TPIB: Divergent Truth or Dare
My tweens and teens are completely excited for the Divergent movie. You have NO idea- I have been getting asked for MONTHS when it’s coming out, can we go see it together, when are we going to go see it… and these are GUYS. So those of you with a mix of teens I know are having tons and tons of teens excited- which is completely wonderful because they are excited about something that came from BOOKS. So what better way to celebrate than with a huge themed game of Truth or Dare!
Where did it come from?
First, the wonderful Veronica Roth and the Epic Reads Crew shared how to do a Tea Party:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB3gzdvSINo?rel=0]
which is awesome, but got me thinking…. how can you do that with teens and no heat source?!?!? Nope, not gonna work. Soooo doesn’t work for me. BUT, I could combine CANDOR and DAUNTLESS into a huge Divergent themed TRUTH or DARE.
Think about it. CANDOR stands for brutal honesty, right? That’s always what is supposed to happen in Truth or Dare. So that would be the Truth part. And DAUNTLESS is fearlessness. So the Dare part. The only thing would be it would need to be controlled…. It would need to be harnessed… It would need….
Before your party, create a list of cards for CANDOR (truth) and DAUNTLESS (dare). You can print them out using publisher or anything else you have, or you can write them out on index cards; if you want to be really fancy, you can even put the faction symbols on the back.
Make sure that they question/challenges are things that the can answer without too much embarrassment or ribbing from friends and the challenges that you can actually do in the space that you have. You don’t want things to come out that are extremely sensitive, and always make sure that people have an out clause if they want one. Teens should always be able to be a part of something without actually participating if they don’t want to- if they want to be part of the game without playing, they could be a timer for a challenge, or a scorekeeper.
CANDOR questions could include:
- If you could be anything- regardless of talent or restrictions of any kind- what would you want to be when you become an adult?
- What is your dream school?
- What is your favorite type of candy?
- What book that everyone loves about that you hate?
- If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?
- What is one subject in school that you actually like and why?
- Name a movie that you love that other people don’t like
- Name an actor that you don’t like
For DAUNTLESS you could use challenges from Minute to Win It or Fear Factor. I’ve done Fear Factor as a program before, and used a lot of edible challenges like lime jello with pimentos and bacon bits made into a brain, Buddy the Elf spaghettios, and mixed up baby food. Other ideas:
- http://stumingames.com/2013/03/16/in-case-youve-missed-our-top-20-countdown-this-month-here-are-minute-to-win-it-games-11-20-stumin/
- http://www.incredibleevents.com/MinuteToWinList.html
- http://gameshows.about.com/od/minutetowinitgames/
- http://www.pinterest.com/gagatorgal/minute-to-win-it-game-ideas/
- http://www.thesource4ym.com/games/default.aspx?Search=Sick
- http://www.queen-of-theme-party-games.com/fear-factor-birthday-party-games.html
- http://www.ehow.com/info_8146129_home-fear-factor-ideas.html
Note: for set up of dares, I like to put them together in bags or boxes with labels that I know what they are but others don’t, so I can grab them and go, or have a cart set up but covered so that it’s all a mystery how things get put together. Then again, I am usually the only person running my programs.
APTITUDE TEST
Also keep an eye out for particularly hard questions and challenges that still will work with your teens and space. They could be more intense questions, or more intricate questions, or redoing a challenge that they did but with a faster time. Create those cards, but set them aside in case you need them for the DIVERGENT variant. These will be the Aptitude Test questions.
I plan to subtly dress in Faction colors during the week, although there’s no way I’m doing red pants. Sorry. For the party, however, I think I’m going to have to do Erudite since I’m leading everything- but if you’re looking for ideas, the web is full of them. Definitely encourage your teens to dress in faction colors as well.
To actually play, split up your teens into comfortable sized groups. I tend to use 4-5 per group/team, and depending on the group I’ll either let them split themselves up or split them randomly. With this being a Divergent party, if you can get them split into factions first (or five groups) even better. There are quizzes that you can print out and have them take, you can randomly assign them, you can pinpoint colors that they’re wearing- all sorts of options.
Have them sit in separate spaces, similar to the Factions set up during the Ceremony. Then get it started. The person with the first letter in the alphabet walks up and chooses CANDOR or DAUNTLESS. Then they will have to perform the task- question or challenge.
And here is where it can get interesting- you can play AMITY (and let everyone keep going even if they don’t complete the challenge or someone decides and proves they’re lying) or you can play for DIVERGENT (and make someone sit out if they fail). If you play AMITY, play nice until all the questions are complete, or people are tired of the game and want to switch to something else. If you play DIVERGENT, then the winners are the members still standing in the last Faction. However, you now take on the role of hunting out the DIVERGENT among the City, and those that are suspiciously able to go through the CANDOR and DAUNTLESS questions and challenges must face the APTITUDE tests.
And have fun!
Previously, Cindy Shutts talked about her awesome party plans earlier and I am completely jealous that she’s going to be able to get her teens to eat quietly.
Karen gave us wonderful instructions on how to make really cool rainbow loom Divergent bracelets with and without faction bottle caps. Note: I have found that using the actual Rainbow Loom products from Choon’s Design are far superior to the knock-offs. I’ve had tweens come in with their own bands and we’ve finger-weaved together (me using my stash as I haven’t had a loom makerspace yet, and they with their knock-off bands), and theirs will snap/break. So if you can, buy the original.
And we are still pinning to our Divergent pinterest board– and will be adding to it as I bet the movie will take off similar to The Hunger Games.
What wonderful things are you doing? Share in the comments!
About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
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