Whether it’s the first day of school, the first day of training for new employees, or the start of a conference, it is difficult to get people to feel comfortable in a new group. A coordinator can prepare a human bingo card that breaks the ice and gets people moving around the group and talking.
This activity gives people something to talk about during the game, but more important they learn a little bit about the people around them so they have a starting point for conversations during breaks and lunchtime.
Person Treasure Hunt
Use the “table” feature on a word processing program to create a chart five columns by five rows. Put the directions at the top of the page explaining to people whether they are finding people who match the categories or who are a contrasting matches to the questioner. Have each person sign his or her name (legibly) in a box.
- favorite TV show (list a specific show)
- has seen (list a specific show)
- has seen (list a current movie or a classic movie)
- favorite holiday
- country you would most like to visit
- right handed
- left handed
- favorite sport (baseball, soccer, football, basketball, hockey)
- would like to visit Australia
- favorite cereal is (list)
- eats at McDonalds at least once a week
- blue eyes
- has visited Washington D.C.
- favorite actress (list)
- oldest in their family
- youngest in their family
- lives in a condominium
- favorite snack food is pretzels
- goes to the gym at least three days a week
- has run a marathon
- owns a cat
- knits
- runs
- born in New York
- college major was history
- favorite subject in school is science
- walks to school
- goes to the beach at least five times during a summer
- favorite holiday is Halloween
Fun Games for Team Building
Hand out the human bingo cards to each person in the group. Explain that each person is looking for someone who can answer the question. Add another level by requiring participants to answer questions differently than they would respond. So, if the question is, “Do you come from a large family?” and the questioner’s answer is “no” then they must look for someone who’s answer is “yes.”
When two people meet, they will each go through their card trying to fill in squares and will engage in a brief conversation. When they find someone who can answer the question, have that person sign their name in that box. The goal is to fill the entire card without using any one person’s name more than once. If the group is small, then eliminate that rule.
This can be done within a particular time limit or until one person fills the card. That person yells “Human Bingo!” and reads her answers to the group, pointing out each person who responded.
Insert the suggested or other age-appropriate prompts onto a bingo card that gets people in a newly formed group talking to one another and learning about each other. Set a time limit to the activity or make it a challenge and offer a small prize to the individual who fills the card and can introduce the people they talked to during the activity. Try other Getting to Know You Games.
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