Rock Paper Scissors
Rock Paper Scissors is a warm-up exercise that uses the familiar hand game as a platform for building energy and group connection. Variations include full-body rock paper scissors, tournament brackets, or using the outcomes to trigger improv scenes. The exercise lowers inhibition and creates a shared competitive energy at the start of a session.
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Related Exercises
Slappy Face
Slappy Face is a physical warm-up game in which players gently tap their own faces and bodies to wake up their physical awareness, often followed by partner exercises involving light, controlled contact. The exercise raises tactile sensitivity and alertness. It is a quick way to bring performers into their bodies at the start of a session.
Sock 'Em
Sock 'Em is a physical warm-up exercise in which players engage in a playful combat game using soft objects or exaggerated mimed punches. The exercise builds physical confidence, stage combat awareness, and the ability to react convincingly to imagined contact. It teaches performers to sell physical action through committed reactions.
Clap Olympics
Clap Olympics is a competitive warm-up in which pairs or groups attempt progressively more difficult clapping patterns, rhythms, or coordination challenges. The playful competition raises energy and sharpens group timing. The exercise works well as an icebreaker that combines focus training with physical fun.
Reverse Chair Dance
Reverse Chair Dance is a warm-up exercise in which players watch a leader perform a sequence of chair-based movements and then attempt to replicate the sequence in reverse order. The exercise challenges spatial memory and physical coordination. It loosens the body while engaging the mind in a playful cognitive task.
Penguin Chairs
Penguin Chairs is a physical warm-up game in which players waddle between chairs in a penguin-like fashion, competing to claim a seat when the music stops or a signal is given. The silly physical constraint lowers inhibition and generates laughter. The exercise serves as an icebreaker that gets players moving and laughing together quickly.
Hand Slap
Hand Slap is a quick-reflex warm-up in which two players face each other with palms resting together, one player on top and one on the bottom. The player on top attempts to slap the back of the other's hands before they can pull away; the player on the bottom attempts to withdraw their hands quickly enough to avoid the slap. The exercise builds reflexive responsiveness, physical presence, and the ability to read and react to another person's intention before they act.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Rock Paper Scissors. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/rock-paper-scissors
The Improv Archive. "Rock Paper Scissors." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/rock-paper-scissors.
The Improv Archive. "Rock Paper Scissors." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/rock-paper-scissors. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.