Icebreakers

ICEBREAKERS
Name Game

Objective: To help each other learn the names of the people in the group.

Procedure: People sit in a circle. First person starts by saying their name. The second person repeats the first person’s name and then says their own name. The third person repeats the names of the first and second person and then says their own, and so on until the final person in the group repeats the names of everyone in the entire group.

Materials Required: N/A

Time Required: As long as it takes to get around the circle.

Source: 1988 Indian Educators Conference at Dartmouth College
Organize Yourself

Objective: To create energy and inspire creativity.

Procedure: People divided randomly into groups of 4 or 5. Facilitator gives simple instruction of "organize yourselves in 30 seconds." No additional clarification of instructions even if asked. At the end of 60 seconds, the facilitator asks each group to explain how they organized themselves (by height, shoe size, zip code, etc.) The next task is for the groups to organize themselves two ways, and then three ways, explaining at each break the ways they’ve chosen to organize themselves.

Materials Required: N/A

Time Required: 5-10 minutes

Source: 1988 Indian Educators Conference at Dartmouth College
Toilet Paper Game

Objective: To facilitate communication within the group and to begin to build a sense of community.

Procedure: People are seated in a circle. Facilitator shows s a roll of toilet paper to the group and instructs them to take as much as they want as the roll is passed around. Once the roll has been around the circle, the group is told that for each sheet of paper they took, they must tell the group something about themselves that the other people don’t know. Talking starts with the facilitator and proceeds around the circle.

Time Required: As long as it takes to get around the circle.

Materials Required: Toilet paper

Source: 1988 Indian Educators Conference at Dartmouth College
Slogans That Fit

Objective: To encourage personal interaction within the group.

Procedure: While the group leader distributes paper and pencils, the participants are to think about their personal or professional lives. The trainer then asks that each group member write down three famous slogans, savings or lines of poetry that seem appropriate for describing his or her personal life or professional career. For example, "The early bird catches the worm" may describe a participant who likes to be prepared, while "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" may reflect another group member’s personal philosophies affect professional behavior.

Materials Required: For each participant, a pencil and a piece of paper.

Time Required: Approximately 10-15 minutes.

Source: Getting Acquainted
Wanted Posters

Objective: To build self-esteem and inclusion.

Procedure: Explain to the full community that everyone will be introducing themselves to others through "Wanted Posters" which they will create themselves. Give all people a copy of a sample "Wanted Posters" and a straight pin and pencil. Allow 5-10 minutes for everyone to complete their posters. Have group members help each other pin the posters on their own backs, then tell everyone to circulate around reading each other’s posters and sharing their own. Allow sufficient time for all to read each other’s and then call the group back to sit in a full circle.

Discuss and reflect upon the activity. Some helpful discussion questions might be: What did you learn about other group members? What did you learn about yourself? It is also important to allow for personal reflection: How did you feel milling around the room? What was the most difficult section of the Wanted Poster for you to fill out and why? How do you feel about yourself now? Finally, it is important for the group to show their support and appreciation for one another’s efforts. "I liked it when…" or "I appreciated that …" statements often start off this kind of discussion well.

Materials Required: Wanted Posters, pins, and pencils.

Time Required: 30 minutes.

Source: Tribes
Who Are You?

Objective: To enable participants to become acquainted with one another in an informal setting.

Procedure: Individuals are instructed to jot down three questions that they would like to ask a person whom they are just meeting. Suggest they be creative and not ask the more obvious questions (name, organization, etc.)

After allowing 3-5 minutes, ask the participants to start moving around, exchanging questions and answers. Encourage the group to meet as many new people as possible. Reassemble the entire group and have all persons introduce themselves. As each individual is introduced, other participants are encouraged to add other pieces of information or details shared earlier. This will eventually provide a highly enriched composite picture of each participant.

The following questions might prove to be useful during the discussion:

What were some of the more interesting things discovered about people?
Would they have been uncovered in "normal" cocktail party conversations? Why not?
What were some of the more productive questions asked?
What questions proved to be less productive? Why?

Materials Required: None.

Time Required: Approximately 30 minutes, depending on group size.

Source: Games Trainers Play
Siblings

Objective: To serve as an initial get-acquainted icebreaker.

Procedure: Before the content session begins, ask the group to divide themselves in the four corners of the room with these subsets:

1. If they were the oldest in the family.
2. If they were the youngest in the family.
3. If they were any place in the middle.
4. If they were an only child.

As the participants seek out their respective groups, ask them to recall what they liked or disliked about their respective places in their growing up days. For example, the oldest may have had to care for their younger brother(s) or sister(s) or the youngest may have had all the "hand-me-down" clothes. In retrospect, would they have preferred a different place?

As each group has 10-25 minutes to discuss these and other questions, ask for one person to respond for each group. (Groups should be limited to 8-10 people.)

Materials Required: None

Time Required: Approximately 20 minutes.

Source: More Games Trainers Play
Treasure Hunt

Objective: To be used for small group (15-25) attendees workshops as a getting acquainted activity.

Procedure: At the very start of the seminar, explain the importance of becoming aquatinted with the other participants. Hand out a form to each attendee and ask that everyone find at least one similarity (e.g., "grew up in Chicago") and one dissimilar trait (e.g. "football fanatic" vs. "dislike sports") for at least 8-10 other participants. Award a small prize for the first person completing the form.

Materials Required: Handout forms and nominal prizes.

Time Required: 15-20 minutes.

