and determination is performed within sight of the eggs during the first week of May.
Your task is to locate the eggs and perform the aforementioned act .
You can do this by locating the listed orienteering posts in the Glyn Gwydyr forest. Finding these posts will
give you information regarding the location of the eggs ....and the place to do heroic deeds.
RESOURCES (per team )
One mini bus
One compass
A map of Snowdonia
An orienteering map of the Glyn Gwydyr forest.
One bike.
Return to Seiont Manor by 4.00. pm.
The eggs are to be found North of grid line 58.
The eggs are to be found East of grid line 63.
The place of heroic deeds is located on a grid bearing of ........ degrees and at a distance of 950 metres from
the Dragons eggs.

Castell Gwynt. (Castle of the wind)

CASTELL Y GWYNT. ( CASTLE OF THE WIND ).

Your task is to make your way to the Castle of the Wind [GR.656583].
Your route must take you via Twll Du ( The Black Hole ) / Devils Kitchen [GR. 639588]. The route may be
steep in places.
Park at or near the Ogwen cottage rescue centre [GR. 650603].
Return to Hen Blas by ...............

Resources.
3 climbing ropes.
2 carabinas each.
1 helmet each.
1 climbing harness each.
8 tape slings.
1 stitch plate.
1 figure of 8 descender.
1 shunt each.
1 compass
1 Ordinance Survey map.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
There has been a rock fall in the kitchen. this route is now inaccessible. Instead you must follow a
designated alternative route.
New Route.
Make your way to the foot of Clogwyn y Tarw ( The Cliff of the Bull ) / The Griben Facet. [GR. 650596]
From there make your way to the top of the cliff by climbing up either
Slab Intermediate Route or Slab Recess Route, as described in the Cwm Idwal climbing guide. ( Your tutor
has a copy of this book ).
Tutors will help you by providing technical skills and information.
When you have identified where you wish to go inform the tutor who will then set up any safety systems
that are needed in order for you to complete the climb.
Climbing tuition is available.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
URGENT MESSAGE.
They are having problems at Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station.
The main reactor has gone critical and will explode in exactly ... minutes from NOW ! Every living thing
for within a radius of 50 miles will be wiped out in the explosion.
HOWEVER the reactor can be stabilized by doing one of the following.
1. Phone Hen Blas before the explosion.
2. Throw a large rock into the nearest lake.
3. All of the group ascend to a height of 800 meters.
Your most precious resource is time.
HURRY !!! it is ticking away.

The Nordic Oath

Part One:
Are all the initiates listening?
We will now take the Nordic oath.
Please cross the fingers of your left arm and put the against your forehead.
"I thus swear to take this oath and forever follow it. About alcohol:
I will never leave my bottle unattended.
I will never drink using my right hand.
I will never complain the beer is too warm.
I will never complain the beer is too cold.
I'll only complain when the beer is all gone."

Part Two:
Please cross the fingers of your right arm and put them against your
butt.
"I thus swear to take this oath and forever follow it. About behavior outside our subregion:
I will always make sure that Nordics are the hardest party animals.
I will make the morning plenary even if I'm dead.
I will make the night parties even if I'm dead.
I will always uphold the honor of the Nordics."

Part Three:
Please hunch your back slightly.
"I thus swear to take this oath and forever follow it. NMS 97:
I will not try to take Camilla away from the trainers.
I will not refer to the trainers as the Dozen Dwarves.
I will not pass out in the sauna.
I will not have sex in the plenary room.
I will not be uptight and boring."

Part Four:
Please rise your left foot from the ground.
"I thus swear to take this oath and forever follow it. The Nordic Song:
I will learn every verse of the Nordic song.
I will never use the Nordic song in vain.
I shall always sing the Nordic song loud.
I will always treat the singer of the Nordic song as a friend.
I will always Rock Hard.

Instructions:
Italics should be sung in a high, Gregorian church music style.
Normal text should be read aloud with a steady, baritone voice.
The Three Way Effect
Time Needed: 30 minutes to an hour
Number of people: This is a game for groups of various sizes (Groups that a too large will
prolong this game and might lead to boredom)
Procedure: The members of the group are given three pieces of paper. They are then asked to
write down their greatest fear on one piece of paper, on another their greatest desire and on the
last piece of paper something that nobody else in the group knows about themselves.
When the above task has been completed, the leader of the group should collect up all of the
pieces of paper. Following the collection the group leader takes a piece of paper at random and
reads it out aloud to the group. Upon the completion of this it is up to the group to guess who
wrote the comment. If this game is participated in properly it can have wonderful team building
effects. The group as a whole comes to realize things about individuals which previously they had

no idea about. This is a trust building game which is essential if any team is to work effectively.
In the longer term this exercise can help the leaders of the organization to come to realize why
people of the group react to situations the way they do.

Scoop
A small whirlwind raced through the building earlier today wreaking havoc with the newspapers displayed
in the adjoining room.
Your task is to collate the debris back into the periodicals they originally were, suitable for display as if
they were for sale.
You have ten minutes to plan your action during which time you can look at but not touch the papers and a
further ten minutes during which you can touch the papers but you cannot talk to each other.

Blindfold Walk
Pair up with a partner.
One person is to be blindfolded and the other is to be their guide.
The guide is to lead the blindfolded person on as interesting a walk as possible. By interesting we mean
rich in sensory experience.
Please bear in mind the limitations that a blindfold person has and keep thoughts of safety uppermost in
your awareness.
After five minutes change over roles of guide and blindfold person.

Icebreakers
TWO TRUTHS, ONE LIE:
Break everyone into groups of anywhere from 3-5. Each person must tell the others two truths and one lie
about themselves. The other members of the group must then guess which statement was the lie. When
finished, the groups can each choose their "best liar", who can then try and fool the rest of the groups.
GROUPING BY CHARACTERS AND THEME SONGS:
This is a fun way in which to break up a large group into smaller ones. Write the names of characters from
sitcoms, cartoons, etc.. that can readily be recognized as belonging together on index cards. If you want
your group size to be about 5, you should make sure that you have 5 characters per grouping. For
example, if you pick the Flintstones as a character grouping, you would have five index cards each with a
different character such as Fred, Wilma, Barney, Pebbles, and Bamm-Bamm. Mix up the index cards and
pass them out as the people walk through the door. The groups then have to find each other by singing the
theme song from whichever sitcom, cartoon, etc.. the characters
represent.
HUMAN ZIPPER - HAND:
Have people line up one behind the other. Put your left hand through your legs and grab the right hand of
the person behind you. Reach your right arm out to grab the left hand of the person in front of you. Then,
starting with the very last person in line, everyone must crawl through the legs of the people in front of
you.

HUMAN ZIPPER:
Break up the room into two groups. (You can keep it in one if there aren't enough people for two.) Line
them up, preferably female-male. One person then needs to lie down on their back. The next person will lie
down next to the first person but with his/her feet facing the
opposite direction. They should be close together to the point where their heads are touching. Lay people
down alternating them in the same manner. Everyone's feet should be facing out from the center.
Then, have everyone raise their arms in the air and flex their wrists so that they make a flat surface. Tell
them that it's very important to keep their arms stiff. Take the first person out of the line,have them stand
up, help lay them down on the first set of hands. This person will be passed all the way down the line along
the hands. The people lying down need to keep passing them down the line without letting them fall.
(Someone is needed to spot this game because usually they will start to waiver every so often.) It's
important for the person being passed to remain stiff as well so that it's easier to pass them. Once they reach
the end, that person is helped off the human zipper and they will lie down next to the last person in line and
become part of the zipper. The second person toward the front of the line now will go through the same
process and then the third and so on and so forth. If you have enough people to do more than one line, you
can have races between the "zippers."
NAME GAME:
This is a "get to know you game." Everyone breaks up into groups of around 10-15. The person who
starts needs to say his or her name along with a word that starts with the same letter. The facilitator may
want to choose a specific area. For example, favorite foods or adjectives to describe yourself. The second
person must say their adjective/food/whatever along with their name and also what the person before them
said. For example, if the second person in the circle is named karen and the first is named Scott: Karen
would have to say "Kiwi Karen, Scallion Scott." And so on until the last person has to say everyone's
name & adjective.
HUMAN KNOT:
Break into groups of around 7. Everyone should form a circle and reach out and grab the hands of
someone in the group who is not standing directly next to him or her. The group must then "untie." If you
have more than one group, you can make it into a race. Realize: this is possible no matter how hands are
grabbed as long as no one grabs the hands of someone who is directly next to him or her.

Icebreakers
GETTING AQUATINTED
Aim:
1.
2.

To provide opportunities to become acquainted with other members of the group.

To promote feedback and self-disclosure among participants regarding initial perceptions.

Time: Approx.35-40 minutes.

Materials:
1. 2 blank sticky labels or strips of masking tape for each participant.
2. A copy of the Labeling Category List for each participant. (See below).
3. Pencils or felt-tipped markers.

Procedure:
The group leader distributes a copy of the Labeling Category List to each participant along with blank
name tags.
Each participant must copy each category on a separate blank nametag.
Participants mill around and choose a person who best fits each category. Stick label onto clothing of the
person you select and engage in a one-minute conversation (20 minutes).
The group leader forms groups of 5-7 members. Each group must discuss their reactions to being
categorized and labeled (or not labeled) by others' first impressions (15 minutes).
Labeling Category List:
Warm
Shy
Fun loving
Sexy
Mysterious

Intelligent
Happy
Friendly
Sincere

WORLD TRIP
Aims:
To find out the names of other members in the group
To provide low risk activity
To stimulate logical thought
Description:
A game to help group members learn each other's names
Approach
The group could be sitting on the floor. The teacher enters the group and introduces the game by saying,
"None of us knows any other's name. Let's play a game that will help us find them out. My name is Tom, I
am going on a world trip and I am taking Tomatoes with me. If you want to come with me you have, to say
your first name and what you want to bring. You have to bring the right thing. The first letter of our first
name must be the first letter of the thing you bring.
The game proceeds until everyone can come.
At the end of the game the teacher asks each student two questions.
"How many names can you remember?"
"Which are they?"
Time:
Could take one session
Background
This activity would be best used at the initial meeting of the group.

WHO'S MISSING
Materials:
Small prizes, such as sweets.(optional)
Aims:
Memory training, concentration, building groups, fun.
Procedure:
Group is seated, scattered around the room. One person, A goes out. The
group moves around, changing places, and one more person, B,1eaves by the other door, or hides. A returns
and has 30 seconds to guess who's missing. If he does he wins (a small sweet, if you wish to give prizes), if
he doesn't B wins.
Variations:
Add consequences for the loser

CHINESE WHISPERS
Materials:
None
Aims:
Positive feedback, good for closing exercise
Procedure:
Members mill around. When you see someone you'd like to communicate with, send them a message via
someone else: e.g. 'Tell Joan I said thank you for helping me yesterday.' Continue until messages run out.
Variations:
Do as graffiti on large paper on walls. Do with bits of paper being delivered. Do at a run, speed up, slow
motion, etc.

THE NAME OF THE GAME

Materials:
One ball for every group of about 15 -16.
Aims:
Introduction, memorizing names
Procedure:
New group sits in a circle of not more than sixteen. One person is given a ball. The ball is passed around
the circle and each person who receives the ball says their name very clearly (usually just the first name).
When everyone has been named and the ball is back to the beginning, the person holding the ball throws it
to any person. That person must say the thrower's name. The ball is then thrown to someone else who must
say the next thrower's name. If a person cannot remember the name of the person who has thrown the ball
to him, they must ask and repeat the name before proceeding with the activity. The game continues until
everyone can remember the names of the people within their group. Group size is usually about sixteen.

HUMAN TIC-TAC-TOE
Materials:
9 chairs, running space
Aims:
Active participation, warm-up, fun
Procedure:
At one end of the room, three rows of three chairs each, four feet apart. Teams: Team 1 is 'Noughts', Team
2 is 'Crosses'; they line up
In corners of
the room facing the chairs. When the leader calls 'noughts', the first naught runs to a chair
and sits with arms circled above head. Runner must sit before Leader counts to 5 slowly. Leader calls
'crosses', first cross runs and sits with arms crossed on chest. Leader continues to call them alternately until
one team wins (same rules as paper Noughts and Crosses). Start over, call losing team first. Keep score
(optional).

TICK TOCK
Materials:
Two small different objects, such as a blue felt pen and a red felt pen.
Aims:
Breaking the ice, concentration
Procedure:
Leader has pen (or other object), passes it to his right, saying: 'This is a tick'. Player 1 says: 'A what?'
Leader repeats: 'A tick'. 1 then passes it on saying, 'This is a tick'. Player 2 says: 'A what?' to player 1, who
says: 'A what?' to the leader. Each time the 'What?' must pass all the way to the leader, and the 'A tick' must
pass all the way back, before the pen is passed. When this has been practiced a few times, start over, and at
the same time, start another pen to the left, saying: 'This is a tock' etc. Confusion is encouraged and
acceptable. Let the group try, as long as desired, to return both objects to the leader without losing the flow
or concentration.

FAMOUS PEOPLE
Materials:
Famous names on strips of card or paper, straight pins. Could be real people (Joan of Arc), fictional
(Superman), etc.
Aims:
Mixing, starting conversation, ice-breaking
Procedure:
As people enter, leader pins a name on each person's back. Each one must walk around and try to find out
who he is by asking yes-or-no questions of everyone else. When he knows who he is, he pins the paper on
his front and continues to help others.

Variations:
Try it non-verbally. Try insisting that everyone must make statements (e.g. 'I am alive'), and no questions
allowed.

THE WORLD
Who:
Small groups, no real limit on the total number
Where:
A room
Aids:
Large sheets of paper
An atlas (for the judges)
Pens for each group
Score Sheet
Objectives:
To informally test peoples general knowledge of world geography
Leaders Hints:
Nil
Instructions:
Draw a map of the world, showing the borders of each country and the location of the capital, but not the
names of the countries or the capitals
See how many countries and capitals each group can identify in a given time period (say 10 minutes)
Award 1 point for each country, 1 point for each capital (accuracy is up to the judges)
Conclusion
A good game for breaking a large group up into small teams. Particularly useful for AIESEC, since at the
end of the exercise you can identify which of the countries are AIESEC Member Countries.

TEAM HOPSCOTCH
Who:
Small groups
Where:
Outside on a cement (or other hard) surface
Aids
Chalk, Stones
Objectives:
To have fun
Leaders Hints:
Be careful to explain the rules carefully
Instructions

The whole team must travel up and down the hopscotch board. Each team must do several laps or several
games, depending on the time allowed.

4
5

Each player uses a flat stone; player tosses the stone into square one, then hops over it as far as he/she can
ie into square 2,3 etc. Player turns and hops back to square one to retrieve stone, then hops back to square
they landed in and throws stone into next square. Process is repeated until person has travelled up and back.
Each team member takes a turn.
If stone does not land in appropriate square, or player hops into square containing stone of if player touches
the ground with hand of foot they must start again.

Conclusion:
Good team game, may be used in mini-Olympics.

TRAIN GAME
Who:
Large groups (approx 20)
Where:
Inside or Outside
Aids:
Nil
Objectives:
To get people to mix
To have the person in the centre of the circle try to catch the train
Leaders Hints:
Appoint your most vocal people as stations and crossings
Instructions
Group stands in circle with hands joined
One person stands in the middle of the circle
The train moves by a squeeze of the hand, so if a person feels a squeeze of the hand on the left side, they
must squeeze the hand of the person on their right side
Appoint a few people around the circle to be crossings (these people shout ding-a-ling as the train passes
through them) and stations (these people shout Toot as the train passes through, and they also have the
power to change the direction the train is traveling)
The person in the middle catches the train by pointing at a person who has received the train on one side
but has not passed it on to the other side of them.

Conclusion
A good game for groups of people who know each other well enough to feel comfortable holding hands, or
for groups who are beginning to be bonded (eg new directors at a national conference)

ANIMAL NOISES
Who:
The more the merrier (at least 20)
Where:
In a large room or outside
Aids:
Animal names on slips of paper
Blindfolds if you have them
Objectives:
To communicate with others without using normal everyday words
Leaders Hints: Nil
Instructions:
Each person is given a piece of paper with the name of an animal on it eg cow, horse, goat, owl, elephant,
dog, and turkey. The number of animals you use is up to you, but you want to use each animal at least 4 or
5 times.
Everyone has to close their eyes (or be blindfolded) and by making the noise of their animal, find the other
cows, horses etc, keeping their eyes closed all the time.
Variations:
For large groups, just give inform each person of their animal verbally.
Conclusion:
Sit back and laugh

WINK MURDER
Who:
A group of people (preferably 15 25)
Where:
Inside a room big enough for everyone to walk around
Objectives
To learn from observation
Instructions
Everyone sits in a circle and covers their eyes.
You choose a murderer (unknown to others) by tapping them on the head
Everyone uncovers their eyes and starts to walk around so that they frequently pass each other.

