Ideas for Splitting a Group into Subgroups
- Last edited 3 years ago by Kevin MacDonald
Contents
Line up (or make a circle) and count off to form groups
This is a tried-and-true, and pretty fast, way of splitting a group. But kids sometimes try to "game the system" by placing themselves in line strategically so they can be with their friends. If you'd like to avoid that, you can have the kids do any of the following first, then count off:
- Line up in height order
- Line up according to birth date in the year (January 1 is here, December 31 is here)
- Line up alphabetically according to first name, middle name, or last name
- Line up according to shoe size
For extra challenge, you can stipulate that the participants must line up in the chosen order without any talking.
Below are three more ideas for splitting a group:
Categories
Skip the count-off, and just announce team categories. For instance:
- Birth month: if you were born in January, February, March, or April, you’re in Team A; if you were born in May, June, July, or August you’re in team B; if you were born in September, October, November, or December, you're in team C.
- First letter of first name: if your first name starts with a letter from A to M, you're in team A. If it starts with a letter from N to Z, you're in team B.
Rock band
Everyone get in groups of three (or two, or four, or however many groups you ultimately need). Each group is now a rock band. Decide who will be lead singer, guitar player, bass player, drums, etc. Now: break apart your band. ALL the lead singers are ONE group. ALL the guitar players are a SECOND group, etc.
Unicorn
This method only works to divide a group into two. "Everybody close your eyes and, in your head, do a kindergarten drawing of a unicorn. Make sure to draw the eyes, the ears, and—most important—the horn. Open your eyes. If your unicorn was facing left, you’re in Team A. If it was facing right, you’re in Team B." This often works surprisingly well to split a group roughly in half. If the resulting groups are uneven, you may have to pick a few people to switch teams.