I’m sure we all have Zoom fatigue at this point! If you don’t know what I’m taking about, you probably will soon. What may only be around 9 weeks of shelter in place but to some it can feel more like 90 weeks. We are all spending large amounts of time on Zoom in order to connect and carry on a somewhat normal workday with virtual meetings- and hopefully, you’re sleeping more hours than you are spending on Zoom. But, regardless, there are three things I have been doing to help with Zoom fatigue in small groups and large gatherings. The best part is is that these ideas work for all size groups!
“I Spy”- So, you’ve played this in a book, now you can play it on Zoom in your own home! I love being able to see important or memorable objects on people’s shelves or the books they keep in their home office. Zoom is another dimension of hospitality when you let people see your home virtually! So, play “I Spy” as a group and have fun with all of the Zoom windows you see on your screen. You may need a magnifying glass though!
“If I were stranded on an island….what three things would I bring?”– This is such a fun game, but you may have to give some ground rules! I always say, it can’t be a person (because that’s a given!), and it can’t be the Bible (that’s a given and everyone always says they’ll grab books!). So, they grab their three items in their house and show it to everyone. Be creative! I once had someone go get aloe vera because they knew they’d burn so badly in the sun- smart and clever!
“Alphabet game”- Every body in your group gets a letter. So, if you have six people in your group, one person is A, one person is B, one person is C and so on. Then, they have to go find two items in the house that they realistically have (not hypothetically) and connect the items with a story. So, if I got the letter B, I might go grab a baseball bat and a bagel. Then, share how I’m going to eat a bagel for breakfast before I take a break and go play baseball at the corner! It can actually be quite challenging, depending on what letter you have and what you have in your home!
Story cards- You might be familiar with the physical set of story cards you can buy from North Point for groups but now they’ve put them online with questions to go along with them. Each story card is a picture that allows you to tell a story, and it’s one of the easiest ways you can learn about what’s going on in someone’s life. You can ask simple questions such as, “Which card best describes your current mood right now?” They might pick the story card with a coffee pot on it and say, “Well right now I’m feeling very tired because of ….” This is a great way to go a little deeper!
All of these are simple ways you can help fight against Zoom fatigue as well as continue to grow and develop relationships within your group for as long as your groups continue to meet online!
