Yes, And! Game Play for Building Community
Facilitator Game List
NLA 2015
Icebreaker and Introductory Games
Whoosh
In a circle send around the sound “whoosh” with two hands in the direction you want
the whoosh to go. After the whoosh has gone around a few times, introduce the option
to say “nope” or “whoa” with your hands crossed in front of you to send it back the other
way. Future options include: Zap where you clap hands towards someone across the
circle; Freak out where everyone changes place and Everybody Dance Now where
everyone dances in place.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 245 “Gesture Pass”
3 Things in Common
Find a partner and find three things in common with them that you didn’t already know.
Switch partners and do it again.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 239
Smart Phone Photos
Find a partner, pull out your phone and find a photo on it. Show and tell your partner
about the photo. Then switch.
Source: Strategic Play p. 23
Paper strips
Premade strips with questions on them. Pair up, discuss for 2 minutes, exchange
questions and find new partners. (What advice would you give a child? One thing you
wish you could change about yourself? Recent movie you’ve seen? Book by your
bed?) You can make up any questions you like.
Make Nebraska (or your city, county, etc.)
Stand in a group. Tell your neighbor where you are from and work together to arrange
yourself in the room geographically.
Team Building and Communication Games
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Empathetic listening
In pairs, one person rants for 2 minutes about something they care about. No questions
should be asked. The listener’s job is to reflect back what they heard that the person
cares about. Then switch.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 184 “One-Sided Scene”
Stop/Go
In a group walking around without talking, give instructions for people to “go” then to
“stop”. After a few rounds, tell them to do the opposite of what you say. After a few
rounds, add that they should say their name out loud when you say “name”. Then add
that they should shout out their astrological sign when you say “birthday”. Then have
them do the opposite when you say name or birthday.
But vs. And
In groups of 3-5 start with an idea. Everyone will respond to that idea with “Yes, but …”
Start again with a new idea that everyone will respond to with a “Yes, and….”
Practice conversations juxtaposing the response of “no”, “yes, but”, “yes, and.” Debrief
with how the different responses felt.
Source: Training To Imaging p. 141
Creativity, Problem Solving and Brainstorming Games
Cover Story
In groups of 4-6, think about the ideal of what your library, group, organization, etc.
would be like. Pretend your ideal is reality and you’ll be featured on the cover of a
magazine. Come up with the Cover, Headlines, Sidebars, Quotes and Images.
Source: Gamestorming p. 87
Giving Gifts
Give an imaginary gift to a partner (or do in a circle) and the receiver of the gift
pretends to open the box and tell us what’s inside it.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 168
That’s Exactly What It Is
Brainstorming in groups of 4-8. Give participants an object (i.e., paper clip, napkin,
rubber band) and the first person has to say something the object could be and
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everyone else in the circle replies enthusiastically “That’s exactly what it is” and the
object gets passed to the next person who needs to come up with a unique use for the
object.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 127 “Accept This”
Word at a Time Story
In pairs, in quads, in octets. Each person can only say one word at a time to create a
story together. Facilitator can help groups by giving them a theme for the story.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 186 “One-Word-at-a-Time Exercises”
Energy Building Games
Ball Toss
In a circle, first person throws a ball to someone across the circle. Receiver puts their
hand on their head to show they’ve received the ball and throws to someone else.
Repeat until everyone has received the ball and it goes back to the person who started
the pattern. Have the group toss the ball in that pattern several times. Add additional
balls until they can’t manage them all. You could vary this by allowing people to move
around.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 137
Papparazi
In a big group. Instructions are: You are a celebrity. You are so famous that the
paparazzi are trying to take your picture. Without letting anyone know, you need to
identify someone to be your bodyguard and someone to be the paparazzi trying to take
your picture. When I say, “go”, your goal is to move around so that you keep your
bodyguard between you and the person you’ve identified as your paparazzi.
