Hobbies And Interests
First Impressions
Teens gain positive impressions of each other from the start with this ice breaker game described on the Group Games website. There are no winners or losers, and it makes participants smile. Give everyone in the group a large sheet of paper and get them to write their name at the top of it, then ask someone to help tape it on their back. Give everyone a pen. People should then go around the room introducing themselves to someone else. Each couple should spend no more than two minutes talking together before moving on. At the end of each chat, people should write an adjective on their new friend's sheet of paper describing their first impression of them. These should be positive and never rude. After 10 minutes, everyone should have at least five adjectives. People should then pair up and take turns to introduce each other to the group using the words on their partner's sheet of paper.
Memory Game
Divide the teens into pairs and give each duo 10 minutes to talk to each other. Tell them at the start they have to remember at least 10 interesting facts about one another. The group should then sit in a circle and everyone takes turns introducing their partners. Those who manage to recall 10 facts should go into a memory final with the person who can recount the most interesting and detailed story about his partner declared the winner.
Bingo
Write a selection of achievements and interesting facts that could relate to a person on a sheet of paper. This should include a mix of more common states such as "has two brothers" or "is on the honor roll" and more unusual ones such as "has appeared on television" or "is graduating early." Have the same number of facts as there are teens in the group. Copy sufficient sheets and give one to each teen. Each person should then go and talk to other people, trying to find someone who matches each of the facts on their sheet. When they do, they should write that person's name beside the fact. Each person's name can only be used once on each sheet. The winner is the first person who has found the most matches for their facts at the end of a set time.
Pass the Parcel
Turn the party favorite "Pass the Parcel" into a getting to know you game for teens with a simple adaptation. Wrap a prize with many layers of paper as in the original version of the game, but write a question on each piece of wrapping paper. The question should reveal an interesting fact about the person answering it such as their biggest hero, favorite movie, country they would most like to visit or their favorite subject in school. The parcel should be passed around the group to music and whoever is holding the parcel when the music stops has to unwrap a layer of paper and answer the question on it.