The murderer may kill anyone by winking at him or her. If a person receives a wink he/she must wait for 5
seconds and then fall to the ground (shouting aaagh! on the way down). That person is now dead and
cannot participate in the rest of the game.
If a person spots another person winking at someone, he may accuse that person of being the murderer, by
pointing at the accused & saying, I think X is the murderer.
After the accusation has been made, the accuser must have someone else back up his or her claim. If not,
the accuser must withdraw from the game. The suspect does not have to comment.
A murderer is caught if he/she is accused correctly by tow people, and a new game starts.
If an accuser and a supporter are both wrong, they must both withdraw from the game.

Conclusion
A good game for a group of strangers, or even friends!

WHOS CHANGING THE MOVEMENT

Who:
Groups of people (approx 20)
Where:
Enough room to sit in a circle, inside or outside
Aids
Nil
Objectives
To test peoples powers of observation
Leaders Hints
Nil
Instructions
Groups sit in a circle facing inwards, one person per group leaves the room. The others decide who will be
the leader.
The person comes back into the room and stands in the middle.
The leader makes a series of movements eg scratching head, waving arms, lifting leg up and down, bending
forward etc and the others in the group have to copy the movements.
The person in the middle, by carefully watching the change of the movements has to guess whom the leader
is.
Conclusion: Good for strangers or friends.

MOVE TO THE SPOT

Aims
Introductory Movement Awareness Relaxation
Materials
Large, empty room or space
Learning to follow simple instructions, movement, warm-u for Drama P
Procedure

Leader says: 'Find a place to stand by yourself. Now look at and concentrate on a fixed spot on the floor,
somewhere across the room. Now, move to that spot in a straight line pacing yourself so as not to have to
stop, while avoiding bumping into anyone.'
Leader continues to give similar instructions, allowing time for individuals to (A) concentrate on each spot,
(B) move at their own pace, and (C) settle into the new spot.

Instructions for (B) could include moving to the new spot:

backwards
in as few steps as possible
in as many steps as possible
travelling in circles
travelling in squares
using as few jumps as possible
with hands on knees, toes etc.
moving along floor without using hands
using only two out of four legs

Variations
Have group invent more instructions.

MRS O'GRADY
Who:
Small Group
Where:
Inside or outside in roomy area
Aids/Equipment
None
Objectives:
To assess social skills, ability to communicate, willingness to participate
To encourage group bonding, relax with each other
Leaders Hints:
Observe who is enthusiastic, imaginative with suggestions
Observe who seems confident, shows group spirit, who becomes competitive.
Instructions:
1. The group stands in a circle and tells the story of Mrs O'Grady and accompanies with actions:
First person: "Did you hear what happened to Mrs O'Grady?"
Second person: " No. What happened?"
First person: "She died."
Second person: "How did she die?"
First person: "She died with her hand on her head" (places hand on head)
2. The second person puts their hand on their head too, says the same speech to the third per son and adds
another action, so the person at the end has all the different actions.
Conclusion
This is a silly game intended to relax the group and begin group bonding.

TOILET PAPER GAME

Group Size
6 - 8 people is mot effective, but slightly smaller or slightly larger would also work.
Materials
A roll of toilet paper per group
When and Where
On arrival to an O'Camp or State Conference site where the to use group will be placed in a situation where
they may need toilet paper for the next certain period of time, but do not have access to go and buy any.
Procedure
Sit down with designated group and explain to them that in all the rush, we were not aware that the site
does not supply toilet paper. However, each group has one role of toilet paper until tomorrow when we go
to the shop. Each group member is to then take as much toilet paper as they feel necessary to last them that
amount of time.
Once each member of the group has their toilet paper, the leader explains that we do actually have toilet
paper and that what each member of the group must do is tell the group one thing about themselves for
each piece of paper that they have.

MAKING THE LONGEST CHAIN

Group Size:
2 teams (or more) of at least 4
Materials:
None
Where and When
A fun break in between activities with a group who are familiar with each other.
Procedure
Tell each group that the aim of this game is to make the longest chain. The chains must be made of only the
clothing currently being worn by the people in the group. The aim is that people have to strip down as far as
possible to make the longest chain.
The team with the longest chain of clothing wins.

SCRAMBLED EGGS
Group Size
6 and up
Materials
Chairs for everyone but one person

Where and When

A good game to get to know people or in between sessions when working with a small to middle sized
group. A bonus in some instances as no close physical contact is involved.
Procedure
Seat your group in a circle, but make sure that there is one less chair then the number of people on the
group. You stand in the middle of the circle to begin the activity.
Explain that you are going to call out a sentence and anyone to whom the sentence applies must get up and
change chairs. It is not possible to move to the chair on either side of their present position. Your aim is to
occupy one of the vacant places before someone else, so that you are no longer the person in the middle.
Then the person who has been caught in the middle must think up a sentence that will cause others to
change chairs, so that he/she can get to a chair first.
Examples of sentences that can be called out - "All those wearing watches." "All those who had breakfast
this morning." "All those with blue eyes." When "scrambled eggs" is called out, everyone must change
chairs.

BE IT
Group Size
Any size
Materials
None
Time
5 minutes
Where and When
Use to break the workload, to use up excess energy, as a getting to know you activity.
Procedure
1. Ask the participants to spread out around the room so that they have plenty of space to swing their arms
about
Explain that the activity they are about to do is called "Be It" and is involves a bit of imagination and
letting go of your inhibitions.
Then explain that you are going to name a series of objects, and each time they should try to shape their
bodies into the form of that object.
Variations
For a group that is more comfortable with each other, ask them to make a noise as well as an action.
Suggested Ideas
Banana
Tree
Snail
Bulldozer
Elephant
Telephone
Vacuum Cleaner
Paper Weight

Food Vending Machine

CAN I COME TO THE PARTY?

Who:
Small groups (separated into pairs)
Where:
Enough room for the group to form a large circle
Objectives:
To learn from observation
To communicate non-verbally
To motivate and energize the group
Leaders' Hints:
Observe how participants react to the cues
Do those who dont understand become frustrated, determined or give up?
Instructions:
1. The leaders need to decide the criterion for coming to the party. This can vary and have any degree of
difficulty. You may invite:
Those who are wearing clothing ending with a consonant
Those who have their feet crossed when they are to be invited
Those who ask when you have your feet crossed
Those who ask you addressing you by name
Sit participants in a circle and explain that you are going to hold a party to which they may or may not be
able to come. Invite them to ask if they can come to the party. Use the criterion agreed upon, start the
game.
You can give hints, such as No you cant come wearing a bra, but you can come in suspenders (!)
When the criterion has been guessed, invite one of the group to be the party host.
Conclusion:
This is another activity involving learning through observation. By exercising these skills, we become
better at learning from those cues that people give us.

MEMORY GAME
Who:
Small teams of people (say 3-5 in each)
Where:
A room large enough for each team to be able to sit in a circle.
Aids
A blanket
A number of objects (eg a book, a spoon, a phone etc)
Pen / Paper / Score Sheet

Objectives
Simple memory test
Leaders Hints
Nil
Instructions
Place 10-15 objects under the blanket
Everybody has 5 seconds to look at them
Then people individually write down what they saw
Next collectively write down the objects (within each team)
Remove blanket and check that all items were identified
If time remaining replace blanket and ask each team to draw a map of objects as laid out under than
blanket.
Variation
If too easy, ask for more details eg title of book, color of spoon
Conclusion
Non-threatening team game for new members

Icebreakers

The Icebreaker tasks are intended to be simple tasks that help the group to interact in the
early stages of a programme. Their best use is to help build rapport and give an
introduction to the learning cycle. Whilst the tasks do contain process related issues they
are kept to a simple level allowing the group to focus on the issues without unnecessary
distractions.
Each task takes about twenty minutes to complete and can be reviewed and summarised
in about twenty minutes.

BLINDFOLD WALK
Pair up with a partner.
One person is to be be blindfolded and the other is to be their guide.
The guide is to lead the blindfolded person on as interesting a walk as possible. By interesting we mean
rich in sensory experience.
Please bear in mind the limitations that a blindfold person has and keep thoughts of safety uppermost in
your awareness.
After five minutes change over roles of guide and blindfold person.

NIGHTLINE
You are to take a journey into the unknown.
Your tutor will lead you to the start point. Here you will each put on a blindfold and the safety equipment.
The tutor will place a rope in your hand. Your task is to follow the rope to the end.
When you reach a section with three knots in it you will have completed the course and can remove your
blindfolds.

PATHFINDER
TASK
During the Falklands war the battleship the General Belgringo was sunk by the Royal Navys submarine
the Conqueror. The circumstances concerning this event were and still are unknown. Information about
the actions of the Conqueror is vague, due to the unexplained disappearance of the submarines log.
Earlier this year a team from the special services department believed that they had made significant
progress in locating the log.
The team tracked an unknown person(s) to a village in Bershire in an attempt to recover the log.
Your task is to trace the route followed by unknown person(s) and if possible recover the submarines log.

Eye witness accounts are available.

Eye Witness Account

The Train Driver
Id just finished work for the day and was walking past Vivian Quarry when this man came running down
the incline, you know, the one by the tunnel entrance to the quarry. The man was running quickly and kept
looking over his shoulder as if he was expecting to see someone.

Eye Witness Account

Barman at Padarn Lake Hotel

Yeah, there was this guy sitting in the corner. I remember him well cause hed put back at least four
double whiskeys. Funny bloke really. kept muttering to himself, now what was it? Oh yeah, he kept saying
over and over Mine, all mine, now Ill show them all. After a while these two really mean heavy looking
guys came in and stood at the bar. They didnt order a drop. The guy in the corner went white as a sheet and
left out the back. After a while the other two went as well.

Eye Witness Account

Factory worker at DMM
I was just leaving work when I saw these three blokes over the road, just by the entrance to where the new
developments are being built. They seemed to be talking quietly to each other and then one of them shouted
No no you cant have it and then one of the other guys said Ok Vic let him have it and then the two
guys started to beat the living s*** out of the other guy, really vicious they was and I ran over shouting so
to stop them killing the guy and they saw me and jumped into a car and drove off and this other fellow just
got up, covered in blood he was and I asked if he wanted help but he just shook his head and pulled a parcel
out of his jacket and ran off up the hill and that was the end of that.

Eye Witness Account

Policeman - Inspector Knacker
Yes it was later that evening that we found him. He was floating face down in the lake. We thought the
circumstances were suspicious when we found the six inch blade protruding from between his shoulder
blades. He must have put up a good fight because there was a trail of blood all the way to the lake from the
Kent Mountain centre towards the the top of the hill.

Eye Witness Account

Cockney Poacher on holiday
Well guvnor I keep my head down, not my manor here you know. Well I was coming back up through the
grounds of the centre when I saw this geezer come crashing out of the bushes clutching this box in his
hands. He ran up to front door and tried to get in but it wouldnt open. Then these two other blokes
suddenly appeared round the corner of the building. I werent too sure what happened next but the first guy
just legged it off towards the lake and the other two guys was hot on his tail. I heard all this shouting and
trashing about in the bushes and then this god-almighty scream. Fair chilled me to the marrow it did. Me I
just beat it, you know, see nuffin, hear nuffin. I sure as hell werent going to tell the rozzers. The funny
thing was that when he ran off he didnt have the box with him no more, I went to see if it was in the porch
but before I got there I heard the door opening so I beat it.

SCOOP

A small whirlwind raced through the building earlier today wreaking havoc with the newspapers displayed
in the adjoining room.

Your task is to collate the debris back into the periodicals they originally were, suitable for display as if
they were for sale.
You have ten minutes to plan your action during which time you can look at but not touch the papers and a
further ten minutes during which you can touch the papers but you cannot talk to each other.

THE SPIDERS WEB

Your task is to get all the members of your team through the Spiders Web without touching the ropes. If
any team member touches the ropes then the whole team must return to the start again.
Each hole in the web can only be used once before it closed to further use.
The holes above and below the ropes are impenetrable.
You have fifteen minutes to complete this task from your arrival on site.

The Games Compendium

Pencil and Paper Games

Anagrams
Cards with anagrams on pinned around the room
Pen and paper player or per team
There are so many variations that you can try with this, for example books of the Bible, rivers, towns,
famous people.
Cub 2000 (Art Consequences)
A sheet of paper fanfolded into 6 sections per team
A pen or pencil per team
The cubs or beavers sit in a circle in their six. The sixer is given the fan folded sheet of paper and a pen.
The rest of the six close their eyes, this makes the final result more fun. The sixer then draws on the first
section, a hat suitable to be worn by a scout in the 21st century. Paper is passed onto the next cub who
draws the head on the second section. This is continued with the shoulders body legs and feet. Open out the
paper at the end to see the strange 21st century cub that the six have drawn.

Pictionary
Paper
A pen or pencil per team
This is a game which has been commercialized in the UK. One member from each patrol comes up to the
scout leader, who whispers a word or phrase to them. The patrol member then goes back to his patrol and
attempts to draw on a sheet of paper, what the scout leader said. They are not allowed to give clues by
actions, speech or writing. The first patrol to guess correctly win the point.

Time-Tables
A set of time tables per team

 Paper and pens per team

A prepared set of destinations and arrival times
If you go to a couple of your local travel agents, you should be able to pick up some airline flight time
tables. If you have four patrols then you will need five copies all the same, one for the leader and one for
each of the patrols. You have to make up a list of destinations and times that you would like to arrive there.
Put in some interesting ones that will need flight changes and different airports. You could also throw in
things like certain flights only going on certain days. You could if you prefer, use railway or bus time
tables, but airlines will give you more exotic destinations. This is a good training game for teaching the
youngsters how to read and use time tables.

Word Puzzle
From: Alastair Honeybun
A pencil per player
Paper per player
Each of the players is given a piece of paper on which he draws nine squares, 3 x 3. They take turns at
calling out a letter, and each player must put the letter in any one of his nine squares. As the letter is called,
it can be put down only once, but the same letter may be called more than once. The object of the game is
to place the letters so they will make as many three-letter words vertically and horizontally as possible.

The Games Compendium

Obstacle Courses

Blind Tom Obstacle Race

From: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
Many Obstacles
6 Blindfolds
Select four to six scouts, who are lined up at one end of the room. Place obstacles on the Floor: a pile of
books, an overturned chair, bottles, a lamp etc. Instruct the players to memorize the position of each object.
The scouts who are the players then face the wall and are blindfolded. While this being done, the obstacles
are quietly being removed. The players are then turned around and told to walk to the opposite wall without
colliding with any obstacles. Clever suggestions can be offered by the scout leader to make it more
interesting. Have one of the waiters try the course; only leave some obstacles.

Human Obstacle Course

From: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
Team members line up before the starting line. Ten additional members are used as an obstacle course: a
standing pole to go around, a leg tunnel to go under, kneels on all fours to leap over, sitters with legs
outstretched to step in and among, another standing pole to circle around and return to the starting line.
Runner must repeat if missed or improperly executed.

Obstacle Course In The Dark

Various items that will fall over easily such as skittles
Plastic bottles and short lengths of wood or plastic tube

Give each team the same type and number of objects. Allocate each team a lane down the length of the hall
across which they must lay out the obstacles. You could mark these lanes with chairs if you wished. When
the teams have completed their task, line them up at one end of the hall and then get them to swap lanes
with one of the other teams. This way if they have made the obstacle too easy then they will give this
advantage away to another team. After allowing them a minute or two to look at the lane they are in, turn
out the light and get them to walk down the lane to the other end. The patrol leader or sixer should be the
leader for his team. At the finish end of the hall, one of the leaders could flash a torch on and off at random
to give them a bearing. Points are deducted from each team for the number of obstacles they have knocked
over.

The Other Guy's Obstacle Course

>From: rickcl@pogo.wv.tek.com (Rick Clements)
Standard set-up, but small: tire to go through, chest-high rope to go over, 'creek' to cross, bell suspended
out-of-reach to ring. Trick is, you may not do anything to maneuver yourself thru any obstacle - the other
people in the Patrol have to push/pull/carry/ lift/etc. you thru! First Scout lies down, and is stuffed thru the
tire, whereupon he may help pull subsequent Scouts thru. At the over-the-rope obstacle, each Scout must be
lifted over by the others & deposited on the other side (getting the last one over can take ingenuity!). To go
over the 'creek', the Scout whose turn it is may not 'get wet', but everyone else may. The most amusing
effective solution I've seen was a Patrol that had their strongest Scout carry the 3 smallest across at one
time, then had the small guys go to hands-&-knees in the creek, pushed the big guy over across the
kneeling Scouts' backs, & had him pull the others over. Build a human pyramid to reach the bell. Timed
event, starts at ref's 'Go!', ends when bell rings. Lots of tumbling around.