Source: Training to Imaging p. 195 “Safety Zone”
Untangle (Human Knot)
Stand in a circle. Close eyes and walking toward the center. Reach out and clasp
hands with someone. Open your eyes and try to untangle yourselves without letting go.
Statue
Everyone in a circle. One person steps in the circle and strikes a pose. Someone else
jumps in and does something that relates to the initial pose. Don’t need to say what it
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is. First person leaves and someone else jumps in and does something related to the
second person (that is left in the circle.) Repeat.
Source: Yes, And pp. 136, 219 “Thank You Statues”
Single Clap
In a circle, tell everyone to put one arm up in the air and try and get the whole group to
clap together at the same time.
More Icebreaker and Introductory Games
Physical Mirroring
In pairs, get in pattycake position. One person leads and the other mirrors the leader’s
actions as the leader moves her arms around. After 1 minute, switch who is leading.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 148 “Classic Mirror”
Circle Mirror
In a circle, everyone stands with hands by their sides. Tell everyone to pick someone
across the circle without letting them know, and then when the facilitator says, “go”
each person copy the movements of the person they are watching. The facilitator can
suggest exaggerating or minimizing what they see.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 146
I’m Here
In a circle, each person steps into the circle and says “I’m here”. Do it in random order,
not going around the circle. Discuss how it feels to be the center of attention, how hard
is it to say “I’m here”?
Source: Training to Imagine p. 158 “Declare Yourself”
Imaginary Cards
In pairs prepare a happy dance. Facilitator gives a category (animals, colors, flowers)
and tells the pairs to flip over imaginary cards at the same time (like the card game
War). If the imaginary cards match, do a happy dance. Keep flipping imaginary cards
for a few minutes, then change partners and change categories.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 251 “Read my Mind”
Book or Movie or Music Sharing Icebreaker
Pair up. Each person share a book you are reading or a movie you've seen recently or
favorite music/radio station/band. You have 2 minutes total to share, 1 minute each.
Question variations: What’s the one book/movie/song that influenced you the most and
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why?
What is the title of the book that would describe your life now?
What reading materials are next to your bed (or some other favorite place to read)?
Life Story Icebreaker
In trios, each person has one minute to share their life story. Facilitator tells people
when a minute is up so the trio can move to the next person. Optional: Give the trio an
extra 3 minutes to talk without direction to follow up on things they just heard.
Possessions
Pick something you’re wearing or have in your pocket or purse that has some meaning
to you and share why it's important or why you put it on today.
Source: 75 Icebreakers for Great Gatherings p. 47
Stranger Introductions
Ask people to pair up with someone they don't know and share names ONLY. Next,
ask them to introduce this person they just met by sharing what they notice. This works
even if they have never met before. The idea is to share whatever you notice about the
person. (Clothes, hair, shoes, something you saw them do) The advantage is you get
people to pay attention in the room very quickly and the introductions are short and
tend to be very positive.
One Word
Introduce yourself with your name and one word that describes you.
Variation: Come up with a 6-word biography.
Source: 75 Icebreakers for Great Gatherings p. 44 “Names”
Rearrange Name Game
Rearrange the letters in your name to make as many words as possible. Give about 3
minutes to do this. You get to know people’s names and how quick they are on their
feet. Could modify and let two people put their names together and work together
Spokesperson
If you could have anyone be the spokesperson/model/do a commercial for your
organization, who would it be and why?
Feeling Supported
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In pairs, think of a time you felt supported in doing something you cared about. You
have 5 minutes to share stories with your partner.
Group Questions
Get in a group with 3 (or 4 or 5) people who are wearing (red, black, blue, whatever
color) and give them a question to discuss related to your content. (First memory of
being read to, first homeless person you met or saw, how many places you’ve lived, a
small business you would start, favorite thing to do as a teen.) Then have them form
new groups with new criteria (Color eyes, travelled outside the US, has same number
of siblings, owns an animal OR owns the same animal OR no animals, has a
smartphone, has similar hobbies) and give them another question. I don’t recommend
doing this more than 3 or 4 times in a row.
Penny is Worth a Thousand Words
Get enough pennies so you have one per person. Make sure to have a variety of years
on the pennies. Have each person in the group choose a penny (if you have tables it's
probably easiest to lay them out before people come in) and ask them to introduce
themselves and say one thing that was going on in their lives in the year the penny was
made. If the penny is outside of their lifespan you can expand it to include things going
on in the world at large. Could also ask people to imagine how a task was done or how
contemporaries of that year felt about your topic.
Fascinating Photographs Icebreaker
This icebreaker is a great way to get your group comfortable with one another, while
giving participants a chance to share something of value to them. Have a variety of
pictures/photographs spread out on a table. Ask people to select a photo that
represents the work they do in the community (you can change the way you phrase this
to suit your group & your convening). Everyone takes turns sharing why they selected
their photo. By the end of the icebreaker, everyone is introduced, and the group has a
glimpse at what other participants value and how they see themselves.
Source: Strategic Play p. 86 “Picture Cards”
Two Truths and a Lie
In table groups, tell people each person will tell two things that are true about them and
one lie. Others at table try and guess what the lie is. It helps if you demonstrate
before they start.
Source: 75 Icebreakers for Great Gatherings p. 81 “Lies”
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People Bingo
Create a 5X5 grid and in each cell in the grid, put some quality that people might have
(owns an e-book, has taken a picture with a phone and sent it to someone, has sent an
online birthday card, has used chat on a computer, makes bread at home, loves
baseball, has a pet, loves to read :) Have people mill around the room with the "bingo"
card of qualities and try and find people that fit the criteria. When they do, they cross
out cells until they get Bingo.
Source: Strategic Play p. 71 “The Human Treasure Hunt”
Would You Rather
Go around in a circle. The first person introduces themselves with name and asks the
person next to them "Would you rather..." they get to make up whatever question they
want (jump out of an airplane or lie on a beach and read a book?, Eat pizza or
sushi? Go to an art museum or a broadway show). Continue around the room.
Pairs drawing
Two people have their hand on one pencil. Together they have to draw something (a
house, dog, bird, etc.) Discuss how working together creates a new picture that usually
isn’t the same as either person’s original vision.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 188
Physical representation of who’s in the room
Designate one wall as “most” and opposite wall as “least” (or whatever criteria makes
sense for the questions you want to ask.) Ask questions and let them place themselves
on the continuum from most to least. Ex. – “years working in X industry” “line up by
height/birthday” “public transportation use” “number of jobs” You can either allow
them to place themselves where they think they fall OR have them talk to each other to
create the line. Questions should relate to meeting content. Works best with 15 or
more.
Source: 75 Icebreakers for Great Gatherings p. 36 “Line-up”
Best Job You've Ever Had
Ask people in table groups to share the best job they've had and what made it a good
job.
More Team Building and Communication Games
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Switch Story
In pairs, you will create a story together. Ask the audience for the name of a household
appliance. Tell them they are going to tell the story of the magic (fill in the blank with the
household appliance- toaster, refrigerator, oven, etc.) Tell them you will yell out
“Switch” several times and at that point the person who is telling the story stops and
their partner continues the story until the next time you say “switch”. Let the storytelling
go on for 2 or 3 minutes.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 153 “Conducted Narrative”
Good News/Bad news
Groups of 3. Give a situation to discuss. (E-books, sandstorms, puppet shows in the
park) The first person in the trio says "the good news is..." and completes the
sentence. The next person continues the story with "the bad news is.... and so on
switching from good news to bad news.
ABC Conversation
In pairs or groups, first person starts a sentence where the first word starts with an “A”.
The next person has to start their sentence with a word that starts with “B” and so on
through the alphabet.
Blurt-Pause
Blurt out your reaction the first time, then the second time, count to five before you
respond out loud. Each time the facilitator says something like “Your car has been
stolen” or “Someone broke into your house” Debrief about the difference between the
initial reaction and when you take a breath.
X Is More Important Than Y
Group writes down nouns/verbs/adjectives on different colored index cards (nouns on
green, verbs on red, adjectives on blue). Everyone pairs up and determines who is A
and who is B. Facilitator picks two cards randomly and calls out the words. Then A tells
B why the first word is more important than the second word. Repeat.
Conducted Story
Groups of 3 to 6. Facilitator gives a topic and tells one person to start telling a story, in
10 seconds or so, the conductor points to a new person to continue the story. The idea
is that the new person cannot hesitate and must not repeat what the previous storyteller
said. Conductor keeps pointing to different people to keep the story going.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 153 “Conducted Narrative”
Assumptions
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In a circle, first person says an attribute of a target object they are thinking of. The next
person adds an attribute that would make sense with the first attribute. Nobody tells
each other what their “target” object is. Keep adding attributes until someone can’t
figure out what the object is and therefore can’t add an attribute. That person can
challenge the previous person. Can have the group reveal their target object or not.
It’s likely that each person will have thought of a different object during the playing of
the game. (Game to show how we make assumptions and can’t imagine what others
are thinking)
What I Like About That Is…
Have someone suggest an idea or improvement and the next person in the pair or
circle has to say “What I like about that it…” and add what they like about the idea.
What Do You Know
Have each person think about 3 things they know well enough to teach someone else
about. Get in groups of 6 and then pair up, one is A and one is B. A tells B the three
things they know about and B gets to choose the one they want to hear about. A tells
what they know for 2 minutes without interruption or questions. After the 2 minutes, B
reflects back for one minute what they heard. Switch roles. After switching, the pairs
reunite with their group of 6 and each person share for 15 seconds what they
discussed. You can also do the 15 second sharing with the whole group instead of
getting into groups of 6 at the beginning depending on the group size and your desired
outcomes. (Debrief - Working from strengths, listening, confidence about abilities,
getting to know people even better.)
More Creativity, Problem Solving and Brainstorming Games
Fishbowl
5-10 people participating inside the circle and other people observing from outside the
circle. The inside people have a conversation while someone facilitates. We used the
question: "What are 3 things that OPL can stop doing?"
Source: Gamestorming p. 92
What’s Good About That
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Have a conversation about something challenging and practice looking for what might
be good about the situation. Ex: a customer being angry
What Are You Doing?
In pairs, one person mimes an activity and the other person asks “what are you doing?”
to which the mime tells them something they are NOT doing and the asker then starts
miming what was said…and so on back and forth.
Push-Back
In pairs, have people get in pattycake position and determine who is A and who is B.
Tell them to put their hands up and tell A to push against B’s hands. Then ask what B
chose to do when they were pushed. Tell them to do it again but instruct B to make a
different choice. Ultimately, you want to help people see that they don’t have to get in a
defensive pushing battle and that they can make choices to get out of the way.
Back to Back
In pairs, stand back to back. For 30 seconds each person notice what they see, then
turn around to face partner and describe what you each saw. Debrief: Discuss how we
can be standing in almost exactly the same place and still see things differently.
Attention Blindness or See Red
Count up all the things that are red in the room for 30 seconds, then everyone closes
their eyes and you ask them to count up all the things in the room that are green.
Imaginary Animal
Draw an imaginary animal, give it an imaginary name, pair up and tell your partner
about your animal and where it lives, what it eats and what it does all day.
Non-Habitual Thinking
Walk around the room and point at things and say what they are, then point and say the
last thing you pointed to, then point and say something that it isn’t. Discuss getting out
of habitual mindset of thinking to be creative.
String of Pearls
One person stands on a spot on a line and makes a statement that starts the story.
(“The room was dark and dreary” or “I never dreamed I’d go to Vegas” etc.) The next
person jumps in at the end of the line and makes a statement that will be the end of the
story. Anyone else can jump in to any point in between the two and add a statement
that will become part of the story. The goal is to create a cohesive (if whacky) story. It’s
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done whenever the group decides it’s done. This is an advanced activity to run and
requires people who are willing to jump in and take risks!
Source: Training to Imagine p. 255
Instant Expert
You need a talk show host and an expert. One audience member chooses a noun, one
an adjective. Then the expert has to discourse on what's chosen, no matter how
ridiculous: fuzzy swingsets, velvet toilet seats, precarious balloons.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 164 “Expert Interviews”
Five Senses/Real Estate agent
Get people to pair up and choose one to be the buyer and one the real estate agent.
The agent has 3 minutes to “sell” the house. Must use all 5 senses in the selling. Want
the sales pitch to be whacky. (Ex: Live bear rugs and singing peacock chandeliers with
piranha filled moats).
Variation: give person 2 random words – one an adjective and one a noun and tell
people to sell the product (sticky rock, fuzzy alligator)
Metaphorical Thinking
You can either ask “how is this like that” or “how is this unlike that” and name 2
random objects in either case.
Three Random Words
Give 3 random words and tell people to write the most interesting sentence they can
using one of the words at the beginning and the other at the end of the sentence.
Word Play
Pick a short word and tell the group to come up with as many sentences as they can
where each word starts with the letters in the word. I.e., if the word is “play”, a
sentence could be “People learned art yesterday.”
Three Things
In a circle, 1 person faces person next to them and says “What are three things that…
(you see at night, you have by your bed, eat caterpillars) and person responds quickly,
then turns to the next person in the circle and asks another question. A variation could
be that 1 person gives 3 random things and the responder says what those 3 things
have in common. EX – socks, dogs, elevators and the answer could be “things I don’t
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like in my soup.”
Gibberish Dictionary
In trios, one person makes up a nonsense word, the next person repeats the word and
defines it. The third person uses the nonsense word in a sentence. Switch roles.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 166 “Gibberish Press Conference”
More Energy Building Games
Samurai
In a circle, the person who begins has their hands up in the air like holding a sword.
The people on either side each have swords and act like they are cutting the person in
the middle in half with their swords while they make a sword like sound. The person
who started with hands in the air makes a whoosh sound as they bring their sword
down and point to someone across the circle who must then raise their side with
another sound. As soon as possible, the people on either side of this new person with
their sword in the air must TOGETHER cut this person in half, etc, etc.
Monkey See Monkey Do Telephone
In a circle, the first person creates a sound and motion and passes it around the circle.
Give direction to try to faithfully reproduce what you receive from the person next to
you.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 245 “Gesture Pass”
Eye-Five
Stand in a circle with your head down. Look up and if you make eye contact, walk to
center and high five the person you made eye contact with. Repeat.
Hand to hand and back to back
(Needs an odd number since people are paired but one person is the caller.) - In pairs,
start back to back, the caller says “hand to hand” and the pairs turn around and face
each other and touch hands (can be backs of hands or shaking hands) Can say hand
to hand as many times as they want or can up the ante to say other body parts (knee to
knee OR shoulder to elbow). The second time the caller says” back to back” everyone
has to change backs and one person won’t get a back so they become the caller.
Diamond dance
Group of at least 4 people and as many as hundreds. Get in a diamond shape all
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facing the same direction. Play music and everyone copies the dancing of the person
in front of them. The person at the head of the diamond is the leader. Everyone
follows the leader until the leader passes on the leadership by turning 90 or 180
degrees at which time everyone turns and that creates a new leader (whoever is at the
head of the diamond in that new direction.)
Pass The Clap
In a circle, one person starts and passes the clap by making eye contact with someone
in the circle and they try to clap at exactly the same time with that person. The
receiver, now makes eye contact with someone else and attempts to clap at the same
time.
Source: Training to Imagine p. 197 “Slap Pass”
Sound and Motion
Standing in a circle. One person sends a sound and motion around the circle. The
object is to send it around as quickly as possible with the next person starting to copy it
just as the previous one tails off. When it gets around the circle, the next person in the
circle creates a new one and sends it around.
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