Customer Reviews

101 Games for Trainers: A Collection of the Best Activities from Creative Training Techniques Newsletter

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I came across this book while buying another one at Amazon. I've always followed Bob Pike so I bought this book unseen.

The book is laid out nice so all you have to do is pick a game and follow the brief instructions. There is one game per page so that tells you that it's not difficult to follow.

The one thing I didn't like about this book is that you really have to plan on a lot of time to prepare for each game way before the class. Some of the games, each participant needs a specialized tool or article such as a photo, paper cups, toothpicks, candy bars, etc.

Also some of the more detailed games require you as the trainer to do a lot of advance prep for items such as a paper license plate, index cards, lists of objects, cartoons, nickels, and lottery tickets. Once you have any of these items prepared, then the game is fun....but I found that I don't have a lot of extra time to prepare items such as these for large classes.

Nutshell: Easy Instructions, Great Games, Tons of Advance Prep Work Needed (for most games).

While looking for a variety of training games I came across this book. What I like about this book is that it offers a variety of games for different situations. Whether looking for an opener or a team-building event, I can find an activity to go with a multitude of topics. It's often difficult to come up with enough activities to go with your presentation. I like this book because it had so many options for me to choose from without using the same one over and over again.

A small book that is very popular among trainers. The Games and activities are chosen from the Creative Training Techniques Newsletter (By Bob Pike) and are suitable for a variety of topics and situations. The activities are very eclectic and many are unique since they are contributed by different people. The presentation is also very clear. However, the one thing that the book lacks is a topical index so that you can check the type of the activity and its suitability to different training topics and areas: You have to go through the whole book looking for the icebreakers, the activities, etc. and the areas that they suitable for.

Whether it be for creating a training or just adding some fun to one that already exists, this book gives great ideas on how to get the audience engaged. I found the topic applications to be very helpful and the fact that these were all tested by trainers was a plus in my mind. I have already used two of them with great sucess.

I have used several of these games with great success. Most are intelligent and fun, unlike several other books I have read. The organization of the book is a little odd but that's only a minor complaint. It's still fairly easy to find what I'm looking for.