Crowd Breakers and Mixers 2 (Paperback)

Chapter One

This game requires only toilet paper. Have your group sit in a circle and pass the roll to each member. Tell them to place the roll on their finger and see how many tissues they can get by pulling on the paper once. After everyone takes a turn, then have the players count how many tissue squares they got. Then, they must tell you one thing about themselves for each tissue they got. John Cook

Move Your Buns

You need multiple rows of chairs for this game, with an aisle down the center. Split your group into two or four teams-one team sitting on the left and one on right. (If you have four teams, put two teams on each side.) The leader makes statements like these-

* If you are wearing shoes ...

* If you were ever a cheerleader ...

* If you have brown hair ...

* If you had a big zit in the last week ...

If the question is true of the student, he must move down the row. (For example, the team sitting in the chairs with the aisle on their right will move to the right on each turn.) Students move one spot for each question that is true for them. If someone is sitting where a student moves, she sits on that person's lap or squeezes onto the same chair. The first team to get all of its members on one side wins. Amy Cole

Telephone Pictionary

You need two teams of at least 15 people each; fewer are okay, but this minimum number is best. Line up 10 students from each team and put the rest in a group across the room. Whisper a sentence or statement to the first person in line. That student whispers it to the next person in line and so on, just like a normal game of Telephone. When the last person in line has heard the statement, he runs across the room to the rest of his group and starts drawing images and pictures to get the group to say the statement he heard. (Players can't use letters or numbers in their drawings.)

VARIATION-Draw a fairly simple picture and show it to the last person in line. Then, as in Telephone, that person uses his finger to draw the picture on the back of the person in front of him, and that person draws what she felt on the back of the person in front of her, and so on until it gets to the first person in line. Then the first person in line draws what he felt on a piece of paper, intending that it is what the original picture was. The closest drawing wins. Amy Cole

By the Way

You can do this activity anytime and anywhere. Have everyone sit in a circle. Go around the circle and have each person say her name and add, "by the way" plus a four-word phrase that describes something about them. For example, "My name is Pat and by the way my cat is fat." As they move around the circle, each person must repeat what all of the previous people said so that they get to know each other better. This game is really funny because the students get really creative about what they say and how they say it. Heath Kumnick

Mystery Punch

In this fun mixer (Get it? Mixer?), students work in small groups, create, and laugh a lot.

You need a variety of mixing supplies: fruit juices, chocolate syrup, fruits, soda-the more creative the better. If you avoid things like pickle juice and sour milk, you can use these drinks with your supper. Be creative without being disgusting. The Aztecs had a beverage called Chocal. The closest thing to recreating it today would be chicken broth, cocoa, and Tabasco sauce. (Don't make that face; it's pretty good!)

Tell the groups to create their own commercial beverage. They can name it and come up with a slogan. After a given time limit, have the groups share what they've come up with. Have lots of Dixie Cups so that everyone can try all of the drinks. Give prizes for Best Name, Worst Looking, and Best Tasting.

NOTE-This game also works with pizza! Becky Carlson

Silly Putty Body of Christ

This is an object lesson that emphasizes the importance of being part of a group-the body of Christ (unity building, giving, and receiving, 1 Corinthians 12:12-26). First, you need Silly Putty or Play-Doh for everyone in the group. The Silly Putty should be different colors. Youth love to play with Silly Putty, and they like to get things free! Have each one mold the Silly Putty into a symbol of who they are. Give them a chance to share what they made and how it represents who they are. After each person shares, explain that it is nice to be recognized as individuals and each individual helps make up the group; but to become part of a group, you have to give of yourself.

Let them have a reflective opportunity to give back to the group in a symbolic way by giving back the Silly Putty. As the youth give back the Silly Putty, clump it all together in a big ball. DO NOT MIX IT TOGETHER. The result is one big, colorful ball of Silly Putty. The big ball represents the members of the group, each one bringing something unique to the group to create something beautiful. Then comes the fun part-point out that as we give of ourselves, we also receive. Give a piece of the big ball to everyone who gave his Silly Putty. Let students know they have bit of everyone in their new piece of Silly Putty. They each take home a piece of the group!

NOTE-

You can't take yourself out of the group once you've "given" yourself. If you try, your Silly Putty sticks to the others.

Once each person has her piece, it is beautiful to see all the different colors. But if you keep kneading the putty, it soon becomes one new, not-so-beautiful color. Jeanne Wong

Stick-on Name Badges

Prepare in advance as many stick-on name badges as you will have participants. Use names from themes such as nursery-rhyme characters, children's story characters, TV characters, TV and/or movie celebrities, or professional athletes. As students arrive, place a badge on each person's back and tell them the theme. Each person must figure out who she is by introducing herself to another member of the group and asking only one yes-or-no question. When people figure out who they are, they move their name badges to the front; but they remain in the game to answer questions of those still trying. Don Mullins

Name Crowd Breaker

Here's a quick get-to-know-the-names game. Start by sitting on the floor in a circle. Go around the circle with each person saying his name three times. The group responds each time with, "Who?" The speaker usually gets louder each time but given the opportunity to be creative, students have a lot of fun with this. Some students say their name slower or quieter or weirder each time. A sample would go like this: The first person introduces himself in a normal tone of voice, "Mike." The group responds with, "Who?" Mike repeats a little louder, "MIKE!" The group asks again, "Who?" This time Mike yells at the top of his voice, "MIKE!" And then the group says, "Ohhhh, Mike." Then it's the next person's turn. Tim Bilezikian

The Think-like-Me Game

Make a sheet of goofy sentences, and pass them out to your group. Give students 30 seconds to fill in the blanks. When the leader says, "GO!" students start looking for other students who wrote the same answer. When they match, they sign one another's paper. Here are some ideas to get you started.

