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InterPlay Games & Exercises

Come back often to find new games or exercises that focuses on team building, trust, communication, energy, or dialogue. Some of the games come from books listed on our Resources page, and many are contributed by facilitators and theatre practitioners around the world. Have an exercise you'd like to see posted here? Email us!

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• Number of Participants: 10 or more
• Age: Any (make adjustments in the statements you use to suit the age of your group)
• Purpose: To allow people to express their opinions freely and openly, without fear of negative consequences
• Time: 10-20 minutes
• Source: Traditional Exercise
  

Place three pieces of paper or poster board in the room in a large triangle shape. On one piece write “Agree,” on another write “Disagree,” and on the third write “Unsure.”

The facilitator will then stand in the center of the triangle and read statements about the topic at hand (diversity, peer pressure, bullying, substance use, etc.). After a statement is read, the participants are to move to the spot they feel best describes their reaction to the statement (i.e. if the participant agrees with the statement, she moves to the “Agree” area).

After everyone has moved to his or her chosen areas, the facilitator faces the largest of the three groups and invites everyone to say one sentence in response to the statement. Participants are only allowed to respond to the statement; they are not allowed to respond to anything other people say. Be strict about the one sentence rule, or the exercise can turn into a lengthy debate. If someone doesn’t wish to respond verbally, she can say, “pass” or “it’s been said.”

If, however, someone changes his mind about his stance on an issue in the midst of the exercise, he can move to another area (for instance, move from “Agree” to “Unsure”).

The facilitator then asks the medium and smallest groups to respond, in that order. Always begin with the largest group, so that the smallest group has the final say and does not become overwhelmed by the largest group’s statements.

You can come up with your own statements that reflect your group’s needs. Ideally, your statements will put people in all three categories. Here are some statements that have worked well in diversity workshops I have facilitated:

• I contribute to the atmosphere that allows racism to exist.
• There are some jobs men do better than women and some jobs women do better than men.
• Businesses and schools should go out of their way to recruit minorities.
• Affirmative action programs are vital to the success of large companies, government, and schools.
• I judge people by their appearance.
• I judge people by the way they talk.
• A diverse work force is vital in order for a business to succeed
• I treat everyone equally.
  

Want to learn how to use these games in a complete InterPlay workshop? Learn more about our two e-books:

Sticks & Stones: A Do-It-Yourself Anti-Bullying Workshop

Embracing Diversity: A Do-It-Yourself Diversity Training Workshop

Game Archive