Tilt
A billy can half filled with water per team
An aluminium foil cake container per team
An Alka-Seltzer tablet per team
For each patrol, put an Alka-Seltzer tablets in each foil cake dish and then float one cake dish in each
patrols billy can. The patrols must now transport the billycan through an obstacle course without the tablet
getting wet or falling into the water. They are not allowed to touch the foil disk or the tablet. The patrols
could either carry the billy cans by their handles, or if you are feeling very mean, you could get them to
pick them up between two poles.

The Games Compendium

Water Games

Blind man's Bacon

Adapted by mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott) - Great Salt Lake Council
2 Blindfolds
2 Water pistols
This is a variation of the 'Steal The Bacon' game which plays best in a circle shape with each team forming
half a circle. The two teams are of equal size so that there is a player on each team with the same number.
When a number is called, the corresponding player for each team puts on a blindfold. After hearing the
signal, the two blindfolded players move toward the center where a squirt gun is located. The object is to
reach the squirt gun and squirt the other guy before he came make it back behind the protection of his team.
Teams are allowed to shout instructions to the blindfolded players.

Dampeners
From jim.speirs@canrem.com (Jim Speirs) 'Games Galore', BSC publication
Two wet sponges or rags
Two Cubs sit about 2 feet apart on chairs in the centre of the den. They are blindfolded, face each other and
each hold a wet sponge. The rest of the Pack must creep up, as directed by a Leader and pass between the
seated Cubs. The seated Cubs can say 'freeze' at any time (within reason) and dab down with the sponge
between the chairs. If hit places are changed. This can also be played outdoors on a fine day, using larger
quantities of water, or water pistols.

Gladiators
2 Solid foam rafts 6'x 3'x 5" thick
Helmets (we use goalie type)
2 Jousting hitters (we use three foam pool noodles taped together with duct tape to make one solid
foam hitter)
Contestants (gladiators) put on helmets and PFD lifejackets (optional). Board their foam rafts. The referee
instructs them on how the game is played. Two rules 1) If a player loses his hitter during play or 2) if a
player falls from the standing position on to the matt; then play is temporarily stopped until they are up and
ready to fight again. The referee holds the floating rafts together and calls "Go or Stop" as is needed.The
winner successfully knocks his opponent into the water. Players must stay on their own raft during the
contest. Helmets are nessessary to protect against ear injury while PFD's are to a degree protecting from
mild bruising but more important stop players from hitting bottom in shallow water.

Water Balloon Catch

From: Peter_Van_Houten@SIMULACRUM.WV.TEK COM>
Balista or Catapult per team
Water balloons
Polythene Sheet per team
Using a large catapult three boys launch water balloons toward the objective. The objective is three boys
holding a large polythene sheet or ground sheet, who will try and catch the water balloons. The team with
the most catches wins.

Water Balloon Toss

An endless supply of balloons one-quarter filled with water.
Players form two lines facing each other about 2 meters apart. Players in line 1 each toss a water balloon to
opposite players in line 2. Any players who have a balloon burst are out. After each balloon bursts, a new
balloon is brought into play, both lines take one step backward and toss again. Repeat until only one pair of
players remain. There are on the market very tiny balloons known as water bombs. If you are going to use
vast quantities, then these may be more economical to buy than regular balloons.
Variation:
We do the same game at camp but use spare eggs.

Water Balloon Volley Ball

A volleyball net or a rope over which the balloons can be tossed
An endless supply of balloons a quarter filled with water
This is a very messy game and is therefore ideal for hot days at camp. Your net or rope is stretched between
two poles or trees just above head height. You have two teams and one balloon a quarter filled with water.
If you put too much water into the balloons then they tend to burst too easily. The object of the game is to

lob the balloon over the net and try and soak the opposing team. There is a lot of strategy in this game on
such things as catching the balloon without bursting it and ways of lobbing the balloon to make it difficult
to catch. When the balloon bursts on one side then a point is awarded to the other side, and a new balloon is
brought into play.

Water Bomb Fight

An endless supply of paper squares to construct water bombs from
A bucket of water per patrol
Each patrol is given the same number of sheets of paper and a jug of water. On the word go they have to
fold the papers into water bombs. Fill them with water and splatter the other patrols. You will find the
instructions for water bombs in any good origami book and also in many scouting books. This game is best
played out of doors.

Water Pistol Fight

A water pistol or a washing up liquid squeezy bottle per team
A flack jacket made from a double sheet of newspaper with a hole in the centre for the players head
to go through per team
A supply of water
This game should be played out of doors and could be a basis for a wide game. The trouble with shooting
type games, is knowing when someone has been hit. This is the object of the newspaper flack jackets. Any
hits on the jacket will be easily visible. Any players with wet patches on their flack jackets, are not allowed
to fire on an opponent and must return to their home base for a replacement flack jacket. The team that has
the most dry flack jackets at the end of the game are the winners. Obviously you can't use this idea if it is
raining.

ICEBREAKERS
TWO TRUTHS, ONE LIE:
Break everyone into groups of anywhere from 3-5. Each person must tell the others two truths and one lie
about themselves. The other members of the group must then guess which statement was the lie. When
finished, the groups can each choose their "best liar", who can then try and fool the rest of the groups.
GROUPING BY CHARACTERS AND THEME SONGS:
This is a fun way in which to break up a large group into smaller ones. Write the names of characters from
sitcoms, cartoons, etc.. that can readily be recognized as belonging together on index cards. If you want
your group size to be about 5, you should make sure that you have 5 characters per grouping. For example,
if you pick the Flintstones as a character grouping, you would have five index cards each with a different
character such as Fred, Wilma, Barney, Pebbles, and Bamm-Bamm. Mix up the index cards and pass them
out as the people walk through the door. The groups then have to find each other by singing the theme song
from whichever sitcom, cartoon, etc.. the characters
represent.
HUMAN ZIPPER - HAND:
Have people line up one behind the other. Put your left hand through your legs and grab the right hand of
the person behind you. Reach your right arm out to grab the left hand of the person in front of you. Then,
starting with the very last person in line, everyone must crawl through the legs of the people in front of you.
HUMAN ZIPPER:

Break up the room into two groups. (You can keep it in one if there aren't enough people for two.) Line
them up, preferably female-male. One person then needs to lie down on their back. The next person will lie
down next to the first person but with his/her feet facing the
opposite direction. They should be close together to the point where their heads are touching. Lay people
down alternating them in the same manner. Everyone's feet should be facing out from the center. Then,have
everyone raise their arms in the air and flex their wrists so that they make a flat surface. Tell them that it's
very important to keep their arms stiff. Take the first person out of the line,have them stand up, help lay
them down on the first set of hands. This person will be passed all the way down the line along the hands.
The people lying down need to keep passing them down the line without letting them fall. (Someone is
needed to spot this game because usually they will start to waiver every so often.) It's important for the
person being passed to remain stiff as well so that it's easier to pass them. Once they reach the end, that
person is helped off the human zipper and they will lie down next to the last person in line and become part
of the zipper. The second person toward the front of the line now will go through the same process and then
the third and so on and so forth. If you have enough people to do more than one line, you can have races
between the "zippers."
NAME GAME:
This is a "get to know you game." Everyone breaks up into groups of around 10-15. The person who starts
needs to say his or her name along with a word that starts with the same letter. The facilitator may want to
choose a specific area. For example, favorite foods or adjectives to describe yourself. The second person
must say their adjective/food/whatever along with their name and also what the person before them said.
For example, if the second person in the circle is named karen and the first is named Scott: Karen would
have to say "Kiwi Karen, Scallion Scott." And so on until the last person has to say everyone's name &
adjective.
HUMAN KNOT:
Break into groups of around 7. Everyone should form a circle and reach out and grab the hands of someone
in the group who is not standing directly next to him or her. The group must then "untie." If you have more
than one group, you can make it into a race. Realize: this is possible no matter how hands are grabbed as
long as no one grabs the hands of someone who is directly next to him or her.
7. COUNTRY ON FOREHEAD:
Everyone has an index card or sticker on their forehead. On the sticker is written the name of an AIESEC
country; the person should not know the country that they are. The participants must then walk around and
ask "yes or no" questions about their country which will give them clues as to what country they are. For
example, one could ask "Does it rain a lot in this country?" The purpose of the game is to figure out what
country you are.
THE "TRASH" GAME:
Without telling people what will be done with them, have each person write down on a piece of paper
anonymously one of their problems, a frustration, something they are currently worried or concerned about.
Ask them not to make them incredibly personal. When done, have them crumple up the paper and throw it.
The facilitator will then go pick up a couple of the crumpled pieces of paper, open them up and read them
to the group. The group will then brainstorm to offer solutions on how this difficulty or problem can be
rectified.
"YELLING AT EACH OTHER":
This should probably be done with people who are fairly comfortable with each other and used as a stress
reliever. Let the individuals in the group pair up. Each person can then scream anything at all at the other
person as loud as they can even if there is no possible way that it could be the other's fault. If the pair runs
out of stuff to scream, have them scream "grumble grumble" at each other.
KISS WHAT YOU LIKE, LICK WHAT YOU DON'T:
Have the group form a circle. Have them name something on the person to the left which they like about
that person (ie. their teeth) and something about the person of their right that they don't like. Once everyone
has done this, they have to kiss what they like and lick what they don't. This should also be done with

people who feel relatively comfortable with each other. In order for this to work, the people cannot have
any idea of what they have to do in the future.
HUMAN SANDWICHES:
Divide the group into smaller groups of even numbers of people. Assign each group a component of a
sandwich. For example, bread, meat, cheese, condiments, etc.. Within each smaller group, let each person
decide more specifically what they want to be within their sandwich component. For example, in the meat
category you might have five people who will then be ham, turkey, roast beef, mortadella (cool Italian
lunch meat), liverwurst, etc.. Bring someone out of the whole group and ask them to build a sandwich not
knowing which person is what specific component. For example, the person may say: "I'm really hungry. I
think I'd like to have a sandwich on white bread." The person who has chosen white bread then lays down
on the floor. The sandwich maker goes on to add meat, cheese, whatever and each time someone else will
lay down on top oc the other "components."
THE QUARTER GAME:
Lay everyone down, one next to each other facing the dame direction preferably alternating males and
females. If you have enough people to make more than one line, you can have races between the teams
much like in the human zipper game. Place a quarter on the chest of the first person in line. The aim is to
pass the quarter onto the next person without the use of hands. This means that the second person in line
must roll on top of the first person with the quarter, both people roll back over again so the second person is
again on the bottom and then the first person must roll off,leaving the quarter on the chest of the second
person. In order to keep the quarter between them, the pair must hug each other rather tightly in the rolling
process. Should the quarter fall to the ground, they have to start from the beginning again. Then repeat the
game going on down the line.
THE TRAVEL GAME
Everyone gets 20 statements which relate to different countries or cultures. Ex. It is an insult to show the
bottom of your feet. You can play this either as a competition quiz - who gets the most right or as a
guessing game. In this case everyone would get a country on their back & a sheet of paper with mixed
cultural statements & have to guess which country is theirs, or have to find the other people with the same
country.
THE CULTURE GAME
A large group is split into two and each is given a culture to act out. The culture should be explicit &
different from modern day norms (Ex. Shoulder shaking means yes and hand flapping means no. Men
cannot approach another man without a woman's consent. Socially people should stand arms length apart
at all times, etc.) The two groups should get proficient at their own culture & then representatives should
be thrown in with the other group & explain their confusion to their own culture. Eventually both groups
should end up together & discuss the differences & uncomfortable feelings associated with not
understanding norms.
THE M & M GAME
Large bads of M&Ms are passed out & people take as many as they want. They are then told that they have
to tell the entire group something about themselves for every M&M they took. (Can be done with toilet
paper squares also)
FLIP CHART PAPER
Give everyone a sheet of flip chart paper to post on a wall & tell them to break it up into three sections. In
each section they must draw a picture and/or write something Re: predeterminded categories. For ex. the 3
categories could be: - My strengths - My weaknesses - What I want to get out of this
year/semester/exercise/week, etc. OR - Why I am here - What my hobbies are - Who I want to be in 10
years. If appropriate, people can go around after & write comments on each other's sheets.
THE ROPE GAME
Two teams compete by taking a rope (thread, yarn, etc.) & feeding it through each other's clothes. The first
person puts the rope down their shirt and pants & hands it to the other person. They put the rope up their

pants & shirt & hand it on. The first team to finish wins. (Be sure to use something which will not create
rope burns)
THE LIFE SAVER GAME
Two teams line up & each person gets a toothpick to put in their mouth. The first puts a life saver on the
toothpick & passes it to the next person's toothpick without using their hands. The first team to finish wins.
THE HUMAN CHAIR
A group of 20 people or more form a circle & stand front to back (boy girl order preferable) as close as
possible. Everyones feet should be facing straight in front of their body directly under their hips & they
should be touching (squishing in fact) the person in front of them. (we are talking tight circle) On the
count of three, everyone sits on the lap of the person behind them. The circle will hold itself up. Everyone
should be able to relax & just sit. If this is not the case, someone's feet are not directly underneath them, or
not straight ahead. When everyone is relaxed the facilitator should call 1-2-3 & everyone should move one
leg at a time (the same leg) and the circle can "walk" in a circle.
BRAIN TEASERS
A good team building exercise is to lay 5 - 6 (one per team) brainteasers out on 5 - 6 different tables
(stations) and have every team rotate around & have 5 - 10 min. (depending on difficulty level) to figure
them out. At the end the winner is announced. During the exercise observers should walk around noting
"team working" issues. ie., how well the teams worked together, if people argued or collaborated, if teams
worked better together as the time wore away, etc.) Teams can then comment on if they think they worked
well together or not & how these issues come into play in AIESEC functional areas or teams.

Team Building Exercises

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
NAME

PAGE

DURATION PARTICIPANTS

MATERIAL

Get to Know Each Other

Personal Crest
Intimate Interviews

2
2

15 - 30 min. 4 - 12
15 min. 2 - 10

paper, markers
none

Build Trust and Experience Physical Closeness

Aeroplane
Back to Back
Crossed Wires
Human Knot
Trust Falls
Trust Falls 2 (Circle)
Trust Walks
Up & Fly

3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4

10 - 20 min.
5 - 10 min.
5 min.
10 - 15 min.
5 - 20 min.
10 - 30 min.
10 - 30 min.
10 min.

Co-operate to Solve Group Task

teams of 5
Pairs
Unlimited
teams of 6 -12
5-8
teams of 7 -12
Pairs
teams of 5 - 7

none
none
none
none
chair
none
scarves for blindfolding
none

Perfect Squares
Exercise

25 - 45 min. teams of 5

prepared puzzle pieces

Get to know each other

Aim:
break down barriers and encourage an intimate "getting to know each other"
target group:
teams where people will have to co-operate closely for a substantial time period
means:
self disclosure/relationship building

Personal Crest: (Me-Chart)

Duration: 15 - 30 min.
Participants: 4 -12
Material: paper, markers
Members draw a personal crest (shield) in which they express important aspects about
themselves through drawings (e.g. most important event in your life, primary goal for the
next year, how you react when upset, what makes you happy)

Intimate Interviews:
Duration: 15 min.
Participants: 2 - 10
Material: none
Members pair off and interview one another for 5 minutes each. Then they introduce their
partner to the group.
Important: Getting to know someone does not happen through repeating the resume - do
not say what (s)he did but who (s)he is.

Build trust and experience physical closeness

Goal:
eliminate tensions and distance between people, makes them more relaxed and comfortable with one
another
Means:
activities which can only be completed if participants trust one another
Notes of Caution:
if someone is really afraid to participate he/she should not be pressured by the group
some people are afraid of touching others or of being touched, dont force the exercise on anybody by peer
pressure

Crossed Wires:
Duration: 5 min.
Participants: unlimited
Material: none
With your right hand grab your left ear, with your left hand grab your nose.
Then quickly switch hands. (Just a get loose-exercise.)

Back 2 Back:
Duration: 5 - 10 min.
Participants: pairs
Material: none
Sit down back to back: get up, sit down again
Human Knot:
Duration: 10 - 15 min.
Participants: teams of 6 - 12
Material: none
Members stand in a circle, eyes closed, and extend their right hands into the middle and
reach for the hands of another person. Repeat the process using the left hand. Then open
eyes and untangle the knot without unclasping hands.
Aeroplane:
Duration: 10 - 20 min.
Participants: teams of 5
Material: none
Four persons take arms and legs of a volunteer and run down the yard with their
"aeroplane". No real takeoff please (i.e. don't actually let loose or throw the person)!

