ACTION-ORIENTED GAMES

1) Amoeba Summary: An action oriented game where people hold hands and form an amoeba-like shape, and try to get others out of the game. Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: 10-20. Messiness Factor: Sweaty. Materials Required: Safe, Durable Object. Recommended Setting: Indoors or Outdoors The Amoeba Game Instructions: Instruct all players to hold hands and form a large circle. Put a safe, durable object in the middle of the circle. The object of the game is to try and have other people touch the object, by pulling, pushing, etc, but the circular link cannot be broken. If a person touches the object in the center of the circle, he or she is out of the game. The game is over when there is only one person left. Note: This elimination aspect of this game may not be ideal in terms of inclusivity and allowing people to play longer. Variations include: having those who touched the object leave the first amoeba, but start to form a second amoeba. You get negative points in the second amoeba by touching the object in the center. This means one amoeba is shrinking while the second one is growing. The end of the game is when there is only one person left in the one amoeba, and everyone else moving around in the second amoeba. 2) Banana Pass Summary: A high-paced, messy relay race in which players pass a banana using their feet and the last person must eat the mushy fruit. Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: Teams of 7-10. Messiness Factor: Quite messy! Materials: Bananas, at least 1 per team. Setting: Outdoor. The Banana Pass Game The banana pass is an outdoor action game that is essentially a messy relay race. The baton is a banana except the catch is that you can only use your feet to pass it! Eww.. How to Play Players lie down on the grass, head to toe in a straight line with each persons toes about 2 feet away from the next teammates head. When the game begins, the first people in line grab hold of the banana with their feet and pass it over their heads to the next persons feet. The next person receives the banana

with his or her feet and passes again until the entire team is done. When the banana has been passed to the last person, this person must peel the banana and eat it (ewww!). After eating it, the person then must run back to the starting line, finishing the race for the team. 3) Capture the Flag Summary: A team based action game in which the goal is to locate and recover the opposing teams flag before they do the same. A jail houses those who have been caught (tagged by the opposing team). Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: 20+. Messiness Factor: Sweaty. Materials Required: Two flags (any durable, safe, and noticeable object). Recommended Setting: Outdoors. Capture the Flag Capture the Flag is a popular team-based action game that is typically held outdoors. It is a fast paced cousin of It Tag, with lots of running and chasing, and some strategy. The following is the traditional version, although there are many variations of the game. How to Play Divide the players into two teams. Agree upon the legal boundaries of play, determine the location of two jails (one for each team) and set up a middle boundary between the two teams. At the beginning of each round, each team hides and defends their own flag, which is any object that is durable and safe to toss around and run with (e.g. a bright T-shirt or cone). The flag must not be obscured; it needs to be more than 50% visible. Optionally, you may have more than one flag if there are enough people. The object of the game is for one team to grab the flag of the other team and bring it over to their own side. When a member of the opposing team crosses over the middle boundary into the opposing teams territory, the other team is allowed to tag the person and take them to a jail where they stay until they are released (tagged) by one of their own team members who has not yet been captured. Be sure there is plenty of space outdoors, as there will be lots of running involved. Also remember: safety first. Clear the area of any dangerous obstacles or hazards. 4) Follow the Leader Summary: A hilarious copycat game in which people try to imitate one leaders actions, and

the person in the center attempts to identify who is the originator of the actions (the leader). Ages: 8 and up. Recommended # of People: A group of 8 to 16 people. Messiness factor: Might break a sweat. Materials: None. Setting: Indoors or outdoors. Follow the Leader Follow the Leader (also known as the Copycat Game) is an action game that serves as a good energizer or warmup activity. It can be pretty hilarious watching people mimic the leader, especially if the leader does some wacky movements. There is no preparation needed for the Follow the Leader game. Find a large open space, either indoors or outdoors, and youre ready to go! How to Play Ask everyone to stand and arrange the group into a circle, facing inwards. Ask one person to leave the room for a minute. This person will be the guesser for the round. While he or she is gone, the group decides who should be the leader. The leader will be the one who sets the movements for that round. When this person is chosen, invite the guesser to come back. The guesser stands in the very center of the circle. When the round begins, everyone starts swinging their arms up and down. The leader will eventually begin to do other movements, and everyone else mimics the leaders actions, without being too obvious to reveal who the leader is. The leader can do just about anything he or she wants, such as: clapping making a kicking motion with his or her leg jumping up and down singing a line from a song patting his or her own head a dance move Everyone in the circle should be careful to avoid prolonged eye contact with the leader, so the leaders identity is not given away. The guesser must keep turning his or her head to try to figure out which person is the leader (the person who is starting of all the groups movements). The guesser is allowed to make up to three guesses. If the guess is incorrect, the round continues. If the guess is correct, the leader becomes the new guesser for the next round. If all three guesses are exhausted and the leader is not correctly guessed, the

round ends and you can either keep the same guesser or switch it up. This action game tends to be hilarious, as people try to copy the leaders silly movements. Enjoy. 5) Ghost in the Graveyard Summary: An action game that is typically played outdoors at night. One person is the ghost who hides. The others search for the ghost and when he or she is discovered, he or she yells Ghost in the Graveyard! and everyone must try to run back to base before the ghost tags them. Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of people: At least 5 players. Messiness factor: Hiding and a lot of running involved. Materials: None, flashlights optional. Setting: Outdoors at night, a safe, large outdoor area to play in. Ghost in the Graveyard Ghost in the Graveyard is a game that involves hiding, seeking, and chasing. Its a good activity for nighttime family or group fun. Be sure to wear comfortable sneakers, as the game involves some running around. Setup for Ghost in the Graveyard There is no real setup necessary for this game, except to ensure that the area is safe from dangerous obstacles. Choose a central location to be the home base for the game. How to Play Ghost in the Graveyard Gather everyone at the home base. Youll need a large outdoor play area for this game. Tell everyone the boundaries of play and make sure everyone knows not to go past these boundaries. To begin, choose a volunteer to be the ghost. This person leaves the base and hides somewhere within the boundaries while everyone else closes their eyes. After a minute or two, the rest of the group counts aloud: One oclock, two oclock, three oclock until they reach midnight. At this point, everyone leaves the base and searches for the ghost. The first person to spot the ghost yells Ghost in the graveyard! and all the seekers rush back as fast as they can to base. The ghost chases after everyone and whoever is tagged becomes next ghost. This game is best to play when it is early evening or dark, but be sure to take measures to keep everyone safe, as running in areas with low light can lead to possible injury. Keep safe and have fun!

6) Mother May I? Summary: Mother May I is a classic kids game in which kids request to take a certain number and type of steps (baby, normal, giant, etc.) towards the mother. Kids must remember to as Mother May I? The first to touch the mother wins and becomes the new mother. Ages: Younger kids. Recommended number of people: Less than 10. Messiness factor: Might break a little sweat. Materials required: None. Recommended setting: Outdoors. Mother May I (also known as Captain May I) How to Play This game is a simple childhood action game that might be good for reinforcing the use of manners. One person is chosen as the mother (or captain if it is a male). She or he stands facing away from a line of kids and selects a child at random, or in order. The mother/captain calls out a direction, step type, and number of steps. For example, the mother/captain can say: Scott, you may take seven (or any other number) baby/normal/giant steps forward/backward. The child then responds with Mother may I? (or Captain may I? if it is a male player in charge). The mother/captain states Yes or No, depending on her whim, and the child obeys and takes the steps. If the child forgets to ask Mother may I? then he/she goes back to the beginning of the line. The first one to touch the Mother/Captain wins and becomes the new Mother/Captain. An alternate version of the game is similar: each child takes turns asking, Mother/Captain may I take [x kind of] steps? The child who is mother (or captain) replies yes or no. There are other kinds of steps possible for this game be creative and come up with your own. For example, there are: Bunny hops: hopping like a bunny. Frog hops: going down on all fours and hopping up like a frog. Scissors steps: jump while crossing your feet, then jump while uncrossing them was one step. Skip steps: steps as though one is skipping. Banana step: the child lies down with his or her feet at current spot, noting where the top of his or her head is, and standing up there for the new spot.

7) Pulse Game Summary: An action oriented icebreaker that works especially well with large groups of people. A game of quick reflexes and passing on the pulse! Ages: All. Recommended # of People: At least 40 people. Messiness Factor: Might break a small sweat. Materials Required: A coin, a chair, and any small object like a tennis ball. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Pulse Game The Pulse Game (also known as the Electric Current Game or the Electricity Game) is a great way to break the ice, especially if you have a large group people. In a fast paced action game, two long lines of humans resemble a fast moving electric current! Setup To set up the Pulse Game, you need to form two teams of equal size. The easiest way to do this is probably to have each player pair off with another person. When youve divided the group evenly, have each team member face the same direction, and have each team facing each other. Instruct each team to hold hands to form two long human chains. At the end of the two lines, place a chair with a small object (e.g. a tennis ball) on it. The referree stands at the front (see picture below).

