1. Give each student an index card 2. Have the students pair up and write the name of their partner on their card. Give them five or six questions that they must ask each other such as: -Where were you born? -What is your favorite color and why? -What did you dream last night? 3. Make sure that they write down the answers to these questions on their card. When they are done, have them each choose a new partner. 4. They will then tell their new partner about their old partner based on the questions answered. Each person will record this information on the other side on the index card (the index card is only to help them remember everything). 5. Once they have finished, they each stand up in front of the class and tell everyone what they learned about one of their classmates. -this helps them to develop their communication skills and helps them get comfortable with speaking and interacting with all the students in the class
Tell Me about Myself Level: Any Level This game works well with students at pre-intermediate level or above and can be adapted accordingly. It is an original way of introducing yourself (as a teacher) to a class for the first time, but could also be used later on. Prepare in advance, on an overhead transparency or white-board, a mind map of yourself. Instead of using sentences to describe your life, use single words, numbers, dates, symbols and illustrations where possible. For example I include information about my life in England, names of siblings, date of birth, name of hometown etc. (My hometown is Stoke-on-Trent which I then illustrate with a cup and saucer - the Potteries, and a football - Stoke City FC. It keeps them guessing.) I include information about my husband (name and illustration of job) children (names, ages, birthdays). You can add your shoe size, height, illustrations of your hobbies etc. I draw a needle and thread - sewing, a pair of skis - I enjoy skiing, and a pencil - drawing. Any kind of information can be included. Use your imagination! I live in Sweden and draw a picture of a snowman with a cross through it to illustrate that I don’t like the winter! Get your students to tell you what the information means. For example. • July - is that when your birthday is? • Does the cup and saucer mean you drink tea? Try and get a good mix of obvious and less obvious information. For example, when I drew a fish (to illustrate that I kept tropical fish) it provoked questions like: • Do you eat a lot of fish? • Do you enjoy fishing? • Is your star sign Pisces? Give them a clue if they’re having problems guessing. This game has worked wonderfully for me in many classes of varying levels. To follow up, get you students to take a few minutes to prepare something similar individually, and then work in pairs guessing what the information means about their partner.
Who Am I? Level: Any Level You can use this with any subject. Write the names of famous people (mixed nationalities) on small pieces of paper. Tape a name on the forehead of each student. The individual student should not see his or her paper, but the others should. Then, like with 20 questions, only yes or no questions should be asked. Perhaps start with yourself and ask "Am I am man?" If the answer is yes, I can ask again, but if the answer is no, it's the next person's turn. Play until everyone has guessed who he or she is! This can be played with nationalities, countries, household objects, anything and it's a gas, especially for adult students!!
Toilet Paper Icebreaker (The toilet paper is such an attention getter) Level: Any Level This activity is used as a "getting to know you", icebreaker on the first day of class. 1. Teacher takes the toilet paper roll and takes several squares of toilet paper, then hands the roll of toilet paper to a student. The teacher tells the student to take some, more than three. 2. After everybody in the class has some paper, we count the squares we have, then we have to tell that many things about ourselves, in English.
Ice Breaker Games Ice breaker Game – Catch! Ideal for groups who need to learn names quickly. Not ideal for groups of complete strangers as it relies on knowing at least one or two of the group’s names! Get your group to form a circle. The purpose of the game is to learn names by throwing the ball. Each person must throw the ball 3 times. Start the game by throwing the ball to someone you know – say his name as you throw the ball. This person throws the ball to someone else and says his name. And so on, until each person has thrown the ball 3 times. If some poor soul is left out, take the lead and throw the ball to them asking their name.
Ice breaker Game – Secret Lives An ideal ice breaker game for groups who work together remotely or who need to build relationships quickly. When sending out invites to the meeting, ask each person to send back a secret fact about them. You’ll find all sorts of hidden talents, escapades or achievements . Prepare a document with all the secrets written out, and a blank next to each for the owner. Make sure you print out enough sheets. At the meeting hand out the secrets sheets, and ask the group to mingle and figure out which secret belongs to whom. If the group is mixing well, be flexible about the timing and maybe let the exercise go on slightly longer. Take the completed sheets back and mark them quickly. As you are doing this, ask each person to confess their secret to the group. Announce the “winner” and maybe give a small prize.
Artifact Game Each person is told ahead of time to bring ten papers with words on it with some meaning to them to whatever event you are doing this at. When they arrive, give them a bag with a number on it and get them to carefully place their papers into it. Then make sure each person gets someone else's bag. They have ten minutes to write down ideas about what the person who owns the expressions is like, and to try to guess who they are. It is best if you don't do the guessing until after everyone has had their say. This would also work as an end of camp game, to see what people have learned about each other.
Chairs Everyone gets a chair and sits in a circle. The leader has a list of items he reads out. If any of them apply to you, you move the appropriate number of seats clockwise. Examples: 1. Anyone with one brother, move one seat clockwise. If you have two brothers, move two seats. 2. Anyone with black hair, move one seat clockwise. 3. Anyone over the age of 21, move one seat counter clockwise. 4. Everyone wearing brown shoes, move one seat, etc. The idea is to move all around the circle, and end up back where you started. It becomes fun because if you move, but your neighbour doesn't, you sit on his lap! Sometimes, you can have three people occupying the same chair!! Make sure you have lots of categories so that everyone gets lots of chances to move, e.g. all hair colours (at different times, of course), and so on.
Dr. Mix-Up All the girls stand in a circle, holding hands. Select one or two girls to be "Dr. Mix-Up"... they leave the room for a moment. When they're gone, everyone else does their best to get tangled up, by climbing over arms, under legs etc., without letting go of their neighbours' hands. When the circle is suitably tangled, everyone yells "Dr. Mix-Up! Come and fix us!". The Dr. Mix-Ups then come in and try to untangle the circle by directing individuals to go under arms, around bodies, etc. This game is also an excellent 30-second game or Co-operative game.
Quirks Everyone is asked to tell the group three of their personal quirks, either past or present. Two must be true and one is false. The rest of the group must decide which quirk is false. The Great Shoe Dive This game works best with lots and lots of players, at least 30-40. Get everyone to take off their left shoe. Put all the shoes in a pile. At "Go!", everyone dives for the pile and grabs a shoe, any shoe. The object of the game is then for each player to find the person who has their shoe and reclaim it!
The Name Game Sit all the people in a circle. One of the persons (or a leader) starts off the game by saying "Hi! My name is...". Then the person next to the beginner continues by saying "Hi! My name is... and sitting next to me is...". This continues on around the circle, until the last person to introduce himrself also has to introduce the entire circle! This is a great way to learn names.