Trust Walks:
Duration: 10 - 30 min.
Participants: pairs
Material: scarves for blindfolding
Members take turns being blindfolded and led by another on a short walk. Members
should discuss experiences afterwards ("I discovered that ..., I felt ... '')
Trust Falls:
Duration: 5 - 20 min.
Participants: 5 - 8
Material: chair
Members stand on a raised platform (a chair will suffice) and fall backwards into the
arms of the other members.
Usually the people standing behind the chair are more afraid than the person falling and
grab her/him too early.
Trust Falls 2:
Duration: 10 - 30 min.
Participants: teams of 7 - 12
Material: none
Members stand in a circle around a volunteer who makes her/his body stiff and then falls to any side. The
others catch the volunteer and push her/him gently back to the centre, so that (s)he falls in another
direction...
The experience gets more intense if the eyes are closed.
Vary circle size according to length and body weight of volunteer.
Note: Group should be 7 people or larger.

Up & Fly:
Duration: 10 min.
Participants: teams of 5 - 7
Material: none
Members stand in circle, volunteer in centre hops up and down; the others help with their
hands to reach altitude

Co-operate to Solve Group Tasks

Perfect Squares Exercise:

Duration: 25 - 45 min.
Participants: teams of 5
Material: prepared puzzle pieces
Hand out the envelopes with pieces of squares to groups of five. (If you have enough
time and want to challenge the group: do the exercise with hexagons.)
These are the instructions (to be read aloud):

Instructions:
In the large envelope on your table are five smaller envelopes. Each of these contains
differently shaped pieces of carton. It is your groups task to form five squares equal in
size. Again: the task is not completed until there is a complete square of a size equal to all
the other squares on the table in front of every member of the group.
There are the following rules:
Nobody is allowed to talk.
Nobody may ask another person for a piece or signal in any other way that (s)he
needs a specific piece from another person.
Every member can, if (s)he wishes to, put pieces in the centre of the table or give
pieces to any other member of the group.
Nobody is allowed to interfere in any other persons figure.
Everybody is allowed to take pieces from the centre of the table but nobody may
piece together any parts that are in the middle of the table.

f
e

b
c

h
a

j
a

f
Envelopes:
A: e, i, h
B: a, a, a, c
C: a, j
D: d, f
E: b, c, f, g

The prepared cardboard squares should be 10-15 cm in diameter. Please be very precise
in cutting the pieces. They should be distributed to five envelopes (labelled A to E)
according to the list shown.
If the number of participants cannot be divided by 5, the remainder should be asked to
ensure compliance with the rules and to observe participants behaviour. (Show them the
questions below)

b
b
a

j
l
k

m
j

Envelopes:
A: a, a, c, e, i, l
B: a, a, b, f, h, m
C: a, a, d, e, j
D: a, d, j, h
E: a, b, d, f, g, k

The hexagons are obviously more challenging than the squares, with them the exercise
typically lasts 30 rather than 15-20 minutes. Please allow some time for discussions as
well. As always the analysis is the most important part of the exercise.
Typically some groups need much longer than others. If possible, do not stop them.
Instead you should keep the other groups busy by discussing their experiences and/or
observing the remaining group(s).

Hints On Playing The "Perfect Squares Exercise"

Observers and trainers should make sure that the rules are strictly enforced. There should
be absolutely no communication - that includes non-verbal activities. Groups will try this
anyway. - Watch out and point to these behaviours during the discussion. It is interesting
to see who (and in which stage of the jigsaw puzzling) tries to influence/help others. The
game often turns competitive, especially if there are several groups playing. You should
refrain from declaring "winners". Instead you should comfort the slower participants,
e.g. point out that the figures have different levels of difficulty (the 8 piece hexagon is
usually the last one to be solved). If a group takes much longer than the others you might
relax the rules at that point although this diminishes that group's feeling of achievement.
For the hexagons rule no. 5 (no puzzling in centre) is typically not strictly enforced, as
the exercise would take much longer if you did. Therefore you dont have to stop groups
from comparing sizes of the hexagons. Piecing one figure together on top of another is

not illegal but don't forget to ask group members how they felt when somebody took their
puzzle pieces away and did their work.

Share your experiences:

How did you feel when someone else had a piece you would have liked?
How did you feel when someone else completed their figure and sat back
complacently?
How did (s)he feel?
Did somebody finish their figure and then broke it apart to help others?
What did you think about people who were "slow"? Did you want to interfere? Why?

Translate to situations in "real life": similarities to team work in AIESEC?

Hints For Discussion Of "Perfect Squares Exercise"

Let people talk about their experience and don't do the analysis yourself. Direct people
with your questions instead, so that they learn about one each other and about the
mistakes they made as a group.
Key to this game is that
a group task always gets split in individual tasks. However, the group will fail unless
all individual assignments are completed. You are never done until everybody is done.
you have to look for possible contributions from others (these illegal communication
attempts) and should try to help the others even if it seems to harm you (giving away
your favourite jigsaw pieces)
There are four levels of group work in this game:
1. You share the junk.
Giving away pieces which you don't need yourself.
2. You share the rest.
Giving away pieces which you might need but don't see
as
the key to your puzzle
3. You share the icing.
Giving away pieces that you would like to use yourself
but
that someone else seems to need more.
4. We share the cookies.
Breaking apart even solved puzzles to help others.
This case has to be distinguished from the stop-sign-trap. With the hexagons it often happens that
somebody finishes their figure (i. e. wrongly assumes that they got a correct sized hexagon), stops working
and doesn't notice until much later that by this (s)he prevented the group from finishing.
Note:
Participants are lying next to each other, with a coin on the belly, and have to pass it on by lying on each
other
Groups of 2, let the egg roll from the neckline through their pants till the end of their trouser leg

Pass on salt sticks/ cards from mouth to mouth

Chair race, go through the room without touching the floor
Border crossing: A group travels across a rope without letting it go

Icebreakers

GETTING AQUATINTED
Aim:
1.
2.

To provide opportunities to become acquainted with other members of the group.

To promote feedback and self-disclosure among participants regarding initial perceptions.

Time: Approx.35-40 minutes.

Materials:
1. 12 blank sticky labels or strips of masking tape for each participant.
2. A copy of the Labeling Category List for each participant. (See below).
3. Pencils or felt-tipped markers.
Procedure:
The group leader distributes a copy of the Labeling Category List to each participant along with blank
name tags.
Each participant must copy each category on a separate blank nametag.
Participants mill around and choose a person who best fits each category. Stick label onto clothing of the
person you select and engage in a one-minute conversation (20 minutes).
The group leader forms groups of 5-7 members. Each group must discuss their reactions to being
categorized and labeled (or not labeled) by others' first impressions (15 minutes).
Labeling Category List:
Warm
Shy
Fun loving
Sexy
Mysterious

Intelligent
Happy
Friendly
Sincere

CHINESE WHISPERS
Materials:

None

Aims:

Positive feedback, good for closing exercise

Procedure:
communicate

Members mill around. When you see someone you'd like to

with, send them a message via someone else: e.g. 'Tell Joan I said
thank you for helping me yesterday.' Continue until messages run out.

Variations:

Do as graffiti on large paper on walls. Do with bits of paper being

delivered. Do at a run, speed up, slow motion, etc.

THE NAME OF THE GAME

Materials:

One ball for every group of about 15 -16.

Aims:

Introduction, memorizing names

Procedure:

New group sits in a circle of not more than sixteen. One person is
given a ball. The ball is passed around the circle and each person who
receives the ball says their name very clearly (usually just the first
name). When everyone has been named and the ball is back to the
beginning, the person holding the ball throws it to any person. That
person must say the thrower's name. The ball is then thrown to
someone else who must say the next thrower's name. If a person
cannot remember the name of the person who has thrown the ball to
him, they must ask and repeat the name before proceeding with the
activity. The game continues until everyone can remember the names
of the people within their group. Group size is usually about sixteen.

HUMAN TIC-TAC-TOE
Materials:

9 chairs, running space

Aims:

Active participation, warm-up, fun

Procedure:
At one end of the room, three rows of three chairs each, four feet apart.
Teams: Team 1 is 'Noughts', Team 2 is 'Crosses'; they line up
In corners of the room facing the chairs. When the leader calls 'noughts',
the first naught runs to a chair and sits with arms circled above
head. Runner must sit before Leader counts to 5 slowly. Leader calls
'crosses', first cross runs and sits with arms crossed on chest. Leader
continues to call them alternately until one team wins (same rules as
paper Noughts and Crosses). Start over, call losing team first. Keep
score (optional).

TICK TOCK
Materials:

Two small different objects, such as a blue felt pen and a red felt pen.

Aims:

Breaking the ice, concentration

Procedure:

Leader has pen (or other object), passes it to his right, saying: 'This is
a tick'. Player 1 says: 'A what?' Leader repeats: 'A tick'. 1 then passes
it on saying, 'This is a tick'. Player 2 says: 'A what?' to player 1, who
says: 'A what?' to the leader. Each time the 'What?' must pass all the
way to the leader, and the 'A tick' must pass all the way back, before
the pen is passed. When this has been practiced a few times, start
over, and at the same time, start another pen to the left, saying: 'This
is a tock' etc. Confusion is encouraged and acceptable. Let the group
try, as long as desired, to return both objects to the leader without
losing the flow or concentration.

FAMOUS PEOPLE
Materials:
Famous names on strips of card or paper, straight pins. Could be
real people (Joan of Arc), fictional (Superman), etc.
Aims:

Mixing, starting conversation, ice-breaking

Procedure:
As people enter, leader pins a name on each person's back. Each
one must walk around and try to find out who he is by asking yes-orno questions of everyone else. When he knows who he is, he pins
the paper on his front and continues to help others.
Variations:
Try it non-verbally. Try insisting that everyone must make
statements (e.g. 'I am alive'), and no questions allowed.

MOVE TO THE SPOT

Aims
Introductory Movement Awareness Relaxation

Materials
Large, empty room or space

Learning to follow simple instructions, movement, warm-u for Drama P

Procedure
Leader says: 'Find a place to stand by yourself. Now look at and concentrate on
a fixed spot on the floor, somewhere across the room. Now, move to
that spot in a straight line pacing yourself so as not to have to stop,
while avoiding bumping into anyone.'
Leader continues to give similar instructions, allowing time for individuals to (A)
concentrate on each spot, (B) move at their own pace, and (C) settle into the new spot.
Instructions for (B) could include moving to the new spot:
backwards
in as few steps as possible
in as many steps as possible
travelling in circles
travelling in squares
using as few jumps as possible
with hands on knees, toes etc.
moving along floor without using hands
using only two out of four legs
Variations
Have group invent more instructions.

MRS O'GRADY
Who:

Small Group

Where:

Inside or outside in roomy area

Aids/Equipment

None

Objectives:

To assess social skills, ability to communicate, willingness to

participate
To encourage group bonding, relax with each other

Leaders Hints:

Observe who is enthusiastic, imaginative with suggestions

Observe who seems confident, shows group spirit, who becomes

competitive.

Instructions:
1. The group stands in a circle and tells the story of Mrs O'Grady and accompanies with
actions:
First person: "Did you hear what happened to Mrs O'Grady?"
Second person: " No. What happened?"
First person: "She died."
Second person: "How did she die?"
First person: "She died with her hand on her head" (places hand
on head)
2. The second person puts their hand on their head too, says the same
speech to the third per son and adds another action, so the
person at
the end has all the different actions.
Conclusion

This is a silly game intended to relax the group and begin group
bonding.

TOILET PAPER GAME

Group Size

6 - 8 people is mot effective, but slightly smaller or slightly larger

would also work.

Materials

A roll of toilet paper per group

When and Where

On arrival to an O'Camp or State Conference site where the to use
group will be placed in a situation where they may need
toilet paper for the next certain period of time, but do not have
access to go and buy any.
Procedure

Sit down with designated group and explain to them that in all the
rush, we were not aware that the site does not supply toilet paper.
However, each group has one role of toilet paper until tomorrow
when we go to the shop. Each group member is to then take as
much toilet paper as they feel necessary to last them that amount of
time.
Once each member of the group has their toilet paper, the leader
explains that we do actually have toilet paper and that what each
member of the group must do is tell the group one thing about
themselves for each piece of paper that they have.

MAKING THE LONGEST CHAIN

Group Size

2 teams (or more) of at least 4

Materials

None

Where and When

A fun break inbetween activities with a group who are familiar

with each other.

Procedure

Tell each group that the aim of this game is to make the longest
chain. The chains must be made of only the clothing currently
being worn by the people in the group. The aim is that people have
to strip down as far as possible to make the longest chain.
The team with the longest chain of clothing wins.

SCRAMBLED EGGS
Group Size

6 and up

Materials

Chairs for everyone but one person

Where and When

A good game to get to know people or in between sessions when

working with a small to middle sized group. A bonus in some
instances as no close physical contact is involved.

Procedure

Seat your group in a circle, but make sure that there is one less
chair then the number of people on the group. You stand in the
middle of the circle to begin the activity.
Explain that you are going to call out a sentence and anyone to
whom the sentence applies must get up and change chairs. It is not
possible to move to the chair on either side of their present
position. Your aim is to occupy one of the vacant places before
someone else, so that you are no longer the person in the middle.
Then the person who has been caught in the middle must think up
a sentence that will cause others to change chairs, so that he/she
can get to a chair first.
Examples of sentences that can be called out - "All those wearing
watches." "All those who had breakfast this morning." "All those
with blue eyes." When "scrambled eggs" is called out, everyone
must change chairs.

BE IT
Group Size

Any size

Materials

None

Time

5 minutes

Where and When

Use to break the workload, to use up excess energy, as a getting to

know you activity.

Procedure

1. Ask the participants to spread out around the room so that they
have plenty of space to swing their arms about
2. Explain that the activity they are about to do is called "Be It"
and is involves a bit of imagination and letting go of your
inhibitions.
3. Then explain that you are going to name a series of objects,
and each time they should try to shape their bodies into the
form of that object.

Variations

For a group that is more comfortable with each other, ask them to
make a noise as well as an action.

Suggested Ideas

Banana
Tree
Snail
Bulldozer
Elephant
Telephone
Vacuum Cleaner
Paper Weight
Food Vending Machine

CAN I COME TO THE PARTY?

Who:
Small groups (separated into pairs)
Where:
Enough room for the group to form a large circle
Objectives:
To learn from observation
To communicate non-verbally
To motivate and energise the group
Leaders' Hints:
Observe how participants react to the cues
Do those who dont understand become frustrated, determined or give up?
Instructions:

1. The leaders need to decide the criterion for coming to the party. This can vary and have any degree of
difficulty. You may invite:
Those who are wearing clothing ending with a consonant
Those who have their feet crossed when they are to be invited
Those who ask when you have your feet crossed
Those who ask you addressing you by name
Sit participants in a circle and explain that you are going to hold a party to which they may or may not be
able to come. Invite them to ask if they can come to the party. Use the criterion agreed upon, start the
game.
You can give hints, such as No you cant come wearing a bra, but you can come in suspenders (!)
When the criterion has been guessed, invite one of the group to be the party host.
Conclusion:
This is another activity involving learning through observation. By exercising these skills, we become
better at learning from those cues that people give us.

MEMORY GAME
Who:
Small teams of people (say 3-5 in each)
Where:
A room large enough for each team to be able to sit in a circle.
Aids:
A blanket
A number of objects (eg a book, a spoon, a phone etc)
Pen / Paper / Score Sheet
Objectives:
Simple memory test
Leaders Hints:
Nil
Instructions:
Place 10-15 objects under the blanket
Everybody has 5 seconds to look at them
Then people individually write down what they saw
Next collectively write down the objects (within each team)
Remove blanket and check that all items were identified
If time remaining replace blanket and ask each team to draw a map of objects as laid out under than
blanket.
Variation:
If too easy, ask for more details eg title of book, colour of spoon
Conclusion:
Non-threatening team game for new members

THE WORLD
Who:
Small groups, no real limit on the total number
Where:
A room
Aids:
Large sheets of paper
An atlas (for the judges)
Pens for each group
Score Sheet
Objectives:
To informally test peoples general knowledge of world geography
Leaders Hints:
Nil
Instructions:
Draw a map of the world, showing the borders of each country and the location of the capital, but not the
names of the countries or the capitals
See how many countries and capitals each group can identify in a given time period (say 10 minutes)
Award 1 point for each country, 1 point for each capital (accuracy is up to the judges)
Conclusion:
A good game for breaking a large group up into small teams. Particularly useful for AIESEC, since at the
end of the exercise you can identify which of the countries are AIESEC Member Countries.

TEAM HOPSCOTCH
Who:
Small groups
Where:
Outside on a cement (or other hard) surface
Aids
Chalk, Stones
Objectives
To have fun
Leaders Hints
Be careful to explain the rules carefully
Instructions
The whole team must travel up and down the hopscotch board. Each team must do several laps or several
games, depending on the time allowed.

4
5

7
8

Each player uses a flat stone; player tosses the stone into square one, then hops over it as far as he/she can
ie into square 2,3 etc. Player turns and hops back to square one to retrieve stone, then hops back to square
they landed in and throws stone into next square. Process is repeated until person has travelled up and back.
Each team member takes a turn.
If stone does not land in appropriate square, or player hops into square containing stone of if player touches
the ground with hand of foot they must start again.
Conclusion:
Good team game, may be used in mini-Olympics.

