1.Turtles if you want to do something; do it by yourself. Expecting others to help your life will only ruin yours.

. A turtle family went on a picnic. The turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outings. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey they found it. For about six months, they cleaned up the area, unpacked the picnic basket and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left. Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years...six years...then in the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and began to unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, SEE I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt. About the story Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we don't do anything ourselves.

-------------------Frogs People who criticize you are very few. Your problems might seem bigger but take a closer look and you will find that anything can be handled.
A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs! The farmer replied, There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs-millions of them. They croak all during the night and are about to drive me crazy! So the restaurant and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant five hundred at a time for the next several weeks. The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said,

Well...where are all the frogs? The farmer said, I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise! About the story Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also-remember that problems always seem bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in your bed at night worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming-like a million frogs croaking? Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

2.The Pocket/Purse Game Everyone selects one (optionally two) items from their pocket or purse that has some personal significance to them. They introduce themselves and do a show and tell for the selected item and why it is important to them. 3.The Talent Show Everyone selects one talent or special gift that they possess and can demonstrate for the group. They introduce themselves, explain what their special talent is, and then perform their special talent for the group.

6.Map Game Hang a large map of the world. Give everyone a pushpin. As they enter, they pin the location of their birth on the map. 7.Paper Airplane Game Everyone makes a paper airplane and writes their name, something they like and dislike on it (You may also want to add additional questions). On cue, everyone throws their airplane around the room. If you find an airplane, pick it and keep throwing it for 1-2 minutes. At the end of that time, everyone must have one paper airplane. This is the person they must find and introduce to the group.

8.The Shoe Game When entering, everyone must take off one shoe and leave it in a pile at the door. They keep the other

shoe on. After everyone is in. The host will distribute the shoes to people not wearing the same shoe. When instructed, everyone must find the mix and find the person who belongs to the shoe and get some info about them. They then introduce their new friend to the group.

9.The Artist Game Give everyone a piece of paper and a pencil. In 5 minutes they must draw a picture that conveys who they are with out writing any words or numbers. At the end of 5 minutes the host collects the pictures. Show the pictures to the group one at a time and have them try to guess who drew it. After this allow each of the artists to introduce themselves and explain how their work clearly conveys who they are.
18.Marooned Game You are marooned on a island. What five (you can use a different number, such as seven, depending upon the size of each team) items would you have brought with you if you knew there was a chance that you might be stranded. Note that they are only allowed five items per team, not per person. You can have them write their items on a flip chart and discuss and defend their choices with the whole group. This activity helps them to learn about other's values and problem solving styles and promotes teamwork .19.The Interview Game Break the group into two person teams (have them pick a partner that they know the least about). Have them interview each other for about twenty minutes (You can also prepare questions ahead of time or provide general guidelines for the interview). They need to learn about what each other likes about their job, past jobs, family life, hobbies, favorite sport, etc. After the interviews, reassemble the group and have each team introduce their team member to the group. This exercise helps them to learn about each other. 20.Story Time Game The facilitator starts a story by saying a sentence. It then goes in a circle, each person adding a sentence onto the story-after repeating each sentence that's already been added.