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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 11 to 16
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

Three cups or containers, one small object, paper and pens.

Key message

Pressure is easier to question when young people can see it.

How to run it

  • Place three cups upside down at the front of the room. Hide a small object under one cup.
  • Ask one young person to guess where the object is. Before they answer, invite the rest of the group to give opinions, hints or confident guesses.
  • Repeat the round a few times. In some rounds, encourage the group to agree loudly. In other rounds, ask people to give different answers.
  • After each round, ask the person guessing how confident they felt, what influenced their choice and whether the group made it easier or harder to decide.
  • Link the activity back to real life pressure. Explain that pressure does not always feel dramatic. It can be a friend’s opinion, a group reaction, a confident voice, a message online or the feeling that everyone else already knows what to do.

Discussion prompts

  • What made you choose your answer?
  • Did the group make you feel more confident or less confident?
  • Was it harder to choose when people sounded sure?
  • Where might young people feel pressure like this in real life?
  • How could someone pause before following the group?

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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