Note Details
- Stage: seed 🌱
- Type: note
- Topics: events facilitation games
Participatory games and activities at events serve a purpose beyond entertainment — they break social barriers, create shared experiences, and build the kind of trust that transforms a group of strangers into a temporary community. The best event facilitation designs for serendipity: unexpected encounters, moments of vulnerability, and playful permission to step outside everyday social norms. The following ideas form a toolkit for creating these moments.
- Roving Permission Slip Booth — A mobile station where attendees receive physical “permission slips” granting them license to do things they normally wouldn’t: talk to a stranger, take a nap, say no to something, dance alone. The playfulness of the format lowers social defenses and invites authentic interaction.
- Rapid Fire Story — A storytelling exercise where participants share a brief personal story within a strict time limit (often 60-90 seconds). The constraint eliminates overthinking and surfaces raw, genuine narratives. Works well in pairs or small circles.
- Give the Seed/Start — Provide participants with an opening line, prompt, or physical object that serves as the seed for a creative or conversational act. The facilitator provides the spark; the participant provides the fire.
- Objects as Anchors — Distribute small physical objects (stones, cards, tokens) that serve as conversation starters, memory anchors, or ritual elements throughout the event. Tangible artifacts create continuity across sessions and give people something to hold onto, literally and figuratively.
- Sand Timers — Use visible sand timers during activities to create gentle urgency and shared rhythm. The visual countdown adds a theatrical element and keeps energy moving without the harshness of a digital alarm.
- Quote from Someone Influential — Open or close sessions with a carefully chosen quote that sets tone and invites reflection. When the quote resonates with the group’s purpose, it becomes a shared reference point for the rest of the event.
- Observation or Intuition of Characteristic and Quality (Being Seen) — An exercise where participants observe someone and share what they notice or intuit about their qualities, strengths, or energy. This practice of “being seen” by a stranger can be profoundly moving and builds immediate intimacy.