scgamesactivites.pdf

A FEW GETTING-TO-KNOW-YOU ACTIVITIES

Let's jump right into our first circle activity.

My name is _____, and if I were an animal I'd be a _____ because....

I demonstrate for my youth: "My name is Kathy and if I were an animal, I'd be a turtle," I

say, "because I'm always rushing around. Sometimes I wish I could slow down."

Then I give the 4-H youth a little time to think about what animals they might like to be --

and why. I encourage them to be creative, to be different and unique. The first 4-Her to

one side of me in the circle starts out. After the first 4-Her finishes, I say, paraphrasing,

"My name is Kathy and if I were an animal, I'd be a turtle because I'd like to be able to

slow down. This is Emily, and if she were an animal, she'd be a hyena because she

likes to laugh a lot." Then it's on to the next child. After each child speaks, I try to repeat

all the other kids' name-and-animal combinations in order. That's always good for a

laugh or two -- shows the kids right from the start that the teacher isn't perfect!

Let's play detective .

I hand out a Clue Sheet to each 4-Her. We go over the statements on the sheet, and

then I ask the 4-Hers to find a quiet spot where they can fill in the blanks in statements

such as

• "My favorite hobby is ________."

• "When I grow up, I want to have a job as a _________."

• "The most fun thing I did all summer was __________."

I preface this activity by telling the 4-Her’s that I don't want them to put their names on

their papers. As the 4-H finish filling out their Clue Sheets, each picks up the sheet that

has been turned in complete and sits back down. Then introduce the activity. Hand an

anonymous Clue Sheet to each 4-Her. If a 4-Her ends up with his or her own sheet, we

make some switches.

"I want to see whether you're good detectives," I tell the 4-hers. Then I invite them to

move around, asking questions of their classmates, narrowing down the list of

"suspects" until they find the one person who matches all the clues they hold.

True or False?

This activity is always fun, and we all learn something interesting about one another! I

start. I write four facts about myself on the board. Three of the facts are true, and one is

false. 4-Hers take little true-false test. Then survey the 4-Hers to learn the results. We

go back over each question to see what they thought about each statement. That gives

you, the leader, a chance to tell a little about you. Then, on a sheet of paper, 4-Hers

write three interesting facts about themselves that are true and one that is false.

Throughout the meeting, ask a few 4-Hers to try to stump the rest of us.

BINGO-Scavenger Hunt!

To get communication going between 4-hers who aren't necessarily friends, start the

year off with a game of BINGO. Make up BINGO cards for the 4-Hers. Each square on

the card includes a brief description. Examples: Visited Florida this summer, went to

teen-get-away, Has a big brother and little sister, Was born in another country, Learned

how to skateboard this summer, Raises animals for their project , Likes to go bowling,

makes rockets, Has a brother or sister in the same school, Father's name is Jim, Read

more than one book this summer, Speaks two languages, Has two pets. 4-Hers walk

around the room and get the signature of someone who fits the specific description in

each box. The goal is to be the first to one to fill the BINGO card with signatures.

To make it harder, have 4-Hers fill every square with a different member's signature and

set a time limit. When a 4-Her has a BINGO (one name signed per square) give the

person a small prize.

Here are several ideas for icebreaker activities suitable for a wide range of youth.

• Start with a ball of yarn. Say your name and an interesting fact about yourself.

Then, holding the end, toss the ball to a youth. The youth will say his/her name

and an interesting fact, then, holding on to part of the yarn, toss the ball to

another student. By the time everyone has spoken, there will be a large web of

yarn.

• Split the youth into pairs. Each pair will have 30 seconds to find 5 things they

have in common. At the end of the 30 seconds, put two pairs together and give

the foursome a minute to find something all 4 youth have in common. Finally,

each group can present the list of things they have in common.

• Pass around a bag of M&M's. Tell the youth to take as many as they want. Once

all the youth have M&M's, tell them that for each M&M they took they have to say

one thing about themselves. For instance, if a student took 10 M&M's, they would

have to say 10 things about themselves.

• Have the youth line up in a particular order. For instance, tell them to line-up by

birth date. You can make this more difficult by not allowing them to talk during

this activity. For older youth, the line up could be based upon a 1-5 scale. For

instance, lines up accordingly from strongly agree to strongly disagree with a

particular topic. This can also stimulate interesting conversation.

TUSKER or Add-On-Tag

One IT pair of hand-in-hand runners to catch a fleeing pair (or individual) and then if

caught become part of the IT pair.

Only the two people at the ends of the catching line are allowed to tag a fleeing pair or

individual.

If the line breaks at any point — a catch is disallowed.

If the fleeing pair or individual breaks grip or runs out of bounds they are automatically

caught.