HOG CALL: Break the group into pairs. Each pair must choose two things; a machine and an animal. They then have to decide who is which. The pairs then divide up on opposite sides of the room. Everyone must close their eyes (if they feel comfortable), and by making only the noise that their character would make, they must find their partner. When they find their partner, they can open their eyes and wait until everyone else is done. Note: When conducting an activity with eyes closed, have the group raise their hands in front of their chests as “bumpers,” and have at least one person (facilitator) acting as a spotter.
HUM THAT TUNE: Each person in the group is given a small piece of paper with the name of a nursery rhyme or other song written on the paper. (i.e. a famous song from your country) All of the people who are given the song must hum that tune and find everyone else singing the song. They then form a group. MUMBLE JUMBLE Before the activity begins, the leader will cut up a few pictures into puzzle pieces. Each group member will grab a piece of a puzzle from a bag. The group members will keep their puzzle piece to themselves until the leader says, “GO!” At this point, the group members will try to locate the other members of the group with the pieces to form the appropriate pictures. Whichever group does it first, wins. Good activity for breaking into retreat/activity groups.
ARCH BALL: Players (10-30) are divided into two equal teams. Each team forms a line, one in front of the other, about arms distance apart. The ball starts in the front and must be passed over the head to the back of the line. When the last person receives the ball, he/she must run with it to the front of the line and continue passing the ball. The first team to return the ball to the original line up wins.
I LIKE PEOPLE WHO... Everyone needs a place marker to stand on - tape, rubber spot or even a chalk mark. Everyone forms a circle and stands on their spot. One girl is in the middle, her spot is removed. She calls out "I like people who . . ." Suggestions: like camping, eat cereal for breakfast, love Brownies. Anyone who falls into that category must change places with another person in the circle to whom the statement applies. "It" tries to get a spot also and the person who is left in the middle makes the next statement. You may not take a space next to you! BALLOON TAG Tie strings to balloons and then tie one balloon to each person’s ankle. It is every man/woman for him/herself in this one! The object of the game is to pop everyone else’s balloons while making sure that your’s does not get popped. Once your balloon is popped, you are out of the game.
BANANA RELAY This activity is very similar to the “Neck Race.” However, in this game, a banana is placed between the knees of the first person, and it must be placed between the next person’s knees - without using any hands. If the banana drops, it starts with the first person in line. First team to finish successfully, wins.
CAPTURE THE FLAG The playing area is divided in half; at each right-hand rear corner is a rectangle that is known as the jail or prison (you could also use a goal if on a soccer field). The group is divided into two teams. Each team should decide where to place their flag (a towel, shirt, or whatever) on their side of the field. The object of the game is to get the other team’s flag. Once the game is started, anyone who steps over the center line into the opponent’s half is eligible to be caught and taken to prison. A player must get through the enemy’s lines without getting tagged. Prisoners may be rescued by teammates who get through enemy lines without being tagged and can touch the prisoner’s hand. (The prisoners can line themselves up by holding hands and stretching toward the center line as long as one person is still holding the goal or in the jail area.) If rescued, both the prisoner(s) and the rescuer must walk back to their own side with their arms up. To win the game, a player must get the flag back across the mid-line of the playing area. If a player has the flag and gets tagged, the flag can either go back to where it was, or be dropped where the person got tagged. That player goes to jail. Teams may have only have one person protecting the flag.
FREEZE TAG This is played just like tag except that once you have been tagged, you are frozen. The only way to get unfrozen is to have someone go under your legs. To make the game harder, have more than one person be “it.”
SHOE FACTORY Have the group stand in a large circle shoulder to shoulder. Then have everyone remove their shoes and put them in the center. After the group has formed a pile with their shoes, the leader has everyone choose two different shoes other than their own. They should put them on their feet (halfway if they are too small). The group then needs to successfully match the shoes and put them in proper pairs by standing next to the individual wearing the other shoe. This will probably result in a tangled mess - and lots of giggles! THE NAME GAME Sit all the people in a circle. One of the persons (or a leader) starts off the game by saying "Hi! My name is...". Then the person next to the beginner continues by saying "Hi! My name is... and sitting next to me is...". This continues on around the circle, until the last person to introduce himrself also has to introduce the entire circle! This is a great way to learn names.
THE NAME JIVE Sit everyone in a circle. Leaders have a special role to play in this game, so make sure they participate too! The goal of this game is to learn everyone's name by making up a silly rhyme. Following around the circle, each person has a chance to make up a silly rhyme about himself. Once he's said his rhyme, everyone repeats it. Meanwhile the leaders must quickly think up a second line to their verse. Here is an example: Person 1: "Bouncy Becky plays ball." Everyone: "Bouncy Becky plays ball." Leader: (totally spontaneously) "She plays it in the spring and fall!" Everyone: "She plays it in the spring and fall!" Person 2: "Kooky Carrie kicks the couch." Everyone: "Kooky Carrie kicks the couch." Leader: "She holds her toe and then says OUCH!" Everyone: "She holds her toe and then says OUCH!" Proceed around the circle in this fashion. Once everyone has had a chance to make up a rhyme for themselves, go around the circle again as fast as possible, trying to remember both parts of everyone's rhyme along the way.
WHO AM I? You will need paper, markers, and safety pins. This is another game that works best with a theme. Again I will describe this using the "cartoon" theme. For each player, write down the name of a cartoon character on a piece of paper and pin it to the player's back. The goal of the game is for the people to figure out what cartoon character they are by asking other persons questions. They can only ask each person one question!
CONFUSION: Great high energy game to help participants begin to feel more comfortable in new group. Give each participant a sheet with various tasks and ask them to complete it when you say, “GO!” Here is a sample: Get a male to do five push-ups and sign here Stand on one foot with your arms outstreched for 20 seconds. Have someone time you and sign here Leap frog over someone 5 times Get someone to whisper the pledge of allegiance and sign here Get a female to recite a nursery rhyme Have someone teach you a dance step (even if they make it up) First person to complete the entire sheet, wins.
HOG CALL Break the group into pairs. Each pair must choose two things; a machine and an animal. They then have to decide who is which. The pairs then divide up on opposite sides of the room. Everyone must close their eyes (if they feel comfortable), and by making only the noise that their character would make, they must find their partner. When they find their partner, they can open their eyes and wait until everyone else is done. Note: When conducting an activity with eyes closed, have the group raise their hands in front of their chests as “bumpers,” and have at least one person (facilitator) acting as a spotter.
ICE CUBES Divide the players into two equal teams. At a starting signal, each team picks up an ice cube and tries to melt it as quickly as possible. Players can rub it between their hands or against their clothes, but they may NOT put it in their mouths. While they are trying to melt the ice cube, it should be passed around the team frequently - no player should keep it for more than a few seconds at a time. Players should keep it off the ground too. The first team to melt its ice cube, wins. On a really hot day, you may want to play more than one round of this one!
