NAME GAMES GETTING TO KNOW YOU GAMES

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1 NAME GAMES Adjective Name Game Sitting in a circle. Have students think of an adjective that begins with the same consonant as their name and an action to bring it alive. As we go around the circle, the class will repeat the name and gesture to help learn names. Ball Toss Bouncing Names All players begin with their hands behind their back. Beginning with 2 balls (add as many as the class can handle) players with the ball must call out the name of someone in the circle, make eye contact and then bounce the ball across the circle to them. Once they have received the ball, they are to stand with their hands at their sides until everyone has had their name called. If askew, bouncer must go and fetch it and apologize by name to bounce. Add people until the whole class is involved. If you don t know the person s name, you can ask before throwing Variation Play with eyes closed, or facing outside the circle until their name is called. Unique BINGO Collect one unique fact about all of the members of the class by having them write it on a piece of paper with their name. Make up a bingo sheet that the class will then fill in the next day. After the winner is declared, the class can discuss and explain the tidbits of information they have shared. Empty Seat game - In a circle with one seat empty. The person to the left of the seat says, The seat to my right is empty and I want to sit here. The person called will move and this will open up another seat and the process continues at quite a rapid pace. Variation Hot Seat - Everyone in a chair except the person in the middle of the circle. The chairs should be very close to one another. The person in the middle s goal is to get a chair. They will call out a phrase Everyone wearing the colour blue and everyone that applies to must change seats. The object is to get there before the caller does or that person becomes the caller. Monkey in the Middle In a circle, everyone is seated except the person who is it. That person calls out two names and they must change seats while trying to get one of the seats. Name Quickdraw You are all Western gunfighters, looking for a duel. Walk slowly around the room, looking at the others. As soon as you make eye contact with someone, quickly draw a pretend gun and shoot the other person by loudly calling out the other person s name. The one who first calls the other s name correctly wins the duel, and the other must drop dead. The person who stays up the longest is the fastest name-slinger in town. GETTING TO KNOW YOU GAMES Where do I belong? Split the class into 2 teams. As I shout out the following instructions, they must arrange their team accordingly as quickly as possible. Sit upon completion. Get in a straight line according to: birthdays (January at the front) age (Youngest at the front) shoe size (smallest shoe size at the front) house number (smallest at front; side by side if same) alphabetical order using first names only. (Side by side if you share the same name). I ve Never One person in middle of circle and states, I ve never and fills in the sentence with something they have never done before. Anyone in the circle that has done what is mentioned must getup and switch seats. The person in the middle tries to get to one of the seats first. 2 Truths, 1 Lie Choose a volunteer to come up with 3 statements two that are true and one that is a lie. The class will have an opportunity to guess which one is false. (NOTE: If doing this whole class have everyone write down their truths and lie to ensure they don t mess it up.)

2 2 Brown Bag It Day previous give everyone a brown paper bag (different sizes available). Instruct everyone to bring in something that represents who they are or what they are all about to share with the class the next day. WARM UP GAMES Samurai Intergalactica The object is to gather and then pass HIGH energy around the circle. There are a number of ways to send the energy around the circle: Yelling Ah! and bring the arm across the body to the right or left. Yelling Ka! and arching the arm above your head, which send the energy over the person directly to your left or right and to their neighbour. Yelling Ko! and shooting your arms straight out and across the circle. Yelling No! which sends the energy back the person who just sent it through Ko! by linking your fingers and stretching your arms out in front of you. Yelling Booyah! and hitting the floor with both your hands, making everyone do the same thing and jumping back up to do another one. Cat and Mouse One inner and one outer circle with one person standing directly in front of another person. One person is the cat and one person is the Mouse. Mouse tries to run away from the cat. The mouse can escape by standing in front of one of the pairs. The person who is in the outer circle (behind everyone) is now the mouse. If the cat catches the mouse, they reverse roles. Atom - The students walk randomly around the room, changing direction often. They are atoms, and when separate, bounce off of things in their way. The caller will call out body part connectors (shoulder to shoulder) and pairs must connect in this way. When the caller calls out Atom (number) then students must get into groups of that number. Snake and Ladders - Divide the class in half and have them form two lines facing one another. The lines will sit on