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DIVIDING INTO GROUPS

DIVIDING INTO GROUPS

When dividing into groups by counting off, you count by the NUMBER of GROUPS you wish to form, not the number of people in each group. For variety, ask participants to choose their favorite season, time of day or one of five colors, or say "Count off by apple, orange, lemon, pear, apple, orange, lemon, pear, apple..." or horse, goat, duck, cow, horse, goat..."

Or, any other crazy groups, when necessary to adjust, ask for volunteers to move to a different group to balance the numbers.

People like change; don't always do things the same way. New ways of dividing up may catch them by surprise. Some variations are:

"Name That Tune" [located in Light and Lively section]

"Barnyard" [similar to "Name That Tune")
Written on slips of paper the names of farm animals, as many animals as you want the number of participants in each group. Participants pick one slip from the container and read it without anyone else seeing. Invite everyone to stand, make the sound of the animal named on the slip and walk around until they find their groups. Thus participants producing the sound of the same animal join together to form a group.

"Handshakes"
Ask participants to think of a number from 1 to 5 (i.e., the number of groups needed). Walk around without talking, shaking hands the number of times that reflects their own number. The other person shakes back with his/her number. Keep shaking until they find their groups. If groups are uneven and need adjusting, ask volunteers to move.

"Match Up" [located in Exercise section]
Good for forming pairs. This can be done more seriously as an exercise or as a Light and Lively.

"Partners"
Buy several sets of educational card games that have matching pairs (e.g., "Go Fish"). Distribute to the group and invite everyone to find his/her partner. Good for any paired activity or, if using "Go Fish" or "Old Maid," for groups of four.

"Cards"
Pre-select a set from a regular deck of cards. If you want groups larger than four, select cards of the same suit. For example, 6 hearts, 6 clubs, and 5 diamonds. Shuffle the cards, pass them out and ask all the hearts to stand together, all the clubs to be in one group, etc. If you want groups with four or fewer, select cards with the same number, for example, 3 fours, 3 fives, 3 sixes, 3 sevens, 3 eights will yield five groups of three. You can also use red and black; ask for people with either fives or sixes to form a group. You might also have deuces wild. There are countless creative ways to form groups with this method. People also tend to go to their correct group because they have evidence in their hands of where they are supposed to be.

After presenting the exercise, it's good to add "Does the team have anything to add?"

It's also wise to ask the participants, "Does anyone have any questions about the instructions?" Generally, it's good for facilitators to take part in exercises. Having a facilitator in each small group can help an exercise run more smoothly. However, there are some exercises, such as Broken Squares where facilitators might bias the results. (Of course, a facilitator might fill-in in Broken Squares to complete a group of five, and play a very passive role.)

It's a good idea to discuss this matter with your team beforehand.