TRAIN GAME
Who:
Large groups (approx 20)
Where:
Inside or Outside
Aids:
Nil
Objectives:
To get people to mix
To have the person in the centre of the circle try to catch the train
Leaders Hints:
Appoint your most vocal people as stations and crossings
Instructions
Group stands in circle with hands joined
One person stands in the middle of the circle
The train moves by a squeeze of the hand, so if a person feels a squeeze of the hand on the left side, they
must squeeze the hand of the person on their right side
Appoint a few people around the circle to be crossings (these people shout ding-a-ling as the train passes
through them) and stations (these people shout Toot as the train passes through, and they also have the
power to change the direction the train is travelling)
The person in the middle catches the train by pointing at a person who has received the train on one side
but has not passed it on to the other side of them.
Conclusion:
A good game for groups of people who know each other well enough to feel comfortable holding hands, or
for groups who are beginning to be bonded (eg new directors at a national conference)

ANIMAL NOISES

Who:
The more the merrier (at least 20)
Where:
In a large room or outside
Aids
Animal names on slips of paper
Blindfolds if you have them
Objectives
To communicate with others without using normal everyday words
Leaders Hints
Nil
Instructions:
Each person is given a piece of paper with the name of an animal on it eg cow, horse, goat, owl, elephant,
dog, and turkey. The number of animals you use is up to you, but you want to use each animal at least 4 or
5 times.
Everyone has to close their eyes (or be blindfolded) and by making the noise of their animal, find the other
cows, horses etc, keeping their eyes closed all the time.
Variations
For large groups, just give inform each person of their animal verbally.
Conclusion
Sit back and laugh

WINK MURDER
Who:
A group of people (preferably 15 25)
Where:
Inside a room big enough for everyone to walk around
Objectives
To learn from observation
Instructions
Everyone sits in a circle and covers their eyes.
You choose a murderer (unknown to others) by tapping them on the head
Everyone uncovers their eyes and starts to walk around so that they frequently pass each other.
The murderer may kill anyone by winking at him or her. If a person receives a wink he/she must wait for 5
seconds and then fall to the ground (shouting aaagh! on the way down). That person is now dead and
cannot participate in the rest of the game.
If a person spots another person winking at someone, he may accuse that person of being the murderer, by
pointing at the accused & saying, I think X is the murderer.
After the accusation has been made, the accuser must have someone else back up his or her claim. If not,
the accuser must withdraw from the game. The suspect does not have to comment.
A murderer is caught if he/she is accused correctly by tow people, and a new game starts.
If an accuser and a supporter are both wrong, they must both withdraw from the game.

Conclusion
A good game for a group of strangers, or even friends!

WHOS CHANGING THE MOVEMENT

Who:
Groups of people (approx 20)
Where:
Enough room to sit in a circle, inside or outside
Aids
Nil
Objectives
To test peoples powers of observation
Leaders Hints
Nil
Instructions
Groups sit in a circle facing inwards, one person per group leaves the room. The others decide who will be
the leader.
The person comes back into the room and stands in the middle.
The leader makes a series of movements eg scratching head, waving arms, lifting leg up and down, bending
forward etc and the others in the group have to copy the movements.
The person in the middle, by carefully watching the change of the movements has to guess whom the leader
is.
Conclusion
Good for strangers or friends.

Working group: Integration of new members

Participants: Sabine (VPI BS), Myriam (VPI FR), Cordlia (VPI NE), Marco (LCMC SG),
Franois (NC).
Statements
The information exists already
A lot of information on how to integrate new members exist already. It has been developed by
NC/LC HRs for the last 2-3 years. You can find it e.g. in the international HR Guide, the
Recruitment booklet 94, the output of the functional meeting VPI Oct. 93, and you can also ask
the NC for more information.
We need to discuss the introduction process, not the recruitment
It is important not to mix the two topics. Introduction starts when member-raising is over.
We want to develop a tool, not a manual, in order to create awareness
The problem is that people dont read so much the existing information, and so are not aware of
the importance of the integration process in AIESEC. Therefore, we thought it was more efficient

not to write again a document on this topic, but to create a role playing game (RPG) that is used
in the LC, and to which all EB members can participate.
The role play
Different characters will be played by your EB members. Everyone gets a sheet corresponding to
the role (s)he has to play, and doesn't show it to the others. You can also have observers looking at
the play.
We designed two different situations:
A) A newie coming to the office
B) A general meeting with new & board members
This is of course a suggestion. There are thousands of typical situations where the integration of
newies is not perfect! Dont hesitate to develop something yourself. You can create:
new characters: try to remember someones typical behaviour with newies
other situations which happened in your LC: e.g. an LC meeting at the Do-It.
Dont forget that the main goal of this RPG is to make people aware of typical situations that
often happens, so they will hopefully take care of new members next time they find themselves in
such a case.
Some good opportunities to play the RPG:
at a general / EB meeting
at the Prep Do-It (e.g. during a parallel session with the EB, or the day before)
What to do?
Distribute the different characters (remember that everyone shouldnt show his/her own to the
other participants)
Briefly present the people (functions) and the situation
Play the RPG!
You have two possibilities: play it with the EB, to create an awareness, or with the EB and some
newies, to show them also that EB members are sometimes under time pressure and cannot be
always available.
Discuss it. Possible questions for discussion:
What were the impressions of the participants (EB, newies)?
How would it be possible to improve the situation?
How could the EB / the newies contribute?
What was your own experience, when you entered AIESEC? (try to mention also good examples)
Imagine yourself as a new comer. How would you feel in such a case?
Final comment
We didnt have enough time to develop and discuss the situation B, so I partly invented it. I
would therefore appreciate any suggestions that you might have in order to improve it.
I hope you will have as much fun playing the situations as we had creating them at the functional
meeting!
Franois
Situation A
A newie comes to the office and finds EB members at work. 5 people needed. Characters to play:
LCEC
You are an open-minded person. You like to get in touch with new members.

Situation:
You are on the phone. Just at the moment when an unknown student comes into the office, you
finally have the connection to Togo, which you have tried to get for weeks. You have to solve a
complicated problem for a trainee (visa, work permit, ...). So you can't talk to the newie because
you are stuck on the phone. But you try to communicate him that you can talk to him afterwards.
After the newie has left, you ask the others if they have at least taken his address, as you want to
involve newies in your team.
P or VP
You are an open and friendly person, but you are really under time pressure. You are very
involved in AIESEC, and you usually talk with a lot of abbreviations.
Situation:
You are busy in the office reading papers to prepare the next national meeting. You have to give
information to all your EB members and you realise you are late. You need to ask the EB their
opinion concerning an important topic of the legislation (e.g. if we should keep the Prep Do-It in
Switzerland), and the deadline for giving your input to the NC is tonight.
After the recruitment, many newies come to the office to ask information. As you are quite busy,
you always ask your VPI to take care of them, as you think it is his/her job. You also inform
newies that they can join the next general meeting or party that your LC organises, then you go
back to your work.
LCCD
You are very interested and involved in your job, but don't want to know too much about other
AIESEC activities. You are not really informed about the philosophy of AIESEC and about the
structures. You don't really understand the necessity of having e.g. meetings or legislation in
AIESEC, and you don't like it. You just want to do a good job and organise the things well.
Situation:
You are in the office in front of your computer, working on the CD. A newie comes in, but you
dont pay attention to him, as you are concentrated on your job. You realise after the newie has
left that you will need more help for the organisation of your project.
VPI
You are an open person, always smiling and usually noisy. You are busy with many activities, but
you like your job of VPI and taking care of the newies. You are a little bit messy in your work,
and always carry a lot of papers with you.
Situation:
At the beginning, you are in the University (i. e. outside the office). During a break, you rush to
the office to quickly do some urgent copies. You enter the office one minute after a newie has
come by. You go to the copy machine. You dont want to loose too much time as the next lesson is
about to start soon.

Newie
You've just arrived to the University. You are a little bit lost and you want to get to know other
people from different faculties. You are a quiet person, a little bit insecure. You also want to be
active and do something, but you don't know what. There are many opportunities at the
University.
As you know nobody, you are trying to remember people's names & faces, but you fail most of
the time.
Situation:
At the beginning, you are outside the room (= LC office). After having hesitated for some time,
you decide to go to the office of AIESEC. You see that everybody is busy there. You feel a little

bit excluded. You try to get in touch with some people, and you ask them if you could join this
association. You are ready to leave when you are not at ease.
Situation B
A general meeting. EB members & newies attend. There is a big discussion on the voting right of
new members (when are they allowed to vote, criteria, etc.). 8 characters to play.
Note: You can select only certain characters if you want to have less people playing the game. Try
to have something realistic which corresponds to the situation in your LC.
EB member 1
In the LC compendium is stated that newies dont have the voting right in your LC until they are
at least six months in the association. You propose to abolish this legislation as you think it is
needed to involve the newies from the beginning on. You want to finish quickly with the
discussion, as you dont feel it is an important topic.
You want to discuss about projects that are coming up in the LC and where it is important to
involve people. There are also a lot of possible activities at national level, and you think it is time
to stop discussions and start action.
EB member 2
You are responsible for the next annual report in the LC. You see that you are becoming more and
more overworked with this, and youre looking for help. You are quite angry with the other EB
members (especially EB member 3), as you didnt get much support from them during the past
weeks. There was also a lack of communication in the EB recently, and this created some
problems. The LC meeting will be the right moment to talk about this and to clarify all the
different concerns.
EB member 3
You are not so involved any more, but you like the atmosphere in AIESEC. You join the LC
meetings to have fun and make jokes with other people. You always talk with your neighbours
about anything. If you are asked an opinion, then you dont hesitate to present your point of view
and to defend it strongly. As you have much experience in AIESEC, you usually talk a lot.
You dont like the way the LC is organised now, you think it there were more fun activities in the
past. Especially now that new members came to the association, it is the time to organise some
nice activities to bring a good atmosphere in the LC, not too serious.
EB member 4
You are a relatively negative person, and you always fight against proposals until you are clear on
all little details. You dont like to take decisions quickly.
Newie A
You are a very self-confident person, and you always want to give your opinion on everything, as
you feel you know how to deal with problems. You are not very patient. You dont know much
about AIESEC and you always ask questions of clarification when you dont understand
something. You will attend one of your first AIESEC meetings.
Newie B
You are a quiet person, a little bit insecure. You want to be active apart from your studies, but you
dont know yet how. You dont know much about AIESEC, but youre sure it is a great
organisation and you really want to be involved. You hope that this meeting will bring you some
ideas. You think it is the goal of such meetings to inform members on the different activities.
Newie C
You like parties very much, and when you heard that AIESEC is an organisation where you can
party a lot, you decided to join. You already organised several parties or evenings at the
University, and now you want to continue and have fun in AIESEC.
You were asked to join a general meeting. You are a little bit afraid that people will talk about
boring topics for hours...

Newie D
You joined AIESEC because you think the studies at the University make people too passive, as
they should be active to contribute to a better society. AIESEC seems to be the right organisation
for this. You like the international side of this association.
You also dont want to be too involved, as you already have many other activities apart. You think
you have role in making people aware of the problems in this world.

Outdoor Team Building Games

Bridge Build Game
The team is faced with a collapsed bridge. Some equipment has been washed to the shore and the team
must use this to rebuild the bridge and get the whole team safely across.
Minefield Crossing Game
An advance support team has cleared one safe path through a grid of 100 squares. They left a map but
troublesome local savages have unfortunately stolen this. The team must work their way across the grid, but
the mines are volatile so they cannot speak.
Chemical Rescue Game
After a dangerous chemical spill four containers pose a risk within a contaminated zone. Using a complex
system of suspended ropes and pulleys, the team must work together to extract the containers from the
zone.
Shepherd Game
One member of the team is elected, either by the team or randomly, to act as shepherd. The objective is to
move the team from one pen to another using a whistle. Each member of the team is blindfolded and
attached to the others by a piece of string.
Spider's Web Game
The team must pass through a large spider's web without touching the threads, which could wake the
sleeping man eating arachnid.
Team Ski Game
Four members of the team stand astride one large set of skis and attempt to complete an obstacle course by
moving in unison.
Virus Game
This teambuilding game is similar to Chemical Rescue. The team must extract computers from a mainframe
without spilling a virus, which could corrupt the entire system.
Flood Game!
Worrying news reaches the team of an approaching flood, which will wash away, anything less than four
feet from the ground. Using various items the team must build a platform capable of supporting them four
feet above the ground.
Signal Flash Game
Tired after a day of challenges the team decides to head home. Their best chance is to attract the attention
of a passing airplane and they must build a device capable of transmitting a message by Morse Code using
equipment which includes a battery and a tin of sweet corn!
The Micro Dot Game
One half of the team has a complex map of circuits of a microdot. They must communicate the detail of the
circuit over one way radio to the other half of the team who attempt to re-create the circuit before passing it
on to Special Intelligence.

Indoor Teambuilding Games

NASA Moon Project Game
An indoor team building game. The team has survived a spaceship crash on the dark side of the moon.
They must plan their survival and a rendezvous with their mothership at a set location. Their effort is
compared to the advice given by a team of real NASA scientists.
Tribal Troubles Game
The team's negotiation skills are called upon to facilitate peace between three local warring tribes. The
atmosphere is tense, the slightest misunderstanding could lead to a long and bloody war and each team
seems to have its own unreasonable demands. Can the team help?
Team Standard Game
The team must create a flag or standard with messages about their values, goals or work generally using
natural materials from the surrounding area. This is fun and creative and some remarkable insights can be
made.

Games
"Learning from Experience"
Have participants introduce themselves and explain one thing they have learned the hard way about the
topic you are covering. Post the learnings on a flip chart and refer to them throughout the class.
"Challenges and Objectives"
Divide the class into small teams. Instruct teams to identify their challenges in the topic and their objectives
for the training. Post work on flip charts. Have them introduce their team and share their work with the rest
of the class.
"Questions"
Have each person write a question they want answered in the training on a Post-it note. Have them
introduce themselves and their question. Then post all questions on a wall chart. During or at the end of
training, ask the group to answer the questions.

"Role Models"
Have each person identify someone who is a role model for the topic being discussed. Have them share the
persons name and the qualities or characteristics that make them a good role model. Post characteristics on
a flip chart.
"Dos and Donts"
Have participants introduce themselves, sharing their name, department, and either a "Do" or a "Dont" tip
for the topic being discussed. Post tips on a flip chart.
"Collective Knowledge"
Have participants work in teams to identify five rules for dealing with difficult people (or the topic under
discussion).

"Charades"
Have class work in small teams of 4-5. Instruct teams to identify one type of person they all find difficult.
Then have the team act out that type of person while the rest of the class tries to guess what they are acting.
This can be a fun activity and can lead to a short discussion about needing to keep a sense of humor when
dealing with difficult people.
"Scream Therapy"
Have participants introduce themselves and share the emotions they feel about their difficult person (for
example, "They drive me nuts!!"). Have them say it with feeling. At the end of the introductions, have them
all scream the feelings at the same time.
"Who Can Develop?"
Have participants identify someone who has contributed to their professional development. As they
introduce themselves have them explain their relationship to the person that contributed to their
development.
"Developing Yourself"
Have each person introduce himself and share one action they have recently taken to develop themselves
(other than signing up for this class). This can be done as a group or in small teams.
"Acceptance Speech"
Have participants introduce themselves and thank someone who has contributed to their professional
development. They should thank the person as if they are receiving an Academy Award. You may need to
limit speeches to 30 seconds.
"First Job"
Have participants introduce themselves, sharing their name and something they learned on their first paying
job.
"Brain Teaser"
Use a quiz as an icebreaker. Ask questions that we should all know but may not. Ask members to answer
individually, then give them a few minutes to work in small groups to finish answering the questions. The
groups should be able to answer more questions than any one individual. This is a good demonstration of
synergy and can lead into a discussion of the concept. Sample questions:
What are the names of the planets, starting from the one closest to the sun?
What is the most populous state in the U.S.?
What 8 states begin with the letter "M"?
"Dinner Plans"
Have each person complete the following sentence:
"If I could have dinner with any person, living or dead, it would be
__________________________ because ___________________________."
"Experience Tally"
Ask each participant how long they've been with the company or in their current job. Total the number of
years. Point out that the class will have X number of years of experience on which to draw.
"Good or New"
Ask each person to share something good or new they have experienced in the last 24 hours.
"I Noticed"
If participants have made commitments in a previous workshop to change behaviors, ask others to share
one thing they've noticed another person doing differently. As an alternative, have each individual share one
thing he/she has done differently since the last session.