the floor and put their legs out in front touching feet with the person in front of them. Each pair is given a number. The leader will call out a number and that pair must jump up, race to the bottom of the ladder and tip toe through the spaces between the legs without touching anyone. The first to sit down with their legs out wins a point for their team. Tag There are many variations to the traditional game of Tag: Slow Motion Tag Everyone moves at a slowed pace and when the it catches someone, they become it. Explosion Tag Once you have been touched you must explode and you are no longer in the game. Freeze Tag Everyone runs around the room away from the person who is it. Once a player is touched by the person who is it, they must freeze, and can only be freed by someone who crawls through their legs T.V Tag allowing the players to duck the it by saying a television show name and sitting on the ground before being touched plays this game. If a player is not quick enough, or makes up a name that others do not recognize, they become it. Blob Tag One person is it when they tag someone else, they become it as well by joining hands and remaining attached. The Blob will grow larger and larger as more people are caught. Only the ends are able to tag. If the line is broken, no one can get caught. (Purpose to work together. Ask the students when it was easier to catch people as individuals or as a group? Usually the group will think up strategies to trap people working together = better results!!) Snake and Spiders - 2 lines facing each other in the middle of the room, with one foot touching opponent. One row the snakes, the other the spiders. Caller calls out spiders, snakes or snails. Which

3 ever is called has to run to safety toward the wall on their side while the others try to tag them. Once tagged they join the other team. On snails everyone bobs down. 3 Yes Let s! Caller shouts out a let s statement (ex: Let s run on the spot!) Everyone responds with Yes, let s! and begins running on the spot. At any time, anyone else in the class can shout a Let s statement keeping the action moving and varied. Fox and Rabbit - Everyone finds a partner and create rabbit holes by holding their hands up and together (London bridge). One person is the fox and another in the rabbit. The rabbit must escape the fix by going into holes for safety. HOWEVER, the rabbit holes are only big enough for two, so whomever the rabbit has it s back to becomes the rabbit. And must escape being caught by the fox. VARIATION: Holes can refuse entry by putting their arms down. (Use this to talk to the class about inclusion how does it feel to be blocked by someone? How does it feel to never have had the opportunity not to be picked? Working as a group is the key to successful drama.) Streets and Alleys Select a dog and a cat. All other players form ranks by standing in equal lines with their arms extended sideways or shoulder high (Streets). The dog then chases the cat. At a signal from the leader, all players turn right a quarter turn and thus block the movement of the cat or dog (Alleys). The cat and dog CANNOT crash through the blockade. When the dog catches the cat, they can switch or choose their own replacements. (Streets) (Alleys) Side coach Side coach Shark Attack - Set out three or four large pieces of paper or cloth on the floor. These are rafts. The students are swimming in shark-infested water (it s drama, so let s see some acting!). When the teacher calls out SHARK ATTACK the students must swim to safety, on, a raft, by the count of five. Anyone with a body part touching the water (carpet) will be out. As the games progresses make the rafts smaller and eventually eliminate them one by one. (There will be a change in the student s attitudes as the game progresses. At first when there are big rafts available they will take up a lot of space. As the rafts get smaller the students may become more competitive pushing people off, or more helpful trying to squish their friends in some students actually hold others in their arms to fit them in!) Natural Disasters Teacher directed. Call out one of the following and students do appropriate actions. Last one to perform action is out. Fire drop to the ground, roll around, crawl and cling to someone Flood quickly jump onto chair/table; go for higher ground Tornado drop to ground, and spread body out Hurricane drop t floor, bounce up and down as if being shaken Earthquake run for cover stand up against wall or in doorway CO-OPERATION Games Pass the Key Divide the class into 2 teams and have them sit in chairs facing one another. Placing their hands behind their backs, one team will pass the key up and down the row and will stop when they feel it is in the right hands. The team will then bring their hands to the front of their laps with their fist closed. The other team will take turns at guessing which person and which hand contains the key. Pass the Squeeze Two even numbered teams. Each team sits across from one another and hold hands with their teammates. The teacher sits at one end holding the hands of each of the teams. At the other end of the lines will be an object (keys, etc). The teams must close their eyes and the teacher will start the squeeze that will travel down both lines. Each team member must wait for the squeeze before they can squeeze the person on the other side. When the last person receives the squeeze they grab the squeeze.

