Training Activity

Title / Birthday Mingle
When to Use
(check all that apply) /
Group Size / Any but seems to work best with larger groups
Time / Varies according to group size
Materials / None really…just flipchart paper to write out directions for the activity on
Instructions / 1.  Participants find person(s) with your same birth month; (if a person does not have someone with exact birth month then they will find the group with a month before or after their birth month. For example, their birth month is July they would look for the group whose birth month is June or August);
2.  Once in your group introduce yourself; talk; and find at least three (3) commonalities among all members of the group (**try to stay away from “we’re all social workers; family support workers; live in KY; etc.”);
3.  Pick a representative from your group to share your commonalities and introduce your group to the large group (class)
Debriefing / 1.  Each group will introduce themselves to the class and share their commonalities and what it was like getting to the commonalities (easy, hard, etc)
Application: / It can be just simply a fun opening activity or I’ve used it as an activity around asking good questions and engaging people.
Submitted by: / MJ Wilson
Source : / unknown
Date submitted: / April 21, 2010