Crosstown Connections

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Help participants meet multiple partners through low-stakes physical or visual greeting rituals.

Use it when: Use at the start of a workshop or training session to get people on their feet and interacting with multiple peers quickly.

Skip it when: Skip when physical space is tight, when the room has significant mobility barriers, or when the group prefers seated, discussion-focused introductions.

Group arrangement: Pairs; people rotate partners for each greeting style, with a trio formed if numbers are odd

Timing: Playmeo suggests a brief low-effort icebreaker; 10 minutes fits 3 to 4 greeting rounds and several rapid recall calls.

Materials and tools

• Whiteboard or flip chart and marker to write greeting names

Before participants arrive

1. Clear an open floor space where the whole group can mill around and move freely.
2. Write the names of 3 or 4 greeting styles on a visible chart (for example: High-Five, Fist-Bump, Wave-and-Nod, Elbow-Tap).

Say this to open

We are going to do a quick warm-up called Crosstown Connections. You will learn three different greetings. For each greeting, you will find a brand-new partner and practice it together. Physical contact is completely optional; you can substitute an air high-five or a wave at any time. Once everyone has their partners locked in, I will call out a greeting, and your job is to find that specific partner and perform the greeting again.

How to run it

1. Introduce greeting one 2 minutes

   Demonstrate the first greeting (such as a high-five or air high-five) with a volunteer. Announce a pairing criterion, such as finding someone wearing a similar color shoe. If an odd number of people is present, allow one group of three. Give everyone 30 seconds to pair up, share their first names, and complete the greeting once.

2. Introduce greeting two 2 minutes

   Demonstrate a second greeting (such as a fist-bump or double thumbs-up) with a different volunteer. Direct participants to split up and find a new partner based on a different prompt, like finding someone with roughly the same birth month. Partners exchange names and perform greeting two.

3. Introduce greeting three 2 minutes

   Demonstrate a third greeting (such as an elbow-tap or wave-and-nod) with another volunteer. Ask everyone to find a third unique partner, someone they have not paired with yet. Partners introduce themselves and perform greeting three.

4. Crosstown recall calls 3 minutes

   Ask everyone to mingle randomly in the center of the room. Call out one greeting by name (for example, 'Fist-Bump!'). Participants quickly locate their matching partner for that greeting, walk across the room to meet, and perform the motion. Repeat this with the other greetings in random order for 3 to 4 rounds.

5. Wrap-up and debrief 1 minutes

   Bring the whole room to a stop. Ask one or two reflection questions to close the activity before transitioning to the main agenda.

Debrief questions

• What strategy did you use to remember which partner went with which greeting?
• How did moving across the space change the energy in the room compared to sitting?
• What was easiest or most challenging about finding your partners quickly?

Finished output: All participants interact with at least three different peers and establish shared non-verbal reference points for the session.

Remote

Run in a virtual meeting using gallery view. Instead of physical movement, demonstrate video-friendly gestures (for example: Peace Sign, Double Thumbs-Up, Heart Hands). In breakout rooms of two (or trios for odd numbers), participants practice gesture one for 60 seconds. Repeat twice by shuffling breakout rooms. Reassemble in the main room. The facilitator types or speaks a gesture name, and participants must use the chat to tag their assigned partner for that gesture while displaying the hand sign on camera.

Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not recommended because the defining mechanic depends on room-scale movement and physical or visual partner spotting. If running a split room, run two parallel independent tracks: in-person participants move across the physical floor, while remote participants run the gallery-view variation in a separate virtual room with an assigned online co-facilitator.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may use non-contact alternatives (such as a head nod, wave, or air palm) instead of touch at any step.
• Participants with limited mobility can remain seated in a designated station while mobile partners come to them.
• Any participant may opt out of movement and serve as the caller who selects and announces the next greeting.

If the session gets stuck

A participant forgets who their partner was for a specific greeting.

Instruct anyone without a partner to raise a hand in the center of the room and pair up with anyone else with an open hand.

An odd number leaves one person without a partner during pairing.

Immediately designate a trio where all three people perform the greeting together.

Terms used here

• Greeting style: A distinct gesture, such as a high-five, fist-bump, or wave, paired with a specific partner.