4 4 The first team to grab the keys wins the round and the grabber moves to the end of the line. (Note which players start so you will know which players signal the winning team! Watch for cheating!) Under, Over Object Relay Two or more teams in single lines. They are each given an object (ball, balloon, etc) and must pass the ball down the line. The twist is that every other person must pass it under their legs and over their heads. If the ball is dropped, it has to be run back to the start of the line and begun again. There are options if teams are successful at this game: Only passing with body parts (i.e. knees, necks, etc.) TEAM Building Human knot - The whole group forms a large circle and slowly walks toward the center. Everyone should now try to hold hands with two other people across the circle. When there are no free hands, the leader breaks the link between any two people and the group has to carefully untangle themselves into a line - without talking. You may end up with the whole group in one line or in two or more smaller groups. Believe it or knot, it works! Walking By Numbers - Every player finds himself a spot in the room, make sure players can see each other. When you give a sign, exactly 1 person starts walking. Whenever that person halts, one person, and only one-person starts walking. Gradually increase the number of walkers. See also Group Freeze. Yes Walk In a circle. Make eye contact with someone; they nod; you move to take their place. They must make eye contact with someone and move BEFORE you get there. Variation Give students the option of shaking their heads no instead of nodding or speaking. Group Freeze - Everyone starts milling about the room. Any player may decide to stop walking at any time. As soon as one player stops walking, everyone needs to freeze in position. As soon as everyone is frozen, start walking again. Obviously, the idea is for the group to freeze as quickly as possible. Variations - Let all players make noises, hum, and whistle as they mill about. The noisier, the more challenging the exercise becomes. Helium Stick Teams of eight or 10 and each has a dowel or bamboo stick. Each player places his or her pointer fingers on the rod. The idea is to lower the stick to the floor. If they are successful, they are to raise it back up again. Walk together (encourages group sensitivity). Everybody finds a space in the room. On a given signal, everyone starts walking, using all the space in the room. On a second signal, everybody stops. Now, that was easy. This time, without talking, everybody must decide to start walking at the same time - and then to stop as a group at the same time. This obviously will require some practice! With sensitivity, it can be done. It is worth spending time on. Variation - The group spreads out into the space. One person must walk, and then stop. Now - without talking - two people walk, then stop at the same time. Now three, then four, and then five. If you get as far as five, you can continue the game with four, three, two then one person walking alone again. If the game goes wrong at any time, it starts again with one person walking. What usually happens is that the wrong number of people start to walk, or they don't set off or stop at the same time. Again, it is challenging, but with sensitivity, and a mutual language of complicity, it can be done. The group will be very pleased with themselves when they accomplish this!

5 5 There is only one liar -A psychological but fun group dynamics game from Augusto Boal. There should be no talking until the exercise is over. The group sits or stands in a circle and closes their eyes. The leader tells them that a tap on the shoulder will select one person. The leader walks around the whole circle, and then asks the group to open their eyes. The group members must look around and try to guess who was chosen. They are asked to remember whom they decided upon but not to reveal it at this point. The game is repeated. When everybody has finished looking round, the leader asks them, on the count of three, without talking, to point at the person they thought was chosen the first time. Everybody points. Now, they do the same again for the second time. Afterwards, members are asked what it was that led them to choose a particular person, for example, the facial expression that person had. Then, on a signal, they are asked to put up their hands if they were touched the first time. They discover that no one was touched the first time. They are asked to do the same for the second time. The group discovers that they were all touched the second time. There is only one liar the teacher! Count to 20 - Sit or stand in a circle. The idea is for the group to count to twenty, one person saying one number at a time. Somebody is chosen to start the count. Anybody can say the next number - but if two or more people speak at the same time, counting must start again from the beginning. It is possible to get to twenty if everybody really concentrates - but try and be relaxed as well. Variation - Try doing it with and without eye contact. Other variations include members of the group facing outwards and closing their eyes or counting back from twenty to one! Circle Sitting - Have everyone stand in a circle, really close to each other, facing inwards. Then ask everyone to make a quarter turn left. Make everyone stand even closer to each other. When ask the whole group to sit down. If everyone is really close, they will end up sitting on one another's knees, and the whole construction supports itself. If well done it's even possible to make the circle walk. Indicate which foot to start with. CONCENTRATION GAMES Bang! In a circle with a caller in the center. Caller calls out a name. The person named must duck from the line of fire as the people on either side turn to shoot and yell BANG!. If the person whose name is called is slow to duck, they are shot and must sit down where they are. If they duck, it is who whomever is slower on the shooting that is out and sits down. Someone is always killed. You shoot over the heads of those that are dead so that the people beside you are always changing. When it is down to the last 2 people, there is a show down. Back to back the caller instructs them to walk. When the caller shouts fire, they turn and shoot. Winner becomes caller. Ha! Spread out around the room with arms out, elbows bent hands up. One random person at any time must shout HA! And clap hands, jumping at the same time. Group responds quickly by jumping around to face that person, clapping, and jumping at the same time. Another person does this, group jumps to face. Guess the Leader The class sits in a circle (or stands) and volunteer leaves the room. While the person is outside, another volunteer is selected to lead the group is movements. (Clapping, waving, etc.) The movements are begun and continued while the person outside is invited back in. The object is for the leader to change the movement without the detective knowing. If the detective guesses within the 3 chances, they join the circle and another detective/leader are chosen. Darling if you love me - Circle and one person in the center. The person s objective is to join the circle and can only do so by making someone smile. They must walk up to a person and say the phrase Darling, if you love me, won t you please, please smile? The person who is being asked must NOT smile and answer with Darling, you know I love you, but I just can t smile. The person asks different people until they are successful. They can dramatize as much as they like, but they CANNOT touch other people.

