Audience
Children, Teens, Adults
Time
10 minutes
Description
This icebreaker helps people get to know each other a little better and increases the energy in the room. The name is a borrowed from a popular American T.V. show by the same name from the 1970’s-80’s. In the game, participants get a card with something on it that comes in threes. They have to try to find their other two matches, introduce themselves to each other and figure out what the connection is between the three things.
This is also a great sorting activity if you need to put participants into groups of threes.
Materials
o Note cards (one per participant)
o Marker
Preparation
o Create the note card sets by writing one of the three things or persons from the set of three on each card. (For example, if you were doing “Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” write “Father” on one card, “Son” on another and “Holy Spirit” on a third card. If you think that your group may not recognize a set of three, write the other two options at the bottom of each card to make it easier for them to find each other.
o Some suggestions for groups of three are below. Feel free to add your own or to not use any of these that would not be recognizable to your group.
§ Father, Son, Holy Spirit (3 Persons of the Trinity)
§ Friday, Saturday, Sunday (3 days Jesus was buried)
§ Shem, Ham, Japheth (Noah’s 3 sons)
§ Golden Jar of Manna, Aaron’s Staff, Stone Tablets with 10 Commandments (3 things in the Ark of the Covenant)
§ Casper, Melchior, Balthasar (3 Wise Men – traditionally)
§ Frankincense, Gold, Myrrh (3 gifts of the Wise Men – traditionally)
§ Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (3 Patriarchs)
§ Faith, Hope, Love (the “three that remain” according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:13)
§ Death, Burial, Resurrection (3 stages of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice)
§ Poverty, Chastity, Obedience (3 monastic vows)
§ The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King (3 books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy)
§ The Lion, The Witch, The Wardrobe (3 parts of the famous children’s book by C.S. Lewis)
§ Birth, Life, Death (3 phases of life)
§ Larry, Moe, Curly (3 Stooges)
§ Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria (3 ships Columbus sailed)
§ Athos, Porthos, Aramis (3 Musketeers)
§ Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic (3 R’s of basic education)
§ Huew, Dewey, Louie (3 cousins of Donald Duck)
§ Protons, Neutrons, Electrons (3 parts of an atom)
§ Red, Green, Blue (3 primary colors)
§ Igneous, Metamorphic, Sedimentary (3 types of rocks)
§ Pyramid of Khufu, Pyramid of Khafre, Pyramid of Menkaure (3 Great Pyramids of Giza)
§ Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti (3 Tenors)
§ Medusa, Stheno, Euryale (3 Gorgons)
§ Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos (3 Greek Faiths)
§ Paper, Scissors, Rock (3 choices in the hand game, “Rock, Paper, Scissors”)
§ Snap, Crackle, Pop (3 mascots of Kellogg’s Rice Crispies cereal)
§ Veni, Vidi, Vici (Julius Caesar’s famous comment about his short war with Pharnaces II of Pontus. It means, “I came, I saw, I conquered.”)
§ Small, Medium, Large (3 sizes)
§ Ready, Aim, Fire (3 commands for a firing squad)
§ On Your Mark, Get Set, Go (3 commands for track and field racers)
§ Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup (3 Powerpuff Girls)
o Shuffle the cards well, and put some at each place where a participant will be sitting.
o If you have a number of participants that won’t divide by three, you could take a card for yourself (if you just need one more person), or you could make duplicates of some cards. Be sure to let the participants know that because there are some duplicates, some groups might have four people in them.
Procedure
Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):
- “Time to get to know each other!”
- “At your seat, you will find a notecard with something written on it.”
- “In each case, what is written on your card is one part of something that comes in threes.”
- “In just a moment, I want everyone to get up and go around the room looking for two other people who have cards that complete your set of three.”
- “For example, if you had a card that said, ‘Knife,’ you would need to search for someone who has a card that says, ‘Fork,’ and another person who has a card that says, ‘Spoon.’”
- “When you find that person, introduce yourself.” (Give them some direction about how they should introduce themselves. Should they share their name, role within the company, number of brothers and sisters, where they are from, etc.?)
- “Then, as a group, try to figure out what the connection is between the three thing mentioned on your cards.” (Ask if anyone has any questions. Then, let them find their matches. After everyone is matched up, go around the room asking the groups to share their three cards and the connection between them.)
Teach Them 