The Scrambled Letters game
Scrambled Letters is a game to facilitate the introduction of the names of the members of a new team in formation. Names are endlessly fascinating, and there’s no shortage of silly little games that can be made of them.
Gather your group in a large circle and ask everyone, one at a time, to say their name out loud as if the letters in their names were arranged randomly. Demonstrate by sharing your own name first, for example Louis Doyle becomes Soliu Odely.
Then ask the group to speculate and try to guess the real name of the person. Allow no more than one minute and if the names given by the group are not correct, the person should reveal it.
Continue around the group until everyone has shared.
The purpose of this game is not just to introduce the names to start a first round of recognition among the members, it is also an icebreaker activity to generate laughter and energy. In addition, starting the group with a sharing activity is providing a first space to start building trust.
There is something else! This simple and effective game can be adapted to a virtual environment. If possible, ask your group to switch to “gallery view” so they can see the smaller video screens of most, if not all, of your group members. Then proceed as described above.
The topics of this publication: integration, interactions, disinhibition, distension, energize