* Gabe's dog is so big, instead of a stick he fetches a ______________________

* It's going to be so cold on the camping trip next month that Laura is going to get frost on her ______________________

* Every time I look at whipped cream I think of ______________________

* You may not believe in reincarnation but in a past life (youth director) was ______________________

* Very few people appreciate a dessert topping made entirely out of _____________________

* "This fruit juice tastes funny," said Bill, "It's like they squeezed a _____________________ to get it." Everett Bracken

Capital Letter

Before the meeting, write one capital letter on as many stick-on name badges as there are participants. Place a badge on the back of each person in the group, and give each player a pencil and piece of paper. Each person must figure out what letter is on his back by introducing himself and saying a five-letter word. The other person indicates whether or not the word contains the letter on the first person's back. By keeping track of the words that do and do not contain the letter, a person can eventually figure out the letter that is on his back. When people figure out their letters, they move their badges to the front, but remain in the game to answer questions from those still trying to figure out what their letters are. Don Mullins

Who Are U 2?

Have the students pair up with someone they don't know or someone they feel is very different from them. Each pair must find five things they have in common and write these down on a sheet of paper. When all of the groups finish, an adult leader reads the lists, and the group must decide which pair the sheet belongs to. (NOTE-The pair that knows their list is being read should try to throw off the rest of the group by guessing too. If they just sit there and smile it's sort of a giveaway.) Christy Dixon

Seeking My Fortune

Here's a great mixer for small groups. Buy a box of fortune cookies, and replace the fortunes with slips of paper that contain the spiritual gifts Paul writes about in Romans 12:4-8. (Put one gift on each slip.) Pass these out to your group. Then have each student break open a cookie and read the gift on the slip. Have students explain to the group how this gift applies to them or how they can use this in everyday life. After the students read their slips, let them trade their slips for ones they feel are closer to what they think their gifts really are. Go around the circle and ask them to explain why they traded.

VARIATION-if you have some comic-book fans in your group, try this game after watching a clip from the movie X-Men. What are your students' powers?

VARIATION-You can also put the slips into balloons and blow them up. Students pop a balloon to reveal their gifts. Talk about how God wants us to explode with the gifts we are given and not just slowly let the air out. Steve Case

GUMP-isms

Play the clip from Forrest Gump where Tom Hanks says, "My momma said life is like a box of chocolates ..." Have your group come up with as many Gump-isms as they can. Give a box of chocolates to the best one or the most bizarre. Steve Case

More in Common than a Cold

This game works best in large groups. Have students introduce themselves to someone in the crowd. Next, have them find something they have in common in one of these five categories: favorite food, favorite band, favorite TV show, favorite movie, and favorite sport. When they find someone they have a match with, they must stay together, find another pair, introduce themselves, and find a way to link up with the other two. Those four then find another group of four and so on and so on. Dave Fox

The Reason for Extinction

You need paper, crayons, markers or pens to draw and color with, and a list of fake animal names and attributes.

Divide the students into a few teams, and distribute the paper and drawing implements. Read the name of a fake animal and a couple of its attributes, (it can fly, or swim, it eats meat, it eats berries, has claws, or how big it is). Do this with each team. Then give them about five or six minutes to draw the animal as a team. Have students take turns as the official artist within each team, and play until everyone has a chance to add to the drawing. Then have sponsors judge each picture using categories such as most imaginative, most accurate, and best artwork. Brian Stegner

Whozat?

Before the game find out one fact about each student. Print these facts on a sheet of paper, then make copies and pass them out. Turn the students loose and have them find out which student belongs with what fact.

Here are some ideas for facts: favorite song; what father does for a living; what mother does for a living; favorite pizza topping; and poster on bedroom wall. Joel Lusz

Ten Questions

First have students team up with someone they know well or fairly well. Next, ask each team of two to team up with another pair that they don't know well or at all. Now each group should have four people in it.

Beginning with the person in each group who has the most money in their pocket, play 10 Questions, a modified form of the game 20 Questions. (Remember, in this game players can only ask yes or no questions!)

The first player's topic is-The person (living or dead) I would most like to have lunch with.

After two minutes call Time and ask each group to question player #2 (the person to the left of player #1). Player #2's category is-The first thing I would wish for if I had Aladdin's lamp (excluding more wishes or money).

Continue play until each group member has been questioned about her category. Player #3's category is-The historic event I would most like to witness (if I had a time machine).

Player #4's category is-An event in my own life I would like to relive. Len Woods

End-of-School Blowout

This crazy discussion mixer gives small to medium-sized groups a chance to have fun and get better acquainted. It takes about 10 minutes. Use this mixer on or near the last day of school.

Ask everyone to pair up, and then give each pair a copy of the sheet on page 18. It is self-explanatory.

NOTE-for older groups, change the last statement to "make predictions about what you'll all be doing five years from now."

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