6 What are you doing? - First player begins by doing an action (brushing teeth) second player asks, What are you doing? the 1st player responds with something CONTRARY to what they are doing ( I m milking a cow ). 2 nd player must then start milking a cow. 1 st person asks the question and 2 nd person responds with something NOT like they are doing. This continues until one person makes a mistake and another takes their place. Variation Can be done in pairs and CAN answer with what they are really doing. Bippety Bop Players in a circle, one player in the middle. The player in the middle closes his eyes, holds right hand pointing in front of him, and spins around. When done spinning, open your eyes and say, as fast as you can 'Bippety Bippety Bop'. The player you're pointing to, and his 2 neighbors, need to build an elephant in less than the time the middle player needs to say 'Bippety Bippety Bop'. An elephant consists of a trunk, made by the middle player, by holding your nose with one hand, and extending your other arm through the arm that holds the hand that holds the nose (does this make any sense?). The neighboring players each form a big ear, using both arms. Don't forget to attach the ears to the elephant's head. Any player that cannot get his/her part done by the time the middle player does 'Bippety Bippety Bop' becomes 'it' and takes place in the middle of the circle. Variations - You can really invent any object or create to replace the elephant. Try A car, with 2 wheels and a set of wind screen wipers A cow, with an udder and 2 horns A washing machine, with 2 players building a 'box' with both arms, and the middle player waving her arms in a circle in front of her. All go 'rumble rumble' A bunny, with 2 paws (middle player) and 2 rabbit ears (neighbors) Zip, Zap, Zop, BOP Arrange the class in a circle. Zip is pointing by clapping and sliding your right hand across your chest at the person on your left. Zap is pointing by clapping and sliding your left across your chest at the person on your left. Zop is pointing by clapping and sliding your right hand straight out from your chest at the person somewhere in front of you. A person can reject the Zip, Zap, or Zop with a BOP, which is a raising of both hands at chest height. The person who sent the Zip, Zap, Zop, must select someone else to send it to. Fluffy Ducky. - All players in a circle. We will count numbers clockwise, except that: Any number that is a multiple of 3, or contains a 3 (like 13) becomes 'Fluffy' Any number that is a multiple of 7 or contains a 7 (like 17) becomes 'Ducky' Any number that is a multiple of 3 and 7 (like 21) or contains both 3 and 7 (like 73 and 37) becomes 'Fluffy Ducky') Any player that ends up muttering 'Duzzy Flucky' is out. This is a fork Arrange the class in a circle. The teacher will have a number of small objects. The leader will begin by holding up one of the objects. The dialogue is the following: A: This is a fork B: A what? A: A fork B: A what? A: A fork. B: Oh, a fork. The person will then take the object and turn to their right to repeat the same conversation. VARIATION: The leader can introduce more than one object by send it in the other direction. Quick Numbers In a circle with their eyes closed, one person will begin counting with the number one, at any time another player can add to the count. However, no number is to be said by more than one player at a time and when a number is shared, they whole group must begin again at number one. This game is great for calming a group down, bringing a fractured group together and forcing group concentration. 6

7 Wax Museum - There is a Night watchmen hired to protect the museum, little does he know that every night the wax figures come to life and move. The object of the game is to move location and position without the guard catching you. You are out once the guard catches you moving. The Wave The group stands along a wall and are given a word, emotion, or theme that students are to decide a tableau for (individually). Choose one person who will be the walker (this person will continue to walk across the room slowly, and then turn around once they have reached the other side to pick up all the drop offs). The group walks across the room TOGETHER in a straight line without signaling one another with a movement or verbal cue. One by one each student will drop off from the line and freeze in their position representing whatever they have been given. They rejoin the line as it sweeps back to get them. TRUST EXERCISES Guide Dog choose a partner and label yourselves