source: www.youthwork-practice.com | 2000 Games, Ideas and more for Youth Work
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Get-acquainted Games

Get-acquainted games are introduced when a group meets for the first time. This can happen when a group is first established, or the first evening at camp, or by the first meeting of a class or the first school hour. Emphasis should be given to playful games to encourage the group to learn about each other. Games of contest should not be used at this point.

Ice-Breakers (warm-up games) or circle games help the group to become better acquainted.

Paper Roll

Each player takes a few sheets of toilet paper, taking only what he/she thinks they will need. After all have taken their paper, each person will tell something about themselves. For each sheet of paper, the person will say one thing.
M & M’s or Smarties

This game is similar to Paper Roll, but each player takes a number of M & M’s or Smarties out of a bag. After all have taken from the bag, each person tells one thing about themselves for each piece of candy taken.
Formation 1

Divide the players into groups of 6 to 9 persons. At the signal, the groups must line up in order alphabetically by their first or last names, or line up by height or age, weight or shoe size.
Formation 2

The entire group must stand on a board. On command, they line up by alphabet, height or age in the right order without speaking. No player is allowed to step off of the board and touch the ground.
I’ve Never Done That Before…

The group sits in a circle. One player sits in the middle and tells the group about one thing he has never done before. Any players in the circle who also didn’t do what the player in the middle said, must stand up. Each player exchanges places with another standing player. The player who does not get a new place then goes in the middle.
Zip-Zap

The group sit on chairs in a circle. One player sits in the middle of the circle. He then points to a player in the circle and says ‘Zip’ or ‘Zap’. When ‘Zip’ is said, the chosen player must name the player on his left. By ‘Zap’, he must name the player on his right. (This can be changed.) If the chosen player doesn’t say the name within 3-4 seconds, he must exchange places with the player in the middle. If the player in the middle says ‘Zip-Zap’, everyone must find a new place to sit. Whoever doesn’t find a place must go in the middle.
Name Pantomime 1

Every player must use pantomime to act out his name using a word for each letter of his name. Example: D= detective, A= angel, S= Sun, etc. The others must guess the players name. If all of the players know each other well, the leader will whisper in the players ears whose name they should pantomime.
Name Pantomime 2

Each player acts out each letter of their name in pantomime. Example: the player lays down on his back with his arms and legs pointing up to form the letter ‘U’. The “L” can be acted out by pointing at the leader, an “I” can be shown by pointing at one’s eye, etc. Who can act out their name the fastest? Of course, players with long names or who have difficult letters to act out will find this more difficult. The more this game is played, the easier it will become through new ideas and repetition.
Who is it?

Every player receives a card. On the card, he will write his name and 4 to 5 things that describes him. Then, all the cards will be collected. New blank cards will be passed out. On these cards, each player writes the names of the people being described by the leader. The player who has the most correct answers is the winner.
Greeting Rituals

Everyone sits or stands in a circle. The leader starts. There are many forms of greetings in the world. Today we will practice some of them. The leader shakes hands with the person next to him. This person shakes the next persons hand and so on. In the next rounds, the greeting is done by rubbing noses together, rubbing cheeks together, kissing the left cheek and then the right, etc.
Shoe Pile

Everyone takes off one shoe and throws it onto a pile in the middle of the group. Then everyone will choose a shoe from this pile (but not his own shoe) and try to find the player who owns the shoe.
Ball of Yarn Game

A ball of yarn is used in this game. The first player starts by holding the ball of yarn. He asks another player a question, then throws the ball of yarn to him. After he answers the question, this player throws it to another player, asking another question. After a while, a terrific spider net will be made. With luck, it will be strong enough so that at the end of the game, one person can lay on it and be picked up by the group. This symbolizes that the group supports each other.
Pack your Suitcase

Everyone sits in a circle. One player begins by stating his name and names one item he would like to put in his suitcase. The player on his right is next. Each player repeats the names of the players and what they ‘pack’ in the suitcase and then says his name and what he will pack.
The List

This is for groups who already know each other a little. The leader makes a list of statements that describes each of the group’s members. This list is then passed out to the group. Each player writes down his guess of the name of the player being described in each statement on the list. The player with the most correct answers is the winner. Some examples are: who doesn’t like tomatoes, who ate at Burger King today, who went for a walk with his parents last Sunday, who wears red socks, who just saw the film “Harry Potter”, etc.
I love….

Take a ball or a cutout heart and give it to the first player. He says “I love ice cream”. He then gives the ball to another player who says “I love basketball”. The game is over when the players can’t think of anything else to say. This is a good game to learn about the others’ hobbies and such. To speed up the game, the players must answer within a few seconds. Like answers are not allowed. There are no wrong answers.
What if game…

The team leader says a sentence “If I won 1 million Euro from Günter Jauch, then I would…!” Everyone then writes his answer on a piece of paper. The papers are then collected, mixed-up and passed out again. Every player reads the answer on the paper he just got. The group then tries to guess who wrote it.
True or False

Every player tells about his interests (hobbies, school, job, friends, vacation, etc.) and includes one false statement. The group then tries to guess what the false statement is. The object of this game is that everyone tells something about themselves to the group.
Handwriting

Every player is given a piece of paper and felt-tip pen. He must make a fingerprint, a lipstick kiss or a shoe print on is paper. All papers are collected. Now the group guesses whose paper belongs to whom. This can be played with numerous detectives or everyone can play, as the reason for this game is for everyone to use their criminal investigative abilities to solve the mystery of the clues.
Introduction

When introducing themselves, it is difficult for some children to tell the others something about themselves. It usually ends in each person telling the same things as the last person. It is a good idea to choose 2-3 questions from a hat which have to be answered together with the normal introductions.
- What is the loudest noise you have ever heard?
- What is your first memory in life?
- What would you wish for, for our group?
- Name all of the places where you have already lived!
- What is the funniest film scene you have ever seen?
- What was your nickname as a child?
- What was your worst experience with bad weather?
- What was your best experience on another camp?
- Where is your favourite place in nature?
- What is your favourite meal?
- What is your favourite music?
- What was the strangest experience in your life up until now?
- What was the scariest experience in your life up until now?
- What was the nicest experience in your life up until now?
- What was your best result in school and in which subject?
- Which pop star would you like to be?
- Which footballer would you like to be?
- If you could be someone else, who would it be?
Bang

All of the group members stand in a circle. The group leader calls out a name. The players on the left and right of the chosen person make a pistol with their hands, pretend to shoot at the chosen person and say „BANG“. The person who was called out throws himself to the ground and ducks. Out of the game is either: the person who ducked too slowly. If he ducked quickly enough, then the slower one of the two shooters is out.
Pip squeak

Everyone sits in a circle. A volunteer sits in the circle and is blindfolded. The group leader points to a person who must make a loud noise (peep, grunt etc). The blind person in the middle must guess who made the noise.
Whose balloon is this?

Each member of the group receives a balloon which they blow up and write their name on. All of the balloons are released into the air and fly about. When the leader shouts “STOP”, everyone snaps a balloon and brings it to the person whose name is on the balloon.