Since your guests may not be well acquainted (and may be very bashful), Mister Spiffy has devised

some simple techniques to get around this. These techniques are often called "Icebreakers". Since Mister Spiffy thinks Icebreakers are what you do to a popsicle, he just calls them "Get Acquainted Activities".

"Give Me Your Juiciest"

Give each person an index card with another reunion guests name on it (preferably someone they dont know all too well), and a pen or pencil. After giving them a moment to stew in their own juices, get up on your soapbox and proclaim, "Now, everyone, mingle with everyone else (except the person whose name is on the card) and find out everything you can about the person on your card"! Mister Spiffy urges you to find embarrassing stories or facts about the people its so much more fun that way. Afterwards, get back together and have everyone stand up and introduce the person on their card and the things they found out about them.

Greedy People Are Sooooo Fun

Sit in a circle. Pass around a bag of M&Ms (for more fun, buy several bags and dump them all in a huge bowl). Tell everyone to take as many as they want, but not to eat them yet. Mister Spiffy notes that every group has the people who reach in with both hands and scoop half the bowl dont worry; theyll get theirs in the end. Once everyone has their M&Ms and is asking when they can eat them, inform the group that for every M&M they took they have to tell someone about themselves. "Argh! 100 M&Ms!? Um, one, my name is Chuck. Two... I am tall. Three, Iplay the clarinet." Fifteen minutes later "Ninety-nine, I have a brother. One hundreduhuhmy brothers name is Matt! Done"! This is one of Mister Spiffys favorite icebreaking games, to watch the guests writhe in agony. A good variation on this game is to pass around a roll of TP ("toilet paper" for those who have never "decorated" a teacher's house) and tell everyone, "Take as much as you need, if you know what I mean." Then, for every sheet of TP, they have to write something about themselves on it. Then you can share the TP, or do whatever else with it.

Police Lineup
Heres a good way to make people talk. Gather them all together and say, "Okay, line up by your height." Dont doubt Mister Spiffys sanity yet; he knows that you dont have to talk to line up by height. This is just a warm-up. After that, have them line up according to birthdays. Then shoe size. Then the age at which they were potty-trained. Theyll have to talk there, thats for sure. Need some more sample lineup questions? Here you go. Line up according to how many days it took for you to learn to ride a bike According to colors of hair, dark to light How many math teachers you actually liked (Mister Spiffy had three) How many times they repeated third grade How much they like Bill Clinton (you may get a clump at the end of the room on this one) How many books they have read in the past two months The number of times they have eaten takeout in the past three weeks The size of their favorite animal (blue whale to small bacteria) How much they would have to be paid to eat roadkill (usually its around "a bazillion dollars") How much roadkill they would eat for the specified amount

Finding A Perfect Match

Youll need a handout with questions and places for signatures underneath each one. Have each person answer the questions on the blank provided (not the signature blank), and make sure they use ink so they cant change their answers. Then get on your soapbox (yes, again) and have them mingle and find people who answered things the same. When they do, get their signatures under the answers they have in common. A good limiting rule is that you cant have one person sign more than two of your questions, but Mister Spiffy says that isnt really necessary. Want some help on good questions to ask?

What year were you born? What color are your eyes? What is your favorite baseball team? What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Can you roll your tongue? If you had to choose from eternal youth, endless wealth, and a years supply of dog food, which one would you pick? If you could obliterate the career of one musician, who would it be? What is your favorite movie? If there was a warrant for your arrest and you had to escape the country, where would you go? If you were in a situation where you could shoot the Taco Bell dog and throw its body in a rapidly flowing river without ever being caught, would you do it? Have you ever done anything you shouldnt have with a magnet and computer acces sories? Do you suffer from any of those things that prohibit you from going on roller coasters (i.e., motion sickness, back and neck pain, heart conditions, under 46 inches tall, et cetera)?

Ah, the possibilities! The person who has all their questions signed (or at least the most, if none could find all of them) wins.

"Ive Done Something You Havent Done"

Have each person introduce themselves and say something that they have done that they doubt anyone else has (Mister Spiffy usually says, "I doctor family reunions"). If someone else speaks up and can honestly say that they have done that too ("Ive had a kid too, mom youve got grandkids, remember?"), then the person has to keep trying until they find something no one else has done.

