Our Six Best Idea Workshop Energisers

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

When running a creativity and new ideas workshop, the "Ah Hah" of a big idea normally comes  with the "Hah Hah Hah" when a team is energised and having fun.  As a creative facilitator, it is always a good idea to have a few games that you can use to lift and inspire your team, especially after a long lunch or before you are about to start any idea generation tasks.  This short blog covers six of our favourite energiser games.  They are really simple but prepare them in advance and be flexible.....if one game doesn't work, try another.  If possible, try and tailor your games to the objectives of your brainstorming meeting.  To see some of the tools in action, take a look at a short video from our creative facilitation training course.

1. BLIND FOLD TEAMS

A fun icebreaker and great way of splitting large group into smaller teams. Put group into a large circle and ask them all to wear blindfolds. Ask the group to move around and, without peeking, get into the following teams e.g. people with same star sign, wearing the same coloured top, comes from the same country, born in the same month as you etc. Try a few different subjects and have a whistle to grab people's attention as it will get very noisy!

2. NEW GADGETS FOR JAMES BOND

An easy brainstorming warm up game. Say you have a friend who works for the James Bond film franchise and they desperately need new gadget ideas for the next 007 movie. Split group into pairs and ask each pair to come up with 1 new gadget idea. Alternatively, remind them of the real Project Challenge and ask the pairs to come up with 1 idea that James Bond would have to fix this challenge.  Such a simple exercise but it is fun and will get the creative juices flowing.

3. GIANTS WITCHES AND DWARFS

This is a twist on a game that everyone knows, all around the world - "rock, paper, scissors". Introduce three characters and get group to act out each character (with associated noises) - large giants, evil witches and little dwarfs. Explain that "in battle", giants beat witches, witches beat dwarfs, and dwarfs beat giants. Now split into 2 teams and "go into battle", but before the battle, each team (as a whole) must decide to be any of the 3 characters and make sure there is lots of noise!  Spot the game being played in one of our Idea Hothouse workshops. 

4. THE HUMAN MACHINE

A team exercise for energy and fun. Ask each person to think of a machine (car engine or a production line in a factory) and to imagine that they are one piece of that machine e.g. a piston, a horn, an electric hammer, a moving cog. Ask a few volunteers to demonstrate what parts they have chosen. Then line up the group and get the line to move, but to all act and sound our their parts.  Have a camera ready to record the silly noises that people make.

5. BLIND FOLD CIRCLE TAG

Outdoor energiser for large group that requires 1 or 2 blindfolds. Get group to hold hands and form a large circle. Ask for volunteer to step inside circle and to wear a blindfold. Explain that the volunteer must try and "tag" someone in the circle but that the circle must keep holding hands at ALL times (and the circle needs to move). Try it with 2 volunteers in the middle, both holding hands.  Make sure you have lots of space.

6. PASS THE ENERGY BALL

Get group to stand and spread out. Ask one person to pass an imaginary “ball of energy” by clapping their hands and pointing to the person they are throwing the ball to. The receiver must clap hands before receiving the imaginary ball. Explain that the "ball" will give them extra energy...but they MUST NOT drop the ball. Start to play but also start moving the group around - you can also add in real balls.

 

Have fun with these techniques and get in touch if you want some more ideas on how to make your workshop a huge success.

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