SAMPLE GROUP DYNAMICS
Apr 01, 2016
Seeing as all of you
will be facilitating
general assemblies
and large groups for
your projects, we
have decided to
give you a jumpstart
with a list of
possible icebreakers
and group dynamics
you can use!
Just take note that
you should never be
limited to these
games. Feel free to
modify them or
continue searching
for other games that
are more
appropriate for your
project.
Have fun!
Forever for the kids.
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dear EBMB,
They’re called
icebreakers for a
reason. Group
dynamics (aka. GDs)
can be fun ways to
make your members
interact and get to
know one another
GDs are there to
facilitate a lighter
atmosphere for your
project and energize
your participants at
the start (or middle
or end) of an
activity. As much as
possible, always
start with a GD, no
matter how simple.
Why do group dynamics?
introductory cheerleader
name hunt
groups and names
call of the wild
newspaper palo game
competitive message relay
category relay
mute
samson, delilah and the lion
collective buzz
stand a minute
trendsetter
i love you game
human knot
list of contents
cheerleader
DURATION 5-10 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 30 - 100
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Each participant will look for an opponent and
play rock, paper, scissors.
2. The loser will become the winner's
cheerleader which means he/she has to get
behind the winner, follow and cheer for him/
her throughout the game. ("go name of
winner! go name of winner!)
3. The winner will look for another opponent to
battle
4. The loser (and all of his/her cheerleaders) will
have to get behind, follow and cheer for the
winner.
5. Game continues until there is only one winner
MATERIALS NEEDED None
ADDITIONAL NOTES Recommended when you lack time and have
many participants.
name hunt DURATION 10 – 15 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 20 – 50 people
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Everyone write their name down the middle of
an index card.
2. When ready, everyone moves about the room,
trying to find someone with a name that uses
one of the letters in his/her name. That person
writes his name down on the index card.
3. The first person to finish his/her card wins.
MATERIALS NEEDED Pen and paper
ADDITIONAL NOTES - for example the name is "JOHN", you're card
should look like this:
Jeanne
tOm
mattHew
colliN
- Best used when you want to let your participants
get to know each other
groups and names DURATION 10 – 15 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 15-30 participants
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Participants are asked to group themselves by a
certain category (year, college, birth year) and
to sit down once their group is complete
2. Participants must introduce themselves to each
other
3. Optional: A representative per group must
name each member in that group.
MATERIALS NEEDED none
ADDITIONAL NOTES - Nice way to get to know trivia about your
participants
- Get to know other people by their common
characteristics
- Others possible categories: high school, shoe
size, birth order, number of ex-love lives (ops).
call of the wild DURATION 5-10 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 20-40 people
INSTRUCTIONS 1. At the beginning of the session, hand out a
picture or a name of an animal (dog, cat, goat
etc.)
2. Tell the participants to find their group by
calling out to them in the sound of the animal
assigned to them
3. New groups must introduce themselves to each
other.
MATERIALS NEEDED Paper with pictures of animals printed or names of
animals written on them.
ADDITIONAL NOTES Fun and noisy game. You can take it to another
level by adding the rule that you have to act like
the animal as well.
newspaper palo game
DURATION 10-15 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 10-40 people
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Make the participants form a circle with an “it”
in the middle and do a round of names.
2. The It has to have a single present target and
hit that person with a rolled up newspaper
3. If you are the target, and in order to evade the
attack, you must say someone else’s name in
the group so that that other person becomes
the next target of the it.
4. The it must hit the target before he/she says
someone else’s name.
5. If you get hit by the newspaper, you become the
next it.
MATERIALS NEEDED Sheets of old newspaper
ADDITIONAL NOTES - The “it” can only hit the present target (the
person whose name has been most recently
said)
- You cannot say the name of the person who was
the target right before you.
- If you don’t have newspaper, use any paper. à
paper palo game.
message relay
DURATION 10 - 20 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 10 - 30
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Participants form different groups
2. Facilitator whispers a long sentence to a
representative in each group.
3. This person has to message the person
behind him until it gets back to the faci.
4. The faci confirms if the message he received
is the same one that he sent.
MATERIALS NEEDED None
category relay DURATION 10 – 20 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 20 - 30
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Group people into groups of 5-7
2. Let them form lines and the first person in each
line will be the representative.
