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Action Games Ice Breakers

Pulse Game

Summary: An action oriented icebreaker that works especially well with large groups of people.  A game of quick reflexes and passing on the pulse!

Ages: All.  Recommended # of People: At least 40 people.  Messiness Factor: Might break a small sweat. Materials Required: A coin, a chair, and any small object like a tennis ball.  Recommended Setting: Indoors.

Pulse Game

The Pulse Game (also known as the Electric Current Game or the Electricity Game) is a great way to break the ice, especially if you have a large group people.  In a fast paced action game, two long lines of humans resemble a fast moving electric current!

Setup

To set up the Pulse Game, you need to form two teams of equal size.    The easiest way to do this is probably to have each player pair off with another person.  When you’ve divided the group evenly, have each team member face the same direction, and have each team facing each other.  Instruct each team to hold hands to form two long human chains.  At the end of the two lines, place a chair with a small object (e.g. a tennis ball) on it.  The referee stands at the front (see picture below).

Pulse Game

Playing the Pulse Game

To play the pulse game, have the two players at the front of the line watch the referee.  Have everyone else close their eyes and face downward.  Instruct everyone to be silent.  For each round, the referee does the following:  Flip a coin and quietly show it only to the first two players at the front of each team. Whenever the coin shows “Heads,” the two people at the front of the line must squeeze the hand of the next person in line as quickly as possible.  Whenever that player’s hand gets squeezed, he or she quickly continues to “pass the electric current” by squeezing the next person’s hand, and so on.  As the “electric current” transfers along the line, the goal of the game is to be the first team to grab the object (the ball) on the chair.  If heads was flipped and a team successfully grabs the ball, that team wins a point.  On the other hand, if the team grabs the ball but heads was not flipped, then the point goes to the other team.   After each coin flip, wait several seconds and then flip again.  Keep flipping until the coin shows “Heads.”  For a short game, the winner is the first team to score 10 points.  For a longer game, you can increase the number of points.

Have fun playing this fast paced, quick reflex action game.

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