Complete The Sentence - Go around the circle telling a story, each person contributing one word. For example: (the 5 people present are #s 1-5):

1-There 2-Once 3-Was 4-A 5-Girl 1-Who ...

One up, One down - Send someone out, and explain the game: "One up, one down refers to the positions of your hands. You go around the circle saying either 1)ONE UP ONE DOWN, or 2)TWO UP, or 3)TWO DOWN. For example, if one is on the floor, and one is in you hair, on your turn you'd say "ONE UP, ONE DOWN". ( Ayelet Kleidermacher - Yeladim BBG - 4/1/99)

The Dream Game - Send one person out for a second while you explain the game to everyone else: When the person returns, you tell her that you had a dream last night and she has to find out what it was about through yes or no questions. You base your answer to any question that is asked by the last word of the question - if it ends with a vowel, your answer is yes, and if it does not end with a vowel, its no (see minutes on the first page for an example!). ( Lindsey Goodman - Empire BBYO - 4/1/99)

The Experiment - Send someone out of the room and conduct an experiment to test how positivve reinforcement always works! While they go out pick a task that you wish the person to do (EX - to open a window, shut a door, etc.). Bring the person back in and just tell her that you want her to do something and to walk around ... don't say anything else. Whenever she approaches the window or the door (or whatever you choose), have everyone clap. When she passes it, let the clapping end. NO TALKING is allowed. It's fun, and it's cool. Sooner or later (hopefully sooner than later) she'll catch on and do what you want her to do. (Karen Somekh - Kallah BBG, Regional N'siah 98-99 - 4/1/99)

Same Letter - With each letter of the alphabet try to come up with a male name, female name, food, and place. (ex. A my name is Alfred, my wife's name is Angela, we grow apples in Atlanta.) (BBG International Ideas Page - 3/30/99)

Killer - Walk around and shake hands. When the killer shakes your hand, you must fall to the ground and "die" others must guess who the killer is. (The killer adds a tickle when shaking hands). (BBG International Ideas Page - 3/30/99)

Life Saver Relay - Divide group into two teams. Give everyone a toothpick to hold between their teeth. Place a life saver on the toothpick of the first peron on each side. The game begins. The life saver is passed from person to person by lining up the toothpicks so that the life saver slides onto the next person's toothpick. No one can use their hands. Should a lifesaver be dropped, that team begins again with the first person. The first team to relay a lifesaver to the end of the line is the winner. (BBG International Ideas Page - 3/30/99)

Fruit Basket Turn Over - Seat players in a circle. One person stands in the center. Each player is given the name of a fruit. Tthe person in the middle calls out the name of two fruits. The two people must quickly change seats. The person in the middle also tries to reach one of the seats. The one left standing then calls the name of two other fruits. He or she may also call "fruit basket turnover" and everyone must change seats. (BBG International Ideas Page - 3/30/99)

Fast Lemon - This game is four players or more. First divide the group into two or more equal lines. Then give the leader of each line a full length pencil and a full-grown lemon. As the teams line up single file, mark a starting line and finish line on the floor (about 20 feet away at most). The object is to push the lemon with the pencil along the floor in a straight line - if you can. Each player must push it to the finish line and back to the next teammate in line. The team to finish first wins. What you discover is that the lemon always keeps rolling, despite a slight wobble. You'll have trouble keeping it in your lane so be sure the furniture is pushed back. (BBG International Ideas Page - 3/30/99)

Hug Tag - This is a cooperative version of "regular" tag. You should designate a few people to be "freezers". Then tell everyone else to scatter in all directions. The freezers count to ten, and then take off after the runners. Once they tag a runner that person becomes one of the freezers. A player is safe from being tagged only when he or she is hugging another player. (BBG International Ideas Page - 3/30/99)

Two True One False - Go around the group and everyone has to say two true statements about themselves and one false. The rest of the group has to guess which one is false. You may be surprised. You can learn some crazy things about each other! (BBG International Ideas Page - 3/30/99)

