The Ball Games

As trainers, we are always interested in reinforcing certain concepts and reviewing key messages/learnings of previous day's training session. Three interesting games come to my mind which can make reviews easy, effective and fun. One among these which I conduct without fail is called "catch and throw". This can be played effectively with about 15-20 participants inside a room.

Ask the group to form a circle and you as a facilitator stand in the middle of this circle. Take a soft ball or make a ball out of paper by crumpling it. Inform the group that you will randomly pass on the ball to anyone in the circle and whoever is closest to where the ball lands, that person has to catch it instantly. Once the ball is in his/her hands, s/he has to share one learning that s/he will carry back or implement in daily life or classroom (if it is a group of teachers). Once it has been shared, that person has to randomly throw the ball towards someone else. This time, the second participant who caught the ball has to share a different learning. The ball cannot be passed on to a person in the circle more than once. All the participants have to share one unique learning based on the previous day's session. I have personally found it to be a good warm up to start the new day and helps make the review/recap fun.

Another game that can be used in a similar way is "pass-the-parcel". The only change here is that once a participant has shared his or her learning, they can be asked to move out of the circle to avoid repetition. Music from mobile phone or a ring tone itself can be used during the game.

Finally, if there is enough space and if the chairs are movable chairs, musical chair game can also be played. Do try these techniques and post back to me with your experience.