Playing the Pulse Game To play the pulse game, have the two players at the front of the line watch the referee. Have everyone else close their eyes and face downward. Instruct everyone to be silent. For each round, the referee does the following: Flip a coin and quietly show it only to the first two players at the front of each team. Whenever the coin shows Heads, the two people at the front of the line must squeeze the hand of the next person in line as quickly as possible. Whenever that players hand gets squeezed, he or she quickly continues to pass the electric current by squeezing the next persons hand, and so on. As the electric current transfers along the line, the goal of the game is to be the first team to grab the object (the ball) on the chair. If heads was flipped and a team successfully grabs the ball, that team wins a

point. On the other hand, if the team grabs the ball but heads was not flipped, then the point goes to the other team. After each coin flip, wait several seconds and then flip again. Keep flipping until the coin shows Heads. For a short game, the winner is the first team to score 10 points. For a longer game, you can increase the number of points. Have fun playing this fast paced, quick reflex action game. 8) Sardines Game Summary: Sardines is like reverse hide-andseek; one person hides, and the rest of the players look for the one hidden person. When someone finds the hidden person, they quietly join them in hiding after a while, the group begins to look like sardines! Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: 15-30. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors with ample space, but not open space. Sardines (Reverse Hide and Seek) Game Sardines is a fun game which is very much like hide and seek, except it is done in reverse. It can be pretty humorous, as many people end up hiding in interesting places, resembling a bunch of sardines jammed together! How to Play One person is picked to be it. This person is given some time to hide while everyone else sits in a neutral spot with their eyes closed for a specified amount of time. When the time is up, everyone searchers for the person who is It. When this person is found, instead of ending the game, one tries not to let other people know where the person is; instead, he or she joins the person at their hiding spot. The object is to not be the last one left. The first person that found It gets to be It the next time. Be sure to have proper guidelines in place for appropriate boundaries and hiding spots. Safety always comes first. 9) SPUD Game Summary: SPUD is an action game that incorporates some elements of dodge ball. The ball is tossed up high, someone catches it, yells SPUD!, take three big steps, and tries to get someone out! Ages: All. Recommended # of people: At least 8 players. Messiness factor: Lots of running and throwing. Materials required: A soft ball

that does not hurt when thrown. Recommended setting: Outdoors. The Spud Game Spud is a simple, fast-paced action game that contains running, dodging, and throwing. It is a popular camp or kids game, but youth group students, college students and adults will probably enjoy playing this game too. Lots of variations exist for this game be creative! How to Play Spud To set up the Spud Game, have each player count off and remember their number. An optional variation is to have more than one person per number. After everyone is assigned a number, have each player group together in a bunch. One person starts with the ball in the center of the bunch. At the beginning of each round, the person with the ball (who is in the center of the bunch) throws the ball upwards to the sky while yelling a number. Everyone disperses and runs in all different directions away from the bunch except for the person(s) whose number was called. The person whose number was called catches the ball and then yells Spud! When he or she yells this, everyone must freeze. The person with the ball then is allowed to take three giant steps toward any player. He or she throws the ball and tries to hit someone. To dodge, players are allowed to move all parts of their body except they may not move their feet at all. If a player is hit the first time, he or she earns the letter S, eventually spelling the word SP-U-D. The person who was hit becomes the new thrower; otherwise, the thrower who missed earns a letter. The next round begins and play continues. Whoever spells the letter S-P-U-D is out of the game; alternatively, if you do not wish to eliminate players, you can set a time limit and whoever has the least amount of letters when time expires is the winner. 10) Thirsty Straws Summary: A funny relay race in which players must quickly drink as much water as they can and then pass it on to the next person. Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: Teams of 4. Messiness Factor: Better have a bathroom available! Materials Required: A liter of water per team, straws long enough to reach the bottom of container. Recommended Setting: Outdoor Thirsty Straws Game

Instructions: In groups of four, choose the order in which each person will drink. Thirsty Straws is a relay race to see who finishes first. The object of the game is to be the first team to drink the entire liter of water with the requirement that each member of the team can only drink once. The catch is that if each person does not drink his/her share, the last person is left to finish off whatever is left. This is usually an extremely difficult task and usually hilarious to watch.Note: This game may not be the most sanitary of games. As a cleaner alternative, consider a relay using multiple bottles of water, in which the next person can drink when the person finishes his or her one bottle. 11) Wall Ball Summary: Wall Ball is a classic playground game that involves throwing the ball against a wall, catching it without fumbling the ball, and trying to get others out! Many variations exist for this simple group game. Ages: 8 and up. Recommended # of people: At least 4. Messiness Factor: Get ready to break a sweat! Materials required: A small bouncy ball of some sort (e.g. a racquetball, tennis ball, etc.). Recommended Setting: Outdoors or in a very large room with a flat wall (e.g. side of a building) and a hard, flat floor. Rules for Wall Ball Wall Ball is a classic playground game played by children everywhere. Its fun for adults too! The object of the game is simple: a person throws a ball against a wall, and anyone can try to catch it. The person who tries to catch it must catch it cleanly (no drops). If a person drops the ball or touches the ball in any way without catching it, that person must quickly run up and touch the wall before another person can catch the ball and throw it against the wall. If the ball hits the wall before the player is able to touch it, the person is given a strike. Each player gets three strikes before they are out of the game (or you can assign some form of mild punishment, like making the person do the chicken dance). Variations Many different various exist for Wall Ball. For example, when someone catches the ball, they can assign rules such as: one handed catch only catch on one foot left handed catch only

And so on. If someone forgets to follow the rule, they must also run to the wall and touch it to prevent getting an out.

ICE BREAKER GAMES

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Autograph Bingo Game Summary: Autograph Bingo is a simple icebreaker that asks people to mingle and find people that match interesting facts listed on a bingo card. The game is useful in that it causes players to discover interesting and humorous facts about each other. Ages: 12 and up. Recommended # of people: Larger groups of 24+ people. Messiness Factor: No problem. Materials required: bingo cards prepared in advance and writing utensils. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Autograph Bingo Autograph Bingo is a fun way to help both new acquaintances and old friends discover facts about each other. The goal of this icebreaker game is to mingle and obtain the signatures of people who have the facts listed on their bingo card. Just as regular bingo rules, once a player successfully obtains a full row (5 in a row) on his or her Bingo sheet, whether obtained horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, he or she shouts BINGO! Setup Prepare a table with 5 rows and 5 columns (55), with interesting facts inside the boxes. These facts can include humorous or bizarre things. For example you can use facts such as: Speaks more than two languages Enjoys walking in thunderstorms Likes anchovies Has been to Alaska Has gone skydiving before Has more than three sisters Has gone without a shower for more than three days Try to be as creative as you can. Like traditional bingo, you can mark the center square as a Free Space. After you are finished preparing the table, print out enough copies. You are ready to play! Instructions for How to Play Pass out pens and the bingo cards to each player. Explain the game along with the following rule: each person you talk to may only sign your sheet once (so that people can interact with as many people as possible). When everyone is ready, say Go! and begin the game!Once a player shouts Bingo!

everyone returns to the center and the person must introduce the people who signed his or her sheet. If desired, you can ask each person to explain their fact. The Autograph Game is a great way to learn humorous or unique facts about people. Have fun! 2) Big Wind Blows Game Summary: Big Wind Blows is a good icebreaker that helps people get to know each other better. Players sit in a circle, with one person in the center as the big wind. This person says identifies a characteristic that is true about themselves and then all players who share the same characteristic must find a new seat. Ages: All. Recommended # of people: At least 6 players. Messiness factor: Slight running. Materials required: Chairs for each player, minus one. Recommended setting: Indoors or Outdoors. The Big Wind Blows Game Big Wind Blows is an icebreaker game that combines aspects of musical chairs with a get-to-know-you task. It can be humorous and entertaining, especially when you discover interesting facts that you might not expect about people. How to Play Big Wind Blows To set up the game, arrange several chairs facing inward into a medium sized circle. There should be one chair for each player, minus one. One person starts as the Big Wind in the center of the circle, with everyone else seated. The Big Wind raises both arms and spins around, while saying the following: The Big Wind blows _____. The blank must be filled with a true statement about himself or herself, such as The Big Wind blows everyone who has been to Canada or any other true fact. At this point, any of the players who share this characteristic (including the person who is currently the Big Wind) must stand up and quickly find a new seat. For each statement, no player is allowed to sit in the same seat or a seat directly adjacent to his or her previous seat. One person will be left without a seat. This person becomes the new Big Wind for the next round. This game is especially interesting when players use unique, unexpected, or funny statements. For example, a player can say embarassing statements such as, Big Wind blows those who have gone without a shower

for three days. Have fun and remember the objective of the group game: to get to know each other better.

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Blanket Name Game Summary: A good get-to-know-you name identification game that can get pretty hilarious! Two people stand facing each other with a large blanket in between. The blanket drops, and the first person to correctly identify the other person wins the round. Ages: All. Recommended # of People: 10-20. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: Blanket. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Blanket Name Game Instructions: The Blanket Name Game is a simple name recognition/identification game. Go around the room and make introductions (share your name and other information such as your hobbies, major, etc. if desired. Separate into two groups and have two people hold a large, thick blanket separating the two groups so that neither group can see the other. When the blanket drops, the first person to correctly call out the name of the other groups designated person wins the round (which typically means the loser of the round must leave the game, though if you prefer to avoid elimination then you dont have to do this). The group may strike different humorous poses to distract the attention of other groups person. As a variation, several people may be facing the other group with one person being chosen to call out the information of the other groups people.

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Celebrity ID Game Summary: An icebreaker where each person has a label with a famous celebrity or character name on their back. Everyone mingles, asking yes or no questions to gain clues about the name posted on their backs. Ages: All. Recommended # of People: 20 and over. Messiness Factor: No sweat. Materials Required: Several labels with famous names on them. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Celebrity ID Game Instructions: The Celebrity ID Game is a good way to get a large group to mingle and break the ice by interacting with lots of people rapidly. To set up, the moderator prepares several labels with famous celebrity or well-

known names (e.g. Tom Hanks, Mickey Mouse, Barry Bonds, etc.) The moderator sticks a label on each persons back. Then, the moderator announces it is time for the game to begin. At this point everybody mingles and introduces themselves to each other, and then each person asks yes or no questions to gain clues about the name. When a person correctly identifies the name, he or she removes the label and continues to mingle until a preset amount of time.

activity correctly, there should be lots of kind things said about each other. Important note: instruct everyone to write nice (or encouraging) words ONLY! Do not allow any mean, rude, or critical words to be written. For example, one can write words such as beautiful smile, great sense of humor, smart and witty personality, gifted listener, etc.

