This boisterous and brain-teasing activity helps the leader assess the comfort zone of the group, while

also being
a challenging and fun energizer.

Instructions:

Ask participants to find a partner and face each other.

This energizer is done in up to four rounds, depending on time:

Round 1: Participants count to three by taking turns. Partner A says ‘1’, Partner B says ‘2’, Partner A says ‘3’,
Partner B says ‘1’, and so on. Have them repeat this pattern for several seconds.

Round 2: Participants now count to three by exchanging the ‘1’ for a CLAP. This gets a bit harder!

Round 3: Participants now count to three by using a CLAP for ‘1’ and a SNAP for ‘2’. This gets more challenging
and requires even more focus.

Round 4: Participants now count to three by using CLAP for ‘1’, SNAP for ‘2’ and STOMP their foot for ‘3’. You will
notice people slowing down for deliberate physical movements and thoughts, while having fun!

I Like People

Adults do like to have fun, as long as they aren’t made to feel or look stupid. This is a brilliant game for helping
them think quickly and speak more fluent English (rather than trying to translate from their native tongue).

1. Students sit on chairs in a circle, leaving a space in the circle for the teacher to stand.

2. First, they’re asked to listen to statements that the teacher makes and stand if it applies to them, such as: “I like
people who are wearing black shoes,” “I like people who have long hair,” etc.

3. Next, the teacher asks standing students to change places with someone else who’s standing.

4. Now it becomes a game. The teacher makes a statement, students referred to must stand and quickly swap
places. When the students move around, the teacher quickly sits in someone’s spot, forcing them to become the
teacher.

5. The students quickly get into the swing of this game. Generally they’ll quickly notice a “cheating” classmate
who hasn’t stood up when they should have, and they’ll also eagerly encourage a shy student who finds himself
standing in the gap with no ideas.

This game has no natural ending, so keep an eye on the mood of the students as they play. They may start to run
out of ideas, making the game lag. Quickly stand and place yourself back into the teacher position and debrief
(talk with them about how they felt about the game).

How to play the categories game

Divide the board into six squares and at the top of each square write a category heading.

Divide the class into two or three teams and have them think up team names. Give each team a blank sheet of
paper and ask them to create an answer sheet by copying the category layout on the board.

Choose a letter of the alphabet. Write it next to your table so you don’t repeat yourself later.
As quickly as possible teams must try to think of a word that fits each category and which begins with the given
letter. They should write their answers under the appropriate category on their answer sheet.

For example, if category headings include Animals and Drinks, and the letter you’ve chosen is B, teams might
write Bear and Beer in the appropriate categories. The game can be made more difficult by choosing more
challenging letters.

As soon as a team has a word for every category they should shout stop! The other team(s) must immediately
stop writing and put their pens down.

Take the answers from the first team to finish and give a point for each word that fits correctly, then collect the
answers from the other teams and award further points. If there are allegations of cheating you can always check
the teams’ answers on their answer sheets. The team with the most points at the end of x rounds is the winner.

One way to score the game is to make marks inside the category square for each correct answer. Either use a
different colour for each team or use a different symbol, e.g. I,O,X.