Description
Have you ever tried to change someone? To shape someone into your idea of a perfect husband, a perfect child, a perfect parent? Do our expectations of others in the group help them or hinder them?

Resources
Camera (Optional)

Preparation
Divide the group into pairs. One person is the “Sculptor” and one is the “Statue”

What to Do

1. If participants already know each other, then without talking, the “Sculptor” must position the “statue” into a pose that best illustrates how he or she sees the other person or to illustrate that person’s place or contribution to the group. If participants don’t know each other well, have them pose the “statue” into a role or characteristic that is important to the growth and well being of the group.
2. Have each pair work in front of the entire group. Take photos of each “Statue” when the sculptor is finished.
3. After the statue has been positioned and a photo has been taken, the “statue” must try to explain to the group, what quality he or she thinks the sculptor is trying to illustrate and explain what they think it means to the rest of the group. Verify with the sculptor what was intended.
4. If you have time, ask the pair to switch roles and do it again.

Taking it to the Next Level
We usually have specific expectations of other people. We have an image in our mind of how they should act, the things they should do, and the characteristics they possess. We may even try to shape them according to our expectations of what they should be. But most of the time it simply doesn’t work. Very soon they go back to their old self, leaving both frustrated.

Debrief

• How did you feel when your partner was trying to change you?
• When you were a sculptor, how did you feel when your statue changed position from what you intended?
• Did you understand what the person was trying to change in you? Why or why not?
• What were some of your frustrations – from both sides of the situation?
• How could you have been more effective?

Discussion

• What are some of the positions or roles that we have in our group? Make a list.
• What should a person in each role or position do? What characteristics should they possess?
• Do you ever feel like others are trying to change you? What are some of the things you think other people are trying to change about you? How does this make you feel?
• Have you ever tried to change another person? What were the results?
• Would the results be different if you modeled for them what you would like them to become? What if you tried to inspire them rather than force them? What is the most effective means by which we can bring about change in another person’s life? Is force sometimes necessary? If so, how do you know how much force to apply? How do you insure that the change is lasting?

Application
Pick one trait that you would like to see in others in the group and choose to model that in YOUR OWN LIFE! The only person you can truly change is yourself.

Possible Scripture References
Paul Instructed Timothy to “be an example to the believers…” – 1 Timothy 4:12. The word for “example” that Paul used comes from the Greek word “tupos” and is used in the sense of being a pattern, an example, for others to follow. Its like a mold that you can press the clay into so that it takes that same shape. Its like a loom that guides the threads for the weaving. Its like the painter’s masterpiece that his students are inspired to imitate. It’s a physical or visual reference so that you know how something should look when it is completed and that can be used to guide progress. Each of these illustrates, with varying degrees of pressure, the importance of a pattern or an example for others to shape their lives. Christ is that same example for all of us. By God’s grace, one day we might all be able to say as Paul said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ!” “Follow me to the extent that I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1)

Icebreakers Ahead: Take It To the Next Level

This 170 page resource not only provides 52 of the world’s most popular group icebreaker activities and games, but also includes lesson ideas and discussion questions to smoothly transition into conversations about the issues common to most groups.

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Can you imitate the people in the photo and be the first to complete all the images?

Description
Participants will try to copy the poses of people as contained in photos.

Resources
You need a variety of magazines, shopping catalogs, newspaper clippings, photographs or other images that show groups of people in action. For some great photo opportunities have a few cameras available!

Preparation

1. Since participants will be posing in the same positions as those in the selected images, you will need images that the participants can imitate. You will also need to consider the size of the teams you will use (i.e. couples, groups of three, four, or more).
2. Cut out the images and mount them on colored pieces of construction paper or notecards.
3. The crazier the images, the better. To make it more fun, you can have images from specific sports (basketball, football, baseball, golf, swimming, acrobatics, etc), from various professions (chefs, lumberjacks, firemen, construction workers, etc), or from the arts (orchestra musicians, ballet dancers, circus acts, etc). The possibilities and variations are endless.

What to Do
Divide the group into teams. You can play with this in a variety of ways:

1. Randomly draw from the images. Have all groups imitate the same image. The first group to get in the same pose as the chosen image gets a point. To make it more difficult, allow only one participant from each group to see the image and then they must go back and form their group into the correct pose.
2. Randomly deal the images to the groups face down so they cannot see them. Provide a judge for each group that will decide if the group is close enough to the original image before moving on to the next. The first group to complete all the images first wins.
3. Make it a relay race, where group members must run to the other side of the room, grab an image and then emulate it before the next person from the group can go. The first group to have all persons go wins!
4. Give each group a camera and make it a photo scavenger hunt. Give each group a collection of photos involving props, positions, and even locations that they must duplicate with the group. The first group to complete the assignment and return with the most correct photos wins!

Variations
Choose images containing props and make those the props available (i.e. baseball bat, ballerina skirt, fireman hat, etc). Teams must also include the props.

Taking it to the Next Level
For good and for bad, we often imitate others in life. Sometimes this can be a positive thing when others have qualities or traits that we wish to develop in our own lives. At other times it can be stifling as we try to fit into roles and expectations instead of being the person we were created to be.