I Am None Other Than George Washington Carver, Who Worked With Peanuts
Write the name of famous people on pieces of paper and tape one on each persons back (don't let the person know who's name is on their back). Everyone now has to guess the person on their back by asking other people around the room yes or no questions about the person. "Did I chop down a cherry tree?" "No." "Was I a good guy in history?" "Yes." "Hmm. Attila the Hun?" "Ahno." A variation on this is to use famous places or monuments (example Sydney Opera House, Mount Rushmore, White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Taj Mahal). A warning from Mister Spiffy try not to make peoples places fit their characteristics. If a corpulent Great Aunt Opal finds out that she was Mount Everest, she may harbor hard feelings if she discovers other peoples places also matched their physical looks.

"I Got My Name Because My Mom Liked the Beastie Boys"

Ah, names. What better way to introduce yourself than to share your name? None, according to Mister Spiffys immense knowledge. Have each person stand up and tell what they know about the reason they have their name ("Im named after my great-great-great grandma who did cartwheels through cow pies because she thought it would get her a man"). It can be your first, middle, or nickname, or if you happen to know where your last name comes from that always works too. Mister Spiffys got a fairly amusing history to his name, but thats a different story entirely.

"My Picture Is A Fish. What Else Need I Say?"

Have people draw a picture that describes them, then tell why. Mister Spiffy once knew a family that was really rather strange, and this icebreaker turned out to be quite the bladder buster. We had pictures ranging from road accidents and spotted moose to children sitting on clouds and a king wearing his crown upside down. The explanations were even better. Make sure that people know they will have to explain it, otherwise they will just try to be funny.

Straight-Faced Unabashed Liar

Each person gets an index card. Then pull out your soapbox again and tell them all to write down three statements about themselves one true and the others lies. Then they will stand up and read out their information whilst the rest of the group tries to guess which statement is true. To really befuddle the listening ears, pick the most outrageous stunt youve ever done for truth and make more realistic (but still untrue) statements your lies. Although this is an icebreaker, Mister Spiffy says its also fun to play with people who have been together for a long time like a party with close friends. Then its even harder to think of a true statement that no one would guess.

Truth or Dare, Without the Dare

Everyone sits in a circle. Ask a question and go around the circle, with everyone answering it in their own way. This can be a ton-o-fun if you ask the right questions, therefore Mister Spiffy provides for you a list of questions that will help get the laughter started. What was your most embarassing moment (or at least one of them)? If you were a pie, what kind of pie would you be? If you were to choose a vegetable most resembling your personality, what vegetable would you pick and why? Mister Spiffys note a tomato is a fruit. Choose one word to describe yourself Choose one word to describe the person on your left What thought first crosses your mind when you hear, "Once upon a time"? Which Disney character are you most like, and why? What is the most attractive trait you could hope for in the opposite sex? Who was your favorite character in "Star Wars"? If you were to grow a mole on your forehead, what shape would you want it to be? What is the best carnival ride youve ever been on? Have you ever swallowed a coin or other monetary element?

Like Mister Spiffy said, it can be a milk-spewer. If you just get the right people (the slightly twisted branch of the family) you can be laughing all night.

"B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O and Bingo Was His Name-O"

Get Acquainted Bingo. Create a bingo card of characteristics that a person might have, or just use the one Mister Spiffy made below. These can be physical characteristics (like hair color), things the person has done (flown in an airplane), or things which match the bingo player (same color eyes). Pass out the bingo cards to all family members, and have them try to get a bingo (or blackout) by finding other family members that have these characteristics. Mister Spiffy has a rule that you can only provide two matches on another persons card (even if more than two items are true). This way you have to ask more people nosy questions.

Find Someone Who...

Is the same height as you Has built something out of wood Is your cousin Knows the words to the Gilligan's Island theme song Is over 6 feet tall Has driven a tractor Lives in a house with a basement Lives more than 500 miles from you Collects something for a hobby Has been to Mexico Has brown hair

Has green eyes Was born the same month as you Knows how to rollerblade

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Can roll their tongue Is under 15 years old

Has piloted an airplane Has pierced ears

Owns a farm animal (horse, cow, etc) Plays a musical instrument

Knows how to Is over 50 years set the time on a old VCR Has been to more than 5 family reunions Has served in the military