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First Impressions Game Summary: An icebreaker (or party game) in which people write their first impressions of each other on a large paper taped to their backs. Ages: 13 and up. Recommended number of people: At least 10. Works with very large groups and meetings. Mesiness factor: No mess, no stress! Materials required: A large piece of paper or posterboard for each participant, pens/markers, sturdy tape. Recommended Setting: Indoors or outdoors. First Impressions Game This is a fun game that involves writing your first impression of someone you meet. If some people already know each other, thats fine too people can simply write some nice, encouraging words or adjectives to describe each other. This works well as an icebreaker for meetings, when there are new people present, or when people dont know each other well. It can be entertaining as a party game, too. To set up First Impressions, pass out the large sheets of paper and writing utensils. Have each person write their name on the top of a sheet of paper. Tape each persons sheet to their back so that they cant see it. Instruct everyone to mingle with each other and to converse. Tell everyone to say hello and to introduce each other for a few moments. After a minute or so, ask each person to write an adjective (their first impression of the person they just spoke with) on each others papers. Then have each person continue mingling with new people, repeating the process. After 10-20 minutes (depending on how large your group is and how long you want this activity to run), each person should have several adjectives and descriptive words listed on their backs. Go around the room and introduce each other, reading the words writen on your neighbors paper. This should be pretty humorous, and if people did this

Giants, Wizards, and Elves Summary: An icebreaker / action oriented game good for medium and large sized groups. Similar to a game of rock, paper, scissors, two teams face off and decide to become either giants, wizards, or elves. Giants defeat elves, elves defeat wizards, and wizards defeat giants. Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: 20 and up (large groups work fine too!). Messiness factor: Might break a small sweat! Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors or Outdoors. Giants, Wizards, & Elves Giants, Wizards, and Elves is a fun, silly icebreaker game that is a good way to break the ice at meetings or in classrooms. Its a simple game based on the classic game of rock, paper, scissors. Setup Teach everyone how to become three characters: the giant, the wizard, and the elf. Each character features hand motions and a noise. For the giant, each person stands on their tippy toes, lifts up their arms, and makes an angry growling noise: Roooar! For the wizard, each person crouches a little bit, flutters their fingers as though they are casting a spell, and they make a magical noise: Woooo! For the elf, each person gets down very low on their knees, cups their hands around their ears, and makes a high pitched elf noise: Eeeeee! Practice each motion together a few times. Divide everyone into two teams and have them separate into opposite sides of the room. The game invovles several rounds. For each round, the following takes place: 1. Each team forms a huddle and decides to become a giant, wizard, or elf. 2. Both teams then line up and face each other, about 5 feet apart.

3. The facilitator says 3..2..1..Go! 4. Each team acts out the giant, wizard, or elf (whatever they decided to become). 5. As soon as they act out their character, the winner tries to grab the loser and pulls as many people over to their side as they can. The loser tries to run away, back to their side, in order to be safe. The winner of each round is determined by the following. The giant defeats the elf because giants squash elves. Elves defeat wizards by outsmarting them, chewing at their legs. The wizard defeats the giant by zapping them with a magic spell. Identical characters are a draw (no one wins).This process keeps repeating for multiple rounds until one team is entirely consumed (or when time runs out.) Variations Other variations of this game exist or you can make up your own. Be creative!

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Human Knot Icebreaker Summary: A good icebreaker or teambuilding activity for new people to learn to work together in close physical proximity! The goal is to figure out how to untangle the human knot without letting go of hands. Ages: 12 and up. Recommended number of people: 7-200 (group sizes of 10 are ideal). Messiness factor: Might break a sweat (close proximity hope youre not claustrophobic!). Materials required: None. Recommended setting: Both indoors or outdoors. Human Knot Game Goals of the Human Knot Game: Team building and communication Problem solving Ice-breaker or get to know others better Setup for the Human Knot Game: This game is versatile in that multiple group sizes can play. Form groups of about 10 people each. Have each group standing, facing towards each other, in a circle. Each person should be standing shoulder to shoulder. First, instruct everyone to lift their left hand and reach across to take the hand of someone standing across the circle. Next,

have everyone lift their right and reach across to take the hand of another person standing across the circle. Make sure that no one is holding hands with someone standing directly beside the person. How to Play the Human Knot Game To play, the groups must communicate and figure out how to untangle the knot (forming a circle of people) without ever letting go of any hands. If you wish, this icebreaker can be played competitively, in which the facilitator says Ready.. Set.. Go! and has all the groups race to become the first group to finish. If any group member lets go of a hand (breaks the chain), then the group must start from the beginning, or you could impose a penalty/punishment for that person (e.g. wear a blindfold). This game typically takes 15-30 minutes to complete. You can impose a time limit if you wish to make the game more challenging. When you are done with the Human Knot activity, you can ask some debrief questions if you wish, such as How well did you group work together? What strategies did your group adopt? How did it feel to solve the game? etc. Variations To increase the difficulty level, you can either (1) blindfold some of the players or (2) require that the game be played silently (no talking).

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Human Sculptures Game Summary: Human Sculptures (also known as Human Clay) is an icebreaker group game that involves posing people into large human sculptures based on predefined topics. Two versions exist: a competitive version based on a guessing game, and a version that is more about coming up with a creative interpretation. Ages: 12 and up. Recommended number of people: Groups of at least three. Messiness factor: Minimal hold a pose for a few minutes. Materials required: Sheets of paper and pens. Recommended setting: Indoors or outdoors. Human Sculptures Game Human Sculptures is a fun game that be used as an icebreaker activity or as a general party game. There are two variations of this game one version is a competitive guessing game, while the other version is an based on creative interpreptations of various topics. The instructions for both versions are below.

How to Play Human Sculptures: Guessing Game Version The facilitator should announce a category (e.g. famous movies or famous songs the more specific the better). All players are then divided into smaller groups and one team leader is given a pen and paper. Each group brainstorms an idea that goes along with the topic and each team leader must write down the idea on a sheet of paper and turn it in to the leader, who checks that the idea is appropriate for use. Each group then creates a sculpture using their bodies. Every member of the group should comprise some part of the entire sculpture. After a predefined time limit (for example, five minutes), each team looks at each others sculpture. Each team is allowed two guesses for what the other team has formed. Whatever group guesses the the other groups sculpture the closest is the winner. How to Play Human Sculptures: Noncompetitive Version The leader should announce that the group will now participate in a human clay activity. Players would be asked to provide their own interpretation or illustration of some category of events or other topics (prepared in advance by the leader). Some examples of categories that could be used: A topic related to specific subject matter learned in the classroom An important event or experience An important event in history An famous scene from a movie A line from a famous song The leader should demonstrate first (to help put the players at ease, especially those who might be reluctant to act out). This noncompetitive version can be a good way to see how people illustrate content learned in class, or something personally meaningful to them. Have fun!

groups with new people, or for whenever you wish to help people get to know each other better to break the ice.Instructions Pass out an index card and a pen to each person who is playing. Then each person has to write two things they have done and one they havent. The more unique and interesting the better, but the object it to make it hard for the others to guess that it is your card. Then the cards are collected and the group votes on who they think the card represents and which item they havent done.

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M&M Game Summary: The M&M Game is an icebreaker that allows people to get to know each other. Each person grabs some M&Ms and shares facts about himself or herself. Ages: All. Recommend number of people: Groups of 3-12. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: A large bag of M&Ms or any candy with multiple colors (e.g. Skittles). M&M Game This icebreaker is a simple way to help people introduce facts about themselves. Its very flexible and adaptable and (if you have a sweet tooth) delicious too! The M&Ms Game goes by other names: the Skittles Game, the Candy Game, the Color Game, among other names. Setup Pour M&Ms or any other multicolor candy into a bowl. Have everyone in the group grab as much or as little as they like from the bowl. Make sure that no one eats their candy right away. How to Play For each piece of M&M candy they took, they will have to answer a question, depending on its color. For example, you can designate: Red candy: favorite hobbies Green candy: favorite foods Yellow candy: favorite movies Orange candy: favorite places to travel Brown candy: most memorable or embarrassing moments Blue candy: wild cards (they can share anyone they choose) You can be creative and choose any questions you think would be fitting for your group. The facilitator will then call out the color topic and everyone will go around the room sharing 1 answer per M&M. As an example: if you chose two red pieces of candy, you will have to name two of your favorite hobbies. After the individual has shared that color with the

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ID Guessing Game Summary: An icebreaker in which people write down two things that theyve done and one thing that they havent on an index card. The goal is to correctly guess who wrote each card. Ages: All. Recommended # of people: 8-15. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: Several pens and index cards. Recommended setting: Indoors. ID Guessing Game The ID Guessing Game is a good, simple getto-know-you game that is especially good for

group, he/she may then eat their candy. Continue to go around the room until each color topic has been shared.

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Name Game Summary: A simple icebreaker useful for introducing people to each other and helping people learn names. This game is especially useful when there are new people present. Ages: 10-21 years old. Recommended # of People: 5-20. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: A fun attitude. Recommended Setting: Indoors. The Name Game How to play The Name Game (also known as the Adjective Game) starts with one person in the room picking a word that describes himself or herself as a person. The catch is, that the word must start with the first letter of their first name. For example, my students call me Miss Velasquez. I would say Hello! My name is Vivacious Velasquez. The person after me must say my adjective and name before saying theirs. So they would go, Hello, Vivacious Velasquez, my name is Silly Sam. Then the third person would go, Hello, Vivacious Velasquez, and Silly Sam, my name is Easy-going Edwin. This continues on until all of the students have gone. Being last is hilarious in this game, because they must remember everyones name AND adjective before stating theirs. Additional comments and suggestions Ive played this game in college and, of course, used my first name. I said, Hello, my name is I-love-you Irene. It was funny because everyone after me had to say Hello, I-love-you Irene, Im (insert witty adjective and name here). This is neat because you dont necessarily have to pick a single word that describes you. In fact, it doesnt have to be an adjective at all. Notice, however, that the first word of my phrase started with the letter I. This is the only rule that cannot be broken. The more creative you are the better and more humorous the game will be. This game will help students that may not already know each other to get to know one another better. When students pick their adjective (or phrase) it will also double as a great tip for the next person if they get stuck and cannot remember the other students name.

