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Nicofiends activity

Cup Choice

A quick guessing game about peer pressure, confidence and group influence.

What it explores

This activity helps young people think about how group opinions, confidence and pressure can affect choices. It opens up a conversation about how easy it can be to follow what others say, even when you are not sure.
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Time
10 to 15 mins
Age
Ages 8 to 10
Setting
Classroom, Youth group, Community setting
Group size
Small groups or whole group

Activity at a glance

Best for

Peer pressure, confidence and group influence.

You’ll need

10 cups, a small token, sticker or prize, paper slips and pens.

Key message

Pressure is not always obvious. Sometimes it is confidence, noise, repetition or a group making one choice feel like the obvious one. This can happen around smoking, vaping or nicotine products too. If people make something sound normal, popular or low risk, it can feel easier to go along with.

How to run it

  1. Place 10 cups upside down in a row and number them 1 to 10. Hide a small token, sticker or prize under one cup.
  2. Ask everyone to write their name and first cup choice on a slip of paper. Fold the slips and collect them.
  3. Let participants discuss their guesses in pairs without changing what they wrote.
  4. Choose one slip and invite that participant to come forward.
  5. Read their original guess aloud.
  6. Let the group offer advice for a few seconds.
  7. Ask: “Are you sticking with your first choice or switching?”
  8. The participant chooses a cup and checks underneath.
  9. Ask whether the group influenced their decision.
  10. If the prize is not there, remove the empty cup and repeat with another participant.

Discussion prompts

  • Who changed their mind?
  • What made you change?
  • Did the group make the choice feel easier or harder?
  • Was the loudest advice right?

Reflection

This activity helps young people notice that pressure can come from confidence, noise, agreement or wanting to fit in. It encourages them to pause, question what is influencing them and make their own choice.

Download printable materials

Link To Smoking, Vaping or Nicotine

Cup Choice links to the way young people can feel pulled by the people around them.

Smoking, vaping or nicotine use can sometimes begin in small social moments: someone offers it, the group reacts, a friend sounds confident, or it feels like everyone else already knows what to do.

The activity helps young people notice how pressure can build, how confidence can influence a choice, and how useful it can be to pause before following the group.

Adapting the activity

Make it Easier

Use fewer cups. Let young people work in pairs. Give a practice round before the discussion starts.

 

Make it Harder

Add pressure cards. Give a few people secret prompts, such as “speak confidently”, “get others to agree” or “say everyone thinks it’s this one”. After the guess, ask what made it harder to choose.

Safety Note

Keep the discussion general and scenario based. Do not ask young people to share personal or family experiences of smoking, vaping or nicotine use. Follow your setting’s safeguarding process if a young person raises a concern.

Ready to Run The Acitvity

Download the activity PDF or go back to the resource hub to find another activity.

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