Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Icebreakers
ISKCON
Congregational Development Ministry
The Book of Icebreakers
Second Edi on
Publisher : ISKCON Congrega onal Ministry
Compiled by : Kaunteya Das
Cover Design : Balaram Jeppesen
Proof Reading : Daru Brahman Das
Many Thanks to : Advaita Chandra Das, Hemagopi Devi Dasi,
Anu ama Radhika Devi Dasi, Ganatosita Devi Dasi,
Suresh Aswani and Madhava Candra Das
For more informa on, contact us at:
cdm@pamho.net
Visit our website at
www.iskconcongrega on.com
Contents
Introduc on ............................................................... 3
Who is this book for? ….................................................. 3
What is an icebreaker? .................................................. 4
The icebreaker in the Bhak -vrksa group mee ng ......... 5
Star ng on me ............................................................. 7
Types of icebreakers ...................................................... 8
Points on icebreakers .................................................... 9
Giving the choice to par cipate (contrac ng) .............. 11
Physical safety ............................................................. 13
Is it appropriate? ......................................................... 14
Length ......................................................................... 15
Debriefing and teaching points .................................... 16
The approach ............................................................... 17
Request ....................................................................... 17
Ques ons .................................................................. 21
Standard Ques ons ..................................................... 24
Light-hearted & Welcoming ......................................... 26
Some for Children ........................................................ 35
lf .................................................................................. 38
A Glance at the Past ..................................................... 42
Goals, Dreams & Desires .............................................. 46
Going Deeper ............................................................... 48
The Spiritual Side ......................................................... 57
For the Beginning of a Group Cycle (a er Mul plica on)
……………………………………………………………………………... 65
When the Group is about to Mul ply ........................... 67
Warning: Don't use these “Icebreakers”! ..................... 71
Ge ng to Know You Be er .................................. 75
You Are in the Newspaper Today! ................................ 75
String of Facts .............................................................. 77
Secrets ......................................................................... 78
“I Offer my Respec ul Obeisances to Whoever...” ....... 79
Birth-months & Birthdays ............................................ 80
Birth Right ................................................................... 81
Missing Links ............................................................... 83
Guess Who .................................................................. 85
Toss the Ball ............................................................... 86
Save Me! ..................................................................... 87
Introduce Your Partner ................................................ 88
My most Precious Possession ...................................... 88
Find the Iden ty .......................................................... 89
What Do You Like Most in ............................................ 90
True or False? .............................................................. 92
Common Denominators ............................................... 93
Personal Mandala ........................................................ 94
Games ...................................................................... 101
Group Poetry ............................................................. 103
Blinded by money ...................................................... 105
Shape Makers ............................................................ 106
Will You Please Smile for Me? .................................... 107
Posi ve Thinking ........................................................ 108
Ways of Caring ........................................................... 109
Filling the Blanks ........................................................ 111
White and Offerable .................................................. 115
Anagrams .................................................................. 116
Can You Follow Instruc ons? ..................................... 117
Do This and Add Something ....................................... 119
Funny Faces ............................................................... 120
Journalists ................................................................. 121
Object in Ques on ..................................................... 122
Stand Up .................................................................... 123
The Eyes of Knowledge .............................................. 124
Hand-shi .................................................................. 126
A Bag of Fun............................................................... 127
Pass the Orange ......................................................... 128
Original Step .............................................................. 129
Alphabet Search ........................................................ 130
Posi ve Messages ...................................................... 131
Maha-mantra Sequence ............................................. 132
Simple Physical Energizers …....................................... 133
Circle Massage ........................................................... 134
Living Sculptures ........................................................ 135
Lap Link ..................................................................... 136
Going on a Picnic ....................................................... 137
Gita Details ................................................................ 139
Bhagavad-gita Analogies ............................................ 141
Untangling the Knot ................................................... 143
Hanging Bucket .......................................................... 144
Marginal Energy ...............,......................................... 145
“Blind Faith” in Chan ng and Prasadam ..................... 146
Compliments ............................................................. 149
Blind Numbers ........................................................... 151
Balloon Dress Up ....................................................... 152
Theatrical Improvisa ons .......................................... 153
Ge ng in the Group at any Cost ................................ 154
Team Towers ............................................................. 155
How Many Are There? ............................................... 155
E-mail Addresses ........................................................ 156
Being Part of the Group ............................................. 157
The Color of Influence ................................................ 159
One Problem, Many Solu ons ................................... 162
Sharing Solu ons ....................................................... 164
Sastra Mime .............................................................. 165
Who Am I? ................................................................. 166
Search for Someone ................................................... 167
What Changed ........................................................... 168
Animals ..................................................................... 169
Paper Plate Heads ...................................................... 170
Story of My Life ......................................................... 171
What's Cooking .......................................................... 173
I Remember ............................................................... 174
Six Degrees of Separa on .......................................... 176
Storyteller .................................................................. 177
Race for the Truth ...................................................... 179
Candy Confessions ..................................................... 180
That Rhymes .............................................................. 181
Pranks ...................................................................... 185
Co on Balls ............................................................... 185
Mine Field .................................................................. 187
Water Waiter ............................................................. 188
Sports and Other Compe ons .......................... 191
Balloons in the Air ..................................................... 192
Lemonade Makers ..................................................... 193
Devas and Asuras Aluminum-ball War ....................... 194
Survival of the Fi est ................................................. 195
Knock the Pole Down ................................................. 196
No-snow Sled Race .................................................... 197
Electric Fence ............................................................. 198
Moving Circles ........................................................... 199
Crossing the River ...................................................... 200
Classic Musical Chairs ................................................ 201
Body Part Musical Chairs ........................................... 202
Musical Chairs with Balloons ..................................... 203
Bird on the Perch ....................................................... 203
Body Change .............................................................. 204
Balloon Game ............................................................ 206
Dodge the Sponge ...................................................... 206
Killing Snakes ............................................................. 208
Newspaper Hockey .................................................... 210
Four Squares .............................................................. 211
Snatching the Tail ...................................................... 212
Vimana Ba le ............................................................ 213
Collec ve Ski Race ..................................................... 214
Mummy Race ............................................................. 215
Rakshasa ................................................................ 217
Water Balloon Volleyball ........................................... 218
Living Net .................................................................. 219
Assist Lord Caitanya to Capture Them All! .................. 220
Hari-ball ..................................................................... 222
Introduction
Introduc on
3
to help people to know each other be er, to energize them, to help
devotees open their mind on various topics (from light to important
ones), to inspire friendship, to create a more relaxed atmosphere
and to simply have some clean fun and a good laugh together.
What is an icebreaker?
I c e b r e a ke r s a r e t o o l s t o f o s t e r i n t e r a c o n a n d
communica on, to s mulate crea ve thinking and analysis, to
relieve mutual shyness, to challenge basic assump ons, to
illustrate new concepts, to introduce specific material, to enable
people to get to know each other be er (in both ini al and deeper
interac ons) and to help people to have a good me together.
Icebreakers can be used nearly any me a facilitator has the need to
gather a group of people and help them move forward.
4
When a group comes together there is some coldness in the air,
especially if people are away from each other for a few days or don't
know each other. An icebreaker just does what its name implies: it
breaks the ice. Each icebreaker should be a team-builder or should
be something that connects us more to Lord Sri Krishna or Lord Sri
Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
5
3. Japa: prac cing and discussing the chan ng of the Hare Krishna
maha-mantra on beads.
4. Discussion, or Krishna-katha: talking about a verse and a
purport from Srila Prabhupada's books. A dialogue centered
on Krishna, His teachings and the applica on of the science
of bhak -yoga in one's daily life.
5. Preaching: discussing about sharing Krishna consciousness
with others. A me for understanding the missionary aspect
Vaisnavism, repor ng on the preaching ac vi es, for
reviewing the progress in cul va ng interested people, for
learning new techniques and for chalking out future plans.
6. Prasadam: honoring sanc fied food together.
Group members and guests arrive at the weekly mee ng
from different situa ons (work, studying, home, etc.). Some might
have had a good day; others might have faced some struggle.
6
Since everyone is in their own par cular mood, it is beneficial to
start with something that helps people to connect, something that
rekindles the group spirit and helps par cipants to feel comfortable
with each other. Without the icebreaker people may tend to
remain “in their minds”, in their own private world, and be unable
to fully par cipate and absorb themselves in the various spiritual
ac vi es.
Star ng on me
As a rule, mee ngs should start right on me. The group
members can thoroughly discuss what is realis cally the best me
to begin, but once the me is fixed the leader should s ck to the
schedule, and start on me, even if only a few are present. Wai ng
for the latecomers perpetuates a culture of lateness: those who
are late are rewarded (as everyone waits for them) and those
7
who are punctual are punished (they have to wait as if they did
something wrong by arriving on me).
