Short workshop games, ice-breakers, and energizers are a great way to engage participants and keep up the energy throughout several hours of intense working sessions. Additionally, they bring in fun and laughter which is needed to foster creativity and an open flow of ideas.
As Pioneers we are always on the hunt for short and sweet activities. As many moderators use the same games such as the Marshmallow Challenge, we have gathered top 10 less known workshop games for you. We separated them into 5 Energizers and 5 Warm-up Exercises that we want to share with you. These will bring the necessary spice to your workshops. We now open the curtain for the Top 10 Workshop Games– Edition #1: Energizers.
Download Top Workshop Games – Edition #1 with a detailed description of our favorite 5 energizers HERE.
#1 The Fitness Coach
Moving and stretching activities to wake up participants and make them move.
- Gather all present participants (either virtual or onsite).
- Prepare a set of 5-10 easy exercises and stretches.
- You perform the exercises, and they go along with you.
- Finish with a funny one like shaking out the whole body while jumping.
“The Fitness Coach” opens all sorts of possibilities and can be used multiple times throughout a workshop series. People really enjoy it after overcoming the feeling of awkwardness.
#2 Do what I don’t say
People need to make moves based on your commands.
INTRO: Tell people to stand up and follow your commands in 4 rounds:
Round 1: Repeat the command and do what it says e.g. I say “Jump to the front”, everybody repeats “Jump to the front”, everybody jumps to the front.
Round 2: People say the opposite command and do the opposite. (e.g. “Jump to the front”, people say “jump to the back”, and then they jump to the back).
Round 3: People repeat the command but do the opposite. (e.g. “Jump to the front”, people say “jump to the front”, and then they jump to the back).
Round 4: People repeat the opposite command but do the first command. (e.g. “Jump to the front”, people say “jump to the back”, and then they jump to the front).
Repeat each round with several commands and people will for sure make lots of mistakes 😉
People move, they laugh, and they make lots of mistakes which is totally fine. It wakes up the crowd and generates a nice positive energy.
#3 Ninja Warriors
People need to “fight” each other to become the best Ninja warrior.
Tell people to stand up and that in order to wake up and get some energy we will play a championship/Olympic game called “Ninja Warrior” with only one winner in the end.
Then create a big circle of all people in the room. Each person needs more than one arm length space on either side of them, so if the room is too small, put chairs to the walls and flipcharts away.
How the game works
The game goes around in the circle (always in the same order of people even if the circle is gone) and each person has one fluent move to attack (touch) another person’s arm with his hand. After one person, the next in the circle can make a move. After every move, the person has to freeze (see picture) and cannot pull the arm back after an attack. Each person has two lives which are represented by the two arms. If one person hits the arm of another, it “dies”. If a player loses both arms he/she is out of the game. The game ends with one player that still has life (lives) = arms not touched by other players.
It’s a super fun, strategic, and also wake-up game with lots of laughter (and competitive people) 😀 As it’s originally from South America many in Europe will have never played it.
For energizers 4 and 5 download our free pdf Workshop Games Toolkit – Edition #1 HERE.
Do you like the workshop games and want to know more about the Pioneers corporate innovation services?
Book a short intro call with our workshop master @Michael Wlaschitz who will introduce you to the Pioneers offerings.
Just send a quick mail to michael.wlaschitz@pioneers.io
Michael Wlaschitz
Senior Venture Designer
