Introductory Exercises

Affirmation

Begin with an affirmation (said by all individually): "Blessed am I among all people to behold such a beautiful temple. In my inner mirror I see ____; with my hands, this week I ____."

The Amazing Bad Vibe Banisher

Stand in a circle. Each participant raises his/her eyebrows. Participants look around the room at each other, keeping their eyebrows raised. Each participant smiles the biggest, toothiest grin possible, while keeping their eyebrows raised. Everybody looks around the room. Laughing is encouraged, but the eyebrows and smiles must stay in place. Each participant bends from the waist and then stands back up, repeating again and again, still keeping the facial expression. Encourage participants to make sounds, whatever sounds come out.

Blindfolded

For all ages. This game challenges participants to recognize one another using senses other than sight. One player is blindfolded while the rest of the group circles around him, trying to get the blindfolded person’s attention. If the blindfolded person tags another player, that player must stay still while the blindfolded person tries to guess their identity. If the tagged player is correctly identified, he takes the blindfold; if the blindfolded player guesses incorrectly, the tagged person rejoins the other players.

Broadway Show

If I were to write the Broadway show of my life, it would be called ____, the music would be ____, and I would share the story of how ____.

Cross-Generational Warm-Up

We go around a circle and teach the rest of the group a gesture, phrase, or word of our generation.

Everybody Who...

For all age groups, but younger would probably find it more fun. It helps everyone in the group find similarities with each other, in a playful and non-confrontational way. Everybody but one person sits in a circle; the person starting off the game stands in the middle. The person in the middle says, "Anybody who...(fill in the blank)." For example, "Anybody who loves chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream." Or, "Anybody who has brown eyes." The thing that they say has to be true of them and then anybody for whom that is also true would have to move chairs, allowing the person in the middle to sit down, the room to rearrange, and a new person to be "it." It has a very playful musical chairs feel. In more advanced stages of the game, the leader can impose other levels to the game. For instance, "This time when you switch chairs you have to walk like a cheerleader/policeman/snob/etc."

Fill in the Blank

The leader says a sentence such as "My life has never been the same since ____" and everyone in the circle has to repeat the sentence in turn, filling in the blank. Then another sentence is given, like, "You wouldn't know this just by looking at me, but___." In between sentences, or "rounds," everyone must get up and sit in a different place in the circle.

The Human Scavenger Hunt

(print out on a sheet of paper, like a worksheet)

Find someone who...

Has the same astrological sign as you
Has the same number of siblings as you
Is the oldest child in their family
Believes in reincarnation
Likes the same type of music as you
Has given someone else a wedgie
Can name the first five United States Presidents
Will admit to sorta liking the Back Street Boys
Is a vegetarian
Has never been on a roller coaster
Can touch his/her tongue to his/her nose
Has seen "Sensation" at the Brooklyn Museum of Art

Then everyone needs to talk to everyone else to fill out their sheet.

I Feel...

For all ages. This is an exercise that is done at the opening and closing of the session. Everybody comes together in a circle and goes around saying how the feel, but very condensed, in one sentence. "I feel excited." Or, "I feel hungry and sad," and so forth. This allows people to get used to opening up to one another in a very simple way. It also allows some insight into where people are emotionally when they begin the exercises and where they finish the session. See “I Feel Safe” exercise in the Visual Arts section.

Inter-Generational Scavenger Hunt

We were given a list of things, such as what was popular music or clothes, to find from our generation. Then we split into groups according to generations and created skits about our generation to introduce to the group. Another activity that stemmed from that was two people from one generation teaching two people from another generation to be a part of their generation and vice versa.

Kiss and Tell

This requires Hershey’s Kisses, some that are dark chocolate and others that are milk chocolate.

Stand in a circle. Each participant takes one dark chocolate kiss and one milk chocolate kiss, but does not eat them yet. The dark chocolate kiss represents one challenge from the day or week, and the milk chocolate kiss represents one gift, blessing, or positive thing from the day or week. Each participant tells their challenge and their blessing, and then eats their kisses!

Mapping

This exercise is good for any group, especially those sharing particular characteristics, e.g., we have used it with deaf teenagers. We set up a map of the United States and they go to where they were born. This promotes awareness and shows the participants that there are people with similar circumstances all over.

Name and Feeling

One at a time, sitting in a circle, everyone goes around and says his or her name and how they are feeling at that precise moment. All feelings are right and should not be commented on by the leader or anyone else. To make the exercise more interactive, turn its focus to a name memory game: everyone says their own name, how they feel, and repeats everyone else's names and feelings.

Names

Stand in a circle. Each participant says his/her name and (a) sings a few lines of a song from childhood, (b) strikes a pose inspired by why they joined the group, or (c) tells one fact that nobody in the group knows about him/herself. Try to design the introduction to indirectly weave into the rest of the work you’re trying to generate that day.

One Truth, One Lie, One Wish

One person begins by stating his/her name and then states one truth, one lie, and one wish about him/herself. The other members of the group try to guess which is which.