TOILET PAPER GAME Get a roll of toilet paper and explain to your group that they are going camping and need to take as much toilet paper as they think they may need for a three day trip. Once everyone has an ample supply, explain to the group that for every square in their possession, they must share something about themselves. NOTE: If anyone knows the activity, ask them not to give away the secret under any circumstances. THE GREAT SHOE DIVE This game works best with lots and lots of players, at least 30-40. Get everyone to take off their left shoe. Put all the shoes in a pile. At "Go!", everyone dives for the pile and grabs a shoe, any shoe. The object of the game is then for each player to find the person who has their shoe and reclaim it!
Name Game Summary: A simple icebreaker useful for introducing people to each other and helping people learn names. This game is especially useful when there are new people present.
Ages: 10-21 years old. Materials Required: A fun attitude. Recommended Setting: Indoors.
The Name Game
How to play
The Name Game (also known as the Adjective Game) starts with one person in the room picking a word that describes himself or herself as a person. The catch is, that the word must start with the first letter of their first name. For example, my students call me Miss Velasquez. I would say “Hello! My name is Vivacious Velasquez.” The person after me must say my adjective and name before saying theirs. So they would go, “Hello, Vivacious Velasquez, my name is Silly Sam.” Then the third person would go, “Hello, Vivacious Velasquez, and Silly Sam, my name is Easy-going Edwin.” This continues on until all of the students have gone. Being last is hilarious in this game, because they must remember everyone’s name AND adjective before stating theirs. думаю, эта игра подойдёт ученикам старших или по крайней мере средних классов, которые владеют лексикой
Giants, Wizards, and Elves Summary: An icebreaker / action oriented game good for medium and large sized groups. Two teams face off and decide to become either “giants,” “wizards,” or “elves.” Giants defeat elves, elves defeat wizards, and wizards defeat giants.
Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: 20 and up (large groups work fine too!). Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors or Outdoors.
Giants, Wizards, and Elves is a fun, silly icebreaker game that is a good way to break the ice at meetings or in classrooms. Setup Teach everyone how to become three characters: the giant, the wizard, and the elf. Each character features hand motions and a noise.
For the giant, each person stands on their tippy toes, lifts up their arms, and makes an angry growling noise: “Roooar!” For the wizard, each person crouches a little bit, flutters their fingers as though they are casting a spell, and they make a magical noise: “Woooo!” For the elf, each person gets down very low on their knees, cups their hands around their ears, and makes a high pitched elf noise: “Eeeeee!” Practice each motion together a few times. Divide everyone into two teams and have them separate into opposite sides of the room. The game invovles several rounds. For each round, the following takes place:
Each team forms a huddle and decides to become a giant, wizard, or elf. Both teams then line up and face each other, about 5 feet apart. The facilitator says “3..2..1..Go!” Each team acts out the giant, wizard, or elf (whatever they decided to become). As soon as they act out their character, the winner tries to grab the loser and pulls as many people over to their side as they can. The loser tries to run away, back to their side, in order to be safe. The winner of each round is determined by the following.The giant defeats the elf because giants “squash” elves. Elves defeat wizards by outsmarting them, chewing at their legs. The wizard defeats the giant by “zapping” them with a magic spell. Identical characters are a draw (no one wins).This process keeps repeating for multiple rounds until one team is entirely consumed (or when time runs out.) Variations
Other variations of this game exist - or you can make up your own. Be creative!
Hot Seat Summary: A good get-to-know-you game in which players take turn on the “hot seat”, being asked a barrage of questions, some hypothetical, some silly, and some interesting.
Ages: 10 and up. Materials Required: A chair. Recommended Setting: Indoors.
The Hot Seat
Instructions: Take a chair and identify it as “the hot seat.” Set a timer for any length of time (e.g. something like 2 or 3 minutes should be plenty) and ask each person to take a turn on the hot seat. Once they are seated, the timer begins and people may ask the seated person any question in rapid-fire succession. The hot seat member is allowed to say “pass” for any too personal questions — try to avoid asking these, as it can ruin the fun. The players should be encouraged to ask good, meaningful questions that can allow the person to share significant and important things about himself or herself, such as:
“What were your greatest disappointments in your life?” “What would you do if you won the lottery?” “If money were no object and you were guaranteed to be successful, what job would you do as a career?” “If you could meet and have dinner with any person who ever lived, who would it be and why? What would you ask that person?” “What three words would you use to describe yourself?”
Questions can be funny, too, such as: “What was your most embarassing moment?” “What was the silliest thing you’ve ever done?” The game serves as a great way to get to know each other.
Cheeky-Cheeky Required: Lipstick, small washablegrease pencil or markers Players: Small to large groups
Game of the Month 12/99
Depending on the number of participants, you may want to pick a few helpers for this icebreaker game. The helpers will all have a small tube of lipstick in their pocket or hidden in their hands before the game starts. They can pretend at the last minute that they decide to join in the game; this helps them to find the person that they would like to stand next to. Have all participants line up in a straight line, side by side, instruct them that they have to look forward and they can’t turn their heads. Tell them that you’re playing the Cheeky-Cheeky game and everyone is to repeat what you do but must not move. Give them an example by lightly pinching the persons cheek on the right of you and say “Cheeky-Cheeky”. You should be at the beginning of the line. Note to them that that person is to do the same and then the next person all the way down the line until it reaches the end. Once demonstrated start out with Cheeky-Cheeky but this time behind your back you have lipstick that you put on your fingertips. After you’ve done Cheeky-Cheeky and the movement has gone down the line then do nosey, nosey. After that do chiny-chiny, eary-eary, heady-heady and right eary-eary. Each time add more lipstick to your finger tips without them noticing. In the process the person next to you should end up with lipstick all over their face. Pick a person that is a good sport to stand next to. If you’ve planted helpers in the line, a few other people should end up with lipstick on their faces also.
Dress the Mummy Required: Rolls of toilet paper Players: Small to large groups
Game of the Month 11/00
Set up teams with 2-4 players on each team. One person on each team will be the mummy and each team will be given 2 rolls of toilet paper. They will have 5 minutes to complete the game. The team players are to circle around the mummy and pass the toilet paper to each other while wrapping the mummy in it. The leader of the group will be the judge and decide which team has created the best mummy design.
Frozen T’s Required: Plastic storage bag, freezer and large size T- shirts Players: Small to large groups
Game of the Month 12/99
For each team you'll need one T- shirt and one plastic storage bag. T-ShirtPlace one nicely folded T-shirt in each bag then pour in about 2 cups of water and freeze all of them overnight. If this wasn't done where the event is taking place bring the T-shirt in a cooler filled with ice to keep them frozen. Instruct the teams that they'll be playing an Ice Breaker game. Then hand out the bagged T-shirts to each team. On "Go" the teams will have to get their T-shirts thawed out so that one person from their team can put the T-shirt on. Teams will get creative in their attempts to win. They could run the shirts underwater, put them in the microwave and even pounded the ice out of them. The first team to come back with one person in the T-shirt is the winner.
