Community-Building Games for Kids

Twenty Questions

• This game can be played with any number of kids, but it's best used with small groups of perhaps four or five. Players take turns thinking of something to be. This can be a famous person such as a sportsman or pop singer, or it might be an animal, a plant or even an everyday object such as a pen or a computer. One child goes first, with all of the other players asking him questions, one at a time, to try and figure out what he's decided to be. Players might ask, "Are you alive?" or "Are you on television?" If the other players haven't figured it out after they've asked 20 questions, they are deemed to have lost the game, and the first child gets to think of something else to be. Otherwise, the player who correctly guesses takes his turn next.

Story Narration

• The idea of this story game is to get everyone interacting and sharing ideas as part of one big community. All players sit in a circle, and one member, possibly an adult, begins the game by describing the first part---just a few sentences or so--- of a story. The story should be fairly simple but also imaginative to inspire others. The child sitting next to the first storyteller then continues the story, keeping to the plot of the initial part but also adding her own narration to keep the story going. The story continues to be passed around the circle until every child has contributed to it.

  Alternatively, as the Team Building Activities website suggests, you can provide each player with a picture on a card before you begin. On her turn, the child turns over the picture and must theme her part of the story based on whatever is on the card.

Two Truths

• This game is useful for introducing kids to each other in a social situation. The game is played in a small circle, typically of six to 10 people, as described by the Group Games website. Before play, each child thinks of three statements about himself, two of which must be true while the other must be false. During the game, play goes around the circle, and in turn each player says aloud his three statements. The other players then have a few minutes to discuss the three statements as a group before voting on which statement they collectively think is a lie. The game thus allows players to get to know each other while improving their group discussion skills.