Tag into the Flag: An Israel Icebreaker

JAR — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 15:35:54 +0000

The campers will participate in an icebreaker that simultaneously engages them in conversation about Israel and puts them surreptitiously into the shape of the Israeli flag!

Curriculum Themes:

A Land & Its People

Materials Required:

Program Duration:

15 Minutes

Physical Space:

Number of Campers:

Age of Campers:

Core Learnings:

Icebreaker - getting to know other people

The sense that people have all different kinds of relationships with Israel

Explanation:

The faciliator will gather the campers/participants on a large field or in a large open indoor space. They will be instructed that this will be a game of tag, but not a traditional game of tag. The facilitator will ask everyone to follow the directions of each task.

The first task – please find someone from a different city or whom you don't know from home. Great! You should all be standing in pairs, holding hands. (If you are shomer n’giah, you may find an alternative to holding hands, of course.)

Next, please discuss and add up among the two of you how many years you have been at your camp. Now, find another pair that matches (or comes close to) your number. Great! You should now be standing in groups of four.

Next task is to talk amongst yourselves and determine how many times the members in your quartet have visited Israel combined. If you are playing this game with staff and have a shaliach in your foursome, consider yourselves lucky! You have a lifer! And add the number of the non-shlichim in your group and then add 10 to your number. Now find another quartet that matches (or comes close to) your number. Great! You should now be in standing in groups of eight.

Now this gets fun! Please now circle up, huddle, and go over who everyone is in your group and what they love most about Israel (even if they haven't been).

Your next task now is to find another group of eight that has at least one person in that group who has been to Israel! Great! You should now be standing in groups of sixteen.

Our next to last task is to get into 3 groups of 32. In order to do that, please circle up and huddle with your group of 16. A staff member will now bring to your group a slip of paper. Please read the slip of paper and accomplish your task!

SLIPS OF PAPER

(4 groups get this slip) Your task is to stand in a line, shoulder to shoulder with your backs right up against the long end of the open space, facing the space. There will be another group with this same assignment. Please include them in your line. There are three other groups getting this slip of paper. You can only partner with one other group and your two groups must be standing opposite and facing the other two groups.

(2 groups get this slip) Your task is to create a standing equilateral triangle in the very center of the field using all 16 people in your group. There will be another group with this same assignment. Please ensure that their triangle and your triangle overlap to make a Magen David.

The faciliator should be in a place where a picture from above can be taken and the ideal way to end this program is to play Hatikvah on a loud speaker and get everyone to sing along while showing them an Israeli flag so they recognize the shape they're standing in.

Variations:

You can always do this with smaller/less groups.

Curricular Subjects:

Current Events

The Goodman Initiative - slips of paper printed with the instructions below