Name Game - Sit in a circle. one person starts by using an adjective starting with the same letter as their first name, followed by their first name (i.e. Clever Claire, Kind Karen). The next person and following has to repeat the first person's adjective and name and then add their own. it goes arounf the circle and the last person has to repeat all other names in order and end with their own. (BBG International Ideas Page - 3/30/99)

Pairs Game - Make up pairs or group of people that go together (Mickey Mouse/Minnie Mouse, Barbie/Ken) You give each person a card with one of the group or pairs on it. The pairs or groups must find their match. When they find each other, they must discuss the best program they have been to and the qualities that made it a good program. Then they turn the card over, find heir new pair and then go through the same process of the worst BBYO program ever attended and the qualities of a bad program.(BBG International Ideas Page - 3/30/99)

Duck Duck Goose - All participants sit in a circle. The person "ducking" says a personal characteristic about themselves as they go around the cirlce. The rest of activity works the same as Duck, Duck, Goose. (BBG International Ideas Page - 3/30/99)

Shoe Secrets - An awesome bonding activity, especially at brotherhood and sisterhood programs! Everyone takes off one shoe and puts it in the middle of the circle. Each person receives several tiny slips of paper and a pen. The ice breaker starts when each person takes one show from the middle. When you get a shoe, you have to look around the circle to see who's shoe it is. Then, each person writes a positive message to the person whose shoe it is and folds the paper, placing it in the shoe and putting the shoe in the middle. The game continues until everyone has used up their papers without taking any shoe more than once. At the end of the game, everyone reclaims their shoe and finds tons of positive messages about themselves!

Variations on the game: At the end, have everyone make a collage using the messages about them and words that describe them (cut them out of old magazines). By the end of the program, each person will have something that they can keep that will cheer them up whenever they look at it! (1/18/99)

Variations on the game: Change the rules! For example, Sonny Boy's words must have the letter "E", Sonny Boy's words must end in "Y", etc. (1/16/99)

Mindy: "Do you find me attractive?"
Josh: "Yes, I find you attractive."
(Across the circle ... )
Sally: "If you had to choose one person in this circle that you would not want to run into in a dark alley, who would it be?"
Jason: "Definately Mark, because he's big and scary!"
(After everyone has switched ... )
Sally: "If you had to choose one person in this circle that you would not want to run into in a dark alley, who would it be?"
Josh: "Yes, I find you attractive."
(Across the circle ... )
Mindy: "Do you find me attractive?"
Jason: "Definately Mark, because he's big and scary!"

Variations on this game: Put funny questions on slips of paper so that everyone must ask a certain question ("If you could sleep with any stuffed animal, which one would it be and why?", "What is your favorite kind of cheese?"). (1/16/99)

Variations on this game: Have the group choose a funny story that actually happened to someone in the group. When the person outside comes back in, each person tells the story in their own way and the person must guess who it really happened to. (1/16/99)

The Birthday Line - In a group of people everyone must line up in order of their date of birth from January to December. This is best done with a medium sized group. This program is best when done silently - the participants can't say a word while trying to arrange themselves by birth date!!!! Now that's FUN!!!!!! (Cori Daniels-Kleiner Advisor to Rainbow BBG 1/15/99)

"The Brian Walker" / "Guess Who It Is" Program - Get a small box. Paste a mirror in it. Bring one member up to the front of the room at a time and have them talk about the person they see in the box. They can not tell the group who they see. (Alan Fogel Asst Director-SIA)

Trust "Walk in the World of Darkness" - This program is in the office cabinets. You blindfold a person, and have a second person walk them in and around your meeting place. This is best done in warmer weather. Then the twqo people switch places. Afterwards (this is key to this program), all the participants tell how it felt to be blind; did they trust the other person; this can be a good 45 minute program. (Alan Fogel Asst Director -SIA)

"Guess Who" - Have a pad of (Those yellow sticky things you write on), and put names of different famous people, animals (Mr ED) and characters on them. Then put them on your members backs. They have to go around the room, and by using only questions that can be answered "yes" or "no", figure out who they are. You can also do one person at a time, and he/she has to figure who they are. (Alan Fogel Asst Director - SIA)