One advantage of regularly beginning with icebreakers is
that it inspires people to come on me, because they don't want to
miss the fun.
Types of icebreakers
lcebreakers for ge ng acquainted - They help to gain insight
into each other. They offer crea ve ways of ge ng to know
something basic or deeper about others: names, occupa ons,
hobbies, talents, family backgrounds, likes and dislikes, value-
systems, realiza ons, dreams, etc. These icebreakers serve as
springboards for discovering common interests and
establishing closer rela ons.
lcebreakers for mixing and ge ng group par cipa on - They
8
generally require par cipants to move around, mingling
together to complete a task. They o en raise the energy level
of the group and promote interac on.
lcebreakers to increase communica on - They encourage
sharing and opening the mind. Sharing can be kept on the
surface or it can go much deeper.
Icebreakers for promo ng teamwork and camaraderie - They
help group members develop a greater level of co-opera on.
These icebreakers might engage smaller teams to complete a
task within a me frame or to compete.
Points on icebreakers
Icebreakers help people to take the focus off themselves to feel
at ease with one another.
9
Icebreakers gently prick the mental bubble that prevents
people from ge ng fully absorbed in the mee ng.
lcebreakers assist in building rela onships.
lcebreakers bring everyone to a common focus.
lcebreakers mi gate social uneasiness.
lcebreakers help people bind together.
Icebreakers melt the crust of ice formed by being absent from
each other for several days.
lcebreakers ease the discomfort of being among strangers.
lcebreakers slacken, mollify the ini al re cence to par cipate.
Icebreakers are useful for groups where members are
beginning to know each other, and for groups together for a
long me.
lcebreakers help devotees to enter into each others' lives.
lcebreakers achieve the vital step of focusing the group at the
10
start of the mee ng.
Icebreakers should be used in every Bhak -vrksa group
mee ng.
lcebreakers can be high-energy (physically involving and
requiring movement) and low-energy (needing minimum
physical ac vity).
11
This last point is cri cal, and is o en missed. The group
leader can announce that par cipants are not “bound” to par -
cipate. Although par cipants will not always speak their concerns
to the leader, any given ac vity can place undue stress on people
for a variety of reasons. For instance the deeply introverted person
might feel out of place in high-energy group ac vi es, or the
person with a difficult childhood might feel uncomfortable in
sharing the past, or, simply, the person who is having a bad day,
might not want to take part. So, par cipants vary in their degree of
comfort with icebreakers, energizers and games. When they
perceive a poor fit between their state of mind and the
requirements of the icebreaker, people will either publicly or
privately “opt out” of par cipa on. When given the freedom to
choose, people tend to take greater ownership of their
par cipa on and are less able to claim “they made me do it.”
12
Ironically, when given choice, the vast majority of people will
choose par cipa on over either public or private op ng out. To
maximize genuine par cipa on in icebreakers, it is best to formally
say that people have the right to “pass” at any point. When given
this explicit op on, par cipants only rarely “opt out”.
One sugges on could be to have two or three icebreakers
ready, so that if the group rebels against one, the leader can have an
alterna ve ready. Some mes one can present the alterna ves
beforehand and let the group decide.
Physical safety
Apart from the psychological safety described above, one
should carefully consider icebreakers and games that require
complicated or challenging physical exer on. Again, though one
may carry the a tude of “no one has to par cipate,” such an
a tude has li le benefit if not shared publicly with par cipants.
13
Is it appropriate?
To be effec ve, icebreakers need to be appropriate. Bhak -
vrksa group servant-leaders and other facilitators need to judge
how suitable each icebreaker is (or isn't) for their circumstances.
Some ac vi es are more appropriate for when there are guests.
Some icebreakers are suitable for when the group is about to
mul ply, while others are more indicated for when the members
are ge ng to know each other. Be er to have a serious icebreaker
or a “silly” one? Be er a high-energy or a low-energy game? The
leader has to decide.
A very important considera on is to prevent careless
mixing of the genders. Some icebreakers are clearly for a single
gender group or at least for being performed separately by men
and women. By all means one should avoid promiscuity.
14
This book is intended for interna onal use, for groups of all
ages and cultural backgrounds, and for different types of
gatherings. We are aware that some of the ac vi es we present
might raise a few eyebrows, especially if used indiscriminately-or
inexpertly without considering me, place and par cipants. In
selec ng icebreakers one should keep in mind the local culture and
the flavor of the par cular group. Something that works great for a
teenager gathering might not be the best for a middle-aged lot.
Length
Some of the icebreakers in this compila on are best for
short or standard-length mee ngs. Others make most sense in
longer gatherings. Some training professionals, for instance, say
that an icebreaker that lasts more than 1/16th of the total me for
15
a program is probably too long. But long icebreakers can be
acceptable if they provide in-depth learning experiences, or a much
needed release of tensions, or give the chance for building
meaningful rela onships.
16
Some trainers and facilitators prefer to use icebreakers
that contain significant points that are part of the overall learning
objec ves of the programs. Of course, icebreakers are dynamic and
can provide both intended and unplanned learning.
The approach
We address the reader as if he or she will be the one to
facilitate the various ac vi es.
Request
Please share with us any new icebreaker you might
encounter or invent, so that we might share it with other devotees
in future edi ons of this booklet.
17
Questions
Ques ons
21
If you feel that a ques on might be inappropriate to your
situa on, for your group, your cultural environment or the guests
a ending–just don't use it. We are presen ng these ques ons and
the rest of the book as well, as ideas for you to consider, not as
something you have to do. So use your discrimina on and don't
think that everything will be good for every situa on because “it's
in the book.”
Some mes you might choose to use more than one
ques on, going around twice or thrice with different ques ons or
going around once with two or more ques ons, combined. In some
cases you will have to remind people to give brief answers or even
set a strict me limit (for instance, one minute maximum of sharing
for each person), so that the icebreaker doesn't go on for too long.
Keep in mind that ques ons can be used in at least three
ways:
22
1) People speak one a er another going around the circle. This is
the most common way.
2) People write their answer on a piece of paper and then speak
what they wrote one a er another. This method has the
advantage of ac vely involving everyone at the same me and
it avoids the anxiety of thinking, “What will I say when I have to
speak?” lt also helps people to express themselves without
being influenced by what others have already said.
3) People write the answer on a piece of paper and then the
papers are mixed before reading them. In this way the writer
remains anonymous.
23
Standard Ques ons
In one sense you could ask these ques ons at every
mee ng (we are not sugges ng that of course), because they refer
to the few days or hours before the mee ng, and the answer will be
always different.
What has been the best moment for you in the last week?
Tell us what blessing/s you received from Krishna during last week.
24
Let's thank the Lord for something especially good/instruc ve that
happened to us last week. Let's complete the following sentence:
“l thank Lord Krishna very much because during the last week...”
If you could share something that happened to you since the last
me we met, what would that be?
25
Did you perceive the presence of the Lord in your life during the last
week? If yes, when and in what way?
What is the last thing you lent that never came back?
What is the last thing you borrowed that you never gave back?
Who was your first friend and for how long you were together?
26
What is your favorite prasadam. What prepara on would you like
to cook for guru and Krishna?
What did you think the first me you saw a Hare Krishna devotee
with shaved head and sikha?
What did you think the first me you saw a devotee with lak on his
forehead?
What did you think the first me you saw a devotee dressed in a
dho or sari?
Did you ever have a Krishna conscious dream? Which one inspired
you most? If not, which was the funniest dream you had.
27
What would you do if you could take a day off from work (or school)
next week?
If you could give any gi to the person on your right (but just one
and within a value of 500 dollars) what would you give her/him?
What is your new year's resolu on? (It can be done towards the
end of the year, at the beginning of the new year, and, for devotees,
before Gaura Pumima, the new Vaisnava year.)
28
Describe yourself u lizing a symbol (for this each person needs a
pen and paper).
Tell us about your name: what is its meaning? How do you feel
about it?
When was the last me you did something for the first me?
29
What do you do to relax a er a busy day?
Were you ever caught lying? Tell us the story, and tell us how you
felt and what you learnt.
What did you do during your last vaca on? What would you change
next me?
If you could live on only three prepara ons/types of food for the
rest of your life, which ones would you choose? (Example:
sandwiches, curd-rice and bananas).
30
If you could eat only two types of fruit for the rest of your life, which
two would you choose?
If you could learn any language, which one would you choose and
why?
31
Select one of the two following sentences and complete it:
“I am more like my mother because ........................................”
“I am more like my father because ..........................................”
When you were sick as a child, what did your parents do to make
you feel be er?