Never Have I Ever Summary: An icebreaker where players sit in a circle and take turns saying interesting things they have never done. Each player starts with ten fingers. Each time someone says something that youve done, you drop a finger. The goal is to be the last player remaining. Ages: 8 and up. Recommended # of people: 10-20. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Never Have I Ever How to Play Tell everyone to sit in a circle. Each player holds out all ten of your fingers and places them on the floor. One by one, each person announces something that they have never done; for example, they say, Never have I ever been to Canada. For each statement, all the other players remove a finger if they have done that statement. So, if three other people have been to Canada before, those three people must put down a finger, leaving them with nine fingers. The goal is to stay in the game the longest (to have fingers remaining). Thus, it is a good strategy to say statements that most people have done, but you havent. This can be humorous (e.g. Never have I ever skipped a class in school or Never have I ever soiled my pants.) The game provides a good way to find out unique experiences and facts about people.

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Homemade Pictionary Game Summary: A classic icebreaker game in which the goal is to get your team to correctly identify something that is drawn within the time limit. Ages: 8 and up. Recommended # of people: Teams of 3+ people. Messiness Factor: No sweat. Materials required: Several sheets or two large pads of paper, notecards, pens, a stopwatch/timer. Recommended setting: Indoors. Homemade Pictionary Pictionary is a classic game of drawing and guessing pictures. This game works great with large groups as an icebreaker, as well as simply a fun game to play on a lazy Sunday afternoon with friends. Setup In advance, a judge (someone who is not playing) should prepare several words written on individual notecards. These are the words

that will be drawn, and that teammates will try to guess. Each word(s) should be labeled as one of the following five categories (or be creative and come up with other ones): Person, Place, Animal A person, place, animal, or other creature that is/was living (e.g. Tiger Woods, a bear). Action Something that can be done or performed (e.g. ballet, shooting a basketball). Object Something that can be seen or touched (e.g. a truck, a chocolate chip cookie). Challenge Something difficult (e.g. The Grand Canyon). All play A word from any of the above categories. Both teams draw simultaneously. After the judge finishes preparing several cards, he or she shuffles the pile. You are now ready to play! How to Play Divide the group into teams of at least three. Give each team a name. Distribute a large pad (or sheets) of paper and a pen to each group. (Instead of paper, you can also draw on chalkboards or whiteboards). Decide which team goes first. On a teams turn, they choose someone to draw. The judge prepares a one-minute timer (or stopwatch) and gives the player a card. The judge says Go! and starts the timer. The player begins to draw a picture of the word(s). The goal is for the team to correctly guess the word (or basic idea of the word) within the allotted time limit. If the team correctly guesses the word, they receive a point. Then its the next teams turn. Rules The artist may not make any hand gestures or audible noises. The pictures drawn cannot have any numbers or letters. After a team member successfully says part of the word(s) on the card, Variations In the original Pictionary game, if the team correctly guesses the word, they go again. You can use a standard 6-sided die to determine which category a team must draw from. For example, 1: Person, Place, or Animal 2: Action, 3: Object, 4: Challenge, 5: All Play, 6: Wild (you choose).

Instead of having a judge prepare the clues in advance, you can have each player write a few clues in the beginning and then shuffle them all up.

14) Shoe ID Game Summary: An icebreaker where all players throw a shoe into a big pile. Grab a random shoe and find out three new facts about the person. Ages: All. Recommended # of People: 10 and over. Messiness Factor: Smelly. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Shoe ID Game The Shoe ID Game is a fun albeit smelly icebreaker game. Instructions Everybody takes off a shoe and throws them in a large pile on the floor. On the count of three, each person grabs a shoe from the pile, then find the person with the matching shoe in their other foot and find out their name and three things about them they didnt already know. Works best with larger groups. After everyone has found their person and asked them the questions, then go around the circle and have everyone introduce the person they talked to and tell the three things about them. This game is a good large group game, though it can be somewhat smelly.

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Sorts and Mingle Summary: An icebreaker that gets the group to move towards various parts of the room and to find others with shared interests and preferences, based on various interesting categories. Ages: 10 and up. Recommended number of people: 25 and up. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: None. Recommended setting: Indoors. Sorts and Mingle Instructions: The first part of the game is the Sorts game. You will throw out two contrasting choices and the group has to move either East or West of the room (e.g. Do you prefer Target or Walmart?). Then you throw out two more choices and have them move South and North. That way, they are all having to move somewhere and cant get lost in the crowd. Sorts that work well include: movie/book; salty/sweet; dress up/casual; inside/outside; be on the stage performing/in the audience watching, etc.

The second part, the Mingle game, is also interesting and effective as an icebreaker; You throw out a general category and the group has to mingle around to find others that have the same answer and they clump up. After about thirty seconds to one minute, you then have each group call out their answer. Its okay if someone doesnt have anyone else who has the same answer. Just try to avoid two groups with the same answer (means they didnt mingle very well!) Some examples of mingles: your favorite dessert; the type of toothpaste you use; if you could attend one huge event (e.g. the Superbowl, Oscars, World Series, Nascar Opening Day, etc.) what would you choose; your least favorite chore growing up as a kid; if you could be the very best at something, what would it be?

action mutates and changes based upon each persons interpretation of what is going on, often leading to confusion and silly motions.

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Two Truths and a Lie Summary: A classic get-to-know-you icebreaker in which each person says two truths and one lie. The goal is to figure out which statement is actually the lie. Ages: All. Recommended # of people: 6-10. Messiness factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Two Truths and a Lie Two Truths and a Lie is the classic icebreaker game in which one attempts to identify which of three statements is bogus. Instructions: Have everyone sit in a circle. Each person prepares three statements, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. In any order, the person shares the three statements to the entire group. The object of the game is to figure out which statement a lie. The rest of the group votes on each statement, and the person reveals which one is the lie. Variation: Two Truths and a Dream Wish. As an interesting variation to the classic Two Truths and a Lie icebreaker, people may also play a version called Two Truths and a Dream Wish. Instead of stating a lie, a person says something that is not true yet something that they wish to be true. For example, someone that has never been to Hawaii might say: I have visited Hawaii when I was young. This interesting spin often leads to unexpected, fascinating results, as people often share touching wishes about their lives. 18) Whose Story Is It? Summary: An icebreaker in which you read various (bizarre) stories and try to guess whose true story it is. Ages: All. Recommended # of People: 8-20. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: Paper, pens, container. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Whose Story Is It? This simple icebreaker can be a fun method to hear fascinating true stories about your friends. Instructions Pass out slips of paper and pens. Have everyone briefly write down a true story or experience that happened to them on the paper along with their name. The more

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Telephone Charades Summary: An icebreaker / stationary game in which a person acts out an action only for the next person in line, who in turn acts out for the next person. The acting typically becomes distorted over time and hilarious, as the last person in line tries to guess what the original clue was. Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: 5-6. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Telephone Charades How to Play The Telephone Charades Game (also sometimes called Charades Down the Line) is an icebreaker/stationary game that is a hilarious blend of the classic telephone down the line and charades game. This group game is fairly simple to play. Select five to six participants and ask them to leave the room. The audience chooses an action that is specific, silly, and obscure to act out (e.g. a nerds romantic first date, washing an elephant, going skydiving, etc.). Once the clue has been decided, bring in all the participants and instruct them to face the right side. The moderator reveals the clue to the first person, who taps the second person on the shoulder and acts out the topic using charades rules (no talking allowed, no noises). The second person then taps the third person and acts out his or her understanding of what was acted out. This continues until it reaches the last person in line, who must guess what the action is. This game is funny because the

bizarre, the better. Fold the slips of paper and put them into the container, shuffling them and mixing them up. A mediator picks out four slips of paper and calls out the names of the people. These people go and sit on chairs or a couch apart from the group. The mediator reads off the stories and then the group tries to figure out whose story is whose. The group does this by asking different people to tell different stories. The people on the couch try to convince the group that the story they tell really is theirs. After everyone on the couch has told a few different stories, the group votes. This repeats until everyone has gone up. The main goal of the game is to have fun telling stories and learn a few interesting or humorous facts about each other.

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STATIONARY GAMES

Bowl Game Summary: A rapid-fire guessing game in which players write many clues and place them in a bowl. Ages: All. Recommended # of People: 10-20. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: Bowl, lots of paper, and pens. Recommended Setting: Indoors. The Bowl Game How to Play The Bowl Game is a personalized guessing game useful for parties and other gatherings. To prepare for the game, cut paper into small pieces, yet big enough to write on. Have the players write down virtually anything that can be used for guessing: objects, famous people, movies, places, anything that comes to mind. Fold the pieces up and put them into the bowl. Divide into two teams. Each team has one minute to describe as many pieces of paper from the bowl as possible without saying the word on the paper. Each team gets one pass per turn and after that it is minus one point for every pass. Whoever has the most points when the terms in the bowl run out wins. Variations include: Doing charades with the same set of clues for the second round, followed by being allowed to say one word only for the third round.

Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: 10-30. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: Paper, a couch or four chairs, pens. Recommended Setting: Indoors The Couch Game How to Play The Couch Game (also known by the name Kings and Queens) is a memory-based game that takes a moment to learn. Form a circle with the couch (or four chairs) as part of the circle. Place two males and two females on the couch, and have the rest of the people fill in the circle, in alternating order (guy next to girl no two guys next to each other, and no two girls next to each other). One chair must be left open. Have everyone fill out their name on a piece of paper. Place all the pieces of paper in a container. Go around the room and have someone pick out a piece of paper with someones name on it (they cannot have their own name). They must not let anyone know whose name they have. The person to the left of the empty chair begins by calling out someones name. The person who is holding a paper with that name must move from their seat to the empty seat. The object of the game is for the guys to get four guys on the couch while the girls try to get four girls on the couch. This game is a memorybased game which sometimes leads to humorous results due to its gender-based competitive nature.

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Hodgy Podgy Summary: Hodgy Podgy is a simple (and entertaining!) rhythm game that has each person go around taking turns adding words to create a story. Ages: 10 and up. Recommend # of people: 615. Messiness factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Instructions: Hodgy Podgy (also known as Hodgey Podgey and the Hodgy Podgy Word Game) is a simple yet very fun rhythm game. A group of people stand in a circle, with everyone facing the center. Choose a person who will start the round. He or she starts to clap a relatively slow rhythm (slap both legs on the first beat, then clap hands on second beat, thumbs-up on left hand for third beat, and thumbs-up on right hand on fourth beat, and repeat the four beat cycle). Everyone in the circle matches the rhythm set by the leader. To start each round, the leader says (while clapping to the rhythm, one beat per

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Couch Game Summary: A memory-based game in which males and females compete to get all members of their team seated on the couch.

word), Hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy! The leader starts a sentence by saying any word on the one beat (for example, he or she could say the word Big as he or she slaps their legs on beat one). The next person in the circle must continue the story by adding the next word in the sentence by the first beat of the next rhythm cycle (for example, the 2nd person could say dogs, so the sentence is now Big dogs..). The third person in the circle must continue the story by adding the 3rd word in the sentence at the right time (for example, the person could say the word eat, making the current sentence Big dogs eat..). The next person in line must continue the sentence. Each word must make logical and grammatical sense when added to the sentence. If a person wants to end the sentence, he or she says a punctuation word, such as period or exclamation point or question mark. At this point, the next person in the circle starts the new sentence. An example of a sample round of play would look like this (assuming there are 6 players in the circle):
Player 1 (while clapping a 4 beat rhythm): Hodgy
podgy, hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy!

Player 4 starts new sentence on beat one of next

cycle by saying: Bob..

And the game continues, as players create silly stories together, word by word. When a player makes a mistake (is unable to continue the sentence in time, or says something logically or gramatically correct) the round ends and he becomes the person who starts the next round. This game offers lots of entertainment and is a little educational too!

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Hot Seat Summary: A good get-to-know-you game in which players take turn on the hot seat, being asked a barrage of questions, some hypothetical, some silly, and some interesting. Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of people: 5-10. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: A chair. Recommended Setting: Indoors. The Hot Seat Instructions: Take a chair and identify it as the hot seat. Set a timer for any length of time (e.g. something like 2 or 3 minutes should be plenty) and ask each person to take a turn on the hot seat. Once they are seated, the timer begins and people may ask the seated person any question in rapid-fire succession. The hot seat member is allowed to say pass for any too personal questions try to avoid asking these, as it can ruin the fun. The players should be encouraged to ask good, meaningful questions that can allow the person to share significant and important things about himself or herself, such as: What were your greatest disappointments in your life? What would you do if you won the lottery? If money were no object and you were guaranteed to be successful, what job would you do as a career? If you could meet and have dinner with any person who ever lived, who would it be and why? What would you ask that person? What three words would you use to describe yourself? Questions can be funny, too, such as: What was your most embarassing moment? What was the silliest thing youve ever done?

Player 1 starts sentence on beat one: Big.. Player 2 continues sentence on beat one of next
cycle: ..dogs.. cycle: ..eat..

Player 3 continues sentence on beat one of next Player 4 continues sentence on beat one of next
cycle: ..yummy.. Player 5 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: ..food.. Player 6 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: ..when.. Player 1 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: ..they.. Player 2 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: ..are.. Player 3 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: ..hungry.. Player 4 ends sentence on beat one of next cycle by saying: ..PERIOD.. Player 5 starts new sentence on beat one of next cycle: They.. Player 6 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: ..are.. Player 1 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: ..very.. Player 2 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: ..smelly.. Player 3 ends sentence on beat one of next cycle by saying: ..EXCLAMATION POINT..

The game serves as a great way to get to know each other. Variations of the game include: allowing the player on the hot seat to lie, and then having the rest of the players challenge the player in order to win points; adding judges to award the most interesting facts; among other variations.

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Mafia Game Summary: A stationary group game involving lots of strategy. People play as a member of the mafia, police, doctor, or town. The object is eliminate the mafia before they eliminate the entire town. Ages: 14 and up. Recommended number of people: A groups of 8 to 12. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: A deck of cards to determine who plays which role. Recommended setting: Indoors. Mafia Game This stationary game (originally invented by psychology student Dimitry Davidoff in Russia, 1986) is a popular group game involving strategy and bluffing. It is good for discussing topics such as lying, deception, trust, good versus evil, etc. or just for a fun time. There are five roles one can play: one narrator, two members of the mafia, two members of the police (or one the group is not large), one doctor, the remaining people are townspeople. Setup The narrator needs to prepare the right number of playing cards to set up the game. He or she takes out two aces (which represent mafia), two kings (which represent police), one queen (which represents the doctor), and several number cards (one for each of the remaining roles to be played). Therefore, if there are 12 people playing, there would be two aces, two kings, one queen, and seven number (non-face) cards, adding up to 12 cards. The narrator shuffles these cards and each person randomly selects a card, without revealing his or her identity. The person assumes the role for the round.Roles Ace card: Anyone who gets an Ace card is a Mafia member. Their goal is to keep secret that they are Mafia and blend in with the Townspeople. For them to win the game, they want to eliminate the townspeople one by one each round but not to get eliminated (voted off) during the day. King card: Anyone who gets a King card is a member of the Police. These

members try to figure out who is guilty of being a Mafia and who is innocent. Thus, their goal is to help the townspeople vote correctly in who to eliminate during the day (the good people, not the bad!). They generally want to keep their identity secret so that the Mafia cannot eliminate them early. Queen card: The doctor role. This optional (but recommended) role serves one purpose to try to protect people during the night. He or she can also be selfish and choose to protect himself during the night. All other cards (number cards): Townspeople. Their goal is to figure out who is a member of the secret Mafia, and to eliminate them from the town during the day. How to Play Arrange the players in a circle, with the narrator outside the circle and walking around it. Each day of the game, the narrator takes the entire town through the following commands in this order: 1. Nighttime It is nighttime, so everyone please go to sleep. (Everyone puts their head down and closes their eyes) Mafia, please wake up. (Only the mafia quietly opens their eyes. The ones that are still alive quietly and unanimously choose a person to eliminate by pointing to someone in the group. The narrator takes note of the person chosen. Mafia, please go to sleep. (The mafia closes eyes and places their heads down again.) Police, please wake up. (The member(s) of the police that are still alive open their eyes and quietly points to one person who they suspect is a member of the Mafia. The narrator quietly nods or shakes his or her head to indicate whether that person is indeed Mafia. Police, please go to sleep. (The member(s) of the police close their eyes and place their heads down.) Doctor, please wake up and choose someone youd like to protect. (The doctor, if still alive, wakes up and silently points to someone they would like to protect for that day.)

Doctor, please go to sleep. (The doctor closes his or her eyes and puts his/her head down.) Its morning. Everyone please wake up. (Everyone opens their eyes and raises their head.) 2. Daytime Update The narrator announces the person who was eliminated, unless the doctor correctly selected the person who was targeted by the Mafia for the night. The person who was eliminated MUST quietly leave the circle. This person may not speak to anyone for the remainder of the entire game, but he or she may now keep his/her eyes open to watch everything. 3. Daytime Discussion/Voting The townspeople (along with the Mafia and Police who may pretend to be townspeople) then nominate and vote on people who they suspect is a Mafia. Each person nominated may make a defense and plead their case. The person receiving a majority vote (50% or above) is eliminated. After someone is voted off, the day is over. The day may also end without any eliminations if the entire group decides to do so. The day ends, and the pattern starts again (Nighttime, Daytime Update, Daytime Discussion/Voting). How to Win The police or townspeople win if they successfully eliminate all mafia members. The mafia win if they successfully eliminate all the townspeople. This group game involves lots of strategy, knowing how and when to reveal your identity, who to trust, etc. Variations A variation for younger kids is known as Predator. Instead of mafia, there are predators, and instead of police there are hunters. Usually three separate predators (lion, wolf, bear) are chosen and they are instructed to pick up their heads separately and kill someone (they sometimes kill each other). Also, rather than using cards, simply just tap them while their heads are down (If I tap you now, you are the bear.) It makes it easier for the kids to keep it a secret.

being surprised by an wedding proposal) and must act out his or her reaction to this event. Based on this reaction, team members try to guess what the event was. Ages: All. Recommended # of People: Groups or teams of 6-12 people. Messiness Factor: Might break a small sweat. Materials Required: Sheets of paper, pens, a container to hold the paper. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Reaction Game Form groups of six to twelve people. If playing this game with a very large group as an icebreaker, you can also choose four or five volunteers and have them go to the front of the room. The first step is to ask players to create some events. Give each player small sheets of paper and pens. Ask each player write some events. Encourage creativity. Some examples of events: Being attacked by a shark while fishing Hitting a home run to win the World Series Watching the lottery and realizing that you have the winning number Being presented a large engagement ring and proposed for marriage Going on a first date with an attractive person After people are done writing events, collect the sheets and place them in the container (a hat or small bag will do). Within groups, choose three or four people to act for each round. Ask the players to randomly draw an event from the container. Without giving away what the event is, give each player 30 seconds to 1 minute to act out a reaction to the event they received. They may act out using charades rules, and they can also make noises and talk to the other actors (while staying true to their character). As players act, this should lead to funny results. When time expires, the other team members attempt to guess what event each person had. If you want to keep score (optional), award a point for each correct guess. Winning or losing tends to be less important for this icebreaker, however, as there is a lot of humor and entertainment value in watching people react to silly things. Variations Other variatons of Reaction include: Narrator explains each event before the actors act. This makes the

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Reaction Game Summary: A funny icebreaker/stationary acting game in which a person randomly chooses an event (e.g. winning the lottery or

icebreaker less of a competition, but it still makes it entertaining. Noises permitted, but no words. This variation permits noises as long as they are not actual words. The game becomes more challenging, yet it can be more funny to watch.

other appropriate responses the sillier the better! The more enthusiastic and wacky you are, the more entertaining the game.

