Play Who Am I?
You’ll need
- Pens or pencils
- Masking tape
- Scrap paper or sticky notes
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
- Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers.
Play the game
- Split everyone into small groups.
- Give out pens and either strips of paper or sticky notes.
- Tell everyone you’re going to play a game called Who Am I?
- Ask everyone to write a name onto their piece of paper. Make sure the name written is someone everyone knows. This could be someone famous, a fictional character or someone from history. You could have a list of suggestions.
- Remind everyone to make sure no one else sees the name written on the paper, before it’s stuck onto someone’s forehead.
- In their small groups, everyone must stick their paper to the forehead of another person. Make sure the name can be seen by everyone else playing, but not the person whose forehead it’s on. Check everyone is familiar with the rules of the game. No one is allowed to see the name on their own forehead before they have guessed it.
- Everyone must take a turn in their groups asking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. They should ask one question at a time and then take a guess at who the person on their forehead is if they want to guess. This should continue until the name on the player’s forehead has been identified.
Animated characters: Snow White, Gru, Minions, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck, Moana, Cinderella, SpongeBob Squarepants, Patrick, Shrek, Donkey, Puss in Boots, Rapunzel, Tiana, Mulan, Merida, Maleficent, Toothless the Dragon, Pinocchio, Cruella, Ariel, Aladdin, Jasmine, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Elsa, Olaf, Paw Patrol, Sonic, Mirabel, Buzz Lightyear, Sherriff Woody, Jessie, Bullseye, Mario, Luigi, Sulley, Mike Wazowski, Lightning McQueen, Zelda, The Incredibles, Nemo, Dory or WALL-E
Fictional characters: Matilda, Willy Wonka, Paddington Bear, The BGF, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Voldemort, Dumbledore, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Sherlock Holmes, Darth Vader, Gandalf, Bilbo Baggins, Peter Pan, The Mad Hatter, Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Katniss Everdeen, Kevin McAllister, Greg Heffley, The Gruffalo, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, Peter Rabbit
Superheroes and villains: Batman, Black Widow, Wanda/Scarlett Witch, Dr Strange, Superman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Thor, Loki, Starlord, Thanos, Groot, Rocket, Gamora, Spiderman or MJ, Iron Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, The Wasp or Black Panther
Celebrities: Harry Styles, Lizzo, Emma Watson, Greg James, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Zendaya, Adele, Emma Thompson, Tom Holland, Chris Hemsworth, Billie Eilish, Michael McIntyre, Ant or Dec, George Ezra, Marcus Rashford, Ed Sheeran, Oti Mabuse, Michelle Obama, Chris Evans, Millie Bobbie Brown, Dwayne Johnson, Jack Whitehall, David Beckham, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Radcliffe or a member of Little Mix
Historical figures: Henry VIII, Emperor Nero, Jane Austen, Cleopatra, William Shakespeare, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King Jr, Agatha Christie, Leonardo Da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Emmeline Pankhurst, Amelia Earhart, Queen Victoria, Roald Dahl, Guy Fawkes or Ada Lovelace
Famous Scouts or Scouts Ambassadors: Bear Grylls, David Attenborough, Andy Murray, Jamie Oliver, David Bowie, Neil Armstrong, Steve Backshall, Gareth Southgate, Tim Peake, Warwick David, Ellie Simmonds or Helen Glover
When asking questions, make sure they only allow a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Start broad in your questioning and then get more specific.
Here are some example questions to help get you started:
‘Do I identify as male?’
‘Am I a singer?’
‘Am I alive now?’
‘Am I in films?’
‘Am I on TV?’
‘Do I have dark hair?’
‘Am I an animated character?’
Reflection
Everyone had their own problem to solve, which was Who am I?
Was it difficult finding the right questions to ask? You had to keep track of what you already asked and figure out what information would be useful to help deduce who you are. Did everyone manage to work out who they were? Did the person who received the name you wrote work it out?
There are lots of things that define who we are. What questions would someone have to ask if they had you?
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
An adult volunteer may want to write the names on the paper in advance to make sure they’ll be identifiable.
To make it easier, you could make sure all the names or characters are from the same category, such as they're all from books or they're all superheroes, and tell everyone what the category is.
Depending on the section, you may want to print photos alongside the written names to help the group identify the person and answer the questions correctly.
We’ve included a list of example names and questions to assist you.
Some people may be more comfortable working in pairs instead, rather than as a small group.
Not everyone needs a name on their forehead if they’re not comfortable playing the game. They could help people think of questions, help answer other people’s questions or put the post-it note on their back instead.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.