I mentioned playing games at the course which were fun and interesting yet do not insult our intelligence. MY actually requested that I talk about some of the games that were being played, so I thought I'd come out with another post on this cos especially for those of you who need to conduct courses or work with kids or youths or even adults, this is something very useful to break the monotony of the lecturette and create bonding among the participants. It also encourages physical movement which aids in maintaining the concentartion span of the participants.

These games were termed 'crowdies' by our facilitators Mike and Darryl, who said that the term 'crowdies' gave a more fun connotation and implied that it is an activity that encourages group participation. There are no proper names to the game. Basically, the trick is to come up with some fun and outrageous names which you think your audience would like. I'll talk about a few memorable ones here (no fancy names here though :))

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1) Passing the hot stone

This one is my favourite crowdie. Basically, you get the participants into a big circle. Then, tell them a story about cavemans. The story is to introduce the participants to the activity supposedly played by cavemans, which is to gather round a bonfire, then pick up a hot stone from the bonfire and pass it around.

Since the stone is supposed to be hot, you'll have to pass it around fast. The direction of the stone is determined by the person who starts the 'stone' rolling. For example, if he throws the stone right, the person on the right has to throw it to his right and so on. The catch is that the participants must 'catch' the stone with their left hand and swing it across their bodies to pass it to their right. No other manner of passing is acceptable. The one who catches the stone may also choose to reverse the direction, by passing the stone over and across his/her head in a different direction.

Those who are too slow, passed it in the wrong manner or used the wrong hand are out of the game.

And of course, the best thing about this game is that you get to make noise at the same time. Cos everytime you pass the 'stone', u have to shout 'czar!' in the most aggressive voice you have.

2) 1 to 21

This one is an exceeding simple game which I think is more fun if u have a large group. Cos with that you can then split the floor into 2 circles. Each on is to shout out 1 to 3 numbers in sequence in a clockwise direction, eg. I could shout 1, the next person could shout 2, 3, 4, and the next one 5, 6 and so on. The person who is forced to take the number 21 is then eliminated. Once the group reduces to the last one, the 'winner' of each team then 'compete' against each other.

3) Electric shock

The facilitator would need one assistant for this. Basically, the group is split into 2 lines, each holding each others hand while all facing front. The first person in each line gets to hold a bunch of keys in front of him/her, while the assistant of the facilitator will hold the hands of the last person from the 2 lines. The assistant will send an 'electric shock' down the line by first squeezing the two hands from both lines, and the group members are then required to pass it on by squeezing the hand of the person in front of them after they've felt their own hand being squeezed. The trick is to react fast. Once the 'shock' reaches the first person in line, the first one to drop the bunch keys after receiving the 'shock' is the winner. The facilitor, who is standing in front of the 2 lines, is the judge who determines who drops it first.

After the keys have been dropped, the game is continued with the first person moving to the back and the 2nd person moving to the first position. The game stops after the original first person comes back again and the scores are tallied.

The fun thing in this is that sometimes, a false electric shock is sent. But of course, the assistant must be someone trusted ;)

4) Entangle

Everyone stands in a tight circle. Then, participants are suppsed to cross their arms and hold the hand of another person except for those on their sides. After they have locked hands, they are supposed to get themselves untangled without releasing their grip.

Sometimes groups get stuck. If that happens, the facilitator may allow only one arm position to be changed to aid in the 'untangling'.

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Actually how fun the games come out to be depends a lot on the facilitator's ability to create that fun atmosphere. I actually tried out some of the games with my childcare group and it didn't work out as well as I wanted it to. So I guess it really takes practice.

Also, the interesting thing is that these games are non-threatening so these ice-breakers may acrtually set the stage for more active, 'silly' activities which keeps the energy level up as participants get more and more comfortable with each other.

Here's Mike's website to find out more :)