Circles of association

Make a circle from all the players. Agree on someone to start, they have to tell their neighbour a word. The neighbour associates a new word to the first and says it to player 3, and so on.

The goal is not to have highly original associations. The Basic rule is "there is no wrong answer". To achieve this you have to turn off your inner censor. It is even acceptable and possible to repeat previously used answers.

What you need to develop is a common rythym and a sense of "flow". It becomes clear that at a certain speed association becomes easier, mainly because the time for thinking is much shorter.

Make sure you are really associating your word with that which was just said, not that which was said 2 or 3 words ago.

Advanced players should attempt to make visual, rather than verbal associations. E.g.:

• "Fire Brigade" - "Engine" is word association (as in "Fire Engine")
• "Fire Brigade" - "Block of Flats" is visual association (The Fire Brigade are putting out a fire in a block of flats)
• "Snow" - "Hoe" is word association (they rhyme)
• "Snow" - "Yeti" is visual association (there's a Yeti in the snow)

Variations:

The next player associates the first stage only mentally, and then associates this result with something they say. E.g.:

A: "House" B: Thinks "Key", says "Metal"

See also: Association, Circles of Association with Repetition