Gum Art Required: Bubble gum, toothpick and index card Players: Small to large groups
Give each participant a piece of bubble gum to chew, toothpick and index card. Allow them 10 minutes to chew the gum, place gum on index card and then design something on index card using only the toothpick as a tool (No Hands). The person with the best and most creative design is the winner. If you have quite a few players you can have several categories of winners, like “most ingenious”, “most creative” and of course the “What is that?” award. Please send in your ideas of award names and even pictures of your groups playing these games.
Gum Game Required: Clean garden gloves, packs of gum Players: Small to large groups
Game of the Month 10/08
Set up teams of five. Each team will receive one pair of new garden gloves and one pack of gum (5 pieces per pack). On go, the first person in each team is to put on the garden gloves, open the package of gum, pull out a piece, unwrap it, chew it, and then pass the gloves to the next person. The first team to complete the task wins. You can choose to have two packs of gum per team so that they would have to go around twice.
Ha Ha Players: Small to large groups
Teams competing lay down side by side on floor or ground. The first person lays back of hand on next persons stomach and that person lays back of hand on the stomach of the next to him and so on. The first person in line is to laugh one HA. The next person in line is to laugh HA HA (two times). The third person is HA HA HA. And so on. Any person that breaks out into a giggle is out of the game and must get up and the hole is filled in. The last one to giggle, wins.
King Boe Boe’s Ring Required: Vaseline or mayonnaise (or anything mushy), chair, stool and blindfolds Players: Small to medium groups
From the group select a number of persons that you would like to play this game. Send them outside.
Have some one (preferably a man) that has a very ugly toe, sit on the chair with his foot on the stool. Put some mayonnaise or Vaseline on his thumb. Let him bend the thumb and you put it on the jointed area. You also put some on the big toe that is on the stool.
You then invite one of the persons that have already been blindfolded to come in with his/her hands behind him. It must stay behind him as long as he/she is approaching the king. They are asked to bow before the king in respect (keeping hands behind). Take them very close to the king where they can actually kneel right in front of the toe that has the mayonnaise or Vaseline on it. They bow as to kiss the king ring and the king puts his finger out so that the person kisses the finger instead of the toe. The king then puts his hand behind him leaving the toe as the visible object that has been kissed.
The blindfold is now taken off and the person sees the toe and thinks that he/she has kissed this ugly toe. (Make sure that you keep adding more Vaseline to the finger as it will be kissed off, also make sure that enough is on the toe) Continue with the next person until all have come in. Do not tell the person what has happened but encourage the person to watch and see what has happened. He/she will laugh at himself.
The other players must be locked away so that they have no clue as to what is happening, they will hear the laughs and will be curious and anxious to come in. No one in the room is to tell them anything. The last person usually does not know what is happening. You may tell him or her if you choose to.
Two Truths and a Lie Summary: A good get-to-know-you icebreaker in which each person says two truths and one lie. The goal is to figure out which statement is the lie.
Ages: All. Recommended # of people: 6-10. Messiness factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors.
Two Truths and a Lie
Two Truths and a Lie is the classic icebreaker game in which one attempts to identify which of three statements is bogus.
Instructions: Have everyone sit in a circle. Each person prepares three statements, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. In any order, the person shares the three statements to the entire group. The object of the game is to figure out which statement a lie. The rest of the group votes on each statement, and the person reveals which one is the lie.
Variation: Two Truths and a Dream Wish. As an interesting variation to the classic Two Truths and a Lie icebreaker, people may also play a version called Two Truths and a Dream Wish. Instead of stating a lie, a person says something that is not true — yet something that they wish to be true. For example, someone that has never been to Hawaii might say: “I have visited Hawaii when I was young.” This interesting spin often leads to unexpected, fascinating results, as people often share touching wishes about their lives.
Whose Story Is It? Summary: An icebreaker in which you read various (bizarre) stories and try to guess whose true story it is.
Ages: All. Recommended # of People: 8-20. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: Paper, pens, container. Recommended Setting: Indoors.
Whose Story Is It?
This simple icebreaker can be a fun method to hear fascinating true stories about your friends.
Instructions
Pass out slips of paper and pens. Have everyone briefly write down a true story or experience that happened to them on the paper along with their name. The more bizarre, the better. Fold the slips of paper and put them into the container, shuffling them and mixing them up. A mediator picks out four slips of paper and calls out the names of the people. These people go and sit on chairs or a couch apart from the group. The mediator reads off the stories and then the group tries to figure out whose story is whose. The group does this by asking different people to tell different stories. The people on the couch try to convince the group that the story they tell really is theirs. After everyone on the couch has told a few different stories, the group votes. This repeats until everyone has gone up. The main goal of the game is to have fun telling stories and learn a few interesting or humorous facts about each other.
Icebreaker Game 1 – Who Am I? A silly icebreaker game for a small group. Have each person secretly write on a post-it note the name of a famous person. Keeping the name hidden, stick the post-it to another’s forehead.
Each person takes turns to ask the group questions to figure out whom the unknown person is. The catch is that only yes or no answers can be asked e.g.
Am I alive?
Am I female? If the answer is no your turn is over. If the answer is yes, you can ask another question. Keep going until you get a no or make a guess at whom you are. If you guess right, you win or if you guess wrong your turn is over. Keep going until everyone has guessed or if time is tight, maybe stop after a few right answers.
Icebreaker Game 2 – Chat Show Great for groups of strangers, and avoids the dreaded pain of introducing yourself.
Get the group to pair off and take turns in being a chat show host and guest. The chat show host has to find out 3 interesting facts about their guest. Switch the roles and repeat.
Bring everyone back to the big group and ask them to present briefly the 3 facts about their guest to the group. Maybe go round the group randomly so people are less aware of their turn coming up next and panicking about it.
Watch timing on this one as it has a tendency to go on too long if your group likes to chat too much.
Icebreaker Game 3 – My Name Means… A good game for small groups who need to know a little bit more about each other.
Split the group into pairs. Each pair has to come up with words that describe the person using the letters in their first name. The phrase is then shared with the group.
As an example, Lyndsay could stand for “Loud, Young, Nerdy, Dreamer, Strong, Adventurous, Yearning”.
As a more creative alternative, each pair has to come up with a silly phrase based on the letters in their first name.
Lyndsay could be “Lively Young Nurses Dance Salsa All Year”
Icebreaker Game 4 – Line Up Ideal for a quick energy boost and finding out a little more about your group. If you’ve got a bigger group, split them up into smaller groups and see who completes each task quickest.