32
If the current (electricity) were to be cut for a week, what would
you miss most?
What is the best advice/teaching you ever got from your father?
What is the best advice/teaching you ever got from your mother?
33
What is the best meal you ever had? What is the worst?
What is the most absurd thing you ever spent money on?
What did you not like about yourself when you were a teenager
that has changed?
What is the longest period you have been without sleep? Why?
What do you think you will be doing differently a er ten years?
34
When you were small what did you think you would like to do as a
grown up?
What causes most fights among your brothers and sisters? (Or in
your class at school.)
35
What would you like to be as a grown up?
Do you have some income? If yes, how do you spend it? If you are
saving, what are you saving for?
What is your home chore that you like least? Why? Which do you
like most? Why?
36
How do you feel about giving your money to help others?
If you could ask one thing to Krishna, what would that be?
What is the best birthday party you ever had? Why did you like it
most?
How do you feel when you come back home from school?
If you found a 100 dollars bill in the street, what would you do with
it?
37
What do you like most when you go to the temple?
When there is a quarrel in your family, how does it make you feel?
If…
If you received a big sum of money, say, one million dollars, what
would you do first?
If you could choose the theme or story-line of what will you dream
tonight, what would that be?
38
If your house caught fire, what three objects (not persons) would
you try to save?
Would you give up 75% of all your belongings for a pill that would
change you permanently so that one hour of sleep a day would be
totally sufficient for you? Why?
If you could take a pill that would allow you to live 100 years, would
you take it? Why or why not? What addi onal Krishna conscious
ac vi es would you do?
39
Which would you prefer to do for Krsna if it were presented as a
sacrifice: having to leave the country permanently or never being
allowed to leave the country? Why?
If you had a web site on the internet that describes who you are and
what you do, how would it be? Describe it.
If you could spend a week with any person now living in the world,
who would you choose and why?
If you could travel right now to any place in the world, where would
you go and why?
If you could do anything you want, what would you like to do?
40
If you could spend the rest of your life doing exactly whatever you
like, what would you do?
If you had enough money to do whatever you like, what would you
do?
41
If you had a me machine that you could only use once, to which
place and me period – in the past or in the future – would you like
to go?
If you were at the point of death and you could be alone with only
one person, who would that person be?
42
Name three successes you have had in your life.
Tell us about the place where you were born and something you
remember of the place where you lived with your family when you
were very young.
What are some of the tradi ons in your family that helped you in
your spiritual growth?
What traits of your family have you inherited that you like? And
what traits have you inherited that you don't like?
43
Where did you go to school? Do you have any special story from
your school days?
What was your first job? What did you like about it and what did you
dislike about it?
Did you ever get the dust of the lotus feet of a devotee? Tell us
about it. If you haven't had it yet, whose dust would you want to
get?
Tell us about the greatest Krishna conscious fes val you a ended.
44
Where did you go to school? Do you have any special story from
your school days?
What was your first job? What did you like about it and what did you
dislike about it?
Did you ever get the dust of the lotus feet of a devotee? Tell us
about it. If you haven't had it yet, whose dust would you want to
get?
Tell us about the greatest Krishna conscious fes val you a ended.
45
What is the nicest thing that someone did for you in Krishna
consciousness?
46
Complete the sentence: “A skill/ability that I would like to
develop is: .................................”. Why?
47
Is there anything that you have dreamt about doing for a long me?
Why have you not done it?
Going Deeper
Are you encountering some block in reaching the goals of your life?
What are you doing to remove the block/s?
48
If you could tell anything to your boss (or to some superior) what
would that be?
Who is the first person that comes to your mind that had a strong
impact on your life? (It doesn't necessarily have to be the person
who had the strongest impact.) How did he/she influence you?
49
Who is the first person that comes to your mind to whom you are
grateful? Why?
Who is the first person that comes to your mind to whom you
would like to apologize? Why?
When someone tells you that you are doing something wrong,
what is your usual reac on?
Tell us about one thing that you learned the hard way, through
direct experience.
50
What topic, if any, do you consider too serious to joke about?
If you could give any advice to all the members of this group, what
would that be?
51
What did you did not like about going to school?
Do you have a closer rela onship with your father or with your
mother? Say something about this.
Do you s ll ask help from your parents when you are in trouble? If
the answer is “yes” give a recent example.
How do you feel about old people? What does being “old” mean to
you?
52
Tell us about a grudge you held or hold toward someone. How did
you solve it or how are you planning to solve the situa on?
What do you like most about/in your life? What do you like least?
53
Did you ever steal anything? What and why?
Do you speak with others about your past mistakes? Why or why
not?
What is the most difficult thing that you had to tell someone?
54
W h at i s t h e m o st d i ffic u l t t h i n g yo u eve r d i d i n Kr i s h n a
consciousness? Why was it so difficult?
Why or why not? How important do you feel it is for your spiritual
life?
55
What animal best describes your present mood? Why? What in
your mood is posi ve for your Krishna consciousness and what do
you think is not? (For this icebreaker the par cipants could be
asked to first draw the animal and then describe it).
Tell us about the day in your life that you consider the most
important.
What makes you most angry and what do you do with your anger?
Tell about the last me you lost your temper. What happened and
what did you learn from the incident?
56
Would you like your family and friends to tell you what they really
think about you? Why or why not?
What does the word “hatred” mean for you? Tell us about
something or someone you “hate”.
Did you ever share with an in mate friend about a deep internal
struggle? If yes, how did you feel a erwards?
57
What ar cle would you like to see in Back to Godhead or in some
other Krishna conscious magazine?
What is the most beau ful dress you have ever seen a Deity wear?
Where was it and why did you like it most? Please describe it. (You
could ask them to bring a photo – if they have one – to the next
mee ng).
What do you wish your parents would have done to make you more
Krishna conscious and happy?
What is your favorite devo onal service? Why? How did you start?
58
From all the Puranas, who is your hero/heroin? How would you like
to emulate him/her?
Which person (among those you know personally) you would like
to accept Krishna consciousness?
Where were you the last me you prayed deeply? Did the
environment help or impede your prayer?
What is the thing you like most about the local temple?
Who is the first person that comes to your mind who possesses the
quality of humility? Why? Share an episode which shows that
60
quality in ac on. (You can ask this ques on for other quali es as
well: determina on, pa ence, intelligence, tac ulness, scriptural
knowledge, wisdom, tolerance, joyfulness, simplicity, sobriety,
mercy, and so on.)
Tell us about the first devotee you established a rela onship with.
61
Tell us one thing that you learned in your childhood that is now
useful in your spiritual life.
Tell us one recent episode in which you felt that Krishna used you as
His instrument.
If you could ask just one ques on to Srila Prabhupada, what would
that be? (This is an example of ques on that could be answered
individually on paper, before sharing, so that people are not
influenced by what others say.)
62
If you could ask just one ques on to Arjuna, what would that be?
(or Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Srila Bhak siddhanta Sarasva Thakura,
Srima Saci Mata, Nanda Maharaja, or whoever - cosider the level
of knowledge of the group before asking: do they know who that
personality is?)
Tell us something you learnt this year about Krishna, the person
Krishna.
63
What part of your character/personality/understanding do you
feel is becoming spiritualized in this period?
If you were to ask Krishna to change one thing in the world of today,
what would that be?
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Men on a moment of joy in sharing Krishna consciousness with
someone.
What would you like to see changed about this group's a tude to
preaching?
Share something you did during the previous cycle that you would
like to do in a different way in this cycle.
In what way would you like to be different at the end of this cycle?
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Tell us something you started doing in the previous cycle that you
want to con nue doing, and doing it be er.
Tell us what do you think is the main strength of this new group.
Who is the person from the other group that you miss the most and
why?
66
What did you like most about the previous group servant-leader?
(lf it is a different one).
What did you learn from the experience of mul plying (dividing the
group)?
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How do you feel about the mul plica on? What are your hopes
and fears?
Is there anything the Lord has done for you through a member of
this group? What and through whom?
What has been the most difficult thing to learn (or do) during this
cycle of the group?
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What has been the biggest challenge for you in this group-cycle?
Is there something you fear about mul plying? Why or why not?
Which has been the most difficult phase for this group?
69
What would you do differently in the next group?
What did you learn from your servant-leader that impressed you
most?
Share a moment in the life of the group that had a big impact in your
personal life.
70
What did you learn about cul va ng new people during this cycle
of the group?
Did you bring any guests to visit the group in this cycle? Who would
you like to invite in the next group?
71
Tell us about the me in your life when you felt a big failure.
With what event in the life of Maharaja Prithu can you relate most?
(Or any other ques on based on detailed knowledge of the
scriptures that could make people feel inadequate, embarrassed
and ignorant).
