Once someone has attended one or a series of my workshops, they often come and ask how on earth I have so many ideas for splitting people into groups.

Basically, once you’ve done a few you remember them and you just keep adding to your repertoire! Here are a few to get you started….

1. create a line up

From that line up you can either just divide the line into the right number of chunks or number the

participants along the line e.g. 1,2,3,1,2,3 for 3 groups! Some of my

favourite line ups include…

Line up according to where in the year you were born (January at this end,December at the other)

• Length of time you’ve been with the company

• Distance you live from this venue

  
  

2. do something physical

Examples…

• Jump in the air and land with your feet crossed – which foot is in front?

• Clasp your fingers together, which thumb is on top?

• Draw a dog in the air, was its tail to the left, to the right or absent?

• Lick an imaginary ice cream, did you do it clockwise, anticlockwise or up and down?

  
  

3. use props

My favourites…

• A bag of numbered penguins from the training shop (pick one out of the bag and then ask odds and evens to form groups or 1,2, and 3 together etc.)

• Put giant playing cards on our under chairs, ask all the queens to get together, the hearts etc.

• Give out shapes that fit together and ask people to find the people they can make a square with for example

• Give out cards with words on and ask people to form a group using the words. Could be fruits, veg, films, characters, anything. For pairs could be Fish and Chips etc.

• Different coloured / shaped post its under chairs

If the more physical activities sound fun to you check out Metalog training tools, they’re fun and very engaging for learners…

4. polarisation (you can do this multiple times to get more groups) For example…

• Do you scrunch or fold toilet paper?

• Do you prefer snow or sun?

• Dogs or cats?

• Rain or wind?

• How do you put the toilet roll on the holder

  
  

5. clusters - ask people to from clusters according to…

• How many siblings they have

• How many items of jewellery they’re wearing

• The colour of their underwear

I often combine techniques too when one of my weird splits does not give me the groups that I
was after.

Happy grouping!