3. Tell them a certain category (heroes, elements,
movies, actors etc.) Let them relay that theme
to the next person by giving an example of that
category.
4. Let the members of each team pass it on by
giving their own related example (HEROES:
superman--> batman etc..) without ever
mentioning the name of the category.
5. Last member of each team has to guess what
the theme is
MATERIALS NEEDED None
ADDITIONAL NOTES Expect their themes to be really far from the
original. You can ask the groups afterwards to trace
how they arrived at that theme.
mute DURATION 15 – 20 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 15 – 60 people
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Get the entire group to line up according to a
specific order without talking.
2. Sample orders: age, shoe size, hair length,
height etc.
3. First group to line up accordingly wins
MATERIALS NEEDED None
ADDITIONAL NOTES - You can divide the group into smaller groups so
that it can be a competition
samson, delilah and the lion DURATION 12-15 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 20 – 40 participants
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Divide everyone in two groups.
2. The game is similar to rock paper scissors;
samson beats the lion, lion beats delilah, delilah
beats samson.
3. The pose for Samson is flexing, lion is roaring,
delilah is malandi
4. Tell the groups to talk over what they're using
before the round starts.
5. The groups start facing opposite directions then
the faci counts to 3 then everyone turns around
and strikes the pose of their chosen character.
MATERIALS NEEDED None
ADDITIONAL NOTES - If you’re feeling creative, you can create different
poses and characters to fit the theme of your
activity.
buzz DURATION 10 – 15 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 20 - 50
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Players are seated in a circle.
2. The first person counts "1" then the person
beside him says "2" and so on.
3. Any person who has the number 7, any number
with 7, or any number divisible by 7 has to say
"BUZZ" instead
4. Anyone who makes a mistake starts again with
MATERIALS NEEDED None
ADDITIONAL NOTES - Those who make a mistake can be eliminated.
- You can add or modify the rules to keep the game
interesting.
- A variant of this game is called “seven up” where
you have to clap instead of saying the word “buzz”
stand a minute DURATION 10 - 20 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 20 - 30
INSTRUCTIONS 1. The game begins with everyone standing up.
2. When the faci says ready, everyone puts their
hands behind their back. (to avoid looking at
their watches)
3. The faci instructs them to sit down after a
minute.
4. The one closest to exactly one minute will be
the winner.
MATERIALS NEEDED None
ADDITIONAL NOTES the amount of time can be changed for variation!!
(30 seconds, 42 seconds, 67 seconds, etc.)
trendsetter DURATION 15 – 20 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 15 – 30
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Everyone stands in a circle.
2. One person is chosen to be the leader and
another is chosen to be the "It” .
3. The leader starts an action that everybody will
copy. This will make the leader blend in with the
rest of the participants. The ”it” will try to guess
who the leader is;
4. The leader changes the action frequently while
"It" tries to guess who the leader is. The leader
becomes the "It" when this happens and a new
leader is chosen.
MATERIALS NEEDED None
ADDITIONAL NOTES - You can make the “it” stand in the middle of the
circle while the rest of the participants walk
around him/her so that it is more challenging.
I love you game DURATION 10 – 25 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 20-50 people
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Pick an “it” and make all the rest of the
participants fix their chairs and sit in a circle
facing each other with the “it” in the middle.
2. The it should approach any person and ask the
question “name of person, do you love me?”
3. Person replies with either a “Yes” or “No, I only
love…..”
4. If “yes,” all the participants stand up and look
for another chair. If “no,” the person must state
a reason why not by saying a description.
Persons who are applicable to this description
must look for another seat. (ex. No, I only love
those who are wearing shoes à All persons who
are wearing shoes must stand up and look for
another seat.)
5. The person caught without a seat becomes the
“it.”
MATERIALS NEEDED Enough chairs for every participant
ADDITIONAL NOTES None
human knot DURATION 10 – 20 minutes
PARTICIPANTS 10-25 people
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Ask participants to form a circle.
2. Each participant would place his or her hands in
the center.
3. They must hold on to another person's hand
each on both hands.
4. After everyone is able to hold on to two other
people, they introduce themselves by their
names to the 2 persons they're holding hands
with.
5. Explain that, without letting go of hands, they
would untangle themselves into a circle.
MATERIALS NEEDED none
ADDITIONAL NOTES - This can either be very complicated or very easy
depending on how their hands will align/form.