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WHO?
WHO’S IN THE BOX?
Pretentious explanation: the quest for identity is crucial to character formation, and identifying ourselves outside of the boxes that life places us in is an important developmental step.
10 mins
This game is really simple – as long as you’ve got a big enough box. Try your local large electrical appliances retailer to see if they have any going spare, or just buy a new freezer on expenses*. Secretly hide one of your leaders or more responsible young people under the box without the rest of the group knowing who’s there. To ensure that the group can’t simply identify who it is by working out who’s missing, make sure a number of individuals aren’t in the room at the time the game is played, although also don’t make explicit that it’s one of the leaders in the box.
Explain that the group has to try and work out who’s in the box by asking a series of questions, which the person in the box answers by knocking on the wall of the box - once for yes, twice for no. Get the group to take it in turns to ask questions, and instruct them to keep the questions vague and related to likes and dislikes rather than being too specific about appearance and so on. You could try repeating this on successive weeks with different people in the box, or even over the course of the same evening if you have the time to secretly place other people under the ‘box of mystery’.
(*Don’t buy a new freezer on expenses.)
(Non-pretentious explanation: boxes are exciting and mysterious.)
WHAT?
WHAT’S IN THE BLENDER?
5 mins
In advance, collect together a number of food and drink items which wouldn’t usually be coupled together, and blend them until an inevitably disgusting and grey looking drink or paste is produced. Make sure you include at least one item that is mainly liquid based to allow for it to bind together.
Produce your blended concoction and pour some into a cup for each of your group to sample. Give them each a piece of paper and a pen and explain that they need to try and identify what went into the blender. Tell them how many ingredients they are trying to identify, but don’t give them any more hints unless they are really stuck.
A variant you could try if you have enough blenders is to produce a number of different blends (minimum three) but tell your group all of the various ingredients, and get them to work out which went into which blend. Make sure that you are aware of any allergies beforehand, and that what you choose to blend is suitable for all those who will be consuming it!
(Non-pretentious explanation: be careful what you eat!)
WHERE?
TREASURE-HUNT -RELAY
Pretentious explanation: recognising the best places to go for support and help is a skill we can develop.
10 mins
From the name you might surmise that this is a form of relay race, crossed with a treasure hunt - and you would be right. With your group divided into teams, give one member of each team a specific item to find that you have hidden in advance around your meeting venue. To prepare you will need to ensure you have the right number of objects for the number of teams you anticipate having. For example, if one of the items you will instruct them to find is an inflatable banana make sure that you have hidden one inflatable banana per team, so each team will be able to search for and find the same list of items.
Divide your group into teams dependent on space and number of objects you have hidden; groups of about six work well, but ensure that each team member will have at least one item to find. Explain that it is a team race, and that one at a time team members will be told an item to try and find, and bring back to yourself. Only once they have done that will you give the next team member their item to find, and so on until the team has completed the list. The first team to find and bring all their items to you wins.
Make sure that the items are scattered around the place and not clumped together and try to make the items that they are looking for as unusual and out-of-context as possible.
(Non-pretentious explanation: inflatable bananas are rarely where you expect to find them.)
WHY?
HAVE YOU SEEN MISS MARPLE ?
Pretentious explanation: the only question needed is, ‘Why not?’
10 mins
Get your group sitting in a circle, and explain that in this game there are two key rules. Firstly, at no time can you ever show your teeth, and secondly that you cannot point with anything other than an elbow. With these two rules in mind explain that you are going to progress around the circle asking each other a set of questions. Person A asks their neighbour: ‘Have you seen Miss Marple?’ Person B responds, ‘Miss Marple?’ Person A: ‘Yes, have you seen Miss Marple?’ Person B: ‘I don’t know, I’ll ask my neighbour.’
At which point they become Person A and turn to their neighbour and repeat the whole process. This keeps going until someone accidentally shows their teeth. Anyone who sees it can point at the them (with their elbows) and call ‘teeth, teeth’. Equally if someone points with a finger, or anything other than an elbow, then people can point at them (with elbows) calling out ‘pointing, pointing.’ When people are caught breaking these rules you can start to eliminate them to find an ultimate winner. Alternatively you can just play this game as an icebreaker without elimination.
(Non-pretentious explanation: it’s just a pretty fun game!)