*Restrict the playing area. Make the IT group into two lines if one gets to big. Extend

the boundaries as they are playing to make the game more interesting. (Use noodles

and 4 cones)

BRAAAAAAAK—WHFFFFF *

Everyone gets a balloon (purchase different colors, larger than water balloons). Make a

round boundary for everyone to start off in. Have everyone blow up their balloons —

just short of popping (have spare’s available). Don’t tie off the balloon’s neck, just hold

on and get together with other’s who have the same color balloon as yours.

One player, representing the one team’s color (you can have as many teams as you

have colors) and standing within the boundary area, lets go of his/her balloon, allowing

it to jet willy-nilly about. As the limp projectile comes to rest, another team member of

the same color advances to that point and release their balloon. This continues until

everyone has gone. The winner is the team that gets the furthest for the boundary.

CIRCLE THE CIRCLE

Ask the group (15-30) to form a hand-in-hand circle. Place two hula hoops together

between two people (rest on their grasped hands). See how quickly the participants in

the circle can cause the hoops to travel around the circle (over the people) in the

opposite directions, through each other (I.e., hoop through hoop) and back to the

originating point.

It’s interesting to see what the group’s response is when you ask, “Who won?” after

both hoops have circled the circle. It takes some thought to realize that the entire group

is working as a team. NO LOSERS. NO WINNERS.

Quail Shooter’s Delight

If you know you are going to fail, it makes trying less of a trauma. The object of this

throw and catch games is to grab as many of the thrown objects as possible and hold

onto them. The not-so-obvious rationale is to provide a low-key vehicle for

unselfconscious participation.

Ask 2 or 3 people to stand back-to-back in the center of a people circle that measures

about 30’ in diameter. The number of people in the middle and the circle size will vary

according to the numbers playing.

Using easily throw able soft balls, ask each person in the circle on the count of 3 of loft

the balls toward the people or person in the middle. The results are predictably bad, but

everyone expects it. The people who haven’t tried all think they can to better.

TP SHUFFLE

Ask a group of about 20 people to halve themselves, and with their newly formed group

to stand on opposite ends of the TP or beam so that the two groups are facing one

another in single file. Establishing this face-to-face queue is not the problem. The

essential difficulty lies in having the 2 groups exchange ends of the pole without

touching the ground. Time the entire procedure and assign a 15 second time penalty

for every touch of the ground. After a complete attempt, encourage the group to talk

things over and give it another try.

As with all these timed initiative problems, it is important to attempt the problem one

than once. (Teamwork and leadership are used for the activity)

SHIP WRECK

A peripatetic “all aboard” problem. The object of Ship Wreck is to gain the most points

during the activity through group cooperation and fast action!

Divide participants into 2 groups with 8-10 per group. Give each group a “ship” and

instruct all members to hold onto the ship as they run the length of the playing field.

Groups are to run with their “ship’ until you yell SHARK. Then all the members jump

aboard (or inside the hula hoop) “ship”. The first group with all feet of the ground gains

a point. Repeat this several times. The 1st group to cross the finish line gains 3 pts.

Debrief with suggestions on how to improve next time. Repeat if the group had fun the

1st time.

FLIP-ME-THE-BIRD TAG

Just like any other tag game. Depending on the size of your group assign 1-2 people

to be IT. Set up boundaries with your orange cones. You’ll need one rubber chicken.

Give that rubber chicken to some one that isn’t it. Start the game. If you person that’s

IT is coming toward some one without the bird, they simply say, “flip me the bird” in

order to be safe from being tagged it. Very simple and fun game. You can also use a

rubber pig and call it “pass me the pork”.

If doing this game with different age groups you can have the people shuffle and shake

their butts instead of running.

TRUST CIRCLE

Standing in a circle, all members of the group hold on to the web loop with both hands.

By moving the feet slightly to the center of the circle and leaning back, a circle of trust

(trust in the webbing, self-trust, trust-in-others) is formed. This is the basic connection

to the others in the group. Balance and stillness are the goals of the basic trust circle.

Instructions can to be close eyes, come to center (with self), breathe deeply, and sense

the connection, the support, and the security of the circle.

The facilitator can focus the group’s attention on comfort by pointed out the value of not

twisting the webbing. The group can also be told that they can re-arrange people to

attain the best balance. If it is observed that the group, or some members of the group

are not in a full trust lean, instruction to move feet a few more inches inward are

appropriate

TRUST CIRCLE—CONTINUED

When the group achieves balance and stillness, trust is apparent to everyone.

Typically, this circle of trust brings the group to a state of connectedness and

involvement that would usually not occur for some time in a group’s development.

When the group is comfortable with the trust lean, have the participants open their eyes,

look at others in the circle, share names, memories of favorites places or the animal

they would like to be. There can, of course be sharing of feelings and thoughts about

trust, interdependency, cooperation, safety and or belongingness.

Once the group has learned to connect in this basic circle of trust it can be re-

established when appropriate throughout the challenge sequence.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: