EYP Academy Energisers
Introduction
EYP Academy is honoured to introduce to you this booklet, Energisers 2011.
As EYPers, we are part of an organisation that is essentially a platform for continued
personal growth. EYP itself is also never done growing, and we can help it develop, just
like it helps us. As EYPers, we are never done learning or sharing what we’ve learnt
with others. The EYP Academy was built on these values.
The EYP Academy is EYP’s training working group, established by the Governing Body
of the EYP. The task of the EYP Academy is to improve the skills available to EYP by
supplying materials, training people and organising training events in cooperation with
the National Committees. What started as a collection of new or obscure energisers
collected by participants of Training for EYP Trainers (T4ET) forms the first official
publication of the EYP Academy.
Energisers 2011 has been made with these materials by the Resource and Competence
Development wing of the EYP Academy which takes responsibility for creating manuals
and guides. Energisers are at the core of the EYP experience and all members of the
Academy have contributed their games and ideas to the creation of this booklet.
Inside you’ll find more than 60 less common Energisers and other fun and entertaining
games to add to your repertoire. We hope you find them entertaining, useful and, most
importantly, energising!
We look forward to seeing you and them in action across Europe!
Made possible by:
Lia Bonnemain, Jamie Brown, Orestis Chatzopoulos,
Roshan De Jong, Federico Fasol, Leonie Goettsch,
Eric Katskowski, Anar Kucera, Joanna “Asia” Kulpa,
Laura Limperk, Maria Manolescu, Jari Marjelund,
Gillian O’Halloran, Hanna Ollinen, Anne-Charlotte Oriol,
Cecilia Pellosniemi, Krista Simberg, Juuso Soinen,
Andris Šuvajevs, Henna Tahvanainen, Robert Torvelainen,
Tatjana Wahjudi
EYP Academy Energisers
CONTENTS
GAMES WITHOUT MATERIALS:
Better Letters
Waking Up in the Jungle
4-Up
Back to Back
Head’s Up
Triangles
Finger and Hole
Cheerleaders
Impersonations
Listening Meditation
Chain Message
A Friendly Bunch
Mirroring
Name a Lie
Train
Jedi Mind Trick
Human Spring
Blob Tag
Number Chase
Ah So Ko!
Grand Prix
Boom
Birdie on a Perch
Everybody’s It Tag
Hospital Tag
Earthquake Eviction
The Rocky Motivational
Funky Grandma
Music Mania
Hodgy Podgy
Blind Band
Disco Circle
La Pik, La Czok
Baby 1,2,3!
Forest Symphony
Kissing Circles
Fruity Flavours
Balloon Dance
Ballon Bop
Hot Pepper
Ice Cream Islands
Siamese Relay
Capture the Flag
Feed the Bucket
Mind the Gap
Hula Hoop Challenge
Clothes Peg Samurai
Thirsty Straws
Mop Hockey
GAMES WITH MATERIALS:
Colour Blinds
Unfortunate Events
People Bingo
Alphabet Search
Draw Your Life
Name Tag Match Maker
Famous Pairs
Confusion
Dancing on Paper
This Booklet:
Design and Layout: Jamie Brown
Organisation and Editing: Hanna Ollinen, Tatjana Wahjudi
Project Director: Roshan De Jong
GB Liaison: Krista Simberg
For further information go to:
www.eypej.org
www.eypalumni.org
We don’t have any copyrights, but please be thankful and act responsibly with this document :)
EYP Academy Energisers
Part One:
Games
Without Materials
How to Use This Guide!
Chilled Games: Games that involve sitting,
standing or lying down and little tiring movement.
At level 2 they may involve shouting or walking
around in a group.
Active Games: May involve running or repetitive
movement. Longer games could need a quick
rest after playing. Adequate clothing may be required, especially if outside.
Intense Games: All of the above and more!
May involve more physical activity, loud noises or
quick movements. Could involve loss of breath or
sweating if played at length.
Time Length Estimates:
Short: Approximately five minutes.
Average: Five to fifteen minutes.
Long: Can be more than fifteen minutes.
Materials: Suggested materials for the game these can be varied depending on what you have
available, so get creative, Chair!
The Stickfigures: These cute little illustrations are
here to show you some key aspect of the game,
whether it is group-based, involves running or
chasing, etc. If in doubt about something, maybe
check the Stickfigures and see if they can help
you out in some way!
EYP Academy Energisers
Quick Energisers
Description:
•
•
•
•
•
The Chair screams out a letter.
The delegates have to shout out English words starting with that letter.
Once the group has warmed up, move on to individuals.
Making your way around the group, each person must shout out a new word.
If they hesitate, they are eliminated.
Short
Group Size:
Committee
Description:
•
•
•
•
Ask people to think of their favorite animal and its noise.
They then pretend that they are that animal waking up.
As they wake up, the noises should get louder and sillier.
A good quick game for sleepy groups.
Short
Group Size: Any
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Committee
• Have all the members sit.
• Select a number of people according to the size of the group and name the
game accordingly.
• Everyone else needs to put their heads down so that they can’t see.
• The selected stand up and come to the front.
• The individuals up front will walk around. Each one will tag a person and
then the tagged must stick their thumb up.
• When the individuals return to the front, all members can then lift up their
heads.
• The delegates with their thumbs up must guess who touched them. If they
guess right, they get to switch places.
• If they guess wrong, they stay down for another round.
Quick Energisers
EYP Academy Energisers
Description:
Average
Group Size: Any
• Delegates are irregularly spaced around the room, everyone has a partner
except for one.
• The person without a partner calls “Back to back!” and the delegates must
back up to their partner.
• They then call “Face to Face!” these partners must face each other and
shake hands.
• On the next call of “Back to back!” and each time here after, all players
must change partners.
• Person without a partner tries to get a partner during the change.
• The player left out becomes the next one shouting instructions.
Description:
• In a circle, people look at ground.
• When you say “heads up”, they have to look into someone else’s eyes.
• If two people are looking at each other, they scream and are both out.
Short
Group Size: Any
Description:
Short
Group Size:
1-3 Committees
• Delegates stand up and form a circle.
• Ask them to choose two people that are going to form the other two sides of
a triangle.
• They must not indicate which person they have chosen.
• When you say “Go”, ask the delegates to try to form an equilateral triangle
(all three sides equally long) with the two other people they chose.
• They should be milling about trying to stay at an equal distance from their
chosen sides!
• This exercise is quite quick and does require a lot of space.
EYP Academy Energisers
Quick Energisers
Description:
•
•
•
•
•
Short
Delegates stand in a circle, arms out to the side.
Put left hands palm up.
The right hand index finger is pointing down.
The index finger should be touching their neighbour’s outstretched palm.
When the Chair says “Go!” everyone does two things: tries to grab the finger
in their left hand and tries to prevent their right finger from being grabbed.
• Suspense should be added with false starts or whatever the Chair wishes!
Group Size: Any
Description:
•
•
•
•
Average
Group Size:
Bigger is Better
•
•
•
•
Group is standing.
Everyone begins milling around playing rock/paper/scissors.
If someone loses a match, you must become a cheerleader for their victor
The cheerleaders shout and dance and support their victor in their next
games.
Players can gather more and more cheerleaders as the game goes on.
When both players have Cheerleaders, the winner takes all.
The final round has a dance off between the cheerleaders before the two
remaining players duel for victory.
Music is preffered for this game!
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Committee
• Group is in a circle.
• Take it in turns to impersonate other members of the group and the others
have to guess who it is.
• Try to avoid being cruel/racist/overly offensive.
• Very good for an examination of body language.
• Can increase self-awareness.
• Probably something to be played at a later stage when personal barriers are
broken down.
Intense Energisers
EYP Academy Energisers
Description:
Average
Group Size: Any
• Clear a space, clean the area from any clutter.
• This helps you transition into meditation mode and sets the stage for a
calmer, more productive afternoon.
• Log off, switch off phones and limit all distractions to free the mind up.
• Close your eyes and normalize your breathing.
• Sit up straight and take long inhalations, followed by longer exhalations.
• Continue this breathing throughout the entire exercise.
• Begin listening: tune in to the sounds around you as if you were listening to
music.
• Focus on foreground and background noises, distant sounds and ambience.
• Check your body and mood and concentrate on relaxing.
• After several minutes, open your eyes.
• Notice the difference in group energy levels.
Description:
Long
Group Size:
Committee
• Ask delegates to stand in a line.
• The Chair whispers to person at the back of the line the first sentence of a
story (e.g., Seven tall men walked into a bar)
• The first person then whispers the sentence to the next person.
• The next person has to add a second line and whisper both lines to the person in front of them. This sequence continues with each additional participant adding another line until each reaches the front of the line where this
person is asked to tell the story.
• You can add a variation to this story where the group also has to tell the story
backwards by going back down the line again.
Description:
Short
Group Size: Any
• The delegates stand in a circle.
• When the Chair shouts “Go”, they need to hug as many people as possible in
the next 30 seconds.
• Play as many rounds as needed.
• The game can be played as a competition where the one who hugs most
people wins.
• Upbeat music should be played during the game.
• Variation: The delegates need to hug all the other delegates as quickly as
possible and then sit down.
EYP Academy Energisers
Intense Energisers
Description:
•
•
•
•
•
Place people into pairs.
One person is the “actor”, the other the “mirror”.
The “actor” and “mirror” must face each other.
The “mirror” does whatever the actor does, mirroring their actions.
After a few minutes, change roles.
Short
Group Size: Any
Description:
Average
• Everyone stands in a circle.
• The Chair starts by miming an action.
• When the person on their right says their name and asks “What are you doing?”, they reply that they are doing something completely different.
• For example, the Chair mimes swimming and says “I am washing my hair!”
• The person to the Chair’s right then has to mime what the Chair said that
they were doing (washing their hair), while saying that they are doing something completely different.
• Go around the circle in this way until everyone has had a turn.
Group Size:
Committee
Description:
•
•
•
•
Long
Group Size:
1-3 Committees
Ask delegates to make train noises and actions with their arms.
Take them on a journey and start moving the train.
The track is wild and varied!
Gather speed through a valley, slowing to climb a hill, speeding up as they
come down the hill, putting on the brakes to stop in a station and slowly
starting up the train again.
• The person at the front then moves to the back and the next person takes
over.
• Make loud sound affects and move the group corresponding to the route.
• You may relate the journey to local place names.
Intense Energisers
EYP Academy Energisers
Description:
Average
Group Size:
1-3 Committees
• Stand in a circle with one person in the middle.
• The goal of the person in the center is to take another participant’s place in
the circle.
• Members of the outer circle attempt to switch places without losing a spot in
the circle to the person in the middle.
• To switch places, a participant on the outside makes eye contact with another member of the circle and then both members run across the circle and
switch places.
• No talking or additional gestures can be used.
• Additional rule: You can make it so that you must switch with someone at
least two spaces away, so as to prevent too much switching with the person
next to them.
Description:
Average
Group Size: Any
• In pairs, ask delegates to stand facing one another with arms positioned
elbows at right angles, palms facing partner.
• Delegates should start standing approximately 1 foot apart.
• Put hands out and keep feet firmly in place throughout.
• Partners lean forward so that hands meet flat against one another with no
interlocking fingers (keeping elbows in) and push against one another creating a springboard.
• Partners then take small steps back, repeating the activity at increasingly
further distances apart.
• The objective is for partners to complete the activity, standing as far apart as
possible while maintaining safety and a sense of trust.
Description:
• One delegate is made the blob and a game of Tag begins.
• Once someone is tagged they become part of the blob as well by linking
arms with the blob.
• The blob continues to grow until it has swallowed all the delegates.
• It is a good idea to limit the area involved otherwise it becomes impossible
to catch everyone.
Average
Group Size:
1-2 Committees
EYP Academy Energisers
Intense Energisers
Description:
•
•
•
•
Average
Group Size:
1-3 Committees
Everyone will be in an open space with set outer limits.
Every person has a number.
One person will start off and be the “Chaser”.
The Chaser will try to catch any other person and thereby make that person
the Chaser.
• However, at any time, anyone can call out a number and make that person
the Chaser.
• Soon, no one will know who the Chaser is and everyone will just be running
about the place frantically!
• To finish (or to begin) you can do the “Eyes-closed, count to 20/15” or
whatever number you like. (However, if doing it after the game to calm them
down, no person may use the number that was their own during the chasing
game.)
Description:
Average
Group Size:
1-3 Committees
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Delegates form a circle.
Introduce the following hand gestures:
Ah (hand under the chin palm facing the floor).
So (hand at forehead, in salute fashion).
Ko (arm and hand out in front of you pointing at another player).
One person starts with “Ah”, while facing another delegate.
That person follows with “So”, looking at the next person, who continues
with “Ko” and so on around the circle.
• If someone messes up they are “out of the game” and step out of the circle.
• The person to their right has a silent 3 second count to start the game again
with “Ah”.
• Game continues until 2-3 people are left (up to you whether the last 2 compete for AhSoKo champion title!).
Description:
Average
Group Size:
1-3 Committees
• The group should be sitting in a circle.
• Number them 1-4 and give each number the name of a car, for example 1’s
are Porsches, 2’s are Ferrari’s... etc).
• The Chair calls a car name and those cars have to get up and run around the
circle.
• The first person back to their spot wins.
• There is a twist to this game: the cars can have things wrong with them as
the Chair chooses.
• Some ideas are: FLAT TIRE (Hop around on one foot), RUN OUT OF GAS
(Crab Walk), TURBO BOOST (run around), NO MUFFLER (noisy!)...etc.
Intense Energisers
EYP Academy Energisers
Description:
Average
• Delegates stand or sit in a circle.
• Instruct them to count out loud consecutively and around the circle.
• Each delegate whose number is a multiple of 3 (3-6-9-12, etc.) or a number
that ends with 3 (13-23-33, etc.) must lift their arms and say “BOOM!”
instead of the number.
• The next person continues the normal sequence of numbers.
• Anyone who fails to say “BOOM!” or makes a mistake with the number that
follows “BOOM!” is disqualified.
• To make things even more difficult, reverse from e.g. 30.
Group Size:
Committee
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Committee
• Form a circle with your group.
• Number them off 1s and 2s.
• Have the 2s take a step forward and turn around and face someone on the
outside circle so there are 2 circles facing each other.
• The inside circle is where the Birdies are and the outside circle are the
Perches and the person opposite you is your Perch or Birdie.
• To perch the Birdie must use their perch to avoid any contact with the
ground.
• The Chair will provide music and as the music plays the two circles rotate in
opposite directions.
• The Chair yells “Birdie on a Perch!” at random and the birdies must scramble to find their perches.
• The last couple to successfully perch is out until a single couple is left.
Description:
•
•
•
•
•
Average
Group Size:
1-3 Committees
Make sure everyone is comfortable with either running or fast walking.
Decide with delegates on the playing field.
The game starts with everyone being “it” and trying to tag whoever they can.
If tagged the victim must kneel down where you were tagged.
When kneeling, they need to keep track of who tagged them because once
the person who tagged is in turn tagged, then the victim can get back up and
get back in the game.
• The game ends when there are only a few people left who haven’t been
tagged.
EYP Academy Energisers
Intense Energisers
Description:
Average
• This is another variant on classic game of Tag.
• One person is It and when they tag someone the victim is also ‘It’.
• But wherever they were tagged they cannot use that part of their body, i.e.: if
tagged on the leg then they must hop or if it was their arm of hip they must
hold it and not use it.
• After a while, everyone should have a few useless limbs.
• The game ends when the first person falls over.
Group Size:
1-3 Committees
Description:
Average
Group Size:
1-3 Committees
• One delegate stands alone to start
• The rest of the delegates split into groups of three.
• The groups of three have two people making a house with their hands by
forming a triangle with their fingertips touching.
• One person stands underneath the house.
• When the lone person calls “Eviction!” everyone in a house must leave and
find a new one.
• The lone person may call “Earthquake!” and all houses collapse and everyone must form a new threesome of house and resident.
• Either way, the lone person tries to get into one of the threesome, so the
person left behind becomes the new caller.
Songs and Dances
EYP Academy Energisers
Description:
Average
• Eye of the Tiger by Survivor is played in the background.
• The Chair stands at the front of the group.
• The delegates start running on the spot and by following the example set by
the Chair.
• They increase their speed while the song goes on.
• The Chair is free to add additional elements, such as shadow boxing, shouting and cheering, and create a livelier “story”.
Group Size: Any
Lyrics:
(Chorus):
I had a funky grandma,
She was a merry maid
And when she went dancing: (End Chorus)
Her fingers went like this x3
Her feet went like this x 3
Her hips went like this x 3
Her head went like this x3
Her bum wents like this x 3
And then she slept like this x 3
Average
Group Size:
1-2 Committees
• Repeat Chorus before every move.
• Funny moves are performed corresponding to the body part in the lyrics.
Description:
•
•
•
•
Average
Group Size:
Any
Select some internationally recognizable songs.
Play them very loudly so that everyone can hear them well.
Ask the group to reflect the mood of the music in their movements.
Choose a good variety of songs so that their movements will be sufficiently
different depending on the music.
EYP Academy Energisers
Songs and Dances
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Committee
• People stand in a circle, facing the center.
• The Chair introduces a relatively slow rhythm (1st beat: slap both legs, 2nd
beat: clap hands, 3rd beat: snap fingers left hand, 4th beat: snap fingers
right hand, repeat).
• Everyone joins in.
• To start each round, the Chair says (one beat per word), “Hodgy podgy, hodgy
podgy!”
• The Chair starts a sentence by saying any word on beat one (e.g., “Big”).
• The next delegate in the circle continues the story by adding the next word in
the sentence by the first beat of the next rhythm cycle (for example, “dogs”).
• The next person in line must continue the sentence.
• Each word must make logical and grammatical sense when added to the
sentence (eg: “Big-Dogs-Love-Cars!”).
• If a person wants to end the sentence, he or she says a punctuation word,
such as “period” or “exclamation point” or “question mark” and the next
person in the circle starts a new sentence.
• When a player makes a mistake the round ends and they become the person
who starts the next round.
Description:
Long
Group Size:
Committee
• Delegates lay on their backs on the floor with eyes closed.
• Do not introduce the game beforehand; just explain what you expect of them
as you go.
• Let them relax for a moment and then run them through some breathe-inbreathe-out sequences.
• Explain to them that they are blind musicians, and that by tapping them
they start or stop playing.
• Walk through the room and start tapping people ‘on’ and ‘off’.
• Once you get to the point where people are tapped ‘on’ for a second time,
tell them they are not allowed to do the same sound or beat again, and that
they have to be more creative.
• Try to keep one participant with a good beatbox / rhythm ‘on’ for most of the
time as it will help the others.
• In the end all the delegates need to produce one synchronized rhythm.
• Remember that at all times they need to have their eyes closed so they can
lose some of their inhibitions towards making weird noises.
• End the game by shutting them all up at the same time.
Songs and Dances
EYP Academy Energisers
Description:
• Group forms a circle.
• A song is played on the background, preferably a funky one, with a good
rhythm.
• Chair starts with a move that is to be imitated by the delegates.
• Next delegate in the circle introduces another move and so on.
Average
Group Size:
Committee
Description:
Short
• La pik, la czok, la piko lako zana, na-nanana-na-naaana-nana! Na! Na!
• The group stands very close in a circle and move a part of their body in an
L shape – starting with left foot – as you sing it goes to the middle, back, to
the left, back, to the middle and so on.
• Start with left foot, then right foot, knees to the left, knees to the right, hips
to the left, hips to the right, both feet (jumping) to the left, both feet to the
right.
Group Size:
1-3 Committees
Description:
•
•
•
•
Short
Group Size:
Committee
The group stands in a circle.
Music is played in the background.
In the melody, each of the delegates picks a movement .
The movement is repeated by the group with the chorus ‘Baby 1, 2, 3’.
EYP Academy Energisers
Songs and Dances
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Committee
• Divide delegates in at least 3-4 groups of comparable size and number or
name the groups.
• Take each group separately and teach them a relatively quiet sound to make,
either with their voices, hands or feet.
• Allow them a moment to practice.
• Reassemble the whole group, eyes closed, and pick a group (e.g. #1), who
will start making their sound.
• Then pick another group who joins in with their sound, introducing all groups
slowly.
• The end-result should sound like a forest or sea or anything you prefer.
• With a very talented group, you can assign each group two sounds (difficult
though!).
Description:
Average
Group Size:
1-2 Committees
• Two circles are formed, smaller one in the middle.
• Circles start moving in opposite directions with delegates skipping to the
song.
• Singing:
“Come with me and play, hey! Come with me today, hey!
Come with me and play today ‘till we yell hooray!
Let me face you and give you a kiss, tarara.
This is something you don’t want to miss.
1, 2, 1, 2, 3, kiss”
• When the music stops, the circles also stop, the smaller circle turns to face
the outer circle and each person must kiss the person to thier opposite on
the cheek.
• The kissed ones get into the middle and form another circle.
Description:
Short
Group Size:
Committee
• Delegates pick a unique fruit of their liking.
• In larger groups let everyone have a small sign in front of him, stating his or
her fruit of choice but remove them once they know the game.
• Delegates clap in rhythmic motion – two claps on the lap and twice snapping
their fingers, one with their right hand, one with their left hand.
• The goal is to pass the rhythm by naming on the first ‘snap’ your own fruit,
on the second ‘snap’ the fruit of another participant and react on time.
• Example: x = clapping lap
• Delegate Apple: x x Apple Pear
• Delegate Pear: x x Pear Orange
• Delegate Orange: x x Orange Pear etc.
• Can be played with anything replacing fruits, for example animals.
EYP Academy Energisers
Part Two:
Games With
Extra Materials
How to Use This Guide Again!
Relaxed Games: Games that involve
sitting,standing or lying down and little tiring
movement. At level 2 they may involve shouting
or walking around in a group.
Active Games: May involve running or repetitive
movement. Longer games could need a quick
rest after playing. Adequate clothing may be
required, especially if outside.
Intense Games: All of the above and more!
May involve more physical activity, loud noises or
quick movements. Could involve loss of breath or
sweating if played at length.
Time Length Estimates:
Short: Approximately five minutes.
Average: Five to fifteen minutes.
Long: Can be more than fifteen minutes.
Materials: Suggested materials for the game these can be varied depending on what you have
available, so get creative, Chair!
The Stickfigures: These cute little illustrations are
here to show you some key aspect of the game,
whether it is group-based, involves running or
chasing, etc. If in doubt about something, maybe
check the Stickfigures and see if they can help
you out in some way!
EYP Academy Energisers
Pens and Paper
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Commitee
• Materials: Different coloured markers and flipcharts or whiteboard.
• Using at least four different coloured markers, the Chair writes the names of
colours on the board using a different colour pen.
• For example the word “Red” is written in Blue pen, “Green” is written in
Red, “Blue” in Black and “Black” in Green.
• Creat a long list beforehand and keep on changing the colours of the words.
• As a group, they have to shout out the name of the colour, not the word, in
turn as the chair points to them.
• Then do through it again where they have to shout out the word instead.
• You are eliminated if you say the wrong colour!
Description:
Long
Group Size:
Committee
• Materials: Markers, flipcharts.
• Divide the group into two teams with two flipcharts per team.
• Ask groups to write down in 5 minutes 3 sentences that describe a negative
situation.
• For example, “My car broke down this morning on my way to work”.
• Ask the groups to stick their flipcharts to the wall.
• Now, ask the groups to must find as many positive points as possible about
the negative situations on both flipcharts.
• Each group should work on its own in a competitive fashion. Ask them to
record their positive remarks on another flipchart.
• The team that comes up with the most number of positive points in 5 minutes wins the prize.
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Commitee
• Materials: Pens, paper.
• Prepare a 5 x 5 grid, like a Bingo grid.
• In all the spaces, write things like:“Born in another country” or “Youngest
child in family“ and so on.
• Fill in all the grids with items of interest to the delegates.
• Make a copy for each delegate, either a photocopy or hand copy.
• The delegates are to get the signature of a person who meets the criteria for
each section.
• You might want to implement a rule that a person can only sign another person’s paper in a maximum of two spots.
• The first person with a completed card wins.
Pens and Paper
EYP Academy Energisers
Description:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Average
Materials: Pens, paper.
Divide the delegates into small groups.
Search your group members for objects that you have on you or with you.
Make a list in alphabetical order with the names of the objects.
First group to get all 26 letters represented wins.
If done as a small group lends itself well to a small team building exercise as
the group works together through the alphabet.
Group Size:
Committee
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Committee
• Materials: Pens, paper, flipcharts.
• Explain to delegates that they have 5-10 minutes to draw a scene out of
their normal day at school, university or at work.
• Encourage delegates to get creative and use colours in their drawings.
• Collect the flip chart sheets when finished and distribute them randomly
between delegates so that everyone has a sheet.
• Ask for volunteers to stick their given sheets on the board or wall.
• The group tries to interpret and explain the drawing on it.
• Once their explanation has finished, you can ask the drawer of the image to
clarify what the drawing means.
Description:
Long
Group Size:
Committee
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Materials: Pens, paper or card.
1. Put your name in the center of your card.
2. In the upper left corner, write four things that you like to do.
3. In the upper right corner, write your four favorite musicians or groups.
4. In the lower left corner, write your four favorite movies or books.
5. In the lower right corner, write four adjectives that describe you best.
When everyone finishes, have them mingle with the group for a few minutes.
Without talking, they are to read the upper left corner of the other group
members’ cards.
• When time is up, they are to find one or two people who are most like them
and talk for a few minutes.
• Repeat the same process with the other corners.
• The same two people cannot be in the same group more than once.
EYP Academy Energisers
Pens and Paper
Description:
Average
• Materials: Pens, paper.
• Write down the names of famous pairs or couples like “Brad and Angelina”
or “Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni” on several different cards with each
name on an individual card.
• Each card is taped to a delegate’s forehead.
• Delegates then walk around asking only “yes” and “no” questions to figure
out what name is written on their card and find their partner.
• The first two people to discover that they are pairs win the game.
• Or keep going until only two pairs are left.
Group Size:
Committee
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Bigger is Better
• Materials: Pens, paper.
• Give each participant a sheet with various tasks and ask them to complete it
when you say, “GO!”
• For example:
• Get a male to do five push-ups and sign here.
• Leap frog over someone 5 times.
• Get someone to whisper the pledge of allegiance and sign here.
• Play “Ring around the Rosy” with two other people and have them sign here.
• Get a female to recite a nursery rhyme.
• Shake hands with someone you do not know and continue holding hands
while debating the merits of your favorite ice cream flavour.
• Have someone teach you a dance step (even if they make it up).
• First person to complete the entire sheet, wins.
Description:
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Average
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Group Size:
1-2 Committees
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Materials: Newspaper, flipcharts, cloth.
Chair prepares equal sized sheets of newspaper.
Delegates are split into pairs with each pair given a piece of newspaper.
The pairs dance while the chair plays music or claps.
When the music or clapping stops, each pair must stand on their sheet of
newspaper or cloth.
The next time the music or clapping stops, the pair has to fold their paper or
cloth in half before standing on it.
After several rounds, the paper or cloth becomes very small by being folded
again and again.
Pairs that have any part of their body on the floor are ‘out’ of the game.
The game continues until there is a winning pair.
Balloons and Balls
EYP Academy Energisers
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Bigger is Better
• Materials: Balloons.
• Group is split into pairs.
• Each pair is to hold a balloon between their foreheads while facing each
other.
• A pair cannot touch the balloon with their hands after placing the balloon.
• The task is to keep the balloon between foreheads while completing increasingly difficult challenges.
• Example of challenges: lifting a flat balloon from the ground and transporting
it (in hands) to a given spot, turning 360 degrees three times without stopping, climbing up a chair/two chairs etc.
• Once you lose the balloon, you join the Chair in proposing the challenges.
• The remaining pair is the winner.
Description:
Average
• Materials: Balloons
• Group is in a circle.
• Group holds hands and tries to keep a balloon off the ground with the body
part that has been called. i.e. head, hands, knees, elbows, etc.
• Multiple balloons may be added of different colour and small groups within
the group must try to keep their ballon up and the other’s balloons down.
• Can be made competitive so if one group’s balloons touch the ground then
that team is out.
Group Size:
1-2 Committees
Description:
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Average
Group Size:
Committee
Materials: Balls.
Delegates sit/stand in a circle.
Give a small ball to one of them.
Everyone has to keep passing the ball on as quickly as possible.
Each time someone passes the ball, they have to say “Hot!”.
The chair turns their back to the group, and at a random moments yells out
“Pepper!”
• Whoever is holding the ball when the chair says “Pepper!” is out of the
game.
• Last one alive wins.
EYP Academy Energisers
Blindfolds and Cloth
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Committee
• Materials: Cushions or sheets or anything people can stand on.
• Place four large cushions in the centre of the room with a small gap between
each Island.
• These are Islands called Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter, indicating
which island is which.
• But the water around the Islands is shark infested and they cannot place any
part of their body in the water or they will be eaten and eliminated!
• Now in quick succession tell the delegates:
• - ‘All those who like ice-cream go to Spring Island’
• - ‘All those who like vanilla ice-cream go to Fall Island’
• - ‘All those who prefer chocolate ice-cream go to Summer Island’
• - ‘All those who don’t like ice-cream go to Winter Island’
• Stand back and watch the scramble before asking a new question.
Description:
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Long
Materials: Blindfolds or cloth.
The group divides into two groups.
A certain distance is marked and the groups take their places.
In each group everyone pairs up with their legs tied together.
The team who finishes faster wins!
Variation: You can also let the two groups (again with their legs tied together)
play football for a game of “Siamese Football”
Group Size:
1-3 Committees
Description:
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Long
Group Size:
1-3 Committees
Materials: Cloth or a blinfold to use as a flag.
Divide delegates into two teams.
Agree upon the playing field and determine the location of two “jails”
Set up a middle boundary between the two teams’ territory.
Each team hides their Flag, but the Flag must not be obscured or tied onto
anything
• The aim of the game is for one team to grab the Flag of the other team and
bring it over to their own side.
• When a member of the opposing team crosses over the middle boundary into
the opposing team’s territory, the other team is allowed to tag the person and
take them to a “jail” where they stay until they are released by one of their
own team members who has not yet been captured.
• The team that scores the most points first wins.
Other Materials
EYP Academy Energisers
Description:
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Average
Materials: Bucket or a basket.
Ask for a volunteer to stand in the front of the room.
Place the bucket about half a meter behind the volunteer.
Ask the rest of the delegates to sit down facing the volunteer.
The volunteer is blindfolded.
Explain that the volunteer has to drop as many balls as he can into the basket using the directions and feedback given by the rest of the delegates.
• Once the volunteer has completed the task, swap over to the next person.
Group Size:
Committee
Description:
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Average
Group Size:
Committee
Materials: Chairs. Lots of them.
Delegates sit down in the chairs in a circle.
There is one empty chair.
One person in the middle must try to sit down in the empty chair.
The seated delegates move seats quickly clockwise so the empty chair is
almost always occupied.
• Their aim is not to allow the person in the middle to find a seat.
• When the volunteer claps, delegates change direction.
• If the volunteer finds a seat, the delegate that let him sit down because he
moved not quickly enough is in the middle... start all over again.
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Committee
• Materials: Hula Hoops.
• The team forms a circle and hold hands.
• Then put a hula hoop inside a pair of joined hands and have the group pass
the hula hoop around the circle without unlocking their hands.
• To add a bit more of a challenge to this exercise, you can pass around 2 or 3
hula hoops around the circle and have them go around in different directions
(make sure that the hoops are different sizes so that they can pass through
each other).
• This game may also be done in silence.
• You can also use a rope that you tied together or any other hoop-like object.
EYP Academy Energisers
Other Materials
Description:
Average
Group Size:
Committee
• Materials: Clothespegs, newspaper, blindfold.
• Delegates stand in a circle with one blindfolded person in the middle.
• The blindfolded person in the middle has ten to fifteen clothespegs attached
to their clothing.
• The blindfolded person is also handed a “sword” (rolled up newspaper is
best).
• The other delegates must remove the pins without getting whacked by the
“sword”.
• If you are whacked three times, you’re out.
• The person who collects the most pegs then swaps in.
• Note: safety first!
Description:
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Materials: Small buckets, 1 litre bottles of water and straws.
Make teams of 4 with a 1 litre bucket of water each.
Hand straws to everybody.
Only one person is allowed to drink at once.
The game is a relay race to drink the 1 litre as fast as possible.
Average
Group Size:
Committee
Description:
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Average
Group Size:
1-2 Committees
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Materials: Mops, brooms, sticks, cloth.
Put two chairs on opposite ends of the room with a smooth floor.
Divide the group into two teams with enough brooms each.
Use the the broom to drag the cloth (the puck) underneath the chair to
score.
The broom must stay on the floor and simply by pulling, pushing and dragging with the broom are delegates allowed to move the cloth.
Each team lines up on the opposite sides of the ‘playing field’ and only one
person per team gets to play at a time.
You switch once one person scores or after 30 seconds have passed.
Encourage the teams to support their contestant and keep the games short
and snappy.
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Check the Knowledge Bank for more games,
hints, tips and tricks!
With Special Thanks to:
Tapio Schrey, Jonas Dreger, Arne Reis and Anna-Riika Kärnä.