Sorority Retreat Bonding Games
Jan 29, 2010 Since this is not able to happen for my chapter I was wondering if anyone had any fun indoor bonding ideas. Our 'retreat. Bonding games. One was like. Our events challenge your sorority or fraternity to work together. Sisterhood retreat, bonding. Orange County & Los Angeles Team Building - Enfold Theme. In the fall we usually have an over night retreat. Women interested in joining a sorority. Team Buildings & Bonding Activities For a Sisterhood Event.
How To Plan An Unforgettable Sisterhood Spring Retreat March 18, 2014 “Friends change, lovers leave, sisters are eternal.” For many, planning a sisterhood retreat can be up against the wall stressful. If it wasn’t enough that you have all your sisters relying on you to make this the all-time best retreat of your collegiate years, you yourself would kind of like to enjoy all your hard work as well; especially if it means you are getting anywhere closer to being voted “Most Spirited” for this year’s superlatives instead of “Dance Machine.” You can plan a one day retreat in town, or you can go all out and take a road trip for a mini vacation.
Just choose someplace that's not more than a few hours drive. For Miami sisters, a retreat to the island chain to the south has the 'wow' factor – and if you want to stay overnight, there are plenty of vacation rentals in places like, Florida Keys to give you the most bang for your buck.
Photo Courtesy of The next few tips will make your retreat so successful other chapters will be jealous they didn’t think of your nifty ideas first and whoever takes over sisterhood chair next year will have a hard time filling in your shoes. Sister Survival Kits Depending on the budget you have been given, a souvenir to help your sisters never forget your awesome planning skills can go a long way. Plus what better way to get to a lady’s heartand into her good gossip than by showering her in gifts? Create a sister survival kit by packing up a goodie bag full of tissues for those emotional moments, sugar cookies to sweeten them up, and taking reference from our all-time favorite legally blonde- snap cards for loving sisterly compliments. Keeping it Real with Swag Before your event gets underway order some shirts so that your ladies can show off to other sororities on campus how excited they are for the retreat. Every sorority girl can’t get enough shirts. Customize them to with your retreat theme, Greek letters, and mascot!
Ask the ladies to all show up in your new shirts to take a group picture in the beginning and before you know it your event will Instagram famous. All for One and One for All! Plan sisterhood bonding activities. Not all sisters get along but you are all there for one valuable cause, your sorority. Look up team building activities that can tie you all together but help highlight your differences in a positive light. This may even make chapter a little less stressful as many organizations use this as a time to get out unresolved issues and keep the peace. Venue of Stamina Without a venue that blows your sisters away your retreat could fall apart.
The biggest mistake retreat planners make is not enough space for the amount of guests. Whether it’s a daytime event or the whole weekend, room for all your bonding activities is important, and we all know there’s no such thing as light packing for a sorority woman. Lastly check for adequate parking and let your sisters know if they should carpool it to the event. The Element of Surprise Keeping your sisters guessing is the best way to build up the excitement for the retreat.
The unknown of where exactly they're going to be staying, how the day will be planned and what kind of yummy treats they will be receiving will make them anxious to attend. This will also help you with the “my way or the highway” sisters who seem to think fashionably late is in measurements of hours.
This article was written by Rebecca Borchers, a proud sister of Sigma Kappa at Florida International University and a content writer for www.DesignMyShirt.com.
I am looking to conduct a sisterhood retreat this upcoming semester. One hasn't been done in my chapter for years, so I am completely unfamiliar with how one is done. Ive read up on them, however, and have seen that it is normally a weekend long event held at a cabin of some sort with rope courses and other fun outdoor activities. Since this is not able to happen for my chapter I was wondering if anyone had any fun indoor bonding ideas. Our 'retreat' will most likely only last 4-6 hours.just a short and sweet kind of day but i want to make it a memorable one! Our chapter played bonding games.
One was like 'Never Have I Ever' where you are sitting in a big circle with one sister standing in the middle. She says something like 'never have I ever.' (usually something embarrassing or funny) and every other sister who has done that gets up and runs to another seat. The person stuck in the middle then says 'never have I ever.' We also split into pledge classes and were given letters on 8.5 by 11 paper. We had to spell something that represented us as a pledge class. You could also incorporate something crafty with your symbols/colors, etc.
One exercise that I really like is called a 'Dream Circle' One person starts off standing in the middle of a room with their arms at their hips. They then proceed to tell everyone in the group their dream for your organization. If someone else in the group shares their dream, then they link arms with them and they tell everyone in the room a dream of their own. You keep going on with the exercise.
Sorority Bonding Activities
Every time a member shares her dream with the group another member with the same dream links arms until the circle is complete. When you get done with your last link. Make sure to remind everyone in your sorority that no matter what happens or what kind of petty arguments that you all are 'linked' together by your love for your chapter. One exercise that I really like is called a 'Dream Circle' One person starts off standing in the middle of a room with their arms at their hips. They then proceed to tell everyone in the group their dream for your organization.
If someone else in the group shares their dream, then they link arms with them and they tell everyone in the room a dream of their own. You keep going on with the exercise.