• • Are there people in your life you would like to imitate? Name some of your role models.
  • Who are the people you aspire to be like?
  • Is it important to have role models? Why or why not?
  • How do you draw a balance between being the unique person you were created to be and expectations that society expects us to conform to?
  • What are some of the qualities you would like to imitate from a role model? How can you develop these qualities?
  • If you don’t have a mentor or role model, who is someone that has the qualities, skills or experience to help you in your personal development?
  • Is there an area of your life where you have simply been conforming to what is expected rather then expressing your unique self? If you were not concerned about other people’s expectations and what other people think, what is something you would change about yourself?

Application

• Choose a trait or quality you want to develop and find a role model or mentor to help you develop that in your own life.
• Choose a trait or quality that you have stifled because of expectations that you can begin to develop and learn to express in a positive way.

Possible Scripture References
Psalm 139:14ff, Ephesians 2:10; Deuteronomy 18:9; 1 Corinthians 4:16-17; Hebrews 6:12; Hebrews 13:7; 3 John 1:11, 1 Corinthians 11:1-2; 2 Kings 14:3; John 13:15; Philippians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:7; 1 Timothy 4:12; Titus 2:7; 1 Peter 2:22-24

Icebreakers Ahead: Take It To the Next Level

This 170 page resource not only provides 52 of the world’s most popular group icebreaker activities and games, but also includes lesson ideas and discussion questions to smoothly transition into conversations about the issues common to most groups.

Click here to find out how to get your hands on this incredible resource!

Can you perform all the action on the list before someone else? It’s wacky and silly fun for everyone. Have a digital camera ready for some really crazy snapshots!

Description
Participants compete to be the first to perform all the actions on the list

Resources
Worksheet and pen or pencil for each participant

Preparation
Preprint the worksheet. Items can be arranged in a normal bingo grid or simply as a list for simplicity.

Some possible items are:

• Tell a Joke
• Pretend you are taking a bath or shower in the middle of the room!
• Select someone else to sing a song with you.
• Recite a nursery rhyme.
• Imitate a comic strip character until someone guesses its identity.
• Behave like a duck for 10 seconds
• Say something nice about three different people in the room.
• Shake hands with three other people in the room.
• Pantomime a two year old child taking a bone away from a German shepherd dog.
• Walk from one end of the room to the other with an object between you knees.
• Act like an egg being cracked and fried.
• Do an impression of a well known celebrity. Identify the person first.
• Confer with another person and make a short poem about one of the leaders
• Select a few people to aid you in selecting a scene from a popular Bible story and act it out.
• Draw a picture of yourself and give it to someone in the room.
• Find something in your pocket or purse to give to the person on your left.
• Retell the story of Goldilocks and the three bears using the name of four other people in the room as the bears and Goldilocks.

ADD Your Own Crazy Actions!

What to Do

1. Each person must perform all the actions from a list of actions in front of someone and then those who participated or observed that action must sign beside the item.
2. Whoever gets all the items signed first, wins!

Taking it to the Next Level

Embarrassed? 

• What is the craziest thing you have ever done? The most embarrassing?
• Have you ever done something silly that you later regretted?
• If you could go back and change one thing you did in the past, what would you change? Why?
• What is one thing you did that was seen by others as a little silly, but that you wished you could do again?
• Has the possibility of being embarrassed ever stopped you from doing something that you should have done or wish you would have done?

One of our greatest fears is the fear of being embarrassed. We don’t want to lose the respect of others or to be the subject of ridicule. But anything worthwhile in life carries with it some risk. You usually have to go out on a limb to get the fruit. Everything worthwhile in life lies outside of your comfort zone. Some of the greatest achievements in history took place because men and women were not afraid to risk embarrassment and ridicule to reach for their dreams! It’s a good thing the Wright brothers, Thomas Edison, Louis Pasteur, Christopher Columbus and others weren’t afraid of ridicule. Otherwise we wouldn’t have planes, light bulbs, vaccines, and many of the other technological marvels we enjoy today!

• ..so many centuries after the Creation it is unlikely that anyone could find hitherto unknown lands of any value. – Committee advising Ferdinand and Isabella regarding Columbus’ proposal, 1486
• Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy. – Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.
• Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs is ridiculous fiction. – Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872
• Such startling announcements as these should be deprecated as being unworthy of science and mischievous to to its true progress. – Sir William Siemens, 1880, on Edison’s announcement of a successful light bulb.
• Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. – Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.
• The energy produced by the atom is a very poor kind of thing. Anyone who expects a source of power from the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine. – Ernst Rutherford, 1933

Application
Don’t be afraid to reach for your dreams! Write down at least one of your dreams and put them up someplace where you will see them everyday!

Icebreakers Ahead: Take It To the Next Level

This 170 page resource not only provides 52 of the world’s most popular group icebreaker activities and games, but also includes lesson ideas and discussion questions to smoothly transition into conversations about the issues common to most groups.

Click here to find out how to get your hands on this incredible resource!