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7) Screaming Viking Summary: A stationary game in which players are seated in a circle, and one person points to someone in the circle and instructs them to act out a screaming viking, a smurf, a chia pet, among other humorous things. Ages: 8 and up. Recommended # of people: 8-25. Messiness factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Screaming Viking How to Play Screaming Viking is an entertaining game in which people act out silly motions and make noises. To begin, have everyone sit in a circle with one person in the middle. The goal of the game is not be in the middle at the end of the game. The person in the middle points at a person seated in the circle and then screams, Screaming Viking! (or one of the other formations described below). One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! While the person is counting, the person who was selected and the people directly to the left and right must form a Screaming Viking formation, described below. If any of the three people (the person selected and the people to the left and right of that person) do not correctly respond in time (before the count to 10 is up) then whoever messes up must go into the middle. The appropriate response can be one of the following: 1. Screaming Viking: each person to the left and right of the selected person must make a rowing motion outwardly to the sides, while the person in the middle must place his or her fingers to the sides of his/her head with index finger pointed upwards, like horns. All three people must scream loudly. 2. Smurfs: the 3 of them interlock arms and sing the smurf song, La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. 3. Chia Pet: the three of them must act as a growing chia pet with hands lifting upwards. The 3 of them must shoud, Ch-ch-ch-chia 4. Jello: the person in the center wobbles like jello, while each person to the side holds their arms out, forming a bowl. You can make up

Seven-Up Summary: A kids game in which seven people secretly select seven other kids by pushing their thumbs down at night, followed by those kids guessing which of the seven chose them. Ages: 6-12. Recommended # of People: 20+. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Seven-Up (7Up) How to Play Seven-up (7Up) is a popular elementary school game that has the benefit of getting kids to be quiet. In the game, seven students are chosen to be It, and so they stand at the front of the classroom. When the lights are out, the remaining students are instructed to close their eyes, put their heads down and make a fist with one hand, except for an upwards-pointing thumb. The seven standing students roam around the room, each touching one persons thumb. The person that was touched then puts his or her thumb down, so that he or she isnt picked twice. When the seven students are done choosing, they return to the front of the room (Heads up, seven up!) and the lights go back on. All students open their eyes and raise their heads. The seven students whose thumbs had been touched stand up and take turns trying to guess who their toucher was. If they guess correctly, they replace the toucher at the front of the room. If a toucher managed to not get picked by the student he touched, the toucher stayed in the game for another round. This game is especially well-suited for kids.

9)

Simon Says Summary: A classic kids icebreaker/stationary game in which the leader, Simon, instructs people to do various actions. The goal is to only do something when Simon says so, and to do nothing when he doesnt. Ages: All ages. Recommended number of people: Any size group, including large groups. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: Nothing. Recommended setting: Indoors.

Simon Says Game Simon Says is a classic game that is traditionally played by kids and families, although it can also work with college students and adults as a lighthearted icebreaker. How to Play Simon Says One person plays the role of Simon, and he or she stands facing the crowd. Simon explains the rules: I am Simon. I will give you instructions to do various actions, and you must imitate my actions. I will instruct you to do various things by saying Simon says, do something, where something is an action like touching your head, waving your hand, and so on. If you do something without me saying Simon says, then you are eliminated for that round. Simon (the game facilitator) then proceeds to say various commands (while demonstrating the action), sometimes beginning them with Simon says, and other times not. These commands can include the following (be creative!): Pat your head Smile Wave hello Flex your biceps Touch your toes Turn around Strategies for Simon A good way to get many people eliminated at the very beginning of the game is to explain the rules, and then say: Ready to play? Okay, everybody stand up. Whenever many people stand to their feet, they will all be eliminated for that round, because Simon did not say Simon says stand up to your feet. Another way is to give commands very quickly and to try to catch people off guard by not saying Simon says on occasion.

10)

Twenty Questions Summary: A guessing game in which people try to identify a person or object in 20 questions or less. Good for rainy days, long car rides, and for learning English (ESL students). Ages: All. Recommended # of Players: A small group of 2 to 5 people. Messiness factor: No mess, no stress! Materials required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoor settings such as cars, classrooms, and just about anywhere else. Twenty Questions

The objective of Twenty Questions is quite simple: guess the person, place or thing in 20 questions or less! This game is a stationary game, and also a good car game (meaning its a game thats useful for long car rides). Little or no movement is required. It takes about 5 minutes per round to play. How to Play 20 Questions There are no preparations or special materials required to play. This game works best with a small groups of about 2 to 5 players. Select one person to begin Twenty Questions. This person is designated as it. For each round, this person must choose any person, place, or thing. The person can be living (e.g. a current athlete or classmate), deceased (e.g. a famous person in history), or fictitious (e.g. cartoon or movie character). The place can be anywhere in the world, including creative places. The thing can be an inanimate object, an animal, a food, etc. Basically anything can be chosen, but try to make the selected item something that can be reasonably guessed. Its no fun to play a guessing game that is impossible to solve! After the person has chosen a person, place, or thing, the guessing begins! The other players take turns and ask yes or no questions in an attempt to figure out what the chosen answer is. That is, the questions must be answered with simply Yes or No. After each guess, keep track of the number of guesses that are used until it reaches the limit of 20. Once 20 questions are used up, players may not ask any more questions. If a player correctly guesses the object before then, they become it for the next game and choose the next person, place, or thing. Otherwise, the answer is revealed. Variations for Twenty Questions This game can be useful as an ESL game (a way for non-native speakers to learn English words). You can prepare flashcards with various categories (e.g. popular foods, American States, presidents, famous landmarks, animals, etc.) and have the students choose a category before playing each round.

TEAM BUILDING ACTIVITIES

1)

Bigger and Better Summary: A teambuilding activity in which teams are given a small object (e.g.

paperclips) and must keep trading and upgrading their objects to get the biggest, best objects possible until the time limit expires. The objects are judged for size, value, and creativity. Ages: 14 and up. Recommended # of People: Teams of 2-10 people. Messiness Factor: Light. Materials: Paper clips or other small objects. Recommended Setting: Outdoors. Bigger and Better Instructions: How is it possible to turn a paper clip into a guitar, laundry machine, bicycle, or other huge objects like a yacht? Through a team-building activity called Bigger and Better! Split the teams into groups of two to ten, depending on the size of your overall group. Distribute paper clips (or some other small object) to each group. Clearly indicate the time limit for this activity (e.g. 2-3 hours), and let them go off to trade. The goal is to come back with the biggest, best, most creative object after a series of trading and upgrading. When the time expires, everyone reconvenes at a predefined location for the show-and-tell and judging process. Judges choose the best items on various criteria: size, value, creativity, and overall best. This game has benefits of having team members work together and think creatively on how to upgrade their items. Camaraderie is gained through this fun process enjoy! 2) Commonalities and Uniquities Summary: A group team-building activity in which people identify common things that everyone has in common, along with interesting characteristics that are unique to a person in the group. Ages: 12 and up. Recommended number of people: Groups of 5-8. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: Two sheets of paper and a pen for each group. Recommended setting: Indoors. Commonalities and Uniquities Form groups of five to eight people and give them two sheets of paper and a pencil or pen. The first part of the activity is Commonalities, where each subgroup compiles a list of the things they have in common. In order for it to make the list, it must apply to everyone in the subgroup. You want to avoid writing things that people can see (e.g. everyone has hair, or we are all wearing clothes). Try to get them to dig deeper. After about 5 minutes,

have a spokesperson from each subgroup read their list. Then, depending on your goals for the session, you can have half of each subgroup rotate to another group for Uniquities or you can leave everyone in the same group. On the second sheet of paper have them record uniquities, meaning that each item applies to only one person in the group. The group tries to find at least 2 uniquities for each person. After 5-7 minutes, you can have each person say one of their uniquities or have a person read them one by one, having others try to guess who it was. (Again, you want to go beyond the superficial, avoiding those things that people can readily see). This is an excellent team-building activity because it promotes unity, gets people to realize that they have more in common than they first might realize. The awareness of their own unique characteristics is also beneficial in that people can feel empowered to offer the group something unique. 3) Great Egg Drop Summary: A team building exercise in which groups build structures with the goal of preventing an egg from breaking. A judge tosses all structures (with the eggs inside) from a high elevation at the end. The winners are the groups that successfully protect the egg. Ages: 14 and up. Recommended # of People: Several groups of 4-5. Messiness Factor: Quite messy. Materials required: Raw eggs, several straws, masking tape, newspaper, and any other materials for building. The Great Egg Drop Instructions The Great Egg Drop is a teambuilding activity that involves creativity and problem solving given a set of resources. To begin, assemble groups of 4 or 5 and give each group various materials for building (e.g. 5-20 straws, a roll of masking tape, one fresh egg, newspaper, etc.). Alternatively, you can give no materials and ask the participants to find materials from outdoors, but this increases the difficulty level significantly. Instruct the participants and give them a set amount of time (e.g. 30 minutes) to complete building a structure, with the egg inside. When time expires, collect all structures and then dramatic finale in which the structures are dropped from at least 10 feet in elevation and then inspected to see if the eggs survived. The winners are

the groups that were successful in protecting the egg. Many variations are possible additional constraints, for example. This activity is useful to illustrate the importance of team and to highlight aspects of project management.

