I was thrilled to come across Great Group Games. I am a Substance Abuse Counselor at a maximum security Women's Prison. The women I work with are receiving treatment and therapy for their addiction problems. I have used this book to foster team work, increase motivation and teach the women how to have fun in healthy ways without the use of mind-altering substances. We have experienced much laughter and joy in an otherwise dark environment due to the creative ideas in this book. And the best part is, there is no need to prep for these activities-- they are already laid out clearly and have proven to be very therapeutic... not just for inmates, but for staff! Great Group Games: 175 Boredom-Busting, Zero-Prep Team Builders for All Ages
Yes, as an educator, I have always hated group games and have resisted including them as part of my class activities even when they could have been extremely beneficial. After working with Ann and Susan, seeing their brilliance in working with both small and large groups, I realized that I needed to open my mind to the power and value of group games. I was thrilled when they decided to share with the world what they had been doing for years with great success. This book is a MUST for anyone wanting quick, easy games for groups of all levels and all sizes.
As a pastor for Youth and Children, I am always looking for new and creative games. This book is a wonderful resource for "just-for-fun" games as well as for trust-building games. The de-briefing that is included after every game has insightful questions for all ages. I have used many of these games with both elementary age children as well as youth with great success. It has many of the classics as well as great new games and I recommend it to those needing to add some games to their repetoire.
This book put many of the classic games and some great new games in a format that was easy to follow! Working with teens, you have to provide gradual levels of trust to build relationships and this book starts simple and works through to more complex. I am constantly refering to it when doing teen leadership as well as fun corporate level ice breakers.
This book does have a lot of games, but they aren't the type of games I was looking for. I'm a teacher and I wanted some educational/learning games, but these are more the type of games for filling time or something I would do with a student club, but not quite what I want for class.
Many of the ideas in this book would be very good for a teacher planning rainy day "recess" activities, but not so useful for most others.
Pros:
- Good variety of activities and goals to be accomplished by those activities
- The "good" ideas are fantastic
Cons:
- The idea that these are "zero-prep" is misleading. Most require you to use what they call "supplies" which must be set-up, distributed, or other-wise prepared
- The authors list slight variations of the same game as entirely new ones. For example, having an individual scavenger hunt and doing it as a team is still just a scavenger hunt (there are at least 4 variations of a scavenger hunt that are all listed as different games)
- Many of the explanations are confusing or incomplete
Bottom Line: The few things I like about the book, I absolutely LOVE. For example, there is an icebreaker that involves the group introducing themselves to the tune of a song. That idea is fantastic. However, the rest of the stuff is more of a psychological experiment than "zero-prep team builders for all ages".
In my opinion, the book can be broken down roughly as follows:
10% "Gems" - great, unique, and useful ideas
60% Mediocre - so-so ideas; or ideas that could be good, but require too much explanation or impractical "supplies"
30% Crap - lame, contrived, or flat out repetitive stuff
This book has been one of the best purchases I've made. The games are quick and easy to learn and implement and the kids have LOVED them. My 5th graders frequently ask to replay these games when we are stuck inside. Some favorites were Zip - Bong, Zoom-Wacka Zoom, and Pass the Can. I don't know what I would do without this great book!
If your looking for a wonderful game idea book for your next gathering, this is it. Great Group Games was full of ideas for easy to put together games for our youth group. I'm glad I bought this one.'
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