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Games 1 to 20
   Last updated: 28.06.02
1. Howdy Howdy
Participants stand in a circle. One person walks around the outside of the circle and taps someone on the shoulder. That person walks the opposite way around the circle, until the two people meet. They greet each other three times by name, in their own language. The two people then race back, continuing in opposite directions around the circle, to take the empty place. Whoever loses walks around the outside of the circle again and the game continues until everyone has had a turn.

2. Juggling ball game
Everyone stands in a close circle. (If the group is very large, it may be necessary to split the group into two circles.) The facilitator starts by throwing the ball to someone in the circle, saying their name as they throw it. Continue catching and throwing the ball establishing a pattern for the group. (Each person must remember who they receive the ball from and who they have thrown it to.) Once everyone has received the ball and a pattern is established, introduce one or two more balls, so that there are always several balls being thrown at the same time, following the set pattern.

3. Names and adjectives
Participants think of an adjective to describe how they are feeling or how they are. The adjective must start with the same letter as their name, for instance, “I’m Henri and I’m happy”. Or, “I’m Arun and I’m amazing.” As they say this, they can also mime an action that describes the adjective.

4. Three truths and a lie
Everyone writes their name, along with four pieces of information about themselves on a large sheet of paper. For example, ‘Alfonse likes singing, loves football, has five wives and loves PRA’. Participants then circulate with their sheets of paper. They meet in pairs, show their paper to each other, and try to guess which of the ‘facts’ is a lie.

5. Connecting eyes
Participants stand in a circle. Each person makes eye contact with another person across the circle. The two walk across the circle and exchange positions, while maintaining eye contact. Many pairs can exchange at the same time, and the group should try to make sure that everyone in the circle is included in the exchange. Begin by trying this in silence and then exchange greetings in the middle of the circle.

6. Match the cards
The facilitator chooses a number of well-known phrases, and writes half of each phrase on a piece of paper or card. For example, they write ‘Happy’ on one piece of paper and ‘Birthday’ on another. (The number of pieces of paper should match the number of participants in the group.) The folded pieces of paper are put into a hat. Each participant takes a piece of paper from the hat and tries to find the member of the group with the matching half of the phrase.

7. Space on my right
Participants are seated in a circle. The facilitator arranges for the space on their right to remain empty. They then ask a member of the group to come and sit in the empty space; for example, “I would like Lili to come and sit on my right”. Lili moves and there is now a space on the right of another participant. The participant who is sitting next to the empty space calls the name of someone different to sit on his or her right. Continue until the entire group has moved once.

8. What we have in common
The facilitator calls out a characteristic of people in the group, such as ‘having children’. All those who have children should move to one corner of the room. As the facilitator calls out more characteristics, such as ‘likes football’, people with the characteristic move to the indicated space.

9. Who is the leader?
Participants sit in a circle. One person volunteers to leave the room. After they leave, the rest of the group chooses a ‘leader’. The leader must perform a series of actions, such as clapping, tapping a foot, etc, that are copied by the whole group. The volunteer comes back into the room, stands in the middle and tries to guess who is leading the actions. The group protects the leader by not looking at him/her. The leader must change the actions at regular intervals, without getting caught. When the volunteer spots the leader, they join the circle, and the person who was the leader leaves the room to allow the group to choose a new leader.

10. Who are you?
Ask for a volunteer to leave the room. While the volunteer is away, the rest of the participants decide on an occupation for him/her, such as a driver, or a fisherman. When the volunteer returns, the rest of the participants mime activities. The volunteer must guess the occupation that has been chosen for him/her from the activities that are mimed.

11. What kind of animal?
Ask participants to divide into pairs and to form a circle. Put enough chairs in the circle so that all but one pair has seats. Each pair secretly decides what type of animal they are. The two participants without chairs are the elephants. They walk around the circle calling the names of different animals. Whenever they guess correctly, the animals named have to stand up and walk behind the elephants, walking in mime. This continues until the elephants can guess no more. Then they call “Lions!” and all pairs run for seats. The pair left without chairs become the elephants for the next round.