Tell us a sin you know that someone in this room has commi ed, so
that we can pray for her/him.
72
Getting to know
you better
Ge ng to Know You Be er
75
Have everyone pick a big sheet (4 connected pages). Give the
par cipants a few minutes to look for words, sentences and
pictures that:
a) Describe some of their characteris cs; tell something about
them.
b) Remind them of something important for them.
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String of Facts
Materials: one yarn of string and scissors (or whatever can cut the
string)
Pass around the ball of string and the scissors, and have everyone
cut off a piece, without specifying anything. Some will take ny
pieces, some long ones. A er everyone has a piece, go around the
circle and have everyone say one thing about himself/herself for
each finger length of string. This usually gets a few laughs for the
person who cut off several feet!
77
Secrets
78
curious facts about each other, some of which they might never
forget.
79
only to the person speaking, then automa cally he/she will remain
standing. Whoever doesn't get a chair is now in the middle, and
says the same thing (“I offer my respec ul obeisances to
whoever...”) adding something different. Everyone gets to know
everyone else be er.
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responses to the following ques ons:
What were the advantages of being a ............... child?
What were the disadvantages of being a ................ child?
Step four: a er the two minutes are over, ask the spokesperson of
each group to share their conclusions.
Varia ons:
a. Before step two, ask everyone to individually list the advantages
of being a .......... child on a piece of paper and, on the other side,
the disadvantages of that situa on. Then, when they group into
the corners, encourage them to share what they wrote and
c o m e t o a g re e m e n t o n a fe w o f t h e a d va n ta g e s a n d
disadvantages.
b. Ask each group to demonstrate with a skit (short drama) one
advantage and one disadvantage.
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c. Ask each group to perform a mime on one advantage and one
disadvantage and have the other groups guess what it is.
d. Rather than birth order, ask par cipants to think of their order in
the organiza on they work (or in ISKCON): new hire; been here
between six months and two years; been here between 2 and 5
yea rs ; b een h ere m o re t h a n 5 yea rs ( o r s o m e s im ila r
categoriza on).
Missing Links
Materials: nothing
This ac vity gives the opportunity to discover connec ons or
“missing links” with the other members of the group. It is a physical
energizer and it can be used with big groups. If your
83
group is so big you can just keep it as it is, if it is quite big divide it
into smaller groups of six to twelve people. Ask them to stand and
form a circle. Tell them to choose one person in each group who will
begin the ac vity by telling things about himself/herself, such as
“places where I have lived, jobs I had, people I have known, schools
I have a ended,” and so on. Of course, one can also share
experiences in Krishna consciousness. Tell them that the first to
recognize a connec on with what the speaker say should iden fy
himself/herself as a “missing link,” move to the le of the speakers,
explain the link, and then proceed to tell things about themselves
un l another group member makes a connec on. Con nue the
“missing link” process un l all members of the group are
connected.
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Guess Who
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Toss the Ball
Materials: one small, so ball (or something else, like a teddy bear
or whatever can be tossed harmlessly around).
Sit in a circle and toss a small ball to one person, who then has to
tell, for instance, his/her name. That person tosses the ball to
someone else who says his/her name (in case everyone knows
everyone else's name, you can skip this step) and so on ll finishing
one full round. The second round could be about telling one's
favorite food, the favorite color, something unusual about oneself
or whatever you choose. You can add whatever you want to the list
of informa on they share and do as many rounds as you like.
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Save Me!
Materials: nothing
Ask the players to imagine that they are all survivors of a shipwreck,
swimming for their lives in the ocean. There is only one life-belt,
and you have to decide who gets it. Only one survivor can receive it
and be saved. Each person must give reasons why he/she should be
the one who gets the life-belt. Whoever comes up with the most
convincing or amusing case wins. For added effect you can stand on
a chair (if possible holding a real life-belt) and have everyone stand
around you.
Varia on: have everyone giving reasons why the person on their
le (or their right) is the most worthy of being saved. This version
has the advantage of encouraging selflessness and glorifica on of
others.
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Introduce Your Partner
Materials: nothing
Divide the whole group in pairs and have each pair interview each
other. Give a me limit. A er that have everyone introduces their
partner to the whole group.
Materials: colors and paper (or at least pens and paper) Ask people
to draw their most precious possession. This may be a person or an
object. Then have each share with the rest of the group, sharing
their most precious possession, while other listen a en vely
without speaking. This can be a powerful exercise and o en brings
up strong feelings for all par cipants.
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Par cularly useful for family groups as children usually enjoy it. You
can play some music in the background while people draw.
Varia on: you can do this ac vity without drawing, by having
people just speak about their most precious possession.
89
What Do You Like Most in...
90
They can write one or more quali es or the way that person does
something, or whatever they appreciate about her/his character
and personality. Also tell them that a er the 45 seconds you will
ring a bell (or a pair of karatalas) and everyone will hand the paper
to the person on her/his right. It is important to have a fixed me. If
the group is not too big it could be a full minute. A er everyone has
passed their paper and received a new one, have them repeat the
process and write what they like most about the person whose
paper they now hold. Have everyone handing over the paper to the
next person – at regular intervals – ll everyone gets his/her paper
back. Give them some me to read what people wrote about them.
Tell them that they can keep the sheet as a souvenir.
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True or False?
For bigger groups it might be be er to break up in smaller groups of
5 o r 6 p e o p l e e a c h . Ea c h p e rs o n s ay s fo u r fa c t s a b o u t
himself/herself – three true and one false. Generally the three true
should be hard to believe and the one false should sound
believable. Others in the group try to guess the false “fact”. You can
give a point to whoever guesses correctly and who scores more
points wins.
Varia ons:
a. Three false facts and one true (and have people guess which
one is true).
b. Two true facts and one false.
c. Four true and one false.
d. Two false and two true.
e. Whatever combina on you like.
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Common Denominators
Materials: nothing
Divide the group into pairs. Each pair will have 30 seconds to find 5
things they have in common. At the end of the 30 seconds, ask each
pair to join another pair and give the four people a minute to find 5
things they have in common. You can stop here and have each
group present what they have in common, or if you like you can
con nue joining the groups, adding four to four and then eight to
eight, ll everyone is together.
Varia on: Compe on by elimina on: as each pair finds the 5
common things they raise their hand and say “Haribol!” The last
pair to complete is out. These apply to the successive stages also,
un l only one team is le .
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Personal Mandala
Materials: large sheets of paper (A4 size would do, but bigger is
be er) and color markers
This ac vity promotes communica on and rela onship among
group members by visual expression. Explain that we will draw a
personal mandala (“circle” in Sanskrit), a visual representa on of
different things about oneself. At this point people generally start
to complain and lament: “I don't know how to draw” etc,. But don't
worry: explain that it is not an ar s c compe on, and even the
simplest drawings are acceptable. Give out the paper and a variety
of color markers. Show the example of the mandala (given on the
next page) and review the four quadrants with par cipants:
1. What I am comfortable doing (something he/she is good at,
something the person feels to be especially efficient and
talented in, in any realm of personal or work life)
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What I am Gi
comfortable I bring
doing to the group
Source of Group
fustra on be erment
with the
group
95
2. A gi I bring to the team (a personal strength or skill).
3. A source of frustra on with the group (an irrita on or upset
that the person experiences or has experienced within this
group).
4. Group be erment (what the person thinks the group should do
to become be er).
Tell them to use only images, icons, or pictures that symbolize their
responses to each of the four quadrants. Ask them to put their
names at the top of their papers. Allow 10-15 minutes to complete
the mandalas (you can have background music while they draw).
You can use the completed mandalas in several ways: one is to
break into smaller groups and have everyone briefly explain to the
others what the pictures represent. Another is to ask volunteers to
share with the whole group. Or you could share just a couple of
mandalas, keeping the rest for future mee ngs.
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Varia on 1: (actually an extension) You can have a ribbon
displayed below the mandala, a space for wri ng a personal credo,
or mo o-an essen al, guiding principle or perspec ve that the
individual relies on as a guide for everyday life. This may be an
inspired thought, a verse, the tle of a book, a line of a song,
whatever they like expressed in a phrase or short sentence (in the
ribbon they will write words; they won't draw pictures).
Varia on 2: Ask them to represent, with pictures, 4 answers to the
following 7 ques ons (you can have the ques ons wri en on a
board for everyone to see):
1. What are 3 things you are good at?
2. What do you like most about your family?
3. What do your friends like about you?
4. What do you think you can do be er than almost anyone else
your age?
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5. What do you dream about doing one day?
6. What is something you have already done that makes you
feel really good?
7. What is one thing you are planning to change about yourself so
you will be be er?
They select which 4 ques ons they would like to answer (with their
drawings). You can debrief this ac vity in smaller groups (faster) or
with the whole group.