Have your group ready to form a line in order of….
Height, from smallest to tallest Birth months, from Jan through to December Distance they travel to work, from close to far Anything else you think up! To make it more of a challenge, get the group to do this silently, using sign language or other alternative communication.
Icebreaker Game 5 – If I were a… A fun icebreaker game to encourage creativity, best for smaller groups.
Ask each person to say what they would be and why, if they were a…
• A piece of fruit • An historical figure • A household object • A cartoon character • Any other off the wall group you can think of!
I would be a pineapple as I am exotic, sweet and zingy. I would be a whisk as I like to stir things up. I would be Taz as I rush around like a crazy creature
Summary: Autograph Bingo is an icebreaker that asks people to mingle and find people that match interesting facts listed on a bingo card. The game is useul in that it causes players to discover interesting and humorous facts about each other. Ages: 12 and up. Recommended # of people: Larger groups of 24+ people. Messiness Factor: No problem. Materials required: bingo cards prepared in advance and writing utensils. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Autograph Bingo Autograph Bingo is a fun way to help both new acquaintances and old friends discover facts about each other. The goal of this icebreaker game is to mingle and obtain the signatures of people who have the facts listed on their bingo card. Just as regular bingo rules, once a player successfully obtains a full row (5 in a row) on his or her Bingo sheet, whether obtained horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, he or she shouts “BINGO!” Setup Prepare a table with 5 rows and 5 columns (5×5), with interesting facts inside the boxes. These facts can include humorous or bizarre things. For example you can use facts such as: • Speaks more than two languages • Enjoys walking in thunderstorms • Likes anchovies • Has been to Alaska • Has gone skydiving before • Has more than three sisters • Has gone without a shower for more than three days
Try to be as creative as you can. Like traditional bingo, you can mark the center square as a “Free Space”. After you are finished preparing the table, print out enough copies. You are ready to play! Instructions for How to Play Pass out pens and the bingo cards to each player. Explain the game along with the following rule: each person you talk to may only sign your sheet once (so that people can interact with as many people as possible). When everyone is ready, say “Go!” and begin the game!Once a player shouts “Bingo!” everyone returns to the center and the person must introduce the people who signed his or her sheet. If desired, you can ask each person to explain their fact. The Autograph Game is a great way to learn humorous or unique facts about people. Have fun! Summary: The M&M Game is an icebreaker that allows people to get to know each other. Each person grabs some M&Ms and shares facts about himself or herself. Ages: All. Recommend number of people: Groups of 3-12. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: A large bag of M&Ms or any candy with multiple colors (e.g. Skittles). M&M Game
This icebreaker is a simple way to help people introduce facts about themselves. It’s very flexible and adaptable - and (if you have a sweet tooth) delicious too! The M&Ms Game goes by other names: the Skittles Game, the Candy Game, the Color Game, among other names. Setup
Pour M&Ms or any other multicolor candy into a bowl. Have everyone in the group grab as much or as little as they like from the bowl. Make sure that no one eats their candy right away. How to Play
For each piece of M&M candy they took, they will have to answer a question, depending on its color. For example, you can designate: • Red candy: favorite hobbies • Green candy: favorite foods • Yellow candy: favorite movies • Orange candy: favorite places to travel • Brown candy: most memorable or embarrassing moments • Blue candy: wild cards (they can share anyone they choose)
You can be creative and choose any questions you think would be fitting for your group. The facilitator will then call out the color topic and everyone will go around the room sharing 1 answer per M&M. As an example: if you chose two red pieces of candy, you will have to name two of your favorite hobbies. After the individual has shared that color with the group, he/she may then eat their candy. Continue to go around the room until each color topic has been shared. Summary: Big Wind Blows is a good icebreaker that helps people get to know each other better. Players sit in a circle, with one person in the center as “the big wind.” This person says identifies a characteristic that is true about themselves and then all players who share the same characteristic must find a new seat. Ages: All. Recommended # of people: At least 6 players. Messiness factor: Slight running. Materials required: Chairs for each player, minus one. Recommended setting: Indoors or Outdoors. The Big Wind Blows Game Big Wind Blows is an icebreaker game that combines aspects of musical chairs with a get-to-know-you task. It can be humorous and entertaining, especially when you discover interesting facts that you might not expect about people. How to Play Big Wind Blows To set up the game, arrange several chairs facing inward into a medium sized circle. There should be one chair for each player, minus one. One person starts as the “Big Wind” in the center of the circle, with everyone else seated. The Big Wind raises both arms and spins around, while saying the following: “The Big Wind blows _____”. The blank must be filled with a true statement about himself or herself, such as “The Big Wind blows everyone who has been to Canada” or any other true fact. At this point, any of the players who share this characteristic (including the person who is currently the Big Wind) must stand up and quickly find a new seat. For each statement, no player is allowed to sit in the same seat or a seat directly adjacent to his or her previous seat. One person will be left without a seat. This person becomes the new “Big Wind” for the next round. This game is especially interesting when players use unique, unexpected, or funny statements. For example, a player can say embarassing statements such as, “Big Wind blows those who have gone without a shower for three days.” Have fun and remember the objective of the group game: to get to know each other better. Summary: An icebreaker in which people write down two things that they’ve done and one thing that they haven’t on an index card. The goal is to correctly guess who wrote each card. Ages: All. Recommended # of people: 8-15. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: Several pens and index cards. Recommended setting: Indoors. ID Guessing Game The ID Guessing Game is a good, simple get-to-know-you game that is especially good for groups with new people, or for whenever you wish to help people get to know each other better to break the ice.Instructions Pass out an index card and a pen to each person who is playing. Then each person has to write two things they have done and one they haven’t. The more unique and interesting the better, but the object it to make it hard for the others to guess that it is your card. Then the cards are collected and the group votes on who they think the card represents and which item they haven’t done. (This game was contributed by Larry Bray. Thanks Larry!) Summary: An icebreaker where players sit in a circle and take turns saying interesting things they have never done. Each player starts with ten fingers. Each time someone says something that you’ve done, you drop a finger. The goal is to be the last player remaining. Ages: 8 and up. Recommended # of people: 10-20. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors. Never Have I Ever How to Play Tell everyone to sit in a circle. Each player holds out all ten of your fingers and places them on the floor. One by one, each person announces something that they have never done; for example, they say, “Never have I ever been to Canada.” For each statement, all the other players remove a finger if they have done that statement. So, if three other people have been to Canada before, those three people must put down a finger, leaving them with nine fingers. The goal is to stay in the game the longest (to have fingers remaining). Thus, it is a good strategy to say statements that most people have done, but you haven’t. This can be humorous (e.g. “Never have I ever skipped a class in school” or “Never have I ever soiled my pants.”) The game provides a good way to find out unique experiences and facts about people
Icebreakers for medium sized groups (5 to 10 people) Getting To Know You
Four Corners
Here’s another good icebreaker for the beginning of a school semester or as a fun way for people to get to know each other better. Four Corners (also known as Four Squares) is a simple activity in which students share who they are through the use of handdrawn pictures. This icebreaker is for all ages, and works well with small and medium groups. It usually takes about 15 minutes, depending on how much time you want to allow for sharing the pictures. You’ll need sheets of paper and writing utensils. Don’t worry, no artistic skills are required for this icebreaker activity — just have fun and encourage everyone to enjoy being creative while illustrating who they are!
