Game of the Month Holiday Edition - Solemn and Silent

Game of the Month: Solemn and Silent

Purpose: The purpose of this game is to integrate group members and work on self control skills.

Materials: Just the participants.

Description:

• Members pair back to back. 
• On the count of three, everyone must face their partner, look each other in the eyes, and then try to remain solemn and serious.  No speaking! 
• The first to smile or laugh must sit down.
• All who remain standing then take a new partner and the activity continues until only one person has not smiled or laughed.  (Second round of playing can involve two teams competing to outlast each other.)
• If you get a pair at the end, who are both keeping a straight face, the rest of the group can act as hecklers to disrupt them.

Discussion/Reflection:

Good activity for breaking into activity groups.

At the end of the activity ask the group the following questions

• Why do you think we did this activity?
• What strategy did you have to complete this activity?
• How did you COMMUNICATE with the group?

November Game of the Month: The Machine

Purpose: This activity brings out strong communication and cooperation skills.

Materials: Just a group of participants.

Description:

• The object of this game is to create a machine out of a group of people (i.e. ceiling fan, hot air balloon, watch, etc.). 
• You might want to split your group into two or three smaller groups.  
• Each person is required to be accountable for one noise and one motion of the machine.  The group members should then put their motions and sounds together to create the machine.  
• Give each group about 5 minutes to work together and prepare, and then have the groups present to everyone. 
• Ask the other groups to guess what machine the group is.

Discussion/Reflection:

• At the end of the activity ask groups some of the following questions
• Why do you think we did this activity?
• Why did you choose the machine you did?
• If we were to do this challenge again what if anything would you do differently?

A fun, educational game...

posted by: Mitch Zeltzer

Here's a fun, educational game for you to play with your students/children. Enjoy!

GAME: Crazy Categories

Materials: 1 object/item (can be almost anything that you can pass around a circle)

Description: In this elimination-style game, the goal is to be the last player remaining. To begin the game you pick a category, for example: Cities. Once the round begins, the first player, the one holding the object must say a city, and then he/she must pass the object to the next player in the circle. The next player says a different city and passes the object along. A player is eliminated if he/she:

• Repeats something that was already said
• Hesitates too long
• Says something that is incorrect (e.g. says a country instead of a city)

When a player is eliminated he/she backs out of the circle slightly, and he/she gets the honour of picking the next category.

Hint #1: With a little creativity, this game can be adapted to almost any subject! Use it for Geography, history, vocabulary words, or even just for fun with pop-culture topics!

Hint #2: If you have fun your student will also have fun!


HAVE FUN!!!
(That is the best way to learn after all!)