Telephone - The game we all played as a kid! First kid comes up with one or two long sentences. He/she whispers it to the second person (only once)!!!.. until u go thru the whole chapter. The message always gets messed up., This is good to do 3x, then the kids get bored. (Alan Fogel Asst Director - SIA)

"Psychiatrist" aka "Hippopotamus" - How To - This game is a lot of fun for everyone involved. Pick someone who you know can handle the pressure of trying to figure out the rules of the game without cracking or giving up. (Alan Fogel Asst Director - SIA)

Toilet Paper - This icebreaker is good for a group of people who don't know much about each other (MITs or AITs for example). The leader starts by telling a short story. He/she says that the group is going on a journey and they won't have toilet paper. He/she warns the group that they have to take enough toilet paper for the trip but that he/she can't say how long the trip will be. The leader takes several sheets of toilet paper and passes the roll around the circle, giving one piece of information about themselves for each sheet they have taken.

Variations on the game: Use M&Ms or Starburst for a yummier version of the game. Or, for an MBA-type program, use veggies or calorie-free snack foods.

Examples: Green M&Ms=your secret crush, Yellow M&MS=what you want to be doing in 10 years, Red M&Ms=your favorite subject in school, Light Brown M&Ms=your best friend. (Jess Levinson Advisor to Ruach BBG 1/16/99)

People Bingo - Create a bingo card with different traits of an average BBYO member. write different things in each box like "has green eyes" or "been to cltc before" then you go around and have to find the people who fits that box and have them sign it! When you are through with the boxes (usually like 15 boxes) you end up knowing alot of wierd facts about the other people and it is tons of fun scrambling to be the first one finished! (BBG International Ideas Page - 3/30/99)

Nuts and Bolts - Have nuts and bolts of different sizes. Give each person a nut or bolt. The participants then have who has the match. Once they have found their match, they tell each other about themselves.

Web Game - Take a ball of yarn and have the person who starts hold one end of the yarn. Then throw the yarn around the room and either say something positive about the person you are throwing to or say something about yourself when you receive the ball.

Balloon Game #1 - Have everyone put one piece of information about themselves In a balloon, then blow up the balloon and throw the balloon In the middle of the circle of participants. Then one by one pop the balloons and guess to whom that piece of information belongs.

Balloon Game #2 - Pass one balloon around the circle. Each person writes a question on that balloon. Then pass the balloon around the circle and each person has to answer three of the questions on the balloon.

Balloon Game #3 - Cut up several pieces of paper. Put a different activity on each one (such as "jump on your left foot for 45 seconds") then put the pieces of paper in each balloon. The member has to do that activity ... it's a lot of fun!!! (Alan Fogel Asst Director -SIA)

Person To Person - Have everyone get a partner. A caller calls different parts of the body. Each time the partners have to touch those parts together. When the caller calls, "person to persons the participants switch partners.

If You Love Me, Baby... Smile - Play this one In a co-ed situation. In small groups one person is selected to ask anyone in the circle the question "if you love me, baby, smile". The person who is asked must respond without smiling, "I love you baby, but I just can't smile". The question is asked a second time and then a third time. If there is no smile. If the person being asked smiles, they take the place of the asker. If they do not, then the person must ask another person or sit in the middle of the circle.

Collage - Each person Is given a magazine, tape, scissors and a piece of paper. They need to create a masterpiece that describes themselves using pictures or individual words that they found. The group then has to guess who made each masterpiece.

Human Knot - Have a small group form a circle. Every member of the circle grabs a hand of two different people who are not next to him. Once everyone's hands are intertwined, the group tries to get into one big circle without letting go of the persons whose hands they originally grabbed.

Ball Of Paper - Make a giant ball of newspaper by wrapping newspaper around a core but in between layers place a piece of candy with a written question wrapped around it. When it comes time for Icebreakers, pass around this already made ball of paper and have each person take a layer off. They have to answer the question and then they can eat the candy.

Spelling Bee - Using a group of 26 people, put one letter of the alphabet on everyone's back. Then get one person from that group to say their name and organize the group to spell their name. If they need to use a letter more than once then that person should go from one place in line to the next place.