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Games
Games
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reward to the winners. Prepare the prizes in advance (o en a li le
maha-prasadam does the job perfectly).
102
Group Poetry
103
shows. The poets pass their papers again to their right. Each me
they get the paper and write a new line, they should fold back the
previous line out of view so that only what they have wri en shows.
Keep the pace brisk: they should just write whatever comes to mind
first without taking more than 30 or 40 seconds. You can fix a
number of passes, like 8 or 10. Inform people when it is me to
write the last line of the poem so that they write some conclusive
line. The end result is a strip of folded paper. Have one a er another
open the paper and read the poem.
104
Blinded by money
105
Shape Makers
Materials: nothing
This game is more interes ng with larger groups, but you can also
play it in smaller ones. Divide the group into two teams and have
the members of each team stand close together. This is the star ng
posi on. Start by calling out a shape (you can begin with simple
shapes). The teams race to form a shape out of their bodies (on the
floor if the shape is two-dimensional or standing if it's a three-
dimensional form). They should signal that they have finished and
then go back to the standing posi on. You can keep increasing the
complexity of the shapes to represent. A er every round you (or
some other spectator) could judge which team made the best,
most resembling or original shape. The team that scores most wins
(but it could also be done without compe on). Sample shapes :
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laka, omkara, the number 108, India, Garuda, a peacock, a
temple, Hanuman, a bow and arrow, etc,.
107
that it doesn't have a fixed end. It is up to you to decide when to
stop, perhaps when everyone has smiled.
Posi ve Thinking
108
Ways of Caring
109
Vaisnava Sampradaya, or places visited by Srila Prabhupada, or
divine quali es, or holy places in India, or chapter tles in the
Krishna Book, or whatever else you can think of.
Varia on 2: Pick a category, for instance: devotees, objects
present in the temple, etc,. Give a le er of the alphabet (an easy
one) and tell the teams to list as many items as possible belonging
to that category and star ng with that le er.
110
Filling the Blanks
111
You will use what they say to fill the blanks. Encourage devotees to
use descrip ve, exci ng words. At the end you read the story, for
everyone's amusement.
112
By leading this group I learned at least three things: first is that it is
be er to [verb]_______ before [verb] _______; second, that when
a group member feels [a feeling]__________ I should ask others to
[verb] ________; third, that I should always use words that are
[adjec ve]__________. I know that some group members are
[adjec ve] _______ devotees, and it is a great opportunity for me to
serve them by [verb] ________. The last thing I want to tell you
about this group is that I will be very [feeling] _______ when we
mul ply.
113
the door we immediately smelled a fragrant odor of [smell]
___________________ . The devotees looked very [adjec ve]
__________________ with their clothes coming from [place]
___________. I felt immediately at home, especially with the
prasadam; we ate with great [feeling] _____________________
the divine food, and then we asked: [a ques on]
“____________________________?” ln the temple shop I bought
a [something to wear] ______________________, the price was
[adjec ve] _____________________________ and the 'quality
was [adjec ve] __________________. As soon as I reached home I
put it on and I looked at myself in the mirror, [exclama on]
“_________________” I said.
114
White and Offerable
115
Anagrams
116
Can You Follow Instruc ons?
Materials: copies of the ”Read and Do Test”, one for each person.
Tell everyone that they have to strictly follow the list of instruc ons
on the sheet you are going to distribute. Stress that they have to do
whatever is wri en there in maximum three minutes.
Hand out copies of the following
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5. Put an “X” on each square.
6. Put a circle around each square.
7. Sign your name under line 5.
8. A er your name, write “Haribol, Haribol, Haribol.”.
9. Put a circle around number 7.
10. Put an “X” in the lower-le -hand corner of this page.
11. Draw a triangle around the “X” you just made.
12. Call out “Hare Krishna” when you get to this point.
13. On the reverse side of this paper add 108108 and 10081008.
14. Put a circle around your answer.
15. Now that you have finished reading carefully, do only
number 2.
Be quiet and watch as everyone follows instruc ons. People
o en start doing all the weird things listed, neglec ng the first
instruc on: <<Read all that follows before doing anything.>>
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A er the me is up you can ask: “So, who completed the
assignment and followed the instruc ons?” Then you should point
that some neglected the very first instruc on.
Materials: nothing
Get everyone in a circle. One person starts doing something, for
instance scratching the head. The person on the right must repeat
the same ac on and add something else, say slapping the e. The
game goes on with each having to repeat all the previous ac ons in
order, then adding one. If a player misses an ac on or gets fouled
up, he/she is out. The last one to remain in the game wins. You can
go around a few mes.
119
Funny Faces
Materials: nothing
Arrange the par cipants in a circle. An appointed player turns to
the person next to him/her and makes a funny face or assumes a
funny posture. That person mimics the gesture, passing it on
quickly to the next person, and so on around the circle. When the
funny face has completed the circuit, another person begins, un l
all or as many persons as possible have had a chance to ini ate the
face-making. You can also establish the rule that whoever smiles or
laughs is out.
120
Journalists
Materials: newspaper headlines
This exercise in impromptu (improvised) speech can be very funny
and it is also a good training for public speaking. Before the
mee ng, cut some headlines from a newspaper and put them in a
paper bag or other container. Explain the game: you will ask
different people to randomly pick one headline, and then they will
have one minute to explain why they wrote that ar cle (as if they
were the journalist who wrote it). O en people don't have a clue
what the ar cle is really about, even a er hearing its tle. You could
also use tles from Back to Godhead or other devo onal
publica on. Keep track of what the original ar cle was about so
that you can point that out at the end of their one-minute
explana on.
Varia on: you can also add the rule that in their speech they also
121
have to include a word fixed in advance, for instance: compassion,
simplicity, wisdom, medita on or whatever.
Object in Ques on
Materials: nothing
Two players privately select an object in the room (it could be a
par cular book or whatever). They then discuss it with each other –
it could also be in the form of ques ons and answers – while the
others listen and try to guess what it is. Whoever guesses what the
object is, wins. When the object is discovered, another two players
select an object.
Varia on: For an extra challenge, choose an object not in the
room, but somewhere else, like in the temple or in the rest of the
house.
122
Stand Up
Materials: nothing
Energizer: two people sit on the floor, backs together, feet in front
and arms linked. They have to stand up together. A er they
succeed, add another one to the original pair and have all three of
them stand up together. Keep adding people un l your whole
group (or rather all the people of the same gender) try to stand
together.
You can put some upbeat devo onal music in the background.
123
The Eyes of Knowledge
124
blinded by the darkness of ignorance".(Gautamiya Tantra).
“The guru's task is to open the disciple's eyes of knowledge”.
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.1.11, purport).
Place the large drawing of the face on the floor. Each player will
drop or throw (from an established distance) the pair of bu ons to
form the eyes of the face. One who places the eyes most accurately
wins.
125
Hand shi
126
A Bag of Fun
127
Pass the Orange
Materials: one orange (or other suitable fruit) for each team.
Form two or more teams (strictly same gender) and have them
stand in rows. Put an orange under the chin of the first person of
each team. The orange is kept there by lowering the chin towards
the chest. The person has to pass the orange – from chin to chin and
without touching it with the hands – to the next in line and so on.
The first team to complete wins.
128
Original Step
129
Alphabet Search
130
Posi ve Messages
131
Maha-mantra Sequence
Materials: nothing
Going around the circle, have everyone say loud one of the holy
names of the maha-mantra: “Hare” “Krishna” “Hare” “Krishna”
“Krishna” “Krishna” and so on. Whoever says the “wrong” name
(not according to the right sequence of the maha-mantra) or
hesitates too long is out. The last remaining player wins. If nobody
makes a mistake or a few people remain playing for too long, you
can go to the second version:
Varia on: Have each par cipant call out two names: “Hare
Krishna”, “Hare Krishna”, “Krishna Krishna”, “Hare Hare” and so on.
Same rules as the first version above.
There is also a third version:
Varia on: Have each person say three names in a row: “Hare
132
Krishna Hare” “Krishna Krishna Krishna” “Hare Hare Hare” “Rama
Hare Rama” “Rama Rama Hare” “Hare Hare Krishna" and so on. The
last remaining player wins.
Have the group stand and stretch, while shou ng out loud
“Gauranga!”
Throw one, two or three balls around the group. You could add
– but it's not essen al – that those who touch the ball but let it
fall on the floor are out.
Individual cross-body touching, right elbow to le knee, le
elbow to right knee, twenty mes, fast.
Tap head and rub stomach simultaneously, then swap
movements.
