Scene Setting
These exercises are designed to make sure that everyone is ready to participate fully, that the business of the day runs smoothly and is not disrupted, and that people’s expectations are known and (as far as possible) met.
Name |
Description |
Instructions |
|
Locked box |
Each person writes down a thing which they need to ‘put away’ for the duration of the session |
Download |
| What do you want from today? | Record these on a flipchart and return to them at the end of the day | Download |
| Ground rules | record these on a flipchart and stick them up as a reminder | Download |
Ice Breaker Exercises
These exercises are designed to ‘warm up’ the group, help them relax and get them to know each other a little better.
Name |
Description |
Instructions |
|
Postcards |
Spread out the postcards on the floor and ask everyone to pick three each, to represent:
Use the pictures to tell the rest of the group about these things. |
|
| You may not know this… | Each person writes a fact about themselves, a facilitator reads them out and group has to guess who it is | Download |
| Fact or fiction? | Ask everyone to write on a piece of paper THREE things about themselves which may not be known to the others in the group. Two are true and one is not. Taking turns they read out the three ‘facts’ about themselves and the rest of the group votes which are true and false. There are always surprises. This simple activity is always fun, and helps the group and leaders get to know more about each other. | |
| Would I lie to you? | There are twelve cards, each consisting of a real word and three possible definitions. Each participant has a card, which they keep secret, and reads out the three possible definitions. The cad tells them which is the correct one, but they must try not to give away which it is. Other participants (perhaps in pairs) guess the correct definition. | Download |
| Funny noises |
This is hilarious and really breaks down people’s defences. Round one: the first person has to make a vocal noise (e.g. squeak, or blow a raspberry, or sing a high note). The second person has to repeat that noise then turn to the next person in the circle and make their own, new noise...and so on round the circle. Round two: repeat the process but add in a gesture (e.g. thumbing your nose, winking, or rubbing your tummy) |
|
| Would you rather..? |
Questions may range from silly trivia to more serious content. On the way you might find out some interesting things about your people! Place a line of tape down the centre of the room. Ask the group to straddle the tape. When asked ‘Would you rather?’ they have to jump to the left or right as indicated by the leader (then return to the centre line). The leader should join in too! Here are some starter questions – you could add your own.
|
