Beginning Lets shake hands (15 minutes) Materials: White sheets of paper, pens/pencils Split the teenagers in two

groups (approx. 10 people in each). Ask each of them to draw the outline of their left palm hand on a sheet of paper. They need to complete the hand as following: * Pinky finger: I would rather * Ring finger: The funniest moment of my life * Middle finger: Age * Index finger: Personal value * Thumb: First name Two truths and a lie (10 minutes) 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. Arrange the teenagers in a circle. 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. During the training Shake (5 - 10 minutes) This is a great get them up and going icebreaker for any age and lasts about 5 to 10 minutes. You need one leader to stand up in front of the group to control the action. Whatever the leader says and does the group has to repeat it. So the leader starts out by saying, Shake your foot., while shaking his foot. The leader has to do this in a loud crazy voice. Then the group starts shaking their feet saying Shake, shake; shake, shake your foot. Then the leader repeats himself and says, Shake your foot and the group responds, Shake, shake; shake, shake your foot. The leader then says, Now freeze! The group freezes where they are at. Then the leader says again, Shake your foot. Then the crowd responds by saying, Shake, shake; shake, shake your foot., while shaking their feet. Then the leader adds other body parts. For instance, the leader will say, Shake your head. and the group will respond Shake, shake; shake, shake your head., while shaking their heads. This follows the same pattern up top. Then you can add shake your partner also. This really gets them going! Animal Farm (10-15 minutes) Use: Creatively divide into smaller groups, Gets people laughing Materials: Pre written index cards, blindfolds (optional) Give participants a card with the name of a farm animal, i.e. horse, chicken, rooster, lamb, dog, cat, etc.

They may not tell or show their card to anyone. Tell them in order to find their group they must make the sound of the animal on the card and group themselves accordingly. Participants may or may not have their eyes closed or be blindfolded at the discretion of the facilitator. Orienting oneself (15 minutes) Use: for large groups (over 20 Ask everyone to stand up and then announce to have everyone orient themselves to the room by age. The group has to figure out where the youngest person needs to stand, middle-aged folks and then elders. No one may speak. When completed, permit them to talk to announce their ages in line from one end to the other to see how they did. Variations (since age isnt always the best topic): orient the group in the room by place of birth, astrological signs, number of siblings, length of time in the organization, etc. Or a variation of it: BLIND NUMERICAL ORDER (15 minutes) There is no talking and participants must keep your blindfolds on at all times. Each of them will have a number whispered into their ear. The goal is for the group to arrange itself in numerical order without speaking and without the use of sight. Blindfold all the participants. Whisper a number to each of them (do not allow other participants to hear). The number should be RANDOM (not just 1-12, etc). For a few participants, use negative numbers, 0, really high numbers, etc. After whispering the number, move the participant to a random location. Once every participant has a number, they should begin. Make sure all participants are safe throughout the exercise. Processing Questions: What was the most difficult aspect of this exercise? Did you have a sense of working together? Why/why not? How frustrating was it when you could not talk. What was necessary in order for you to be successful? Did you assume that the assigned numbers would be in order (like 1-12)? How important is good communication in groups Around the world The leader begins by saying the name of any country, city, river, ocean or mountain that can be found in an atlas. The young person next to him must then say another name that begins with the last letter of the word just given. Each person has a definite time limit (e.g. three seconds) and no names can be repeated. For example - First person: London, Second Person: Niagara Falls, Third Person: Switzerland Once upon a time Ask each young person to think of either the name of a person, a place or a thing. Invite them to share this with the rest of the group. Select one of your group to begin a story. However, within 10 seconds they must mention the person, place or

thing they have thought of. After 10 seconds (use a stopwatch or kitchen timer) the story is continued by the next person who must also mention their person, place or thing within the 10 seconds. Add words (5-10 minutes) Simple, completely ridiculous and a lot of fun! The first person says a word, for example 'The'. The second person says the first word and ADDS a second word of their choice, and so on. At the end you might have a complete sentence! For example, 'The aardvark spiralled into the puddle of custard clutching his skateboard while whistling his favourite Bjork melody.' The fun thing is putting twists in the sentence so that the others have a hard time coming up with a word that fits. ADD WORDS can be played a few times without being boring. People Bingo (10 minutes) Use: Great for new groups Make a 5 by 4 grid on a piece of card and duplicate for everyone in your group. Supply pens or pencils. Each box contains one of the statements below. Encourage the group to mix, talk to everyone to try and complete their card. If one of the items listed on the bingo card relates to the person they are talking with, have them sign their name in that box. End the activity after 10 minutes and review some of the interesting facts the group has discovered about each other. You can add your own statements appropriate for your group. Has brown eyes Has made the longest journey Has eaten the weirdest food Plays Tennis Is wearing blue Speaks a foreign language Knows what a muntjak is (it's a small deer) Plays a musical instrument Has 2 or more pets Has been to the most foreign countries Hates broccoli Has 2 or more siblings Name begins with an 'S' Loves Chinese food

 Loves to ski Knows what a quark is (A quark is a tiny theoretical particle that makes up protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus. So there!) Loves soccer Likes to get up early Someone whos favourite TV show is CSI o A girl height over 1.74 m o Has the most unusual hobby o Has had the most embarrassing experience o Knows what 'Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia' is. If that's too easy you can try Arachibutyrophobia, Alektorophobia, Ephebiphobia or Anglophobia. (see at the end of the document) The Quiet Game (10 minutes) The instructor explains that this exercise will take self-control. 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 is both keeping a straight face, the rest of the group can act ask hecklers to disrupt them. SHERPA WALK (15 minutes) Assemble the group in two lines and then blindfold them. Each person holds onto the shoulder of the person in front of him/her. The leaders are not blindfolded. He/she will lead the group from one place to another. The facilitator may choose to limit talking or allow talking only for safety commands. The leaders works to navigate the surroundings and keep his/her group safe. At different points, the leader may change; the former leader will now join the rest of the group and be led. Processing Questions: How did it feel being led by only one person? How trusting were you of the person in front of you? Of the leader? Did anyone ever question where they were going or demand an explanation? Why did so many individuals simply follow the person in front of them? How many times in our houses, do we just follow our leaders (i.e., President, RA/CA, Peer, Mentor) because we are supposed to? Why do they continue to go with the flow and not question what we are doing? What happens if we trust certain leaders and they lead us astray? How do we encourage more team-based leadership?

Final phase Sit down Game (15 minutes) This game can be used for junior high school, high school, and college. It should take about 10-15 minutes. Have everyone gather into one big circle and stand as close to one another as possible. Have everybody turn to the right and get as close as they can to one another or it will not work. Then have everyone sit on the knees of the person behind them. After everyone is settled, or somewhat settled, have everyone walk forward around in the circle without breaking the sit down chain. It is hard to do and fun to watch. Enjoy! Your phobias answered Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - Fear of long words (not a giant hippo in sight!) Arachibutyrophobia - Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. (I think I might have this!) Alektorophobia - Fear of chickens. (No McDonalds today then!) Ephebiphobia - Fear of teenagers (tough phobia for a youth worker!) Anglophobia - Fear of England or English culture. (Be afraid, be very afraid!)