133
Circle Massage
Materials: nothing
Have everyone standing or si ng in a circle, giving each other the
back and have everyone massage the head and shoulders of the
person in front. In these and similar ac vi es involving physical
contact in circles, you can have the men and the women forming
different circles.
134
Living Sculptures
Materials: nothing
This ac vity helps in building trust, in macy and awareness of
others. Have par cipants pair up, one will be the sculptor, the other
the sculpture. The sculptor gently moves the other's body into a
sculpture using his/her imagina on (if people can't come up with
an idea you can suggest that they sculpt Krishna, Arjuna,
Hanuman, Garuda or whoever). The sculpted allows the body to be
moved and keeps it where the sculptor places it. You can do this in
silence or with background music. Par cipants don't speak. A er a
few minutes have the pairs swap roles.
Varia on: Group sculpture: one or two people do the sculp ng
while everyone else becomes part of the sculpture. Sculptors move
par cipants to create a group sculpture, making sure that
individuals can keep their balance. The mood of the ac vity is
135
gentle and slow with both sculptors and sculpted being aware of
each other. At the end you can invite people to talk about the
experience.
Lap Link
Materials: nothing
A fun game that can be done with very large groups (once 1700
people did it in a stadium in Boston, USA). Have the players stand in
a circle with shoulders almost touching. Have them turn to the right
so that they are directly behind someone. As you count to three,
everyone slowly lowers to sit on the knees of the person behind,
while holding the waist of the person in front. The number three is
the signal for the moment of si ng. Poor ming can send the
whole group to the floor. If at first you don’t succeed, try again. You
136
can have everyone doing the coun ng together. Suggest that those
with bad knees sit this one out.
Going on a Picnic
Materials: nothing
Tell the group that you are going on a picnic. Anyone can come,
provided they bring something appropriate with them. Tell them
that there is a rule but you can't explain it: they have to fi-gure it
out, and when they understand it they should not tell others. Then
you start by saying your name and one thing that you'll bring with
you. It has to be something star ng with the same le er as your
name (for instance: “I am Balarama das and I'll bring some
bananas.”) Going around the circle each person must do the same,
137
saying their name and what they are bringing. You will tell them if
they can come to the picnic or not: they can come only if the thing
they bring begins with the same le er as their name. It might be
good to have in the group one or two people who know the rule of
the game. Go around the circle un l everyone has understood or
people are too frustrated by not understanding the trick.
138
Gita Details
139
Sample ques ons: Find a place where the Gita men ons a fish, a
monkey, the word “crea on”, Ksirodaksayi Visnu, the word “fool”,
the conch of Krishna, the ocean, a scorpion, the sun, death, the
moon, birth, karma-yoga, Brahma, a chariot, the word “fruit”,
Avatara, Paramatma, reincarna on, guru, jnana-yoga, a shark, the
word “bow”, the word “chariot”, Brahmaloka, spiritual world,
surrender, Upanisad or Upanisads, India, and so on.
Varia on: Have them find the answer to par cular ques ons (if
they don't know it already). For instance: What is the name of
Krishna's conch? Who gave his chariot to Arjuna? Who among the
Daitya demons represents Krishna? Who is the last person who
speaks in the Gita? Who is the first person who speaks in the Gita?
In which chapter is the analogy of the well and the large reservoir of
water? In which chapter is the analogy of the sky and the wind? And
so on.
140
Bhagavad-gita Analogies
141
chance for each drawing. If you feel totally incompetent at drawing,
have someone else draw.
Varia on: you just read half the analogy and the players have to
complete it. For instance: “...as the mighty wind, blowing
everywhere, rests always in the sky...” (“...all created beings rest in
Me”, says Sri Krishna in chapter 9, text 6).
142
Untangling the Knot
Materials: nothing
Get 5-9 people in a circle and have them reach across and grab the
hand of two other people. They cannot grab their own hand, nor
can they hold both hands of the same person. Then they have to
untangle themselves without le ng go.
143
Hanging Bucket
Materials: big plas c bucket (possibly 20 liters or so, but smaller will
also do)
This can be played in teams. Three, four or five players lie on their
back with their feet up in the middle. Their feet will form a “table”, a
pla orm for holding the bucket. Put the bucket (full of water!) on
top of the “table”. The players have to remove all their shoes
(and/or their socks) without le ng the bucket fall. If you play it in
teams, the team that completes the opera on in the least me
wins. You can make it easier or harder by increasing or decreasing
the amount of people or water.
144
Marginal Energy
Materials: nothing
Draw a long line on the floor (with chalk, yarn or tape, or use some
exis ng dividing line or a carpet). One side will be the antaranga
sak (internal energy) the other side of the line will be bahiranga
sak ( external energy). Line all people up on one side: they
represent the tatashta sak (marginal energy-which they are
anyway). When they are on the bahiranga side and you call
“Antaranga!” they will all jump from bahiranga to antaranga. When
they are on antaranga and you call “Bahiranga!” they will all jump
from antaranga to bahiranga. You might also call the name of the
side they are already in, and in that case they don't have to jump.
The last to jump when they have to jump is out of the game. Also
145
the first one who jumps when they don't have to jump is out. The
last remaining player wins. You will try to confuse them by poin ng
to the wrong side or by changing the pace of the yelling.
146
tongue. “Why?” People will be surprised. "Faith must begin from
the mind, from the eyes, and why it is said tongue?” They do not
know. That is also faith, that “Simply engaging tongue in the service
of the Lord, I shall understand.” So this is also blind faith. But
actually it is happening. Chant Hare Krishna and take prasadam.
That's all.” (Morning Walk, San Francisco, 21 July 1975)
Several small teams (2-5 people per team) can play this game
simultaneously. Prepare some prasadam in separate plates or
bowls on a table, numbered or named for each team. Each team
selects a volunteer who gets blindfolded. The blindfolded person
must reach the prasadam and eat it, but without using his hands.
The rest of the team will give direc ons, but can use only the holy
names:
“Gauranga” for “go forward”
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“Hare Krishna” for “go to the right”
“Hare Rama” for “go to the le ”
“Haribol” for “stop”
“Sarira Avidya Jal” for “Eat, the prasadam is here”. (You might want
to write these direc ons on a large board for everyone to see).
Also they cannot touch the blindfolded person. The first one who
finishes ea ng the prasadam wins.
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Compliments
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A er a few minutes tell them to put the pieces of paper in
the center and mix them. Divide all the pieces of paper equally
among the group members. Then tell them to write their name on
the envelope they received at the beginning and put it in the center.
Now ask them to put each of the compliments in their hands in the
envelope of the person who deserves it. At the end they will all
receive their envelope. Give them a couple of minutes to check
what compliments they received.
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Blind Numbers
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Balloon Dress Up
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Theatrical Improvisa ons
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Ge ng in the Group at any Cost
Materials: nothing
This game helps us to recognize that some mes we tend to keep
people out of our groups even without realizing it. Get a volunteer
and have the rest of the group arranged in a circle, standing. In front
of everyone tell the volunteer to do whatever it takes to get into the
group. Remember that you must not tell the group to try keep the
volunteer out. The volunteer can jump over, push or whatever it
takes. At the 'go' he/she starts to try to get into the group. A er a
few minutes or a er the volunteer succeeds in penetra ng the
group ask him/her: “What did you have to do to get into' your
group?” “How did you feel about trying to get into the group?”
A er listening carefully to the answers, tell the group: “I told the
volunteer to do whatever it took to get into the group, but I never
told you to keep him/her out!” They might suddenly realize that
this is true.
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Team Towers
155
E-mail Addresses
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Being Part of the Group
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them read the message (silently, not loudly) and circulate around
the room, introduce themselves, and repeat the messages (so ly).
Once they find someone with the same message they should stay
together. Tell them to con nue this search un l they all find their
companions. Tell them that a er forming their groups each should
tell something confiden al about himself/herself. When all but the
loner are in their groups, wait for a couple of minutes and lead
everyone in the following debriefing of the experience:
1. How does it feel to not be accepted into a group? Does this
ever happen to you in real life? How does it feel?
2. How did it feel when you found someone with the same
message?
3. Why didn't those persons already in a group reach out to the
excluded persons?
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4. What can we do to include others?
5. What lessons about team-building can we draw from this
experience?
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(one with the four colors and one labeled “Response”). Explain that
in one envelope they will find four colors: red, green, blue and
yellow. Ask them to consider to what degree they feel they have
influence within the group and then select a color according to the
following scheme (which you will have wri en on a large piece of
paper or a board):
Red - I have a great deal of influence
Green - I have quite a bit of influence
Blue - I have li le influence
Yellow - I have no influence
Ensure that people sit far enough apart to be able to select a color
privately and explain that their selec on is anonymous. Give them
enough me to seriously consider their response and then
ask them to put the color they choose into the envelope
labeled “Response”. Collect the “Response” envelopes. Ask the
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par cipants what they considered when determining their degree
of influence. You can also record the responses on a board or
flipchart. Common responses are: “Whether my opinion is asked.”;
“Whether my ideas are listened to.”; “Whether outcomes are
influenced by my input.”