Setup for Four Corners
Distribute a pen and sheet of paper for each player. Each person divides the sheet into four boxes/squares either by folding the paper in half twice (vertically and horizontally) or simply by drawing a horizontal and vertical line that crosses in the middle. For each square, each person will describe themselves in the form of drawings. Choose these four topics in advance. For example, in the top left square, everyone could draw “favorite hobbies,” while in the top right, people could illustrate “favorite place on earth for vacation,” the bottom left could be something like “if you were an animal, which one would you be?” and the bottom right could be something like “what are the most important things in your life?” Feel free to be as creative, hypothetical, or deep as you like.
Allow five to ten minutes to draw. When everyone is finished, gather them together and share the drawings as a group. This icebreaker is an excellent way for students to show-and-tell what makes them unique!
Candy Introductions is a get-to-know-you game that helps people learn new facts about each other in an easy way. They select various pieces of candy from a bag, and each candy variety is associated with a fact about themselves which they will introduce to the others. This game also goes by other names, including the M&M game, Candy Confessions, the Skittles Game, the Gum Drop game, among others.
Candy Introductions can work with any group size. The icebreaker works best when the group size is limited to 12, so if you have more than 12, divide the larger group and run the icebreaker within the smaller sized groups. This icebreaker works best indoors, and is well suited for classrooms or meeting rooms. Materials required are: candy with about five different variations (color or candy type), and an optional chalkboard/whiteboard.
Setup for Candy Introductions
Purchase several variety packs of candy, enough for each person to be able to have at least five pieces. They can be any candy type, but not too many choices (limit it to around five or six different varieties). Alternatively, you can buy gummy bears, life savers, gum drops, skittles, m&ms, or any other candy that already has a variety of colors.
Instructions for How to Play
Pass around the candy and tell each participant to choose anywhere from 1 to 5 pieces of anything that they want. Instruct them not to eat it yet, though. After they have chosen their candy, you will tell them what each candy type/color represents.
If there is a whiteboard or chalkboard present, write on the board the following:
* Red - Favorite hobbies * Green - Favorite place on earth * Blue - Favorite memory * Yellow -Dream job * Orange - Wildcard (tell us anything about yourself!)
If you don’t have the above colors, change the above to match the candy types that you have. Each person takes turns introducing himself or herself, beginning with their name and then saying one fact for each candy type that they have. This easy introduction game should go relatively quickly (assuming they weren’t greedy and that they didn’t take too many pieces of candy!)
Never Have I Ever is an icebreaker game that helps people get to know each other better. Everyone sits in a circle and take turns saying something they have never done. Each player starts with ten fingers showing. Each time says something that you’ve done, you drop a finger. The goal is to be the last player remaining.
This get-to-know-you game can be played indoors or outdoors. The recommended number of people for this game is ten to fifteen, but all group sizes can play by dividing into appropriate sized groups. Recommended age is 8 and up. No special materials are required.
Instructions for Never Have I Ever
Instruct everyone to sit in a circle. If you have an extremely large group, tell people to form smaller circles of about ten to fifteen people. To start each round, each player holds out all ten fingers and places them on the floor. Go around the circle and one at a time, each person announces something that they have never done, beginning the sentence with the phrase “Never have I ever…” For example, a person could say, “Never have I ever been to Europe.” For each statement that is said, all the other players drop a finger if they have done that statement. So, if three other people have been to Europe before, those three people must put down a finger, leaving them with nine fingers. The goal is to stay in the game the longest (to be the last person with fingers remaining). To win, it’s a good strategy to say statements that most people have done, but you haven’t.
Playing this game, along with the benefit of getting to know each others’ experiences better, can be very humorous (e.g. saying silly statements such as, “Never have I ever skipped a class in school” or “Never have I ever soiled my pants.”) Have fun!
Telephone Charades Telephone Charades (also known as Charades Down the Line) is a hilarious icebreaker in which a person acts out a charade only for the next person in the line, who in turn acts out for the next person. The last person standing in line attempts to guess what the original clue was.
This is in active icebreaker that works best with a group of five or six people. It can also be implemented for larger groups by taking five or six volunteers per round. This game is best played indoors. No special materials are required other than sheets of paper with the clues written on them. Telephone Charades is for people age 10 and up.
Setup for Telephone Charades
Telephone Charades or “Charades Down the Line” is an active icebreaker that combines charades with the “telephone down the line” game. To prepare for the game, write a list of humorous actions to be acted out. Some examples are:
a pantomime a nerd’s first date a cat bathing itself going skydiving fishing and catching a huge fish Instructions for How to Play
Choose five or six people (or ask for volunteers) and ask them to line up in a row, facing the left side of the room. Ask the first person to turn around to see the first clue to be acted out. Reveal the clue to the person, and display the clue to the audience as well.
The first person turns around and taps the next person in line on the shoulder. He or she then acts out the clue using classic charades rules (no talking or noises permitted). The second person then taps the third person and acts out his or her understanding of what was acted out. This process continues until it reaches the last person in line, who must guess what the action is.
This game is funny because the acting tends to warp and get distorted based upon each person’s interpretation of what is going on.
Variation
A good variation to try is to have two teams line up and act out the same clue simultaneously. The teams that guess the clue correctly (or most correctly) wins the round
Good Icebreaker Questions Good Icebreaker Questions is simply a list of 12 good questions that you can ask to help break the ice. These questions are fun, and generally pretty easy and safe to answer. You can use them as an icebreaker for meetings or classrooms, written on notecards and adapted for other games, or simply as a fun activity to help people get to know each other better.
Instructions for Good Icebreaker Questions
In terms of facilitation, a great way to help people get to know each other is to ask them fun questions that allow them to express their personality or interesting things about them. Here is a list of fun, useful icebreaker questions to help break the ice:
If you were a comic strip character, who would you be and why? What thought or message would you want to put in a fortune cookie? If you had to give up a favorite food, which would be the most difficult to give up? What is one food you’d never want to taste again? If you won a lottery ticket and had a million dollars, what would you do with it? You’ve been given access to a time machine. Where and when would you travel to? If you could be any superhero and have super powers, which one would you like to have and why? Mount Rushmore honors four U.S. presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. If yuo could add any person to Mount Rushmore, who would you add and why? What award would you love to win and for what achievement? If you could transport yourself anywhere instantly, where would you go and why? In your opinion, which animal is the best (or most beautiful) and why? What is one item that you really should throw away, but probably never will? Growing up, what were your favorite toys to play with as a child?