"Im Unique"
Ask each person to share one thing that makes him/her unique.
"My Slogan"
Explain that many companies have slogans or "mottoes" which reflect their values. For example, Ford
Motor Company uses the slogan, 'Quality is Job One.' Ask each person to write (or borrow) a slogan to
describe him or herself and share that with the class.
"The Worst Team"
Have each person share a description of the worst team they have ever been on and why. Post
characteristics on a flip chart. Debrief this exercise by having the team identify ways to avoid the "worst
team" characteristics.
"Three Truths and a Lie"
Give each individual a 3x5 card and instruct them to write 4 statements about themselves: one of the
statements should be false while 3 should be true. Explain that the goal is to fool people about which is the
lie. Allow 5 minutes to write statements; then have each person read the 4 statements and have the group
guess the lie. Award a prize to the individual who makes the most correct guesses.
"What Kind of Team?"
Divide the team into small groups of 4-6 people. Have each group discuss and identify an analogy for their
team. For example: "We are like a 3-ring circus -- because we have many things going on at once and it
feels chaotic at times." Allow 10 minutes to discuss; then have teams share.
"Fears"
Ask each person to share his or her greatest concern about participating in the team building or training.
Post fears on a flip chart. At the end of the session, revisit the list and ask the group to share whether their
fears were realized.
"What Do You Know?"
Divide the class into teams of 3-4 people. Assign each team a different flip chart. Explain that each team
will be assigned another team about which to share information. For example:
Team A: Mary, Chris, Pat and Terry
Team B: Jane, Frank, Phil and Sharon
Team C: John, Mike, Andrea and Larry
Team A is assigned Team B; Team B is assigned Team C; and
Team C is assigned Team A.
Have the team divide their flip charts into sections, one for each person in their assigned team. Allow them
5 minutes to record everything they know about the people on their flip chart (both work and non-work
related). After 5 minutes, have teams rotate flip charts and add information on their new flip chart.
Continue rotating until they come to the flip chart with their own names on it. Have each person comment
on what was written about him/herself.
"Guess Who"
Prior to the session have each participant complete and return to you a survey with 5-7 questions about him
or herself. For example:
Favorite type of food
Best all-time TV show
Last movie you saw
Last book you read
Dream vacation
During the session, read the clues and have the rest of the class guess which person is being described.
"Picture Perfect"

Have each person on a team draw a picture or series of pictures to represent their current view of the team.
(They can draw on pieces of paper or flip charts posted around the room.) Allow 5 minutes; then have the
rest of the group explain what they see in each other's pictures.
"Something New"
On the second day of a team building meeting, ask each person to share one thing they learned about
someone on the team in the last day. Have the rest of the group try to guess who is being described.
Reprint notice: This document may be reproduced for personal use. If you share it with others, please
reference the source as, Results Through Training, www.RTTWorks.com

TEAM BUILDING

BOMB SHELTER
Materials:
None
Aims:
Role-playing, group decision-making, group interaction.
Procedure:
Divide in groups of 8 - 10. Each group member adopts a specific role, usually an occupation, e.g. a doctor,
an athlete, a teacher, movie-star, mother, housewife, etc. (These can be written out and picked from a hat).
Tell groups they are in an air-raid shelter after an atom bomb has fallen, big enough and with enough air
and food for only six people, therefore they must get rid of several members. Each group member must
argue as to why he should be allowed to survive. A group decision must be reached as to who goes and
stays: no suicides or murder allowed. Set a time limit for the decision. Later discuss how the group
interacted making the decision, whether each person played an active or passive role, how satisfied each
was with his role, etc.
Variations:
Instead of an air-raid shelter, have a life raft or desert island or space ship. Add incidents, accidents, rituals,
funerals, ceremonies.

ONE SPECIAL THING

This exercise is a good one to use early in the semester because it helps to build a sense of group rapport
through the establishment of an environment for self-disclosure.
Divide the class into pairs. Instruct the students to carry on a normal conversation for five minutes, each
person telling the other as much as possible about himself. Ask the students to pick those things about
themselves that they think are important to share. After five minutes ask the class to come back together
again as one large group (preferably in a circle). Then ask each student to introduce his partner by stating
his partner's name and the one special thing that impressed him as most important about that person.

If you like, you can end the discussion by asking the group to talk about what it was like to talk to the other
person and what it was like to be talked about in the group.

Every person needs recognition. It is expressed cogently by the lad who says, Mother,
let's play darts. I'll throw the darts and you say `Wonderful.' "
Educator Handbook of Stories, Quotes, and Humor
M. Dale Baughman

BODY LIFT
Aims:
Trust, concentration, group development
Procedure:
Group chooses each member in turn and elevates them to a horizontal
position above the heads of the group. The person is held there for a specific period, and then lowered
carefully to the floor. The elevated person must relax and close eyes. It is often a good idea to have the
groups raise and lower in unison. This often avoids confusion and helps concentration.
Variations:
Vary speed and control of lift,- walk, rock, etc.
Have the person involved give instructions to the group.
Combine with Backward fall & catch.

SITTING CIRCLE
Materials:
Circle of over 25 people
Aims:
Trust, fun
Procedure:
a) Group stands in a close circle, in queue form, with right shoulders towards the center of the circle.
b) Circle closes so that everyone is touching the person in front and behind them.
c) Participants hold the waist of the person in front
d) Everyone bends their knees until they feel themselves supported on the knee of the person behind.
e) If successful (rare first time) the whole group is self supported, each person sitting on the knee of the
person behind.
Note:
This can only be successful if the circular shape is maintained throughout and it is helpful if the group leans
slightly towards the center as they are trying to settle down.
Variations
After secure sitting position is achieved
1 Everyone leans inwards slightly and raises left leg
2 Try alternate stepping with right and left feet, (very difficult.)

TANGLE

Materials:
None
Aims:
Group development, trust, warm-up
Procedure:
Whole group links hands into a human chain. First person leads chain
through itself, over and under arms, between legs, etc. Extra care must be taken not to
break the chain, to move slowly and to be gentle. Tangle ends when group is too tightly packed to move.
One person then untangles the group, giving them directions without touching them.

SPEAKEASY
Materials:
One chair
Aims:
Self-validation, group development
Procedure:
A chair is placed in front of the group. Each person has a chance to sit on the chair and talk to the group.
They can develop any subject
of their choice. It is often better to start out with descriptions of themselves - group leader setting the pace
by going first.
This is very important activity which can become a permanent feature of each drama lesson, especially if a
drama lesson is over 60 minutes long.
Positive developments can result in group discussion and ways of resolving problems.
Variations:
Speak on controversial subjects, give views, then discuss, argue, do values continuum, etc.

CONCENTRATION POINTS
Materials:
None
Aims:
Improvisation, movement
Procedure:
Work in pairs or teams: use mime or short improvisations
Compare
silence with noise, running with slow motion (really slow, almost imperceptible).
running and leaping with slow motion, exuberance with sorrow
old people - young people

tall I people - short people

big (expansive and extrovert) - small (nervous and introvert)
floating - mud wallowing
sleek and darting - slow and ponderous
slow witted - quick witted
stiff person - loose person
rich - poor
strong - weak
industrious - lazy
taciturn person - chatterbox
Englishman - Frenchman
pompous person - friendly person
serious person - silly person
school teacher - school child
policeman - criminal
angel - devil
motorist - pedestrian
slow people - quick people
Variations:
Development into improvisations: dealing with various situations; people might be involved in
conversation,1etter writing, shopping

TRUST WALK
Who:
Large Group
Where:
Walking outside
Aids/Equipment:
Blindfolds
Objectives:
To develop group and individual trust
To communicate without words
Leaders Hints:
Who is willing to trust the person in front of them? (step confidently)
Who communicates with the people behind?
Instructions:
1. Everyone lines up in a single row behind the leader.(Group leaders should be spaced every couple of
students to ensure they remain safe)
2. Each person puts on a blindfold.
3. Each person puts their hands on the shoulders of the one ahead of them. Explain that when they walk
outside, if they need to step up the person in front will tap their right leg, and if they need to step down, the
person in front will tap their left leg. They must do the same to the people behind them and pass the
message along.
4. The leader leads the line outside and around the grounds.
Conclusion

This activity can be used after contemplative reflection (Sunday morning) or towards the end of the camp,
when people are more familiar with each other.

BODY ENGLISH
Who:
Small Group (with presentation to the whole camp)
Where:
Individual groups then in large area or hall
Aids/Equipment
None
Objectives:
To assess emotional expression and adaptability
To motivate and energise students
To provide a variety of activity and have the groups working together spontaneously
Leaders Hints:
Observe who dominates the group, who comes up with ideas, who stands away or doesn't contribute
Observe who is willing to participate, who keeps everyone involved
Observe who is shy in front of the main group or is unwilling to be involved
Instructions:
1. Each group is given a proverb/expression and ten minutes to prepare.
The skit is to be quick and similar to charades, where the phrase is spelt or acted out. The main group has to
guess the proverb/expression.
2. Leaders can give an example in front of the group before the others begin.
Conclusion
This activity can be used in place of the usual "skit". By giving each group a different expression, there is
more variety and tests the general knowledge of the group.
While on exchange, students are often ask or required to do things which are "silly" cr in front of others.
This activity provides some initial experience and tests the willingness of the students to do things that
think make them appear foolish.
Suggestions:
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"
"A rolling stone gathers no moss"
"Once bitten, twice shy"
"A stitch in time save nine"
"Let sleeping dogs lie"
"Good things come in small bundles"
"Too many cook, spoil the broth"
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away"

KNOTS
Group Size
7 - 12 (For Larger groups, split up into smaller groups, or use the variation below)

Materials
None
When and Where
This is an activity which requires people to make close physical contact. Not everyone feels comfortable
doing this sort of thing, so keep this in mind, especially with a group who are unfamiliar with each other.
Use before, during or after a session of work, to develop group identity.
Procedure
Group meets together in a tight circle with arms outstretched in front and eyes closed. Each person grasps
one hand of someone close and one hand of someone further away. Each hand should be linked with only
one other hand. Make sure that no two people are holding both of each other's hands.
Now, as a group, attempt to unknot the circle. Hand grips are allowed to be changed but not
broken.
Variation
For a group larger than 12: Form a circle and hold hands. Break the circle at one point and ask one of the
end persons to tie the rest of the group into a knot. When the knot is complete, the person at the other end
tries to untangle the knot. Hand grips cannot be changed or broken.

STRAW GAME
Who:
Small Groups of 5-7
Where:
Enough room for each group to have plenty of room around them
Aids/Equipment:
Lots of drinking straws
Objectives:
To get new participants working as a team
To introduce participants to each other in a non-threatening way
Leaders' Hints:
Observe who talks the most, who is quiet, who just does what they are told
Instructions:
Workers sit together on the floor with a pile of straws in the centre. The workers are instructed to work
as a team & use the straws to make a big beautiful design on the floor.
Conclusion:
A simple team building game ideal for groups of strangers.
Variations
on this game include giving them teams each 30 rolled up newspapers and seeing which group can make
the tallest construction.

THE MACHINE

Who:
A single group of 5 20 people.
Where:
A room large enough to hold the entire group, or outside (but not with lots of people standing around
watching, as participants may get a bit embarrassed).
Aids:
Nil
Objectives:
To use your imagination
To get to know each other
Leaders' Hint:
This game rewards the people who are the most imaginative
Instructions:
Participants are to become parts of a large imaginary machine. One person acts out a repetitive motion or
sound of a machine part. One by one other arts are added to the machine until the whole groups is
involved. An example would be an engine with people playing the roles of:
Starter
A wheel
Pistons
Moving Handle etc
Variation:
Breaking the group up, one group becomes a machine and the other group has to guess what sort of a
machine it is, then vice-versa.
Conclusion:
This exercise requires a fair amount of imagination, but can also be a lot of fun if the people really get into
the acting.

SCRAMBLED
Who:
Teams of up at least 3 people
Where:
Indoors
Aids
Scrabble Tablets
Score sheet pen
Blu-Tack
Objectives
To learn to work as a team using non-verbal communication
Leaders Hints
Observe those who assume the role of team leader
Instructions

Each team member chooses one scrabble table. They must not look at the tablet. They must stick it to their
forehead immediately. No team member is allowed to inform another team member of what that persons
letter is.
The team must create as many words as possible in the time given. A judge needs to write down each word
as the team forms it. The words must be at least 3 letters, although there may be more people in each group.
The words created must never be said aloud, since this would allow people to find out their letter too easily.
Award one point for each letter used, with a bonus of 5 points for using all the tablets in the group.
Variation
1 Make it harder by increasing the minimum number of letters per word.
2 Give everyone a letter, allowing him or her to see it. Shout out words and have people find other letters
and line up as the word as soon as possible. Make it a competition by eliminating people who dont become
part of a word.
Conclusion
A good fun team game.

PASSENGER BALLOON
Who:

Groups of 5 6

Where:
Inside or outside
Objectives
To learn to make an argument about the importance of oneself
To learn to negotiate with other people
Leaders Hints
Look for those who try to intimidate others
Instructions
Groups sit in a fairly small circle, which represents the basket of the passenger balloon. Each person has to
pick an occupation for himself or herself eg plumber, lawyer, doctor etc. Make sure that people have
chosen their occupation before you explain the scenario to them.
The balloon is slowly losing altitude and in order for some of the people to survive, one person has to jump
out.
Everyone has to put forward their reasons why they shouldnt have to jump out and why someone else
should. Everyone must agree on who has to jump within 5 mins or everyone will perish
Conclusion
This game is a bit like bomb-shelter. It is quite useful since the people dont need to know each other to be
able to play it.

BLINDFOLD NAVIGATION
Who:
Small teams (say 4-5 people)
Aids

2 blindfolds per team (one for walker, one for next person in line)
Chalk
1 Chair per team
1 Spoon / box of matches / apple per team
Other obstacles (eg bins)
Objective
To win by trusting each other
Instructions
Draw course on the ground (including circles for pick up / put down points), One team member is
blindfolded
Navigate course with instructions from other team members. Navigate obstacles and pick up / put down
objects (judge to return object to pick up point after it is put down)
Repeat with other team members Fastest Team wins
Commands
Stop, Go
Forward, Back
Pick up, Put down
Sit, Stand

Left, Right
Down, Up
Yes, No
Chair
Sit Down

Example Course

Pick up Object

Put Down Object

Obstacles

Conclusion
Bit of trust involved, so good for people who at least have met before

PASSED OVER
Who:
Groups of 30-40 people.
Where:
Inside a very large room or outside, preferably over a carpet or grass surface.
Aids
Nil
Objectives

To build peoples trust in each other

To work together as a large team
Leaders' Hints
Spread the strong people evenly amongst the two groups
Instructions
Form lines of about 30-40 people
Line up in pairs, one pair behind the other
With the help of two strong people at the front and back if needed, life a person, life a person up an pass
them along the top of the line lying flat and supported by the hands of the people underneath.
Conclusion
A good trust, you can also increase the number of people you pass along so that everyone who feels
comfortable can have a go.

LINKING UP 1 10
Who:

Groups of up between 7 12 people

Leaders' Hints

Look for the innovators who can solve this problem

Instructions

Give each group member a number from 1 7 (or 10, or 12 etc)

Make sure that no-one else knows what their number is. They then
have to line up in numerical order, but they must close their eyes
and not talk. After an appropriate amount of time, stop the game.
Discuss how they felt about not being able to do it, and see if they
can find ways that may have made it easier eg tapping their
numbers on each others back.

PLAYFAIR

COLOURS
Group Size

Any Size

Materials

None

Where and When

A good game to play when the group's concentration is fading. It is

quick, gets people's bodies moving, and you can then lead into
another session or carry on where you left off. It is not advisable to
use this activity on groups who are unfamiliar with each other as it
can be threatening.

Procedure

The leader calls a part of the body and a colour that can e found in
the room. Everybody must then rush and place that part of their
body on that colour eg noses on red. Everyone must stay in that
position until another colour has been called.
NOTE: be careful not to let this drag on too long or it will become
a de-energiser

FLYING CARPETS
Group size:

Approx ten

Materials:

1 Blanket for each group

Procedure:
end

Each group has to stand on their blanket and race down to the other
of the room. They must stay on their blankets at all times. The first
group to reach the end is the winner.

KNIGHT; MOUNT; CAVALIER

Materials

Large open space

When and Where

Use to release energy and for lots of fun. Excellent in playfairs.

Procedure

Ask the group members to pair off, finding a partner roughly the
same size. Explain that this activity is called "Knight; Mount;
Cavalier". There are three positions that they need to know.
1. Knight: One person kneels on one knee with their partner
sitting on their other knee.
2. Mount: One person gets down on their hands and knees, the
other person stands over them.
3. Cavalier: One partner picks up the other person
(Demonstrate these positions)
Proceed to call out the different instructions in a random order,
giving people just enough time to get into one position before you
call out the next.
NOTE: Don't let this activity drag on - it should be short or people
will get sick of it and drop out.

Variations

1. Make it Competitive: Anyone doing the wrong position is out.

2. Change the roles around so that the person being picked up is

then the one who picks up the partner and so on.

