Hobbies And Interests
Name Games
Learning names is an important step toward group cohesion, and there are numerous name games your group can play to make introductions more interesting. Stand in a circle and have everyone take turns saying his name, plus an alliterative adjective; kids will want to add a gesture or motion too. The goal is for each group member to memorize everyone else's name and adjective. Another game involves writing the names of famous people on name tags and sticking one to each person's back without letting the wearer read it. Then mingle and have each person try to guess what famous name is on their back.
Who's the Leader?
Send one person out of the room while everyone else decides on a leader and a movement, such as swinging arms. Have everyone stand in a circle except the person who was out of the room---let her stand in the center of the circle. Everyone in the circle begins swinging their arms until the leader chooses a different motion and the rest of the group follows. The object is for the person in the center to guess which person in the circle is cuing the others. Change the movement often to give the guesser plenty of chances to observe following.
Talk-show Interview
To make the usual getting-to-know-you questions more exciting, pretend to be a talk-show host interviewing guests. Ask your "celebrities" about their recent projects so they can discuss hobbies, or ask about their early life so they can tell you where they grew up or about their families. Let other group members take turns being the host and asking questions they make up as they go along. This game works best with smaller groups of people so the interviews can be more extensive. Allow questions from "the fans" in the audience, too.
People Bingo
Before your gathering, make a grid with a phrase inside each space, such as "someone wearing contacts" and "someone who owns more than two pets." Give each person a copy of this sheet; make copies of several different sheets if there are a lot of participants. Have the group mingle and write a person's name in a square each time a match is found. Use each person's name only once to encourage more mingling. The first person to fill up their sheet wins; let her read all of the phrases and corresponding people she found.