S ck the colors to a board or flipchart sheet, pu ng same colors
close together. Describe the pa ern suggested, for instance, “Most
people feel they have a good deal of influence but a few feel they
have li le influence.” You can also discuss the results asking
different ques ons, for instance: “How does this affect the group?”
“Does this pa ern and/or discussion suggest that we should be
doing something differently?”
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One Problem, Many Solu ons
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1. Did anyone discover solu ons or ideas not previously
considered?
2. Can you see any value in trying some of these sugges ons?
3. Do some of these sugges ons trigger other ideas or solu ons
for you?
4. What lesson does this teach us about reaching out to others for
their assistance?
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Sharing Solu ons
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Sastra Mime
Materials: nothing
Divide the group into teams of three to six members. Every team
selects one event from the scriptures of from the Vaisnava tradi on
in general and pantomimes for the rest of the group. The watchers
try to iden fy the scene or story being enacted.
Varia on: episodes from the scriptures are wri en on slips of
paper and then drawn from a box for performance.
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Who Am I?
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Search for Someone
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What Changed?
Materials: nothing
In this observa on game, everyone lines up in two lines facing each
other. A er everyone is paired up, they are given 30 seconds to
study everything about the person in front of them. Then the
students in one line turn around and close their eyes. Meanwhile,
the students in the other line change something about themselves.
Changes could include taking off their glasses, reversing their shoes
or removing an earring or a barre e. Once everyone has changed
something, the other kids turn around and try to guess what
changed. Then, switch roles and play again.
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Animals
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Paper Plate Heads
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Story of My Life
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Where will you go? Who will you go with? Etc,.
Allow five to ten minutes for setup, and drawing. When all books
are complete, have people tell their story, using the book as a visual
aid. Depending on the size of the group, you may want to debrief in
smaller groups. If possible, leave the books in a central loca on
during your training to encourage further introduc ons and
discussions.
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What's Cooking?
Materials: several small prizes for the winning team, cut recipes
(separate the tle, ingredients, instruc ons, etc,.)
Your family (group) just inherited a successful restaurant from Chef
Charlie, a long lost rela ve. The only problem: Charlie was very
disorganized. The only recipes you have found are on torn strips of
paper. You have to make sense of it all and quickly! The restaurant
is opening tonight, and you have to have the food ready. Each
member of the group will be given part of recipe (an ingredient,
instruc on, etc,.). Your job is to put yourselves in order as quickly as
possible. Your recipe must make sense. When your group is done,
loudly announce “bon appe te” to signal the end of the game.
Allow 10 to 12 minutes for the game. Once a team calls “bon
appe te,” have them introduce themselves and read their recipe in
order.
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I Remember
174
Ul mately, your goal is to have the oldest coin in the room. Once
you have found a partner, take three minutes to tell each other
about your moments in me. When you are finished, each of you
flip your coin. Reveal the results of your toss to your partner. If
they are alike (both are heads or tails) exchange coins. If they differ,
keep your original coin. Repeat the process up to three mes as
designated by the facilitator.
Allow five minutes for setup. Allow five minutes for each round. At
the end of all rounds, call each year in order and ask each
par cipant to stand and give his or her name. Award a prize to the
holder of the oldest coin.
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Six Degrees of Separa on
Materials: prizes
It happens all of the me: we meet someone who knows someone
we know. It's a small world, that's for sure. The object of this game
is to see how small the world really is. First, find a partner. Introduce
yourselves and make a list of five to ten things that you have in
common with each other: where you went to school, year you were
born, number of years with the company, food likes, sports likes,
etc,. Once you have completed your first list, you must find
someone else in the room that also has one of those five to ten
things in common with you. When you have found that person,
repeat step one and develop a new list.
Repeat step two. Con nue un l you have met five other people
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or me is called by the facilitator. A prize will be given to the first
person able to complete the game. When you are done, let the
facilitator know that you have finished.
Storyteller
Materials: pen and paper.
You are about to stretch your storytelling skills with the help of
others in the group designated by the facilitator. You will
incorporate facts about yourself into a story that could just go
anywhere.
First, write down the name of:
something you would see in a store
something you would buy as a gi for your mother
your favorite sport
your favorite celebrity
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a crime
your favorite restaurant
a tourist a rac on
a profession
the name of someone in the room
The facilitator will begin the story with, “Once upon a me, I found
the most unusual thing.” The next person is to fill in the next piece
of the story. The object of the game is to incorporate as many of the
items as you can from those listed above. No one can say more than
two sentences at a me. Turns must be taken in order. To win, you
must incorporate all of your words and then conclude the story.
Everyone must get an opportunity to “write” from their
imagina on at least twice before the story can end.
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Race for the Truth
You and the other “runners” in the room are about to embark on a
race for the truth. Your goal is to cross the finish line as quickly as
possible, by truthfully answering ques ons about yourself, as you
follow the facilitator's direc ons. (1) Line up on the star ng line as
directed by the facilitator. (2) In a moment you will hear a
statement. If it is true about you, move forward one step. If it is
false, remain at the finish line. (3) Once all first moves have been
made, the facilitator will make another statement. Again, if it is
true, move forward one step. If it is false, remain on the star ng
line if you have not yet advanced. If you have advanced past the
star ng line, take one step back. Repeat step three un l the first
“runner” completes the race.
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Candy Confessions
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or Worst Vaca on, Lollipop = Number of Years in Current Posi on,
Where You Work, What You Do, or Brief Descrip on of First Job,
Gum Drops = Something About Where You Live, Something About
Where You Grew Up, Something About Your Family, Something
About Your Town/City, Kisses = Wildcard [tell us anything])
That Rhymes
Arrange the group into rows, either horizontally or ver cally. Give
each leader a piece of paper with an easily-rhymed word wri en on
the top, such as bat or bee. Upon hearing the word “Go”, the first
person needs to come up with a word that rhymes with the top
word. Once they find a word, he passes the paper onto the next
person, who needs to do the same. This con nues to the end of the
line. The first group to successfully complete the task wins.
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Pranks
Pranks
Co on Balls
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least co on balls on their side of the table wins.
They are then blindfolded. Quietly remove all the co on balls and
yell “Go!”. The two will wildly sweep an empty table while the rest
of the group keeps urging them on. Watch at their face when, a er
a minute or so, you stop the game and they realize that they have
being sweeping air, not co on balls.
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Mine Field
Materials: many empty or full bo les
Pick a volunteer. Put the many bo les (empty and/or full) all
around the room and tell the volunteer that he will have to go,
blindfolded, from one side of the room to the other without
knocking down any of the bo les (for more effect you can put other
valuable objects like crystal glasses). You will direct him on how to
move. Ask the volunteer to leave the room. While the volunteer is
out of the room, silently remove all the bo les and then bring him
back, already blindfolded. Start direc ng him: “Go right,”; “Go le a
li le bit,”; “A li le step forward,”; “Stop!”; “Be very careful!”; “Now
jump”; etc,. Plenty of laughs while the volunteer goes with the
greatest cau on through the empty floor, and especially at the end,
when he takes off the blindfold and sees the empty room and
everyone laughing!
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Water Waiter
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Sports and
other
competitions
Sports and Other Compe ons
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Balloons in the Air
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Lemonade Makers
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Devas and Asuras Aluminum-ball War
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When, the team members begin to dwindle, raids can be made on
the other team's flag. The first team to capture the other team's
flag scores a point. Everyone re-stocks with aluminum foil balls and
another round can begin. The game can played for as long as you
want. The winner could be the team who first wins 3 rounds, or
whatever you establish.
Materials: a chair.
This game is especially for ac ve youngsters who need to burn off
some extra energy. You can introduce it by saying that it's an
applica on of the “survival of the fi est” theory, in which only the
strongest remains. Put a chair in the middle and form a circle
around it, with everyone holding hands. The objec ve of the game
is to make others touch the chair, by pulling, pushing, etc,.
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The circular link cannot be broken. Whoever touches the chair is
out of the game. If the circle breaks, the two people who broke the
link are both out of the game. The game is over when there is only
one person le . This game gets very compe ve and can get a li le
rough on less aggressive people.
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No-snow Sled Race
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Electric Fence
Materials: rope.
This is a fun game and a teamwork exercise, mainly for outdoors.