they brought the object. Within groups, people decide how to improve their chances of survival by combining various objects. Ages: 12 and up. Recommended number of people: Groups of 5 to 10. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: Paper and pen, if desired. Recommended setting: Indoors. Stranded on a Island Stranded on a Island is a useful team building activity to help people get to know each other better. Form groups of about five to ten people and give the following instructions: Unfortunately, you will be relocated and stranded on a deserted island for an indefinite amount of time. You may only bring one item to the island, and you only have a few minutes notice. What will you bring? Share with your group your object, why you chose it, and what you plan to do with it. Have each person briefly share their item, why it is important to them, and what they plan to do with it. After everyone has shared, instruct the groups to figure out how they can improve their chances of survival by combining the items in creative ways. Allow ten to fifteen minutes of brainstorming time, and then have each group present their ideas. Give a prize to the winner (most creative group) if desired.

4)

Photo Scavenger Hunt Summary: A team-based scavenger hunt with a twist bringing back digital photos (or polaroids) of interesting places and things. Ages: 14 and up. Recommended number of people: Teams of about 4 people. Messiness Factor: Be prepared to walk around. Materials Required: Cameras for each team. Recommended Setting: Outdoors. Photo Scavenger Hunt Prepare a list of about ten interesting places, things, and circumstances that can be captured using a camera. You could list, for example: A group photo with someone famous The most relaxing place you can find The biggest tree A group photo with someone dressed in a tuxedo A photo with a yellow car A fast food worker A human pyramid of at least seven people The funniest thing you can find And so on. Be creative. Divide the group into teams of about four people. Make sure each team has at least one functioning camera (preferably digital, although polaroid is okay too). Set a time limit for the groups (e.g. two hours or so). Instruct the teams to find as many things on the list and take a picture with all the group members in the photo. When time expires, have all members reconvene and present their photos along with the checklist. Award one point for each successful photo item and bonus points for extra creativity or effort. This activity is good for building team chemistry and for creating funny memories. Be sure to provide adequate supervision if there are young participants. Have fun, and always keep safety first!

6)

Trust Walk Activity Summary: A team building activity centered around trust. A leader gives verbal or nonverbal instructions to navigate a blindfolded partner to avoid obstacles. Ages: 14 and up. Recommended number of people: Pairs. Messiness factor: Might break a small sweat. Materials required: Blindfolds. Recommended setting: Outdoors, in a location with no dangerous obstacles. Trust Walk Activity The Trust Walk Activity is a team building activity involving leadership and lots of trust as people navigate each other around obstacles.Instructions Find a good location with some obstacles, but nothing dangerous. Some good locations may include the woods or a large field. Form pairs. Ask one partner to be the navigator (guide), and the other to be blindfolded. When the blindfolded partner is ready, slowly spin the person around a few times so that they do not know which direction they are headed. From this point on, the guide should not touch the partnert at all, but rely solely on

5)

Stranded on a Island Summary: A teambuilding activity that asks people to identify what object they would bring if they were to be stranded on a deserted island. Each person discusses why

verbal cues (e.g. About five steps ahead, there is a branch. Step over it slowly.) The guide is solely responsible for his or her partners safety. He or she should be navigated to avoid obstacles. In this way, participants learn valuable lessons related to teamwork: the guide learns about the challenge and responsibility of caring for another individuals well being, while the blindfolded partner learns to trust and rely on another person. Ask participants to reflect and share upon their experiences. Sample Questions to Ask During Debrief To help participants reflect and learn upon their experiences, the following are some good sample questions to ask following the Trust Walk team building activity: What do you think is the purpose of this team building activity? What was it like to be the guide, responsible for the safety of your teammates? Did you have any difficulty trusting your partner while blindfolded? Why or why not? Why is trust in your teammates important? How did it feel when you and your teammate successfully trusted each other to accomplish something challenging? How does this relate to _______ (fill in the blank with the current scenario of the participants, such as class, a sports team, employees working together on a project, etc.)?

the starting point is the winner. The game takes great balance and leg strength and is wonderful exercise for a hot summer day. Make sure that all players know how to swim to play this game. To be played as a team relay, the next player in line will be waiting in the water to take the beach ball once it touches the wall. All the other players will be outside of the pool in a line. The first team done is the winner.

Beach Ball Bumper Pool

Required: Beach balls, ropes and swimming pool Players: Small to medium groups Rope off one section of the swimming pool. Each player will be given one beach ball to balance themselves on with their arms hugging the ball and locked. All players will do this inside of the roped off area. On go, the players will swim around in this position trying to push others players against any rope or wall of the pool. If any player touches a rope or wall, looses his balance or uses his arms, they are out of the game. They cannot use their feet to kick other players. The last player that survives the derby is the winner.

Dolphin Relay
Required: Swimming pool & one ball per team Players: Small to large groups Divide into teams. The first player from each team will race down and back the length of the pool while pushing the ball with their noses and forehead. If they touch the ball with their hands or any other part of their body they must go back to where that took place and start again. The next player will do the same until one team is the winner. With good swimmers, this can be done by swimming in the deep end of the pool. For a game with non swimmers, play in the shallow end.

Fill the Bottle

Required: 4 oz paper cups, 20 oz plastic pop bottles, clean bucket, finish line, sense of humor and no fear of getting wet Players: Small to large groups Set up number of teams possibly by number of people willing to get wet. On each team, one person lays on ground while holding a 20-oz plastic pop bottle on their forehead. Teammates run to bucket to fill up their 4-oz cup then they attempt to pour it into teammates pop bottle while standing over head. Then the next teammate will do the same until 20-oz bottle is filled. Once the 20-oz bottle is filled, the bottle person should run to the finish line without spilling.

Beach Ball Balance Race

Required: Beach balls and swimming pool Players: Small to medium groups Each player will need one beach ball or you could play this game as teams with each team given a beach ball. All players will be in the water at one end of the pool. They are to balance their bodies on top of the beach ball by hugging the beach ball. On go they are to race to the other side of the pool and then back while in this position. They cannot loose their balance or unlock their arms. The first player back to

Greased Watermelon Polo

Required: Pool, watermelon, jar of petroleum jelly or shortening Players: Small to large groups The object of the game is to get the greased watermelon to opposing teams end Wall. Grease up a full-size watermelon (and 1 or 2 more for backup or to add a twist) with petroleum jelly (like Vaseline) or shortening (like Crisco) by spreading it all over the entire watermelon. Divide the group into two teams. Have teams start along

their wall opposite each other, a rectangular pool works best. Drop, don't throw, the watermelon into the center of the pool. At the referees signal or when the watermelon hits the water, the teams move to get the watermelon. Players attempt to move the watermelon, without lifting it out of the water, to the opposing teams wall/side. They can push it, grab and swim/run with it or propel it through the water. They may not lift it out of the water! If a player lifts the watermelon out of the water it is a foul, play stops and the fouling team goes back to their wall. The other team maintains possession of the watermelon where the foul was committed and play resumes. Players grapple for position and possession of watermelon, but may not choke, kick, bite, or strike other players. They may however wrestle the watermelon out of opposing players arms. Remember at this point that the watermelon will be quite slippery, and after 5 minutes the players will be too! If one team gets the watermelon to touch the opposing teams wall they score a point. If a point is scored, replace the watermelon with another that is greased-up or grease-up existing watermelon for the next round. Play to whatever score you choose. Variation: -Add a watermelon or two. Its a great game, though it can be tiring! Watch out for the big jocks who like to show off, they might hurt someone! Make up your own variations, and then eat the watermelon afterwards!

Over/Under Game
Required: Buckets of water, sponges, pitchers Players: Small to large groups Divide the group into two teams. Have them form a single file line facing the persons head next to them. At the head of each line put a bucket of water. At the other end put a pitcher with a line drawn on it. Give a sponge to the person at the head of the line where the water bucket is. That person has to dip the sponge in the water to soak in as much water as they can. They have to then pass the soaking wet sponge over their head to the person behind who then passes the sponge to the person behind them through their legs. The sponge makes its way back over the head of one person and between the legs of the next till it gets to the person standing next to the pitcher. That person must squeeze whatever water is left into the pitcher and run the sponge back up to the head of the line. When this occurs, everybody moves back one position and the person who was at the back of the line now is at the head of the line. Continue process till the pitcher is filled to line. Fun game on hot day. (Suggested to play outdoors)

Poison Pool Toss

Required: Splash Water Bombs, noodles, Finger Zingers, and other soft balls Players: Medium to large groups Great pool game for large gatherings. Divide the pool in half using a rope or net with players evenly distributed on both sides. If there is a deep end, make sure that players on that side are good swimmers. Have two baskets full of pool toys like noodles, vinyl balls, Splash Water Bombs, Finger Zingers and other soft-sided balls. With same number of toys in each basket, dump them in the water on each side of the line. On go, all players will try to throw the items to the other side of the line and try to keep their side of the pool free of items. You can give them 5 10 minutes to do so. When the whistle blows they are to stop immediately. The team with the least amount of items is the winner.