1) Ask everyone to complete this sentence on a piece of paper (anonymously): "In this trip/group/program, I am [most] afraid that..." or "In this trip/group/program, the worst thing that could happen to me would be..." or "I am most afraid of ... in my life".
2) Collect the pieces of paper in a hat, mix them around, then invite each person to a piece of paper and read about someone's fear.
3) One by one, everyone reads out the fear of another person and elaborates and what he/she feels that person is most afraid of in this group/situation. No one is to comment on what the person says, just listen and move on to the next person.
4) If the reader doesn't elaborate much on the fear, then ask them one or two questions. Avoid implying or showing your opinion as to the fear being expressed, unless the person is disrepecting or completely misunderstanding someone's fear. If the person doesn't elaborate after one or two questions, leave it and move on.
5) When all the fears have been read out and elaborated on, then discuss what people felt and noticed.
Variations:
- Likes and dislikes (in two separate hats) - Worries - Wishes - Favorite moments
Ask students to introduce themselves and describe details of the ideal, perfect dream vacation.
Favorite Animal
Before you write their names on a name card, ask them to tell you their favorite animal and three adjectives to describe the animal. As they tell you, write the three adjectives on a name tag BEFORE their name (omit the name of the animal). Ask them to mingle with the crowd, sharing why these adjectives best describe their own personality. EXAMPLES: Loyal, cuddly, playful Dan
Long Lost Relative
As a group, 1) ask each person to turn to the person on their right and greet him/her as if they really didn't want to be there ("you can't wait to get out of there!"). Then everyone (simultaneously to create lots of fun and excitement) turn to the same person and greet him/her as if (s)he is a long lost, deeply loved relative who has just returned home and you're about to see the person for the first time in years! In fact, you thought you may never see this person again until this very moment. Now ask everyone (again simultaneously) to turn to the same person and greet him/her as if this person just told you that you won the state lottery for 50 million dollars and you have the ONLY winning ticket!
Students are given a sheet with various traits on it. The objective is to find a person in the group who fits one of the descriptions and get that person’s autograph next to the trait. When making up the list, be creative, but include traits pertinent to the group. Each person may sign each sheet only once. Here are some examples:
Likes broccoli ______ Collect coins ______ Has been to a fortune teller _____ Speaks another language _____
Getting To Know You
ОтветитьУдалитьLevel: Medium to Difficult
1. Give each student an index card
2. Have the students pair up and write the name of their partner on their card. Give them five or six questions that they must ask each other such as:
-Where were you born?
-What is your favorite color and why?
-What did you dream last night?
3. Make sure that they write down the answers to these questions on their card. When they are done, have them each choose a new partner.
4. They will then tell their new partner about their old partner based on the questions answered. Each person will record this information on the other side on the index card (the index card is only to help them remember everything).
5. Once they have finished, they each stand up in front of the class and tell everyone what they learned about one of their classmates.
-this helps them to develop their communication skills and helps them get comfortable with speaking and interacting with all the students in the class
Tell Me about Myself
Level: Any Level
This game works well with students at pre-intermediate level or above and can be adapted accordingly. It is an original way of introducing yourself (as a teacher) to a class for the first time, but could also be used later on.
Prepare in advance, on an overhead transparency or white-board, a mind map of yourself. Instead of using sentences to describe your life, use single words, numbers, dates, symbols and illustrations where possible.
For example I include information about my life in England, names of siblings, date of birth, name of hometown etc. (My hometown is Stoke-on-Trent which I then illustrate with a cup and saucer - the Potteries, and a football - Stoke City FC. It keeps them guessing.)
I include information about my husband (name and illustration of job) children (names, ages, birthdays). You can add your shoe size, height, illustrations of your hobbies etc. I draw a needle and thread - sewing, a pair of skis - I enjoy skiing, and a pencil - drawing.
Any kind of information can be included. Use your imagination! I live in Sweden and draw a picture of a snowman with a cross through it to illustrate that I don’t like the winter!
Get your students to tell you what the information means. For example.
• July - is that when your birthday is?
• Does the cup and saucer mean you drink tea?
Try and get a good mix of obvious and less obvious information. For example, when I drew a fish (to illustrate that I kept tropical fish) it provoked questions like:
• Do you eat a lot of fish?
• Do you enjoy fishing?
• Is your star sign Pisces?
Give them a clue if they’re having problems guessing.
This game has worked wonderfully for me in many classes of varying levels. To follow up, get you students to take a few minutes to prepare something similar individually, and then work in pairs guessing what the information means about their partner.
Who Am I?
Level: Any Level
You can use this with any subject. Write the names of famous people (mixed nationalities) on small pieces of paper. Tape a name on the forehead of each student. The individual student should not see his or her paper, but the others should. Then, like with 20 questions, only yes or no questions should be asked. Perhaps start with yourself and ask "Am I am man?" If the answer is yes, I can ask again, but if the answer is no, it's the next person's turn. Play until everyone has guessed who he or she is! This can be played with nationalities, countries, household objects, anything and it's a gas, especially for adult students!!
Toilet Paper Icebreaker
(The toilet paper is such an attention getter)
Level: Any Level
This activity is used as a "getting to know you", icebreaker on the first day of class.
1. Teacher takes the toilet paper roll and takes several squares of toilet paper, then hands the roll of toilet paper to a student. The teacher tells the student to take some, more than three.
2. After everybody in the class has some paper, we count the squares we have, then we have to tell that many things about ourselves, in English.
Ice Breaker Games
ОтветитьУдалитьIce breaker Game – Catch!
Ideal for groups who need to learn names quickly. Not ideal for groups of complete strangers as it relies on knowing at least one or two of the group’s names!
Get your group to form a circle. The purpose of the game is to learn names by throwing the ball. Each person must throw the ball 3 times.
Start the game by throwing the ball to someone you know – say his name as you throw the ball. This person throws the ball to someone else and says his name. And so on, until each person has thrown the ball 3 times.
If some poor soul is left out, take the lead and throw the ball to them asking their name.
Ice breaker Game – Secret Lives
An ideal ice breaker game for groups who work together remotely or who need to build relationships quickly.
When sending out invites to the meeting, ask each person to send back a secret fact about them. You’ll find all sorts of hidden talents, escapades or achievements .
Prepare a document with all the secrets written out, and a blank next to each for the owner. Make sure you print out enough sheets.