Every time a member shares her dream with the group another member with the same dream links arms until the circle is complete. When you get done with your last link. Make sure to remind everyone in your sorority that no matter what happens or what kind of petty arguments that you all are 'linked' together by your love for your chapter.
I really like that idea. It gives each member an opportunity to voice their own thoughts about the future of the chapter, as well as a chance for them to see that others share their opinions. We used to do Roses at our sisterhood retreats. Each sister would decorate a paper bag for herself to use as a 'mailbox.' During the course of the retreat, sisters could drop little notes, anonymous or not, into other's bags with compliments, inspirational messages, etc.
At the end of the retreat, each sister would have a nice memento from the day. One exercise that I really like is called a 'Dream Circle' One person starts off standing in the middle of a room with their arms at their hips. They then proceed to tell everyone in the group their dream for your organization. If someone else in the group shares their dream, then they link arms with them and they tell everyone in the room a dream of their own. You keep going on with the exercise.
Every time a member shares her dream with the group another member with the same dream links arms until the circle is complete. When you get done with your last link. Make sure to remind everyone in your sorority that no matter what happens or what kind of petty arguments that you all are 'linked' together by your love for your chapter.
We did something similar. Everyone sat in a circle with a piece of paper. A stapler was passed around and as each person got the stapler, they said what made them a strong link and what made them a weak link.
Then they attached their link to the chain. When everyone was through, the chain was stapled into a circle. It showed that everyone's strengths as well as their weaknesses were what made our sisterhood.
At our last Chapter Retreat, we did an activity called 'Standing up for Our Sisters.' Each girl got a list of statements with a blank check box next to them. The statements ranged from things like 'I used to take dance classes' to 'I used to have an eating disorder' to 'I have gossiped about a sister' to 'I have been sexually abused' to lighter things like 'My favorite color is Pink.' They were 50 things on the list.
Each sister anonymously checked off the things that applied to her. The lists were collected and re-distributed to different sisters. The girl in charge of the retreat read each statement off of the list, and any time the sheet you were holding had a check next to it, you stood up, because you were 'Standing up for a sister.' It worked really, really well and definitely put everyone on the same page. Hope I helped! At our last Chapter Retreat, we did an activity called 'Standing up for Our Sisters.'
Each girl got a list of statements with a blank check box next to them. The statements ranged from things like 'I used to take dance classes' to 'I used to have an eating disorder' to 'I have gossiped about a sister' to 'I have been sexually abused' to lighter things like 'My favorite color is Pink.' They were 50 things on the list. Each sister anonymously checked off the things that applied to her.
The lists were collected and re-distributed to different sisters. The girl in charge of the retreat read each statement off of the list, and any time the sheet you were holding had a check next to it, you stood up, because you were 'Standing up for a sister.' It worked really, really well and definitely put everyone on the same page. Hope I helped! Thats a cute idea.
I may have to bring that idea to our next retreat. To the OP- aside from the team builders, we usually do some sort of craft-making. Usually either making para for ourselves or as a gift for another sister. We did an exercise at our Junior League Retreat last year that was like telephone. Everyone put their name on a piece of masking tape.
Then they told something unique about themselves to the another person (think dined at the White House, cliff jumped in Jamaica) and handed off the masking tape name to that person and the other person did the same. Now you basically switched 'identities' and masking tape names. You went up to the next person and introduced yourself as the new person with your new story.
At all times you had to remember one story and hear a new story (but these were only 1 lines originally). At the end, it showed how stories morph. Everone got into a circle and the first person starts with her new story. The actual person with that name comes up and tells the real story. Then she says her 'identity' and their story, etc.
It would be a good one to demonstrate gossip and communication. I was amazed at some of the extra details that got thrown in there. This year my chapter came back a week early from winter break for Spirit Week/Recruitment prep. All of us stayed in the house (60 girls living in a house built for 20.oh my!), which was a bonding experience in itself! If you're just doing a single day retreat that obviously wouldn't work, but it was such a good way to bond with everyone at once I just had to mention it!
Since it was recruitment prep, we talked a lot about our own recruitment experiences. I loved when we went around and shared each of our stories about recruitment, memories of sisterhood, what being a KD meant to us etc. It was amazing hearing how all of the different stories somehow had such similar aspects, plus it boosted our pride in our house. In addition to the recruitment stuff we did throughout the week, we also had random sisterhood activities.
One of my favorites was a confidence exercise we did midweek to boost morale. It's similar to some stuff that's already been mentioned, but might be a little easier to execute depending on your location. You wrote your name down on a piece of paper, then passed it around the circle. Sisters wrote down qualities they liked or admired about you, along with the occassional inspirational/sentimental message. (Our chapter used sheets of paper due to space limitations, but I've also seen it done using half-sheets of posterboard scattered on the floor so people can walk around to leave notes, or hung up on a wall throughout the retreat so people can write at their leisure).
It was a really powerful exercise that definitely boosted our morale in the middle of the week and brought us closer as a chapter! Hope that helps!