Energizers Energizers can boost the energy of the group, and help get people s blood flowing! Here is a list of energizers that you can use in member learning sessions at your chapter! Descriptions include directions on how to run each one and how much time each individual energizer takes. A note about energizers these types of activities are by nature tailored to extroverts, so just keep in mind who s in your group and what they are comfortable with! If you have energizers to add to the collection, please pass them on to Sarah at sarahtakaki@ewb.ca. Buzz... 2 Gentle Rain... 2 Numbers... 2 Body Writing... 2 Copy Cat/Mirror... 2 Simon Says... 3 Sentence Reconstruction... 3 Person to Person... 3 Big Fish, Small Fish... 4 Elephant, giraffe, toaster.... 4 The Golden Donkey... 4 Picking Fruit... 5 As and Bs... 5 Animal Blindfold... 5 Dance Move Game... 6 Foot Fencing... 6 Hug Tag... 6 The Blanket Game (Icebreaker or Energizer)...7 Crazy Handshake (Icebreaker or Energizer)...7 Easter Parade (Icebreaker or Energizer)... 8 Pass a Gesture... 8 References... 9 Page 1 of 9
Buzz Time Required: 5 minutes Supplies: None Needed. Invite participants to talk with others in the session about what has been covered so far, an issue that has arisen, etc... This can wake people up as well as help in learning. Gentle Rain Time Required: 5 minutes Ask everyone to follow you in tapping the palm of one hand with one finger of the other hand; then two fingers; then three; then four, then the whole hand (four fingers and the thumb, not clapping); and then back again down to one. People end up smiling. Numbers Time Required: 10 minutes 1) Stand in a circle. 2) Count in turn around the circle. 3) Anyone with a multiple of five claps hands instead of saying the number. Anyone with a multiple of seven or number with seven in it, turns around once instead of saying the number. Those who make mistakes drop out. Body Writing Time Required: 10 minutes 1) Write your name with parts of the body. 2) Example: Spell out Engineers Without Borders with your hips as if the floor were the paper. Copy Cat/Mirror Page 2 of 9
1) Pair off. 2) One person is the actor, the other acts as the mirror. 3) The mirror does whatever the actor does, do this for several minutes. 4) Switch roles and continue doing it for another couple minutes. Simon Says 1) Line up the group across from you, 10 to 20 feet away. 2) Tell the players that they should all obey you if you first say the words Simon Says. 3) Tell them that they are out of the game if they follow an order that doesn;t begin with Simon Says, or if they fail to do what Simon says to do. 4) Begin by saying something like, Simon says, put your hands on your head. 5) Look to make sure everybody has put their hands on their head. 6) Give another order such as, Simon says, stand on one foot. Check again. 7) Continue giving orders. Mix it up and say something like, Raise your right hand, without the preface Simon says. 8) Play until one person is left. This is the winner. Sentence Reconstruction Time Required: 15 minutes. Supplies: index cards 1) Choose two sentences that relate to the theme of the session. 2) Divide the participants into two teams. 3) Explain that the task is to reconstruct the sentence. 4) The team who finished first is the winner. 5) Have the groups present the sentence back to the other group. Person to Person 1) Ask participants to choose a partner. 2) Explain the rules (use a partner to demonstrate): When we call out two parts of the body (for example, hand to head) one person puts her hand on the head of her partner. 3) Continue calling out different combinations until people are tangled up. 4) At that point shout person-to-person and everyone should change partners. The person who does not have a partner than becomes the body part caller. 5) End play when it appears to be getting boring or after 10 minutes. Page 3 of 9
Big Fish, Small Fish 1) Participants stand in a circle. One person stands in the middle. 2) The person in the middle calls out Big Fish and uses gestures to indicate the opposite a little fish. The person in the circle facing this person responds by saying Little Fish but uses the opposite gesture - for a big fish. 3) The person in the middle changes frequently from Big Fish to Little Fish and quickly turns to face different people trying to catch them off guard. Anybody who responds incorrectly either verbally or by gesture drops out. The circle will get smaller and smaller. 4) Periodically change the person in the middle of the circle if you wish. Elephant, giraffe, toaster. Time Required: 15 minutes. 1) Stand in a circle. 2) Demonstrate the different positions for the three people. For elephant, person uses an arm for the trunk and those people on either side raise their elbows for ears. For giraffe, the middle person puts an arm up in the air and those on either side out on leg forward. For toaster, those on either side join hands and the middle person jumps up and down like toast. 3) Stand in the middle of the circle. 4) Turn around, point to someone and say either elephant, giraffe, or toaster. The person pointed to is the middle person. The three immediately act the word. Any one of the three who hesitates or gets it wrong takes your place in the centre and repeats. Tip: Invent your own variations of positions to fit your workshop or chapter! The Golden Donkey The great thing about this icebreaker is that it makes everyone smile and look like a jackass so it makes people feel more comfortable with each other. Time Required: 5 minutes. 1) Stand on one foot while holding the other one up. Page 4 of 9