12. Killer wink
Before the game starts, ask someone to be the ‘the killer’ and ask them to keep their identity a secret. Explain that one person among the group is the killer and they can kill people by winking at them. Everyone then walks around the room in different directions, keeping eye contact with everyone they pass. If the killer winks at you, you have to play dead. Everyone has to try and guess who the killer is.

13. The sun shines on...
Participants sit or stand in a tight circle with one person in the middle. The person in the middle shouts out “the sun shines on...” and names a colour or articles of clothing that some in the group possess. For example, “the sun shines on all those wearing blue” or “the sun shines on all those wearing socks” or “the sun shines on all those with brown eyes”. All the participants who have that attribute must change places with one another. The person in the middle tries to take one of their places as they move, so that there is another person left in the middle without a place. The new person in the middle shouts out “the sun shines on...” and names a different colour or type of clothing.

14. COCONUT
The facilitator shows the group how to spell out C-O-C-O-N-U-T by using full movements of the arms and the body. All participants then try this together.

15. Body writing
Ask participants to write their name in the air with a part of their body. They may choose to use an elbow, for example, or a leg. Continue in this way, until everyone has written his or her name with several body parts.

16. Names in the air
Ask participants to write their name in the air first with their right hand, then their left hand. Finally, ask them to write their name in the air with both hands at the same time.

17. Family members
Prepare cards with family names. You can use different types of professions, such as Mother Farmer, Father Farmer, Sister Farmer and Brother Farmer. Or you could use names of different animals or fruits. Each family should have four or five in it. Give each person one of the cards and ask everyone to walk around the room. Explain that when you call out, “family reunion”, everyone should try to form a ‘family group’ as quickly as possible.

18. Who am I?
Pin the name of a different famous person to each participant’s back, so that they cannot see it. Then ask participants to walk around the room, asking each other questions about the identity of their famous person. The questions can only be answered by “yes” or “no”. The game continues until everyone has figured out who they are.

19. as and bs
Ask everyone to choose silently someone in the room that is their ‘A’ person and another person who is their ‘B’ person. There are no particular criteria on which to base their choices – selections are entirely up to individuals. Once everyone has made their choices, tell them to get as close to their respective ‘A’ person as possible, while getting as far away from their ‘B’ person. People can move quickly but should not grab or hold anyone. After a few minutes, participants stop and reverse the process, getting close to their ‘B’ persons and avoiding their ‘A’ persons.

20. Group statues
Ask the group to move around the room, loosely swinging their arms and gently relaxing their heads and necks. After a short while, shout out a word. The group must form themselves into statues that describe the word. For example, the facilitator shouts “peace”. All the participants have to instantly adopt, without talking, poses that show what ‘peace’ means to them. Repeat the exercise several times.

Things to consider when using Energisers
  • Try to use energisers frequently during a workshop or meeting, whenever people look sleepy or tired or to create a natural break between activities.

  • Try to choose games that are appropriate for the local context, for example, thinking carefully about games that involve touch, particularly of different body parts.

  • Try to select games in which everyone can participate and be sensitive to the needs and circumstances of the group. For example, some of these games may exclude people with disabilites, such as difficulty walking or hearing, or people with different levels of comfort with literacy.

  • Try to ensure the safety of the group, particularly with games that involve running. For example, try to make sure that there is enough space and that the floor is clear.

  • Try not to use only competitive games but also include ones that encourage team building.

  • Try to avoid energisers going on for too long. Keep them short and move on to the next planned activity when everyone has had a chance to move about and wake up!


Source: 100 ways to energise groups
This is an extract from 100 ways to energise groups: Games to use in workshops, meetings and the community, published by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in 2002.

To view the whole report follow this link.

To download, complete with graphics, in pdf format (which requires Adobe Acrobat software to read it) follow this link (file size 618kb). This report is also available in French (file size 652kb) and in Spanish (file size 638kb).