Games For Groups
Communication Activities
In the books 104 Activities That Build: Self-Esteem, Teamwork, Communication, Anger Management, Self-Discovery, and Coping Skills and the book The wRECking Yard of Games and Activities you will find games and activities that cover all these topics.
On this page is a sample of the games found in the Communication Skills chapter of each book.
You can also find these games along with activities from all the chapters in a PDF format by clicking on the Home or go to the Therapeutic Games page to find activities from all chapters posted together.
Crazy Comic
(From the Communication Chapter of the book "104 Activities That Build:)
Creating a good concept can take a really long time, and lots of thought must be put into it. When there is a large group of people working on the idea, the task may suddenly become easier because there is more brainpower working on the project. However, if people can’t communicate their ideas with each other and make group decisions, many problems may arise. This activity is a simple task, but a great deal of communication is needed if a group is to be successful when attempting to work together to create an original idea.
Objective
To communicate ideas with others and make group decisions based upon discussion.
Who
People who need to work on communicating ideas with other people and who need to learn how to make a group decision by compromising on the ideas given.
Group Size
3 or more
Materials
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Paper
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Pens or pencils
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Colored markers, crayons, or colored pencils
Description
Divide the group into smaller groups of three to six members each. Supply each person in each group with a piece of paper and writing utensil. Instruct the groups that they are to create an original comic strip and each person in the group must draw one frame of the strip (if there are four people in a group, the comic strip will contain four frames). The group must decide what to draw, the story line and who will draw what (there is a lot of communication involved in this one)!
Once the discussion has taken place about the comic strip and the decisions have been made, each person draws the frame s/he is responsible for on his/her own piece of paper. Everyone should be drawing at the same time and not taking turns with their group members. If you want to make it really challenging, don’t allow group members to see each others’ papers when they are drawing.
After the comic strips are completed, allow time for sharing and give each group a chance to show their comic strip to the other groups.
Discussion Prompts
1. What different communication skills were needed for this activity?
2. How important was communication during this activity?
3. What was the most difficult part of this activity for you?
4. Did your comic strip flow? Why or why not?
5. When involved in part of a group process, do you want things to always go your way or do you allow others to contribute ideas?
6. Why is it important to be able to make decisions with other people?
7. What things do you need to do when making decisions with others?
8. In your life, when is it important to be able to communicate clearly with others?
Variation
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Give them some ideas about what characters or settings to use in the comic strips.
Direction Direction
(from the Communication Chapter of The wRECking Yard)
In our society there is a constant transfer of information from one person to another. You must be careful when you pass information on if you want it to stay accurate. One great example shows up in rules for a game. If you check with people in different parts of the country you will find out that many of the games have different rules. Someone, something changed the rules a little bit In this activity someone gets a set of rules and the group gets to see how easy it can be to make mistakes in
passing them on. This can be a fun way to see what can happen when information is not passed on correctly.
Objective
For people to recognize the importance of using good communication skills when giving directions and when receiving directions. To recognize the difficulties encountered when interpreting what someone else said.
Who
People who believe everything they hear.
People who could benefit from listening carefully to directions and passing them along correctly.
Group Size
2 or more
Materials
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Varies
Description
Chose a game that has a few specific rules that must be followed in order to play the game (and enough rules to make it hard to remember them all). Prior to the activity select one person and give him/her the direction for the game without telling the rest of the group. Verbally explain the game can clearly state all of the rules. At the time of the game, the person who has heard the rules will give the directions to the rest of the group without any help from you. Allow the group to play the game once through before having a group discussion or making any corrections or clarifications in the rules of the game.
Discussion Topics
1. Was there any confusion about the rules of the game?
2. Why do you think the game was explained correctly (or incorrectly)?
3. What is important to remember when listening to others and when giving directions?
Variations
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Select a game that requires two teams. Separate the two teams and select one member from each team to receive the directions for the game. Each person explains the rules to his/her team.
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Give each team a different set of directions, on purpose.