A and B. If you are A close your eyes and let B guide you around the room. If you are B, then as well as guiding A carefully around other people and obstacles, you might want to try to find different surfaces for A to touch rough, smooth, warm, cool, hard, soft. (After about five minutes change places and have A lead B.) Land the Plane Create a runway with various objects (students, chairs, books, bags, etc). Have one person as a plane and another person as the control tower operator. The airplane is blindfolded and the control tower must talk the plane in WITHOUT hitting anything. Hunter and Hunted Choose 2 volunteers to play the hunter and hunted. Both are blind folded and the rest of the class makes a large circle around the perimeter of the room. Their job is to protect the two in the center from running into objects or walls. The hunter must catch the hunted. CHARACTER BUILDING Follow Your Nose - Everybody mill around the room, and shout a body part. Players then start moving around as if they are leaded by that body part. Continue with another body part. End the game on a really silly note by leading with e.g. your internal organs. Toxic Emotions List some toxic emotions with the group (ex: anger, jealousy, anger, hate, envy, helplessness, etc) and write them on pieces of paper. Ask the group to choose a line from a piece that they are working on (monologue, scene). As the leader, choose one of the papers and pass it to someone while saying the line and using the emotion as if you were jealousy, angry, etc. The recipient can say their line using that same emotion or pick another paper and use the emotion listed. Shrinks Everyone in the class has the SAME disorder (claustrophobic, fear of bugs, nervous tick, uses a colour in every answer, thinks they are the person beside them, etc). The shrink in the center must diagnose the disorder by asking yes or no questions to the class. Bus Stop Students improvise that they are waiting for bus. As each new passenger arrives at the bus stop, everyone adopts the attitude, personality, accent, movements, etc of the new arrival until the bus arrives. Variation - They get on the bus and new people enter until it is full. Then begin randomly letting passengers off the bus and remember the entrance order. 7 ADDITIONAL GAMES Bumpety-Bump-Bump form a circle standing up with a chosen IT in the center. The IT walks up to you and stands in front of you and says one of the following:

8 8 Center, bumpety-bump-bump Self, bumpety-bump-bump Right, bumpety-bump-bump Left, bumpety-bump-bump You must say his/her name, your name, or the person s name to the right or left of you before IT completes saying bumpety-bump-bump ; otherwise you become IT. Hagoo Divide into teams and form two lines. Have people stand shoulder to shoulder facing a person on the other team. Stand a yard apart. One person from each team will volunteer to walk past each person in the row of the opposite team. The people on the team try to make volunteer from the other team smile as he/she walks by. No touching is allowed. If the volunteer cracks up he/she must join the opposite team. If he makes it to the end straight faced, he goes back in the row with her original team. Rain Have everyone sit in a circle, facing the center. Ask all to close their eyes, pausing for a moment or two to become quiet while each person gets ready to hear the sound the person on the right will be making. Keep eyes closed as the rainstorm begins with the leader, rubbing their palms together, back and forth (person to the left joins in and so on ) snapping their fingers hand clapping thigh slapping foot stomping REVERSE order and on final rubbing of hands leader takes hand of person to the left. Wink Everyone gets a partner and one chair per partner. One person sits in the chair and the other stands behind it. One person should be left to be it. The single it person stands behind an empty chair and must wink at someone else in the circle who is sitting down. When the person is winked at he/she must try to get away from the person standing behind them by quickly jumping up and moving over to the empty chair. The people standing behind the chairs must have their hands on the back of the chairs. They must try to stop the person sitting in form of them form getting away by grabbing their shoulders. If they are successful in grabbing the person then they switch places with them and sit on the chair to wait for a wink. If they are not successful in grabbing the person, then they are the one who must wink at someone else who is sitting down.