SANDWICH GAME
Group Size

10 and up

Materials

None

When and Where

Great for breaks in between sessions and for use in playfairs.

However, close physical contact is involved and may be
intimidating for groups who are unfamiliar with one another.

Procedure

Divide the participants into 5 equal sized groups. Nominate each

group with a part of the sandwich. There must be 2 groups
allocated bread, 1 group allocated meat, 1 group allocated tomato
and 1 group allocated lettuce. The aim is to then make the
sandwiches. There needs to be a piece of bread on the bottom (one
person lies down), a piece of ham (the next person lies on top of
the first), the lettuce and ham and then finally the last piece of
bread on the top of the pile. On completion there should be a pile
of five people making the sandwich.
NOTE: This will work most effectively if demonstrated first by
people who are familiar with both the leader and the game.

STATUES (MAKE THEM FRIENDLIER)

Group Size

7 people (4 boys and 3 girls), plus as many spectators as you want

Materials

None

Procedure

Take 5 people (3 boys and 2 girls) outside and keep 2 inside. Bring
in a male, and tell him take the two people inside and "make them
friendlier". After he has finished, get him to swap places with the
male. Bring in the next girl. Do the same, and swap with the girl.
On the last male do the same, but get him to swap with the girl,
leaving the two males in a slightly sexual position.

EVOLUTION GAME
Group Size

10 and up

Materials

None

Where and When

A good game to begin a session or just generally wake a group up.

Game works most effectively with people who know each other as
there is an element of honesty involved.

Procedure

There are four stages to this game: Egg, Chicken, Bird and
Superman. The idea is that participants evolve through the four
phases.
Everyone begins walking around the room banging their fists on
their foreheads chanting "egg egg egg egg egg". Participants pair
up and have a game of paper; scissors; rock. The winner of this
game evolves to the next stage, the looser stays an egg.
The game continues and the participants who evolved walk around
like a chicken, flapping their arms and squarking, the eggs
continue to be eggs. The chickens pair up with chickens and the
eggs pair up with eggs to once again play paper; scissors; rock.
Those who win evolve to the next stage where as those who loose
remain where they are. The game continues with the birds flapping
their arms and supermen soaring around with both arms in the air.
When the game works correctly there should be one egg, chicken
and bird left and the rest of the players are supermen (or
superpeople to be politically correct)

WET PANTS
Group Size

3 volunteers (but any number of people can watch)

Materials

3 funnels
3 spoons
3 blind folds
3 jugs of water
1 packet of jaffas

When and Where

Use on a hot day where people have the opportunity to change

their clothes. Also with people who will not kill the demonstrator.

Procedure

Get three people up the front. Put the funnel in the front of their
pants and the spoon in their mouth. Put the jaffa on the spoon,
count to three and get them to drop it in the funnel. Easy. Tell them
that they will now be blindfolded and will have to do it again.
Blindfold them. Count to three, but on two pour water into the
funnel.

MASTER/SLAVE
Group size:

Any size

Materials:

None

Procedure:
Divide the group into three groups and form a group of three with
one person from each group. Nominate one person as the leader on
the group. This person becomes the Master of the other two people
in the group who are now Slaves. The Master then has one minute
to command the slaves to do anything they say ( within reason of
course). Swap the roles to give every member of the group the
chance to be Master

STEAMROLLER
Group Size

Any Size

Materials

None

Where and When

A trust building, physical boundary breaking activity which can be

great fun for a group who are comfortable with physical contact,
but may be awkward with groups who find physical contact more
difficult.

Procedure

Have the group lie diagonally across the room on their backs, as
close to one another as possible. The person at one end then
proceeds to roll over the top of the others to reach the other end,
where they lie down next to the last person. When they arrive the
next person does the same.

Variations

1. Group lies on their backs on the floor, with every person lying in
the opposite direction to the person next to them. Close everyone
up so that their heads 'interlock'. Everyone then stretches their
hands above their heads. One member of the group lies down along
the top of the outstretched arms and is passed along the top of the
arms to the other end.
NOTE: It is necessary to have someone, preferably the leader at
first, at both ends to start each person off carefully and catch the
head of each person as they finish. Also, start off with lighter
people and gradually build up group confidence in tackling the
heavier members.

2. Place a 20 cent piece on the first persons chest. The aim is to

pass the 20 cent piece from one person to another without touching
it with anyone's hands or dropping it on the floor. This variation
requires each person to roll only onto the next person and then
back to their original position. The 20 cent piece should make it to
the other end of the chain.
NOTE: This can be made competitive by having two teams going
at once. The winning team has the 20 cent piece arrive at the other
end of the chain first.

HUMAN TUNNEL BALL

Group size:

Three or four groups depending on the size of the group.

Materials:

None

Procedure:
The groups line up one behind the other, facing the same direction
each person about an arms length behind each other. They spread
their legs apart and join hands, the right hand going under their
legs joining with the persons left hand behind them. The race begins
the first person moving under the tunnel and not breaking the
linking hands and the tunnel moves under itself until all the group has
gone through the tunnel hands always linked.

HUMAN PYRAMID
Group size:

Approx 10

Materials:

None

Procedure:
Each group must form a human pyramid and walk the pyramid
forward towards the other end of the room. The first group to reach the
end wins. The pyramid classically consists of 4 people on the
bottom level, three on the next, then two and one person on the top.

MUSICAL PARTNERS
Group size:

Any

Materials:

Music (that can be stopped and started)

Procedure:
The group forms into pairs. The pairs then kneel facing each other
with their hands on each others shoulders, forming an inner and
outer circle. When the music starts the outside circle stands and
begins to move clockwise, the inner circle at the same time works in
an anti clockwise direction. When the music stops the circles must
re-pair and kneel with their hands upon each others shoulders. The
last pair to do so is OUT. The game continues until only one pair
remains

STRUCTURES
Group size:

Groups of between 2 and 8

Materials:

None

Procedure:
The group is split into smaller groups of between 2 and 8 people.
The leader then gives an example of a particular structure which the
groups construct by linking themselves together
Examples, Tree, Crane, Modern building, Bridge, Plane /
Helicopter, Car / truck/ Bus, Ship, lighthouse etc

HUMAN OBSTACLE RACE

Group size:

Approximately six or size to suit Materials-None

Procedure:

The teams line up and the race begins. No.1 moves down the line:
Patting No.2 on the head;
Going through No.3's legs;
Linking arms and spinning twice with No.4;
Sitting on No.5's right knee,
Blowing in No.6's ear.

No.1 then joins the line and No.2 goes down the line carrying out
the tasks in the same order, and so on. The list above is only an
example of tasks for each number. Use your imagination

ARM LINKS
Group size:

Any size

Materials:

None

Procedure:

In pairs sit back to back and link arms. Then try to stand up. Do the
same in threes, fours, fives etc until you can do it with the entire

group.

BALLOON GAME
Group size:

Approx ten

Materials:

1 Balloon per Person

String
Scissors

Procedure:

Distribute 1 balloon and a piece of string to each person.

Instruct each person to blow up their balloon and tie it to their

ankle.
Once all balloons are in place, tell the group to burst as many
balloons belonging to other people as possible.
Sit down when your balloon has been burst.
Activity is best if no one is wearing shoes.

GROUP SLIME
Who:

A group of people, between 10 and 20.

Where:

Inside a large room

Objectives

To coordinate your progress with others

Instructions Participants lie in a circle on the floor as far from the centre of the room as possible with
all heads toward the centre.

Group closes eyes, and slowly crawls into the centre, forming a
pile, then each person crosses to the other side of the room.
This should take about 5 minutes.
Conclusion

A fun activity for people who know each other relatively well.

PEELING THE SNAKE

Who:

Large groups of people (up to 50 in each group)

Where:

Inside a large room or outside

Instructions Form single file lines for each group

Each person faces the back of the person on his or her right.
Bending over, each person places their right hand back between their legs and reaches their left
hand to grab the right hand of the person in front of them.
The last person in the line lies down, and the snake unpeels by the rest of the line slowly walking
backwards, still joined, over the top of that person who has lay down. One by one each person lies
down, still holding hands, with the others passing over the top of them.
The group who are all lying down first win.

CHUCKLE BELLY
Who:

Large groups of people (say at least 30 in each)

Where:

Inside a large room or outside.

Objectives

To watch a human chain reaction

To test peoples ability not to laugh (in the variation)

Instructions Instruct each group to lie down so that each persons head is resting on the stomach of the
person before them.
Tell the person at the head of the each line a joke, and they will giggle. When the person with their
head on that persons stomach feels them giggle, they will also giggle and your chain reaction has
started.
Variation
Have the first person cough, and then each subsequent person cough, but no-one is
allowed to laugh or giggle.

The Games Compendium

Races & Relays

Animal Relay
Based on text from: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
Each member of a team is allocated a different animal. He must then move across the hall in the style of
that animal. Brilliant fun, but hard to grade.
Donkey - Travelling on all fours to the goal and imitating the donkey's bray.
Duck - Walking on two feet in squat position squawking without stopping..
Lame Dog - Walking on two hands and one foot and barking..
Bear - Bent over standing on their hands and feet, moves right and left foot together, and then left hand
and right foot together..

Duck - Squatting down low, with knees spread, arms stretched out with their hands clasped in front of
their legs below their knees..
Crab - Back toward the floor, supported on hands and feet, the feet facing forward..
Elephant - On hands and feet, with legs and arms absolutely rigid..
Frog - Feet spread with his knees outside his hands, which are together. Advancing by frog-like jumps,
landing on hands at each leap, then bringing the feet up..
Back-to-Back Relay
Idea from: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
Pairs standing back to back their backs touching and must run together to a goal and back with one running
forward and the
other running backward. If they separate, they must start over again.
Backward Trip Race
From: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
This is run in teams of three, the central player facing forward; the other two, with arms linked, facing
backwards. The first team to finish intact wins.
Bat the Balloon
From jim.speirs@canrem.com (Jim Speirs) - 'Games Galore', BSC publication
A pack of balloons.
Teams line up with members standing side by side, separated by the distance obtained when players stretch
their arms
sideways. Fingertips should touch between players.
The first player in line takes and inflated balloon, and bats it towards the second person in line, who bats it
to the third person,
on down the line and back again.
The only rule is this: once the players have taken their stance, they may not move their feet. If a balloon
falls to the floor, or if
someone moves his feet in an attempt to reach the balloon, the first person in line must run and get the
balloon, and take it back to the starting line to begin again.
Refinement: Add more than one balloon per line, going in both directions.
Blind men's Race
From: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
Blindfolds for 2/3 players
This is raced by teams of three. Two are blindfolded, and clasp hands. The one not blindfolded holds their
outside hands and
guides them through the course.
Bucket Relay
From jim.speirs@canrem.com (Jim Speirs) - 'Games Galore', BSC publication
Two buckets per team
Water
Fill one of the buckets half-full with water, and leave the other empty. On 'Go', the first player runs to the
other end of the
playing area where the buckets have been placed, pours the water into the other bucket, leaves the empty
bucket there, and
carries the full bucket to the next player in line.
The second player takes the bucket with water down to the other end of the playing area and empties it into
the empty bucket.
He then picks up the full bucket and carries it back.
The relay is finished when all have had a turn. The winner is the team with their water intact.
Candle And Straw Relay Race
A Candle per team

 A box of matches per team

A drinking straw per team member
Each team member is given a straw. They have to race to the opposite end of the hall where their candle
and box of matches is
located. They must light the candle and then blow it out by blowing the flame through the straw. This can
also be played in
subdued lighting.
Candle Race
From: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
A candle per team
Matches
First person lights a candle, carries it to a specified point, returns to the next person in line, hands him the
candle; all without
letting the flame go out. If the flame does go out, he must return to the starting line, re-light the flame and
start over again.
Centipede Relay
Cub 1 of the team runs up hall and back, he puts one hand between his legs for the cub 2 to hold. They run
up hall and back
together, cub 3 joins chain etc. Team penalised if chain breaks - must start again.
Variation: Instead of holding hands the team holds onto a pole.
Checker Relay
6 Wooden checkers playing pieces (or coins) per team
Scouts race up and down the hall in relay fashion, with a pile of 6 checkers balanced on the back of one
hand. They are not
allowed to steady the pile with the other hand. The only time they can touch the checkers with the other
hand, is either when
they have dropped them and are picking them up, or when they are transferring the checkers to another
scout in their team.
Clodhopper Race
From: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
A Newspaper per teamA Blindfold per team
A series of pieces of paper are placed in a circle after a team member is blindfolded. The team member
must step on each piece
of paper following directions from team mates. They cannot touch him or move him themselves.
Clothes Pin Relay
From: Jack W. Weinmann
Clothes peg per team
Bottle per team
Divide into teams. Each team member must run from the starting line to a team bottle placed a distance
away, attempt to drop a wooden clothes pin into the bottle (Each boy has only one attempt to get the clothes
pin in the bottle) and run back to tag the next team member, who then repeats the action. The rules are to
hold the clothes pin with a straight arm at shoulder height or with a bent arm at waist height (as long as all
do it the same way. When all the teams are done the team with the most clothes pins in their bottle wins the
game.
Compass Skills Patience
Sets of cards with compass points printed on them
This game is played the same way as the patience relay (described earlier). This time the boys have to place
the cards at the
correct compass position for that card. Suggested order for laying down cards: North, South, East, West,
North East, South

East, South West, North West. NNE, SSW, NNW, SSE, ENE, WSW, ESE, WNW.
Refinement: Replace some directions with bearings (eg. 270 is East)
Cone Race
Cord per team
Paper cone (cup) per team
Thread paper cones onto a cord stretched between chairs, or posts. Each team member blows cone to the
end of the cord,
brings it back; next boy does the same. First team finished wins.
Crew Race
From: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
A pole per team
Groups of four or more straddle a pole, which must be held with both hands by each player. The front racer
having at least one
hand on the rail in front of him and the boy on the rear having at least one hand on the rail behind him. All
scouts face backward except the last one who is the crosswain and steers.
Cross the River
4 Card or carpet tile stepping stones per team
3 Awkward pieces of equipment per team eg.rucksack, football or hoop
Line up sixes with their equipment and draw two lines to represent the river. Lay the stepping stones across
the river. Cub 1
carries cub 2 on his back across the river using the stepping stones. Cub 2 comes back and picks up cub 3
plus a piece of
equipment. Cub 3 comes back and picks up cub 4 plus a piece of equipment and so on until all the cubs
have crossed the river.
Those cubs on the bank should be encouraged to cheer their team on.
Dizzy Pole Relay (Izzy Dizzy)
A pole per team
Each team member runs up hall, picks up a pole. Then puts one end stationary on the ground and runs
around it 10 (or so)
times before running dizzily back to his team to tag the next boy.
Donkey Race
Pole or broom per team
Two boys straddle a broomstick, back to back. On signal, one runs forward and the other runs backwards
about 50 ft. They
then run back to the starting line, but this time they change positions (forward becomes backward runner)
then the next two
team members go.
Dribble Ball
A Ball per team
3+ Skittles (or chairs) per team
Standing in teams, each person in turn dribbles the ball down the line of skittles slalom fashion, either using
their foot, a stick or a washing up liquid bottle and then straight back to the next man in their team. If a
skittle is knocked over, the player has to return to the start and begin again.
Driving the Pig
A 3" pole per team
A 5 pint plastic milk carton per team
Fill each bottle with a little water as ballast. In turn, each member of the team uses the stick to push the
bottle (pig) to the end of the hall (fair) and runs back with the equipment. (Game not too suitable for
varnished wood floors)

Variation: Teams run laps around a grand-prix course around several chairs in a circular or (harder) figureof-eight course.
Feather Relay
A long feather per team
Each player throws a long feather javelin style, toward the finish line. As soon as it comes to earth, he picks
it up and throws it again, and continues until across the finish line. He then picks it up and runs back to his
team to give the feather to the next player.
Variation: Replace feather with a paper aeroplane (each team can make it) for outdoors.
File Race (Chinaman's Race)
From: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
Teams of 6 to 12 ( or 4 to 8) each race, one behind the other. No scout is permitted to pass his teammate
ahead of him.
Fireman, Save My Child
Drinking straw per player
Paper cut-out of a child, about 1.5 to 2" tall.
Each team has a pile of the cut-out children on a table and a drinking straw for each player. Approximately
15-20 feet away from the start, place a small pail for each team on another table, chair, stool, or whatever.
At the call of "Fireman, save my child", the first player on each team must pick up a child by sucking up
the figure against their straw. While holding the figure this way, they run to their respective pail and deposit
the figure. The next team member then goes. If they drop the figure en-route, they must stop and pick up
their child, again, by sucking it up with the straw.
Variation: Use dried peas instead of paper cut outs.
Flapping Fish Relay
A paper fish per team
A newspaper per team
Players must waft a paper cut-out of a fish (1' length) across the hall and back using the newspaper as a fan.
Best approach: fan the fish using flat slightly unfolded newspaper standing a couple of feet back, or just
cheat. Worst Approach: Whack the fish as hard as you can with a rolled-up newspaper.
Heel Race
From: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
Each runner runs on his heels. Scouts are not allowed to touch the toes to the floor.
Highwayman
A short rope per team
A chair per team
Teams stand in lines at one end of the hall. There is a wooden chair with a bar back at the other end of the
hall opposite each team. The front player of each team has a length of rope in one hand. On the command
'GO' the second player jumps onto the back of the front player and they race piggy back style to the chair at
the other end of the hall. The player riding jumps down and ties one end of the rope around the top bar of
the chair using the highwayman's hitch. He then jumps back on the other players back, pulls the end of the
rope to free it and they then race back to their team. The player who was the horse goes to the back of the
team and the player who was the rider now becomes the horse or front player.
Human Boat Race
Each boat is made up of eight to ten players each in full knees-bent position. Each player has his hands on
the shoulders of the man in front. Facing the line of players in each boat is a 'COX'. The cox holds the
hands of the front player in the boat. When the race starts, the boats move forwards by all players in a boat
springing together off both feet. The cox for each boat shouts encouragement for his team and calls out the
rhythm for the spring. During the race, any boat that breaks up into two or more parts is deemed to have
sunk and is disqualified from the race.

