Hyper Island has created a Holiday-toolkit to help you out in new situations, make you the queen of mingling, develop amazing teams or just enjoy a different Christmas.
If you want to try more tools like these: check out the Hyper Island Toolbox: http://toolbox.hyperisland.com/
2. Take some time to get to know a new angle of each other
and work up some energy
INGREDIENTS:
• Pencils
• Three small pieces of paper per participant (post-its are perfect)
• 3 people or more, works very well with large groups and for all ages
Time: minimum 30 min
STEP 1: QUESTIONS
Each participant writes down three questions, one per piece of paper. For example:
What’s the hardest you’ve ever laughed? What is the worst present someone ever
gave you? Who do you really look up to?
STEP 2: MINGLE
Once everyone has written their questions, you all begin to mingle. Participants meet
up one-to-one and ask each other one of the three questions they are holding.
After the exchange of question-answer has taken place you hand over the paper with
the question to the answerer. In each one-to-one meeting, participants will swap one
question each.In the next one-to one meeting participants can ask a questions they
have written themselves, or a question they got from a previous exchange.
Continue the mingle for around 15 minutes and try and get all the participants to ask
questions to each other.
3 Question Mingle
3. Play with candy and get to know your family and friends
INGREDIENTS:
• Different colored candy, enough for about 5 pieces of candy per person.
• 2 participants or more
• A pen and piece of paper
• A space that allows the group to walk around
Time: 30-60 min
STEP 1: CANDY
Give all participants five pieces of different colored candy each.
STEP 2: THE STORIES
Associate different colored candy with different types of stories. It is up to you to set
the tone of the exercise. Do you want laughter - go for more humorous definitions.
For a merry holiday feeling, go for topics relating to the holidays.
For example:
Red = a funny short story about yourself
Green = a nice Christmas memory
Yellow = a story of an adventure you have been on
Blue = a story about something you have learned this year
Orange = something else entirely
STEP 3: MINGLE
All participants walk around the room and meet 1-to-1 with each other. During each
meeting every participant chooses a candy and shares a story based on the color
(and may then eat the candy). The mingle continues until all participants have consu-
med all their candies.
Sweet Stories
4. This charade inspired game is great to play when you need to
have a laugh. It works for all ages
INGREDIENTS:
• A space that allows the group to move around
• 4 people or more
STEP 1: PAIR UP AND THINK
All participants divide into pairs. Each participant should now think about three things
that are important for him or her, in silence.
STEP 2: ACT OUT
In silence, using pantomime gestures only, the first participant act out the three im-
portant things to their partner. The partner watching tries to figure out what important
things the first person is trying to expres
STEP 3: SHARE
Each participant again, using pantomime only, shares his or her three important
things to the rest of the group. Than their partner explains to the rest of the group
what they think their partner is acting out. It is fun to hear what each member of the
pair understood the three items to be!
Silent introductions
5. This charade inspired game is great to play when you need to
have a laugh. It works for all ages
INGREDIENTS:
• A space to play
• 5 people or more
Stand in a large circle with some space between the participants. One person gets
into the middle of the circle. When the game begins, the person in the middle walks
to one participant, “the victim”, in the circle and says: “I love you, honey, won’t you
give me a smile?”
The chosen “victim” is to respond, “I love you too, but I’m not allowed to smile,”
without smiling.
It can be said twice to the same person in the same way. Guess what happens? They
smile! The one smiling then joins the person in the centre in tempting others to smile.
When everyone has been victims and you have stopped laughing you can start over,
go on to another fun play or go have a Christmas Fika.
I love you honey
6. Infuse some energy and laughter after you have had too much to
eat
INGREDIENTS:
• A space to play
• 6 people or more
STEP 1: CREATE A HUMAN KNOT
Create a tight circle of all participants, standing shoulder to shoulder. Everyone grabs
two other hands from two different people in the circle, but not the nearest neigh-
bours’.
STEP 2: SOLVE THE KNOT
Now you should try to untangle the knot so that you are standing in a round circle.
Here’s the big challenge, you can not let go of each other’s hands while you are un-
tangling.
STEP 3: DO IT AGAIN
Was it fun? Was it hard? Try and do it again. Maybe this time with closed eyes. Don’t
sneak peak!
The Christmas Knot