Sensory Activities on Getting to Know You

Getting to Know Your Graph

• Young children will enjoy making a graph that will serve as a visual representation of the preferences, likes and dislikes of their fellow classmates. Start with a simple grid, appropriately sized for the number of students in the class. Along the top, create a preset list of questions; for simplicity, these can be represented by icons. Appropriate questions include things like, "Do you have a dog?", "Do you have a cat?" and "Do you prefer cake or pie?" Have each student ask each of their classmates the questions, and for each answer, have the students color in one square in the appropriate column. The result with be a graph representing the tastes of the classroom.

Getting to Know You Collage

• In a large group, have the participants pair up. Give each participant a piece of paper or cardstock and art materials like colored pencils, markers, old magazines, and the like. For the most cohesive project, work from a preset list of 10-15 questions; these can be personalized ("Where were you born?"), relating to the subject of the class (like, "Who is your favorite author?" for a college literature class), or professional ("What has been your greatest business accomplishment?"). Using the collage materials, have each student make a visual representation of their partner. Hang the created artwork in a grid on the wall for an interesting statement on the makeup of the class.

Getting to Know Your Voice

• For an interesting twist on same-old, same-old "getting to know you" games, have the group guess who answered questions which way while blindfolded. For a smaller group, blindfold everyone. In a larger group, you may want to blindfold one person at a time; have that person ask a "getting to know you" question, then guess, based on voice or answer, who answered how. For extra fun, have participants answer in song, either using an appropriate line from a song, or by setting their answer to melody.

Getting to Know Your Handshake

• Touch can be a difficult sense to work appropriately into a "getting to know you" exercise. One way to do so is through handshakes. Let everyone have the chance to take a good look at the others' hands; then have participants close their eyes, or blindfold them. Have everyone stand in a line -- without looking! Choose someone on one end to go first; have them go down the line, shaking everyone's hands. Then give everyone the chance to guess whose hand they were shaking. Do this until everyone has gone.