The Octopus Tentacles Game

Octopus Tentacles is a highly energetic and physically challenging icebreaker to do with a large group and in a large space.

Gather your group on one side of a large, wide hall or playing field. Announce that their individual and collective goal is to run to the opposite side and back as many times as possible without being tagged.

Invite a volunteer to stand in the middle of the space (the Octopus) whose goal is to tag as many of the rest of the group as they can.

When ready, the initial octopus will call “GO” and urge everyone to cross (run) to the other side. Typically they will manage to tag one or more people, but most will escape.

Each person who is successfully tagged by the octopus will become a part of the tagging team. Unlike the initial Octopus who is always entitled to move anywhere within the area, all new octopi must remain on the ‘spot’ where they were tagged.

They are entitled to pivot on one foot from this ‘spot’ to reach a passing person, but otherwise, their movements are restricted. The original octopus is entitled to move anywhere at all times.

Play continues, with the group passing from one side to the other until everyone is tagged. Obviously, with each pass, it gets exponentially harder to escape the grasp of the growing team of octopi.

The topics of this publication: interactions, integration, foster relationships