Source: Still More Games People Play
Self-Disclosure Introductions

Objective: To provide innovative ways of introducing members to each other.

Procedure: Instruct participants to take two items (e.g. family pictures, credit cards, rabbits’ feet) from their purses, wallets or pockets. When introducing themselves to the group, they should use whatever they took out to help describe themselves in at least two ways (e.g. "I am superstitious"; "I’m such a tightwad, this is the first dollar I ever earned").

Ask each participant to state his/her name and attach an adjective that not only describes a dominant characteristic, but also starts with the first letter of his/her name (e.g., Sensuous Stan, Marvelous Mar, Inscrutable Ida, Dancing Diana, etc.).

Group members introduce themselves by name but also provide a nickname that they now have, once had, or would be willing to have if they could pick their own. Then, during breaks, members are encouraged to circulate and explore the reason behind the announced nicknames.

Before introductions begin, ask the group members to brainstorm a list of provocative questions they would like to have each other answer (and be willing to do so). Have them screen the list to throw out those in questionable taste, and select 2-3 that everyone feels comfortable with. Proceed with introductions that incorporate answers to the questions.

Distribute 3 X 5 cards containing participants’ names, and a small number of items filled in on separate lines. When participants complete the items, have them pin, tape or hold the cards up in front of them in exploratory conversations about the items. Sample questions include: "The person living today who I most admire is ______"; "My favorite all-time vacation was spent at ______"; "The best book/movie I ever read/saw was ______."

Materials Required: Index cards, pins or tape.

Time Required: N/A

Source: Still More Games Trainers Play
Color, Car, Character

Objective: To help the group get to know one another better in the early stages of its formation.

Procedure: While distributing paper and pencils to all of the participants, the trainer explains that the group members will be taking part in an activity that is designed to help them become acquainted with one another.

The group leader then asks that each participant write his or her name on the piece of paper. Under his or her name, each participant is to write a color, which he or she feels best, fits his or her personality. Beneath the color the participant is to writ the name of a car that he or she thinks is appropriate to his or her self-image. Finally, under the name of the car, the participant is to write the name of a fictional character with whom he or she identifies.

Then, one at a time, the group members introduce themselves by stating their names, colors, cars, and fictional characters. In the introduction, each participant is to provide a brief rationale for each of his or her three choices. For example: "I see myself as a Volkswagen because I am practical and am concerned about economic factors."

The exercise continues until all of the participants have introduced themselves by color, car and character.

Materials Required: A pencil and a piece of paper for each participant.

Time Required: Approximately 25-20 minutes.

Source: Getting Acquainted
Duo Interviews

Objective: To help the group get to know one another better.

Procedure: The trainer begins the exercise by explaining that this getting-acquainted activity asks the participants to introduce one another to the group.

Next the group leader asks the participants to pair off, preferably with someone they do not know or do not know well. (If the group members are hesitant, the trainer may which to assign partners. Should it be necessary, one group may contain three members.)

Each pair is to find a place in which they can work with some degree of privacy. They are then to spend five minutes interviewing each other, learning each other’s names and sharing information about backgrounds, interests, values, goals, etc.

The group leader may wish to call out the time when one minute remains so that both partners have an opportunity to share information about themselves.

When the allotted time has elapsed, the trainer calls the group together.

When the group has assembled, the trainer explains that the partners are to introduce each other to the group. The person performing the introduction is to stand behind his or her partner’s chair and speak as if he or she were that person. For example: "My name is Tom. I have a wife and two boys. I was born and raised in California, but I live in Seattle now, etc."

This continues around the circle until all group members have been introduced.

Materials Required: None

Time Required: 15-20 minutes

Source: Getting Acquainted
The Walking Billboard

Objective: To provide a novel way to stimulate participants to mingle and share key information with each other.

Procedure: Tell the group they have the opportunity to design their own getting-acquainted session. Ask them to propose major factors that they would like to discover about other participants in the session. List these for them all to see. Examples might include:

1. favorite food
2. pet peeve
3. best book recently read
4. all-time favorite movie (or actor or actress)
5. ideal vacation

Ask or a quick show of hands regarding the three most useful items from the items form the items generated. Using a rough tabulation, select the five or six items receiving the greatest support, and identify those for the group.

Provide every participant with a sheet of flip chart paper and marker. Ask them to lace their name at the top, and then list the 5-6 categories down the left side, and answer each for themselves.

Now (and this will produce some laughter) use masking tape to attach the sheet to the person’s shoulders (they will look like a walking billboard). Then invite them all to walk around the room and discover who everyone is. (Further exploration of what is written is encouraged.)

Materials Required: Flip chart paper and a marker for each participant; masking tape.

Time Required: 15-20 minutes

Source: Still More Games Trainers Play
Handful of Icebreakers

Objective: To help participants become acquainted with and feel comfortable about each other early in a session.

Procedure: Pair up the participants. Instruct them to interview each other on the basis of:

1. Three unusual things that have happened in their lives.
2. Special talents and hobbies they have.
3. The most important job responsibilities that they have.
4. The person they most admire (or despise) in the world.
5. A color and an animal that best describe who they are and how they feel.

Ask the group to introduce themselves as they think their best friend would–their likes and dislikes, recreational interests, personal aspirations, etc.

Ask the group to examine and describe what is in their name. They should tell their full name, any nickname or abbreviation, who they were named after, and whether they like or dislike their name. Also, they should tell what other name they would choose if they had the opportunity (and why).