2) Hop up and down on the one foot you do have on the ground. 3) Begin turning in circles while hopping up and down on the one foot keeping you upright. 4) Begin chanting out loud while doing the other actions. 5) You have now laughed and made yourself look like a jackass. 6) Facilitator say: The great thing about this icebreaker is that it makes everyone smile and look like a jackass. Therefore everyone is happy and now comfortable with one another because you look like a jackass together. Picking Fruit 1) Tell participants to do this: We are going to pick fruit from a tree. Together with me, lift up a ladder and put it on your shoulder. Pick up the basket. Walk over to the tree. Put the ladder against the tree. Climb the ladder. Careful. Hand the basket on a small branch Start picking. Reach far to the right. then far to the left. The basket is filling up. It is getting heavy. Oh no! The branch has broken and the basket has fallen. The fruit is all over the ground! Climb down the ladder. Get down on the ground and pick up the fruit and put it in the basket. Some have rolled far away. Get them all. There are more over there. Now you have them all. Put the ladder back on your shoulder. Pick up the basket it s heavy. Carry them home and put them away. As and Bs 1) Stand in a circle. 2) Ask everyone to look around and pick another person, and to raise their hand when they have done that. That person is their A. Then ask everyone to pick a second person and raise a hand. That person is their B. 3) When you say go, each gets as close as they can to their A and as far away as hey can from their B. Tips: Stress the importance for speed. Animal Blindfold Supplies: Blindfolds for each participant, or you could ask participants to close their eyes. Page 5 of 9
1) Invite people into a circle. 2) Hand out blind-folds and help people to blind fold another. Alternatively, ask for eyes closed. 3) Explain that each person will hear a whisper of an animal name. Move around the group, giving each person the name of animal (examples: from the list below). The challenge will be to find all other animals of one's own kind. 4) No-one can talk - only animal sounds can be made. Very loud chaos ensues. It then gradually orders and unity emerges as animals find one another. 5) Be prepared to shepherd people from danger, but usually people are very safe with many not moving much, rather focusing on listening and calling out to others. Note: Consider possible cultural issues if animal sacred or offensive. List of possible animals (aim to have 3 or more of each animal): Wolf, cat, pig, pangaroo, snake, lion, crow, monkey, frog, elephant. Dance Move Game Everyone stands in a circle; the first person starts off by saying, 'When I am on the dance floor, this is my move'; they do a move and then the next person has to do the moves' of the people before them, plus add another one for the next person. (This may go better with music). Foot Fencing High energy and lots of fun! 1) Have each person choose a partner of about the same height. 2) Each person of the pair outstretches their arms and places their hands on their partners shoulders. 3) Each person must then try to step on the other person's feet/toes. Hug Tag 1) There is someone who is IT (like in the game tag ) 2) The person who is IT counts to five (maximum) and then the person who is IT can tag others. A person cannot be tagged if they are hugging someone Page 6 of 9
3) The person who is IT then tells people they have to switch and hug someone else after the IT counts to five. 4) The IT tries to tag people as they switch partners. The Blanket Game (Icebreaker or Energizer) Supplies: a blanket. Participants all skip around until a signal to stop. On the signal, everyone stops, goes down on their knees, hides their heads, closes their eyes and curl up as small as possible. A leader covers one person up with a blanket. Everyone stands up and guesses who is hidden under the blanket. OR Supplies: A blanket. Have your group divide itself into two groups. Tell them to sit on the floor facing each other. Hold up a blanket between the groups so that each team cannot see the other. A member of each team is quietly selected to move up to the blanket. On the count of 3, drop the blanket so that each of the selected members is facing each other. Then race to see who can remember the others name first. Who ever loses goes to the other team. Crazy Handshake (Icebreaker or Energizer) 1) Form a double circle, the outside circle facing in and the inside circle facing out. The outside circle stays in place, while the inside circle moves to the left. 2) The leader tells the inside circle when to move and when to stop. 3) On the word stop the leader calls out the handshake the players are to use, and the players introduce themselves and shake hands. Handshakes to use: i. Honour & Respect: Shake your own hand and bow three times. ii. Dead Fish: Weak clasp, barely shaking. iii. Lumberjack: Grasp your own right thumb in your left fist, hold the other person s right hand with your own right, and saw. iv. Dairy Farmer: One person interlaces his fingers, leaving his thumbs free. The other person vigorously milks the thumbs. Page 7 of 9
v. Henry Ford: Vigorous cranking motion while shaking. Easter Parade (Icebreaker or Energizer) Time: 15 minutes. Supplies: Newspaper, scotch tape, pins. 1) Divide the group up into teams of four. 2) Each of several teams has a complete newspaper, scotch tape, and pins. They each have five minutes in which to dress one player for the "Easter Parade" or any other event that is coming up or that might be relevant to your session. Each entry parades before a judge. Pass a Gesture Time Required: 5-10 minutes 1) Ask participants to sit or stand in a circle. Explain that for the energizer we will be using non-verbal communication, the kind of communication we often use unconsciously. 2) Pick a theme for example, a motion they do at work; how the last workshop went; how people are feeling at the moment about the workshop. 3) Each person, in turn, will use a gesture to communicate their feeling about the theme. Stress that only a non-verbal gesture can be used no words. Illustrate by making a gesture (for example, holding an imaginary phone, washing imaginary dishes), ad then pass to someone else by pointing at the person and saying their name. 4) That person says your name, plays back your gesture to you, and plays a gesture of their own to someone else. Continue until everyone has had a chance to receive and send a gesture. Page 8 of 9
References Burke, Bev, and others. Educating for Changing Unions. Toronto, Ontario: Between the Lines, 2002 Arnold, Rick, and others. Educating for a change. Toronto, Ontario: Between the Lines, 1991 Chambers, Robert. Participatory Workshops, a sourcebook of 21 sets of ideas and activities. London, England: Earthscan, 2002 Also many thanks to all the EWB Members that posted Energizers and Icebreakers on myewb.ca Page 9 of 9