Island Race
4+ chairs per team
Each team must cross the hall without touching the floor. This can be done if the team stand on all but one
chair which is passed to the front of the 'island'. The team can then move forward so that the chair at the
back is free, this can be passed to the front etc. To increase difficulty reduce the number of chairs.
Nail Driving Relay
From: Jack W. Weinmann
A Hammer per team
A Wooden block per team
Bag of nails
Stand one 2x4 block for each team on edge and start two or three 16 penny nails to the same height in the
edge. Place the blocks about fifteen feet from the starting line and put a hammer next to each of the blocks.
On "GO!" one boy from each team races to the block, picks up the hammer, and swings ONE blow to drive
the nail into the block. He then lays the hammer down and returns to his team, tagging the next boy in the
relay. The race continues, with each boy in turn going as many times as it takes for one team to drive all of
its nails flush into the block. Be ready to straighten bent nails.
Variation: Drive tent pegs into the ground with a mallet.
Newsprint Race
From: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
1 Newspaper
Each scout is provided with two sheets of newspaper which he uses to run the race. He can only step on the
newspapers; this is done by: stepping on one, lay the other in front of him, steps on it, retrieves the paper
behind him, which he places in front of him moving forward in this fashion.
Paper Hoops
From: Joe Irvine; Helper/Warboys Wizards Pack - Cromwell District
Several newspapers
This is a relay race between sixes. A pile of newspapers for each six is placed at one end of the room with
the sixes lined up at the other end. When the whistle blows they race up to the newspapers. The object is
to cut the newsper sheet in the middle and then step through the paper without ripping it right through to
the edge. If that happens they have to start again. When they have stepped through they race back so that
the next team member can go. The winners are those who are all sitting down with their arms folded. Use
newspapers that are not too big.
Patience Relay
A pack of playing cards for every 4 teams
Separate the cards into a suit per team. Lay out the 10 number cards (including ace) in any order face down
at the end of the hall. One at a time the boys run up and turn over a card. If it is not the Ace then they turn it
face down again and run back to their team and the next player has a go. When the ace is turned up they can
lay it face up. The next card needed is the two and so on. Play continues until one team has all its cards
turned face up. Requires team to use memory and team-work to reduce errors.
Ping Pong Ball Relay
From: mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott)
A party blower per team
A ping pong ball per team
Each player gets a party blower (the type that unrolls when you blow it) That he uses to push the ping pong
ball across the floor. He can only use the party blower, nothing else, he can't blow the ball himself, or touch
it in any way except for the blower.
Potato Jump Race
Small ball per team

Establish a start and a finish line. Line the boys up on the starting line. Give each boy a potato (ping-pong
ball, balloon, etc.) to put between his knees. On 'GO' see who can jump to the finish line first without
dropping the potato.
Potato Race
Fork per team
Potato per team
Each team member tosses the potato into the air and catches it on the fork, takes it off and hands them to
the next player.
Rocket Relay
From> jim.speirs@canrem.com (Jim Speirs) - 'Games Galore', BSC publication
A chair per team
The Sixes line up with a chair at the head of each, facing away from the Six. The chairs are 'launching pads'
and the first Cub or 'rocket' stands on the chair awaiting the countdown. When the leader reaches zero, the
'rocket' blasts off round the room, touching all four walls, and returns to the 'launching pad' where the next
'rocket is waiting to be launched. The first 'rocket' lets off the second and returns to his Six.
Round the Moon
From jim.speirs@canrem.com (Jim Speirs) - 'Games Galore', BSC publication
A chair per team.
All the Sixes line up at the end of the room. Each Cub places his hands on the waist of the Cub in front so
the Sixes form a 'rocket'. One chair is placed at the far end of the room opposite each Six, these are the
'moons'. When the leader calls 'Go', the Sixes run the length of the room, round their 'moon' and back into
orbit. As they pass base, the 'rockets' drop a section each time and the Cubs sit down there one by one, until
finally the 'nose cone' - the Sixer - returns home. The first team to be sitting down is the winner.
Skin the Snake
From: jim.speirs@canrem.com (Jim Speirs)
Team members stand one behind the other with legs apart and pass their right hands between the legs to
grasp the left hands of those behind. Starting at the back, members crawl through the legs of those in front
of them, without losing hand grip, until the whole team is standing in a line holding hands.
Seed Planting Relay
6 cups, or jars per team
One bag of seeds, or pasta shells, or dried peas
Following a line, or rope on the ground, and by walking heel to toe, each team member must stop (about
every 3 feet and drop a seed in a small mouthed jar set near the line. When he reaches the end, he runs back
and taps the next boy on the team.
Stacking the Cans
6 cans per team
Patrols or sixes stand in lines. They have to run to the end of the hall in relay fashion and each one add a
can to the stack. The winning team is the first one back with a completed stack and all their team standing
to attention.
Variation: Teams work against each other in pairs - One team stands at the side throwing bean bags or
dusters at the piles of cans, the other team attempts to build up the pile. After swapping over the team with
the fastest time wins.
Tunnel Relay
The team members stand in a line one behind another with their legs apart. The person at the back of the
team crawls through the legs of the other members and then stands at the front, legs open. The next team
member then goes. When everyone has crawled through (team is back in order) the team has finished.
Variation: Instead of crawling through a ball is passed backwards between the legs of the players. This will
require the person at the end of the line to run to the front when he receives the ball.

Water Relay Race

Paper cup per team
2 dixies or buckets per team
Transport water from point A to point B holding water can above head. Water can has small nail holes in
bottom edge resulting in a shower effect on the carrier. Team that has the most water average per den wins.
Variation: Carry cup of water on foot.
Wheels
Line patrols up. Give each team member a number. Then shout out modes of transport e.g. car. Number
four runs because it has four wheels. Any mode of transport is applicable:
1 - unicycle
2 - bicycle
3 - trike or a unicycle and a bicycle.
4 - car
5 - Unicycle on top of a car
6 - 3 bikes.
TRAIN - Whole team runs.
You can make it up as you go along: But when you shout TRAIN then the whole team must run.
Whirling Wheels
From jim.speirs@canrem.com (Jim Speirs) - 'Games Galore', BSC publication
A beanbag per team
Formation: Relay, like the spokes of a wheel, facing in a clockwise direction with the Sixers in the centre.
The beanbags lie at the feet of each Sixer and when the leader gives the starting signal, they pick up the
beanbag, run down the back of their Six and in a clockwise direction, round the wheel and back to the
outside end of the Six. The beanbag is then passed up the Six to the Cub now at the centre. This continues
until all the Cubs have had a turn.
Wild Wheelbarrow
Adapted by mott@oodis01.hill.af.mil (Dan Mott) - Great Salt Lake Council
A blindfold per team
One pushes a wheelbarrow and the other person blindfolded with the rider giving directions.
Some other very well known relays:
Egg and spoon race
Running Backwards
Hopping, Jumping
Wheelbarrow race
Piggy-back race
Sack race
Obstacle courses
Relays are described in other chapters:
Obstacle courses.

AIESEC Interactions
Games for WGs and Plenary
WGs
Getting acquainted

Names circle
Each member says his / her name and the names of all the people before him / her (3)
The first letter
Each member says his / her name and a fruit, drink etc. beginning with the same letter his / her
name begins with (3)
What would you bring with you
Each member says his / her name. The group is supposed to be invited to GMS. The question the
facilitator makes is what would you bring with you to GMS? The group member has to answer,
saying that he / she would bring an object starting with the starting letter of his / her first name. Of
course, this is something we dont tell them from the beginning and the game goes on until they
understand the trick. (5)
Say the name to the beat
The team decides to keep a certain pace by clapping their hands. Each team member, following
this pace, has to say his / her name and the name of the person siting next to him / her (3)
My role model
Each member says his / her name and the name of a personality he / she admires. Then, he /
she is asked to imagine and say what this role model would say about him / her (5)
Drawing of myself
Each member of the group makes a drawing of himself and writes below it one or more
characteristics of him / herself. The facilitator mixes then the papers, hands them out to the group
member and asks them to find the person pictured on the paper, chat with him / her and then
present him / her to the rest of the group (15)
Wrong & right
Each group member says 3 things about himself (characteristics, hobbies, beliefs etc.). The 2 of
them must true and the 1false. The rest of the group members have to guess which of them were
true and witch were fault. (10)
Touching the face
The group members split in pairs. The one touches each others face. Afterwards, we fold their
eyes and as they are wondering in the room, they have to find -by touching the others on the
face- their pair (10)
Stand in circle
The group members form a circle and one steps inside holding a newspaper. One group member
shouts anothers name. That person then has to shout another name of the groups members
before the person inside hits him / her with the newspaper on the head. If he / she is not fast
enough and gets hit, steps in the circle and so on. (15)

Interactive games
The joggler
The members of the group change places between them, before another one takes their place.
The member changing his / her place has to shout help me and then somebody has to shout
come here. The person who shouted help me takes the place of the one who shouted come
here. At the same time the one shouting come here has to shout help me, as he / she is
loosing his / her place and has to take somebody elses place and so on (10)
Chasing people with balloons tied on their feet (10)

Human sandwich
The members of the group form a sandwich with their bodies (5)
Markers increasing
The members of the group throw each other markers in a specific order, adding one each time.
The game becomes more fun when the members of the group start moving. (10)
Human knot
The members of the group mix their hands and then try to form a circle without loosening their
hands (15)
Love train
Some of the group members form a train. The rest of the members, who at the beginning were
out of the room, now enter the room and become part of the train. When the train stops moving,
all the members turn back and kiss each other, except for the last member, whom they beat. (5)
Couples
The group members sit down in couples, the person in front embraces the other, and try to switch
places with the member in front of another couple after an eye blink (15)
Groom / Knight / Horse
The facilitator shouts one of the previous words. The members of the group split in pairs. When
the facilitator shouts groom the one holds the other in their arms, when Horse the one falls
down on his knees and the other one stands above him and when Knight the one falls on his
knees and kisses the others hand (10)
Little Bouda
Each member makes a gesture and after a specific sign each one takes the gesture of the person
to his left (5)
Human bridge
The members of the group form a bridge using only 3 feet, 2 hands, 1 bottom etc. trying to move
from one place to another (15)
Give the pen
We give the pen to each other and someone decides if it was given in a right way or not. The key
is when giving it to give it in a specific way, lets say always with the left hand (10)
Telephone card or toothpick
Pass it from mouth to mouth or an orange placed between the chin and neck passing from one
person to another (10)
Glass of water
Each group member holds with his teeth a plastic glass of water. We pour water into the glass of
the first member and the goal is the water to roll from one glass to the other, ending at the first
person without pouring it (10)
Kiss the little rabbit
Pretend that there is a little rabbit that goes from one group member to the other and each one
kisses it on a certain spot. When the round ends, every group member is asked to kiss the person
next to him / her on the same spot of his / her own body (5)
Kisses form a human body
Put lipstick on the lips of each group member and with kisses try to draw a human body.
Preferably with two or more teams competing (10)

The boat is sinking

The members are all gathered together. You then tell them The boat is sinking, so split in
groups of You then call the number of the members in the group, moving from 2 to 30 and so
on. The ones left out of the group loose and get out of the game
Colours
The members are all gathered together. The facilitator shouts out a colour or a drawing a member
of the group has on his / her clothes. The rest of the members then have to put their nose on the
certain spot. That is repeated many times, using rare colours and shapes.
Dream house
The members of the group, holding only one pen and without talking, try to draw their dream
house (10)
Do you like your LC?
The facilitator asks one member: Do you like your LC? If the member says No the facilitator
asks: And who would you like to change with; The member answers then: With all the people
wearing red underwear etc. And this goes one, unless the member says Yes (20)
Clapping hands on the table
The group members put their hands on the table and mix them. Then start clapping their hands
on a row, the one following the other. If someone claps his hand twice, the flow goes backwards
(5)
Bzzzzzzz
The group members say one by one bzzzzzz When one says change, we change the
direction saying bzzzzzz. When he / she says switch the person sitting next to him / her loses
his / her turn and must not say bzzzzzzzz (5)
Shape a square with a rope
The members age given a rope and blindfolded try to shape a perfect square only through talking
(10)
Yogurt
The group members split in pairs, one holding a yogurt and a spoon and while both being
blindfolded try to feed each other (10)
Marine jumps - energizer
Yes, right! - energizer
Mind traps
How many 9s from 0-100? - 09 - 89, 90 - 99. That makes 19
Good frog, bad frog
You make with your right hand the movements of a frog, saying before that Thats a good frog.
After making the movements, you say OK!. You then make similar movements, saying Thats a
bad frog. Then you ask them whats the difference between the 2 frogs. The difference is that
after showing the movements of the good frog you always say OK!
How to get a golf ball thats fallen in a paper bag out of it without touching the bag? - Fill the bag
with water, burn the bag

Splitting in groups
Take a number
The delegates are given a number (lets say from 1 to 5 if you want to have 5 groups). After that
you send them to a corner, according to the number they have (5)
The month you were born
We pick a number of months equal to the number of groups we want and split the delegates in
groups according to the month they were born in (5)
Pick a fruit / color / food
You choose a certain number of fruits / colors / food, according to the number of the groups youd
like to have. You ask them which one they would prefer and split them to groups according to
their preferences (theres a possibility you will not have groups with equal numbers of delegates)
(5)
Facilitating
Right arm forming a right angle
The group members are asked to form a right angle with their right arm and move it up & down
whenever something is not understood, or the facilitator is talking too fast etc.
3 thoughts occurring to you
Ask the group members in the beginning of the WG to write down on a piece of paper 3 thoughts
currently occurring in their minds. Ask them to scrub the paper and throw it back, getting this way
those thoughts out of their mind
Shadow
Each group member writes his / her name on a small piece of paper. The facilitator collects them
and hands them out to the rest group members. The facilitator then tells them that they should be
the shadow of the person whose name is written on the paper, that is watch him / her carefully
and in the end of the session tell some words about his / her presence in the group
Fondling your hands
Ask the group members to fondle their hands in each way they like, in a way that the right palm
touches the left angle and the opposite. As soon as they do it ask them to do it in a different way.
There is no wrong or right way, its the way everyone sees things!
Blind drawing
The members of the group all together try to describe a given shape or drawing to a member of
the group who now tries to picture it and draw it (10)
Giving Feedback
Two people step up in plenary. The one turns his back. The other one -looking at the first persons
back- forms a basket with his hands. The first person tries to put scrubs of paper in that human
basket. When he fails, the rest of the group tries to guide the first person by giving him
instructions on how to put the scrubbed papers in the basket (10)
Plenary - Party
Boy - girl eating one banana
A horse riding
Ice cube in a boys trousers

How many feet standing on one chair?

Shape the numbers 0-9 using your butt
Getting in a row being blindfolded according to each members height
Form a human bridge with hands and pass each member over it
The elephant
The Zulu tribe
Place chewing gums between the legs of some girls and send boys to pick them up
Make the longest chain using your clothes
Lay down in a row and roll each other over
Kiss the paper - the group members split in pairs, boy-girl. They put crayon on their lips
and the facilitators holds high a blank piece of paper between them, telling them that the
winning pair will be the one making more crayon marks on the blank paper. They start
jumping, kissing the paper, when the facilitator pulls it back (10)
Transfer a coin using your bodies laid down one next to the other
Songs & interactions
Para - papa
Singing in the rain
My name is Joe
Ouh kalele
se tse kore
Amborigate
Epo -I- taita
Hei @
Father Abraham
Un cocomero
A ram sam sam
Tou tou e
Vampire check
Merekete
Let me see an @er