Hole In The Bucket

Required: One large trash can or 30 gallon tub, two receiving buckets, water source and two large coffee cans Players: Small to large groups Punch several holes into the bottom and the sides of your cans using a hammer and large nail. Large juice or bean cans will work also. Do this from the outside go into the can to prevent sharp edges on the outside. Make sure there are no sharp edges around the top of can, you can do this by hammering around the inside edge while against a hard surface. You can spray paint your cans with car paint ahead of time for different colored teams. Fill up a large clean container of water at starting point. At the other end of play field have a receiving bucket the same size for each team. Divide into teams and have one person at a time from each team do relay. Each person is to go to the large container, dip their can into it, put the can on their head or carry it in front of them, go down the field to their teams receiving bucket and pour what water is left into the bucket. Once they have done this they can run back to starting point and give the next person the can to do the same. The first team to fill their receiving bucket is the winner.

Shaving Cream Shoot Off

Required: Water guns, shaving cream, water source, hot day, and clothes to get wet in Players: Small to large groups Set up as many teams as you would like to have. Each team must have one large water gun filled with water and one team member willing to get wet. Make sure that all the designated targets don't have a shirt that has an iron-on design on the front, this prevents the game from being far. On the willing team member, squirt shaving cream on the front of their shirt. If you do the same design, it makes the amount of shaving cream the same for all teams. Each member of the team will get one squirt from the water gun to try and remove the shaving cream. You will rotate the team line until all the shaving cream is removed. The first team to remove the cream is the cream of the crop or in other words, "The Winners".

Jump Rope Water Splash

Required: Jump rope, plastic cups, and water Players: Small to large groups Give each child a plastic or paper cup full of water. While two players twirl a large jump rope, jumpers one by one are to attempt three consecutive jumps. They are to do this while holding onto their cup of water and trying to do let any water spill. The child that has the most water left is the winner. You can keep playing until only one person has water left in their cup.

Sponge Toss Contest

Required: Large car sponges, large containers of water, receiving buckets, warm weather Players: Small to large groups Divide up into teams. You can have as many teams as you have equipment. Each team forms a line with teammates a little more than an arms length away from each other. At one end of the line is a large container of water with large sponges in it. The other end has a small bucket, which you could mark with a fill line where you want the finish point to be or just fill to the top. When signaled to start, teams are to race. The person at the large container is to throw a sponge to next teammate and that person to the next until it reaches the end of the line. The last person is to squeeze the sponge out and then run to the start of the line, dip the sponge in the large container and pass to next person. If sponge is dropped while being passed, it is to be thrown back to the start of the line and you are to continue again. After full rotation of line, meaning everyone has taken sponge out of large container and passed, the team with the most collected water is the winner.

point. Next they switch and the other team has a turn. They continue until each player has a turn to throw and to deflect. Mark off a square that the player should stand in and cannot step out of , if he steps out his teams looses a point. The team with the most points wins.

Tugboat Relay Race

Required: Pool, two ropes and two floating rafts Players: Small to large groups Set up teams and youll need at least 4 people to hold ropes unless you have a sturdy fence to tie two ropes across the length of the pool. The ropes should hang across the pool within arms length of someone on a raft in the water. Each team will have one raft and one rope to use to cross the pool. Both teams will line up behind each team starter. The first person on each team will lay or sit on raft and using their arms only, pull themselves across the pool and back. The remaining pople on that team will do the same and the first team done is the winner.

Underwater Football
Required: Football swimming goggles and good swimmers Players: Small to medium groups Set up two teams and decide who gets the ball first. Start at the center of the pool with both teams lined up in position. When a play takes place all players must be underwater. The ball can only move with a player underwater. Any player that comes up during a play is out of the play. Teams get four tries to move the ball to the other side of the pool for a touchdown. When a player is tagged carrying the ball the play is stopped. If they are not successful after four tries the other team gets the ball at that position. The team that has the most points at the end of the game wins. You should consider swimming goggles since there is a need to see underwater.

The Shark & The Mermaids

Required: Large pool Players: Small to medium groups How to play: One person is chosen to be the shark and the others are mermaids. The Shark starts on the side of the pool close to the middle (the ladder) while the mermaids start at one end of the pool. When the shark says go, the mermaids must try to make it across the pool and back. Meanwhile the shark jumps in and starts to try and tag the mermaids. If a mermaid is tagged they are frozen and it is up to another mermaid to unfreeze them. The mermaids win if they each make it across the pool and back and are all touching the end of the pool. The Shark wins if everyone is tagged and frozen. Rules: If you are frozen you cannot unfreeze anyone even if they are only an inch away. The shark may go under water. All the mermaids must have touched the opposite end of the pool before they can make their way back. Mermaids can communicate.

Water Balloon Dodgeball

Required: Water ballons, 2 plastic tubs Players: Small to large groups Have at least 5 water balloons per player. Divide into 2 groups on opposite sides of a line with each side having their balloons in a plastic tub. If you are hit with a water balloon you are out (like dodgeball). Last one in wins.

Water Balloon Relay Race

Required: Water ballons, chairs Players: Small to large groups You can have as many teams as you want. Set up a chair for each team with a water balloon in the seat. Each player must run to the chair, sit on the balloon till it pops,then run and tag the next player. You will need to put a new balloon in after each one is popped. First team to pop all balloons and cross the finish line wins.

Trash Target
Required: Splash Water Bombs, rain gear (cold weather), and trash can lids Players: Small to medium groups Set up teams and face off. The first player on each team will wear rain gear and hold trash can lid, a player from the opposing team will try to hit him with three water bombs. If the player is hit on the body, the other team receives a point. If he deflects throw with trash can lid his team receives a

Water Bomb Game

Required: Pool, Splash Water Bombs and hula-hoops Players: Small groups

You can start out with two players and add on to this game as you go. Set up a hula-hoop at each end of the pool and give each player 2-3 water bombs. Each player will try to get his or her water bombs into the other persons hoop. They will receive one point for each completion. They cannot touch to hoop unless it starts to float out of bounds but they can block shots and catch the bombs. This will be a very active game and keep the kids very busy. You can add an additional player to each team. Our water bombs do float and make sure the person that is in the deep knows how to float too.

Water Bomb Tag

Required: Splash Water Bomb or sponge and bucket of water Players: Small to large groups The person who is "it" throws the wet water bomb to tag other players. If hit, they are the new "thrower". This can also be played with many variations of the game such as Frozen Tag, etc.

Required: Pool and old large sweatshirts Players: Small to large groups Set up teams as to how many sweatshirts you have and good swimmers. If you have various levels of swimmers use the short length of the pool so that the weak swimmers can go across the shallow. Each team will have one sweatshirt; the first person on each team will put on the sweatshirt and everyone else will line up behind them. On go the leader will jump into the water and swim across the pool and back. Once back, that player will have to take off the sweatshirt and give to the next player to put on and do the same. But its not that easy getting a wet sweatshirt off and its even harder putting on a wet shirt. Some will try to take it off while out of the pool. The easiest and fastest way is to take it off while in the water and while holding onto the hands of the next player so that it slides over the next players arms. Thats the trick but dont tell anyone until one team needs to catch up.

Wet T-shirt Balloon Relay

Required: Pool, T-shirts and balloons Players: Small groups Divide players into 2-4 teams of about 4-8 players. Make sure that all players know how to swim because they will have to swim the full length of the pool. If the pool has a rope to separate the shallow from the deep leave that in the pool. If it does not have a rope, you must add a rope that the players will have to swim under if at all possible. You can either have one large t-shirt that will be passed off to each player during the race or everyone will have his or her own t-shirt on. On go the first player from each team will put on the t-shirt, take one balloon and jump into the water. Once they are in the water they will put the balloon under their t-shirt before they can swim away. When they have the balloon placed under their t-shirt, they will swim to the other end of the pool and back. If you have a rope they will have to swim under the rope that is stretched across the pool, this is not an easy accomplishment. The balloon tends to pop out depending on how it is placed, either in the front or on the back. Let them choose where to carry their balloon and the whole team will see the advantages of balloon position as they go. If a balloon pops out the swimmer is to return to that position where it was dislodged, replace the balloon and continue. The first team to complete the rotation wins.

Water Bomb Target

Required: Splash Water Bombs targets and trees Players: Small to medium groups Hang up targets on trees or playground equipment. Targets can be made out of cardboard, paper plates, aluminum pie pans or anything creative. Assign different points to each target depending on position and distance. You can keep points by teams or individuals. When a target is hit they receive points for assigned target.

Water Toss
Required: Zip lock bags and buckets of water Players: Small to large groups Open zip lock bags into buckets of clean water, then seal. Use these to toss back and forth instead of balloons. If they fall and open up, refill in containers again. This is a lot easier and quicker than balloons. Any one that has latex allergies can participate.

Wet Sweatshirt Dunk Relay

Required: Buckets, water and large sweatshirts Players: Small to large groups Divide up into teams and players should have clothes on that they can get wet in. Each team should have one sweatshirt and one bucket full of water. Place buckets at the start of the line and the first person on each team is to dunk the sweatshirt into the bucket, put on the sweatshirt, run down the field and back and take off sweatshirt. The next player on that team will do the same. You can allow them to try and take off the sweatshirt while they are running back to the next player. For added fun why not make it a whole sweat outfit with large sweatpants and sweat shirt. Remember it has to be re-dunked before the next player puts on the sweats.

Zinger Toss
Required: Pool, two to four Zingers and hula-hoops Players: Small groups You could start out with two players and see if it will allow more later. Set up a hoop at each end of the pool and give each player a Zinger. Each player will take a turn trying to get his or her Zinger into the other persons hoop. They will receive one point for each completion. You can add on to this game with more Zingers, ideas and players. Always make sure the players in the deep end know how to swim.

Wet Sweatshirt Race