Set up an area surrounded by a rope about 120- 150 cen meters
high. The area could be triangular or square, with sides of
approximately 3-4 meters in length. Trees offer a natural support to
the rope. Divide the group into two teams. Place a team inside and
tell them they have to get out without touching the rope or the
imaginary electric fence from the rope to the ground. (they will
throw people out, so make sure you are not playing on broken
glass, etc,.) You can penalize the team every me they touch the
rope (say, 10 seconds penaliza on). The team that gets everyone
out in the shortest me wins. This game gives you a chance to see
some problem-solving skills in ac on and how people work
together.
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Moving Circles
Materials: nothing
This is a high-energy game, which requires team-coopera on.
Divide the group in two or more teams. Fix a star ng and a finishing
line. In each team the players lock arms in a circle and face outward,
with their backs inward. Stress the need to work together to win.
Teams line up at the star ng line and at the “Go!” start to speed
walk. The first team to completely cross the finishing line wins.
Varia on 1: During the race you yell “Turn!” and the team must
rotate clockwise by one player, and allow another person to face
the finishing line. You can say “Turn!” as many mes as you like,
perhaps so that all players get one chance to face forward.
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Varia on 2: Each team stands and walks from inside a hula-hoop,
facing the outside of the hoop and holding it with both of their
hands at hip level.
200
want to make it) is out. Whoever crosses the river in the least me
wins.
Varia on: Divide the group into two teams and have each team
lead their blindfolded representa ve across the river, instruc ng
him on how far and in which direc on he should step and so on.
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Body Part Musical Chairs
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Musical Chairs with Balloons
Materials: music
Divide the group into pairs. Have each pair decide who the “bird” is
and who the “perch” is. Then form two circles, one inside the other
- the birds on the outside and the perches on the inside.
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Start the music and have one circle turn clockwise and the other
counter-clockwise, so that they are going in opposite direc ons
When you stop the music, the perches kneel with one knee on the
floor and the birds must find their perches and sit on their leg. In
every round the last couple to pair up is out. The last remaining pair
wins.
Body Change
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list of the species) and then says “Body change!”
The people whose species are called run to get to a different seat.
Death also tries to get a seat. Whoever is le standing becomes the
next Death. People do sit pre y hard on the chairs, so try to use
sturdy ones. Death can start by calling two species and then make it
more difficult (three, four, five species at a me or “any species with
wings, etc,.) A er switching chairs people have to remember what
their new species is (that is what species is wri en on their chair).
Once in a while Death can yell, “Change of body for everyone!”, and
everyone must get up and try to sit in a different chair.
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Balloon Game
Materials: 4 balloons
Form two teams of equal numbers. Set them in two lines facing
each other, approximately two meters apart. Give two balloons to
each team. The object is to throw the balloons over the heads of
the other team - a goal. The team that scores most goals wins. One
person will be referee and scorekeeper. The referee's decision is
final.
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hide behind (for example tables or wheelbarrows) and place them
about three meters apart in a zigzag pa ern between the start and
the finish mark. Pick two people to be the “bombers”. Set one
bomber halfway and the other near the finishing line, and give each
of them a bucket full of water and about 10 small sponges. (You
could cut big car sponges into three or four pieces and use those.
You could use water balloons but they are more expensive and hurt
more). The object of the game is for the rest of the players to get
from the start to the finish without ge ng hit by a wet sponge. The
job of the bombers is to try to hit the runners, but the “halfway
bomber” is only allowed to hit un l the runner has passed him. The
players will go from obstacle to obstacle and take cover. When a
player is hit he has to start all over again. The winner is whoever
crosses the finishing line most mes in the given me (say 5
minutes). At the end, everyone is soaking wet.
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Varia on: form two teams. Same rules as before, but each team
tries to cross separately, while the bombers are members of the
other team. Each player that crosses the finishing line, without
being hit, scores a point. The team that scores most points wins.
Killing Snakes
Materials: a ball
Sri Prahlada Maharaja says in Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.15: “Even
saintly persons take pleasure in the killing of a scorpion or a snake.”
In this game players take pleasure in “killing snakes”.
Divide the whole group into two or more teams. Form a circle on
the floor (ideally by drawing a line so that the boundary is clear).
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The first team goes into the center of the circle and forms a line (the
snake) by a aching their hands to the waist of the person in front of
them The rest of the group posi on themselves around the circle
remaining behind the line. They will throw the ball trying to hit the
last person forming the snake, but only below the waist, on the legs
(so that he/she can jump and try to avoid being hit). Once hit, the
person is out. The players around the circle con nue to try to hit the
new person at the end of the snake un l the last person le (the
head of the snake) is also hit and the snake is killed. A new team
then goes into the middle. The snake (team) that lasts the longest
wins.
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Newspaper Hockey
210
Four Squares
211
Varia on: a li le less energe c version. Tell all teams to sit in their
assigned area. They should try to cover as much space as possible.
They can hit the balls with only their hands and head. They must
remain seated during the game and not get up (that's why they
must try to cover as much ground as possible).
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other's tail, wins. You can play several rounds with the teams having
to score, say three points, for winning or playing with a me limit.
Vimana Ba le
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Vimanas over the divider as fast as they can. Vimanas start flying in
both direc ons. Let them go for about 3 minutes. Give them a ten
second warning before the end. Count how many vimanas are on
each side of the divider. The team with the least number on its side
wins.
Varia on: Use a big bag of socks instead of the paper vimanas.
214
as they go, but don't tell them. The team that crosses the finishing
line first wins.
Mummy Race
Materials: bed sheets or dho s (of same length, one for each
team).
You can play this relay race with two or more teams. Establish a
star ng and the finishing line. The first person in each team wraps
up in the bed sheet by laying down and rolling up into the sheet
(must have arms inside of sheet), then stands up (can get help from
team members to stand up) and runs – or rather hops – towards the
finishing line. Instead of a finishing line you could have a pole and
have mummies go around it before coming back (the “advantage”
215
of having to go around a pole is that the hopping mummies could
bump into each other). The player arrives back and unrolls.
Another team member rolls up in the sheet (or dho ) and rushes to
the other side. First team to complete the race wins.
Varia on: Have each team divide in two parts, each part will stand
on one side of the racetrack and as soon as the mummy crosses the
finishing line, one partner wraps up.
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Rakshasa
Materials: flashlight ba eries
This is a special game to play on a dark night in a house with all the
lights turned off. Take the different pieces of a flashlight and hide
them on surfaces throughout the house (not inside drawers or
cupboards). One person is chosen to be the rakshasa. The players
the rakshasa touches, “die”. The rakshasa wins if all the other
players are dead simultaneously. The others win if they can find all
the pieces of the flashlight assemble it and shine the light in the
eyes of the rakshasa. The rakshasa is not allowed to touch any of
the pieces of the flashlight. When the rakshasa touches someone,
the touched player screams very loud and dies (lies down on the
floor). The scream lets everyone else know where the rakshasa and
the dead are. You can have the rule that if another player touches
the dead person the dead player comes back to life.
217
Water Balloon Volleyball
218
Living Net
219
Assist Lord Caitanya to Capture Them All!
Materials: nothing
This energizer needs a large room or a wide, open space. You can
introduce this game with this quota on from Sri Caitanya
Caritamrita, Adi Lila 7.31-32 Transla on: “Seeing that the
Mayavadis and others were fleeing, Lord Caitanya thought: I
wanted everyone to be immersed in this inunda on of love of
Godhead, but some of them have escaped. Therefore I shall devise a
trick to drown them also.” From the purport: “Here is an important
point. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to invent a way to
capture the Mayavadis and others who did not take interest in the
Krishna consciousness movement... it is He who proposed to invent
a way to capture those who strayed from Krishna consciousness.”
220
One volunteer will represent Lord Caitanya trying to catch all the
condi oned souls who are trying to stay away from Krishna
Consciousness. When he/she tags someone (simply touching the
person) they lock arms and jointly a empt to tag someone else.
Whoever is tagged, locks arms with them and they con nue to try
to catch the remaining players. The game is over when the last
person is captured. In the open you should set boundaries to keep
people from roaming too far.
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Hari-ball
Material: a volleyball (or similar ball), a body of water (river, lake,
sea or swimming pool) and strips of clothes (long enough to be ed
around the head).
Form two teams (you can give colorful names to the teams). Have
each team e a different color around their head (or just one es
the cloth and the other stays without) keeping it visible on the
forehead. The idea is to pass the ball among team members, each
me calling a name of Lord, trying to complete the Panca-Ta va
and Hare Krishna maha-mantra, while the other team tries to
intercept and capture the ball. When a team captures the ball they
have to begin the mantras anew. The team that can “chant” the
whole two mantras scores a point. When a group makes a mistake
in the sequence of the name of the mantras, the possession of the
ball passes to the other team.
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