10 Fun Self-identity Games and Activities For High Schoolers

“In the social jungle of being alive, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity.” – Erik Erikson.

To find what one is and become what we are, we need to explore the realms that are hidden from our true selves and identify our real selves. The journey to becoming what we are starts at a very young age, and over the years, children engage in multiple activities and interact with multiple people that help children find their identity. 

High-school years are full of fun, life, and a constant effort to identify the real you. High-school years teach you many things and provide you with the experience of both good and bad things that shape you into a mature adult. Identifying personal identity is crucial as it lays the foundation for personal growth and development. 

Additionally, awareness games and activities help find one’s identity and build character, self-esteem, and self-confidence. Teachers are a key pillar in facilitating the process of finding self-identity among high-school students. 

Let’s see some classroom games and activities that teachers can initiate to help children find their identity. 

Self-identity games and activities for high-schoolers 

Certain games and activities that can help high schoolers find self-identity are- 

1. Your belief, your identity

The purpose behind the “Your Belief, Your Identity” game is that it will facilitate the children to think about their beliefs, attitudes, values, likes, and dislikes. The beliefs they hold are a crucial part of their self-identity, and by helping the children identify their beliefs, teachers or parents can help children find their identity. 

How to play? 

• The simple game or activity requires children to state their beliefs on a particular topic. 
• Provide children with a certain topic. The topic could be anything, such as whether the afterlife exists or how to discover oneself. 
• Either provide some time, say 10 minutes, to brainstorm on the topic or make the game a rapid-fire game. 
• The game is best played with 10-12 children in a group. 

2. What’s your soul animal, and why? 

Identifying what a person relates to helps identify who we are. By asking the children about their soul animals, children will focus on their characteristics and what describes them best. It will help the children identify their real selves or bring them closer to finding their real selves. 

How to play? 

• Ask the children to identify their soul animals and why they think so. The game can be modified in several ways, such as instead of soul animals, teachers can ask about the object that defines you or the food that defines you. 
• The game can go for 4-5 rounds, where every student has to report the different soul animals in 4-5 rounds. 
• For effective management, note students’ answers on the blackboard.  
• The game can involve the whole class, or the whole class can be divided into small groups. 
• Every student in every group has to answer, and a score will be awarded for each answer. 
• Later, the scores can be calculated. It will give the children an opportunity to explore and reflect. 

3. Describe yourself in two words

With limited words and time, children will dig deeper and find the right traits that define them. Defining oneself in mere two words requires a thorough analysis of one’s character which is necessary for understanding one’s identity.  

How to play? 

• The game can be modified into different forms and played with the whole class simultaneously. 
• The game can be better designed as a rapid-fire game. 
• Different situations can be given, such as introducing yourself to your dream company’s CEO in two words; what would those words be? Or you have 10 seconds to present yourself to your ideal; what will you say in those 10 seconds? 
• The word limit can also vary, such as five words. Although giving the flexibility of more words can reduce the essence of the game, limited words are more appropriate for the game. 

4. Who would you be if you could be someone else for 24 hours? Why? 

The game is designed to focus on one’s interests and desires and identify the true self. The activity will also help in exploring and reflecting. The game will further provide the self-insights beneficial for identifying self-identity. 

How to play? 

• The game can be played with the whole class, where one child can present their views at a time. 
• The game can be modified in several ways, such as children can state who else they would want to be for 24 hours and why, if given a chance, or act according to the person they would want to be. 
• The game can be played with one child at a time. 

5. Prompts for facilitating reflection 

Sometimes, all children need little external help to identify their true selves. With the right prompts, children can identify their true selves and their values, attitudes, and beliefs. 

How to play?

• Prepare several questions like a prompt. Questions could be, who am I? What do I want to be? What do I like? What I don’t like, etc. 
• Now write those questions in a chit, and children can pick any chit. When a child picks up a chit, they must respond to the answer in a maximum of 3 words. 
• The more chits, the better the game. Additionally, you can change the basics according to the class size and requirements. 
• This 10-minute activity or game can be played for more than one round. 

6. Forced choices 

The purpose behind forced choice activities is to identify the true self. Forced choices provide the children with two highly interesting or two highly disinteresting choices, and the child has to choose one from them. 

How to play?

• Randomly make the chits with two different choices written on them, or make the situations where a child faces two forced choices and chooses one option among them just like “would you rather” questions.
• The game can be played with a whole class. 

7. Social media self 

Social media rules the current generation. Children, without knowing who they are, try to mold themselves into something social media will approve of. The game will help to identify both my real self and my social media self. 

How to play?

• Ask every particular student to choose five of their friends whom they meet daily. 
• Next, Ask every student again to choose any five friends they meet online on any social media platform. 
• From both groups of friends, a child must ask about five traits from every member that describes the person. 
• Next, the child can compare the traits and understand their true self and social media self. 

8. Role-playing 

Role-playing is a powerful activity that not only helps to understand oneself but also provides an idea of others’ perspectives regarding oneself. It is a highly appropriate activity to understand oneself from others’ lenses. 

How to play?

• Make a pair of students for the role-play activity.
• Every member of each pair has to act out the other member. 
• The act could be randomly chosen by the member only, or teachers can provide a situation. Such as in this situation, a student has to act in a way that another person would have behaved in real life. 
• Ensure that students completely act out a certain scene instead of a snippet of a scene. 

9. Journaling 

Journaling is another powerful activity that has multiple benefits, and finding one’s true identity is one among them. Journaling is a form of meditation that helps understand one’s likes and dislikes and helps to reflect. 

How to play? 

• Journaling is a simple activity that requires children to record their daily life experiences in a book. 
• Along with their daily life activities, they must record their emotions during that particular instance. 
• Also, students have to rate the intensity of their emotions on a scale of 1-10. 
• The activity has to be done for a month, or a teacher can decide on a tenure according to their convenience. 
• Lastly, after a month, children have to identify at least 5 things from their journaling records about themselves that they weren’t aware of before the journaling. Journaling can be considered a fun holiday activity. 

10. Polar-word game 

A polar-word game is another interesting activity that can help children identify their true-self. Polar words, as the name indicates, are two words that are completely different from each other. The game will help the children brainstorm the polar opposite attitudes, traits, etc., that they hold. 

How to play? 

• Make a group of 10-12 students. 
• On their chance, every member of a group has to say two polar opposite words that are related to them or describe them. 
• A simple one-word or two-word will suffice on each pole. 
• The words could be their good or bad habits, likes or dislikes, habits they want to cultivate or eliminate, etc. 

Getting the most out of the games 

The self-identity activities and games are a fun way to understand one’s true essence and identify one’s real identity. Understanding one’s skills, attitudes, preferences, strengths, weaknesses, etc., is fundamental to self-identity. 

To get the most out of these activities and help the children understand the purpose of these games and activities, teachers can ask the following questions after the games or activities. The questions included 

• What do you think was the aim of this activity?
• What new things have you learned about yourself during or after playing this game or activity?
• How often did you feel stuck answering self-identity-related questions during this activity?
• What was this activity’s easiest and most challenging part, and why?
• Does the activity help bring out some hidden aspects of yours? What are they? How did you identify those aspects? 

Final words 

High-school years are a crucial period of a child’s life. A child goes through various physical and psychological changes that help children become mature and responsible. Finding one’s true identity is a part of these changes.

External factors, such as teachers, play a significant role in helping children find their life’s purpose and identity. Activities or games that focus on finding a child’s strengths and weaknesses are useful in building self-confidence and making the child aware of his true self.