Fabulous Flags (also known as the Personal Flags Game) is a useful icebreaker activity to help people convey what represents them or what is important to them. Each person draws a flag that contains some symbols or objects that symbolizes who they are or what they enjoy.
This get-to-know-you activity is best done indoors. Any number of people can participate. The recommended age is 7 and up. Materials required are: several sheets of paper, pens, and colored pencils/crayons/markers.
Instructions for Fabulous Flags Activity
Pass out a sheet of paper, pens, and colored pencils, crayons, and/or markers to each person. Explain the activity: “We’re now going to draw flags that represent or symbolize us. Please design your own flag of you – include some symbols or objects that symbolize who you are or what you find enjoyable or important.” You can show your own sample flag if you like. For example, you could draw:
- a guitar (representing your passion for music)
- a tennis racket (someone who enjoys sports)
- a country like India (representing your affiliation with a country)
- a cross and a heart (representing Jesus and His love for the world)
Give everyone a set amount of time to draw (e.g. 15-20 minutes or so) and then reconvene. Ask for volunteers to share their flags and explain the meaning of what they drew. If it is a large group, you can divide everyone into smaller groups and ask them to share their flags with each other, or you can just ask a small number of volunteers to share.
Variations
After everyone has finished sharing the individual flags, as a big group you can ask everyone to brainstorm ideas on what to draw for a large class-wide flag. Proceed to delegate individuals to draw certain parts of the class-wide flag. Alternatively, you can collect the individual flags and paste them onto a board to create a “quilt” of individual flags, representing unity.
(credits: thanks Eunice!)