At the meeting hand out the secrets sheets, and ask the group to mingle and figure out which secret belongs to whom. If the group is mixing well, be flexible about the timing and maybe let the exercise go on slightly longer.
Take the completed sheets back and mark them quickly. As you are doing this, ask each person to confess their secret to the group. Announce the “winner” and maybe give a small prize.
Artifact Game
Each person is told ahead of time to bring ten papers with words on it with some meaning to them to whatever event you are doing this at. When they arrive, give them a bag with a number on it and get them to carefully place their papers into it. Then make sure each person gets someone else's bag. They have ten minutes to write down ideas about what the person who owns the expressions is like, and to try to guess who they are. It is best if you don't do the guessing until after everyone has had their say. This would also work as an end of camp game, to see what people have learned about each other.
Chairs
Everyone gets a chair and sits in a circle. The leader has a list of items he reads out. If any of them apply to you, you move the appropriate number of seats clockwise.
Examples: 1. Anyone with one brother, move one seat clockwise. If you have two brothers, move two seats. 2. Anyone with black hair, move one seat clockwise. 3. Anyone over the age of 21, move one seat counter clockwise. 4. Everyone wearing brown shoes, move one seat, etc.
The idea is to move all around the circle, and end up back where you started. It becomes fun because if you move, but your neighbour doesn't, you sit on his lap! Sometimes, you can have three people occupying the same chair!! Make sure you have lots of categories so that everyone gets lots of chances to move, e.g. all hair colours (at different times, of course), and so on.
Dr. Mix-Up
All the girls stand in a circle, holding hands. Select one or two girls to be "Dr. Mix-Up"... they leave the room for a moment. When they're gone, everyone else does their best to get tangled up, by climbing over arms, under legs etc., without letting go of their neighbours' hands. When the circle is suitably tangled, everyone yells "Dr. Mix-Up! Come and fix us!". The Dr. Mix-Ups then come in and try to untangle the circle by directing individuals to go under arms, around bodies, etc. This game is also an excellent 30-second game or Co-operative game.
Quirks
Everyone is asked to tell the group three of their personal quirks, either past or present. Two must be true and one is false. The rest of the group must decide which quirk is false.
The Great Shoe Dive
This game works best with lots and lots of players, at least 30-40. Get everyone to take off their left shoe. Put all the shoes in a pile. At "Go!", everyone dives for the pile and grabs a shoe, any shoe. The object of the game is then for each player to find the person who has their shoe and reclaim it!
The Name Game
Sit all the people in a circle. One of the persons (or a leader) starts off the game by saying "Hi! My name is...". Then the person next to the beginner continues by saying "Hi! My name is... and sitting next to me is...". This continues on around the circle, until the last person to introduce himrself also has to introduce the entire circle! This is a great way to learn names.
HOG CALL:
Break the group into pairs. Each pair must choose two things; a machine and an animal. They then have to decide who is which. The pairs then divide up on opposite sides of the room. Everyone must close their eyes (if they feel comfortable), and by making only the noise that their character would make, they must find their partner. When they find their partner, they can open their eyes and wait until everyone else is done. Note: When conducting an activity with eyes closed, have the group raise their hands in front of their chests as “bumpers,” and have at least one person (facilitator) acting as a spotter.
HUM THAT TUNE:
Each person in the group is given a small piece of paper with the name of a nursery rhyme or other song written on the paper. (i.e. a famous song from your country) All of the people who are given the song must hum that tune and find everyone else singing the song. They then form a group.
MUMBLE JUMBLE
Before the activity begins, the leader will cut up a few pictures into puzzle pieces. Each group member will grab a piece of a puzzle from a bag. The group members will keep their puzzle piece to themselves until the leader says, “GO!” At this point, the group members will try to locate the other members of the group with the pieces to form the appropriate pictures. Whichever group does it first, wins. Good activity for breaking into retreat/activity groups.
ARCH BALL:
Players (10-30) are divided into two equal teams. Each team forms a line, one in front of the other, about arms distance apart. The ball starts in the front and must be passed over the head to the back of the line. When the last person receives the ball, he/she must run with it to the front of the line and continue passing the ball. The first team to return the ball to the original line up wins.
I LIKE PEOPLE WHO...
ОтветитьУдалитьEveryone needs a place marker to stand on - tape, rubber spot or even a chalk mark.
Everyone forms a circle and stands on their spot. One girl is in the middle, her spot is removed. She calls out "I like people who . . ." Suggestions: like camping, eat cereal for breakfast, love Brownies. Anyone who falls into that category must change places with another person in the circle to whom the statement applies. "It" tries to get a spot also and the person who is left in the middle makes the next statement. You may not take a space next to you!
BALLOON TAG
Tie strings to balloons and then tie one balloon to each person’s ankle. It is every man/woman for him/herself in this one! The object of the game is to pop everyone else’s balloons while making sure that your’s does not get popped. Once your balloon is popped, you are out of the game.
BANANA RELAY
This activity is very similar to the “Neck Race.” However, in this game, a banana is placed between the knees of the first person, and it must be placed between the next person’s knees - without using any hands. If the banana drops, it starts with the first person in line. First team to finish successfully, wins.
CAPTURE THE FLAG
The playing area is divided in half; at each right-hand rear corner is a rectangle that is known as the jail or prison (you could also use a goal if on a soccer field). The group is divided into two teams. Each team should decide where to place their flag (a towel, shirt, or whatever) on their side of the field. The object of the game is to get the other team’s flag. Once the game is started, anyone who steps over the center line into the opponent’s half is eligible to be caught and taken to prison. A player must get through the enemy’s lines without getting tagged. Prisoners may be rescued by teammates who get through enemy lines without being tagged and can touch the prisoner’s hand. (The prisoners can line themselves up by holding hands and stretching toward the center line as long as one person is still holding the goal or in the jail area.) If rescued, both the prisoner(s) and the rescuer must walk back to their own side with their arms up. To win the game, a player must get the flag back across the mid-line of the playing area. If a player has the flag and gets tagged, the flag can either go back to where it
was, or be dropped where the person got tagged. That player goes to jail. Teams may have only have one person protecting the flag.
FREEZE TAG
This is played just like tag except that once you have been tagged, you are frozen. The only way to get unfrozen is to have someone go under your legs. To make the game harder, have more than one person be “it.”
SHOE FACTORY
Have the group stand in a large circle shoulder to shoulder. Then have everyone remove their shoes and put them in the center. After the group has formed a pile with their shoes, the leader has everyone choose two different shoes other than their own. They should put them on their feet (halfway if they are too small). The group then needs to successfully match the shoes and put them in proper pairs by standing next to the individual wearing the other shoe. This will probably result in a tangled mess - and lots of giggles!
THE NAME GAME
Sit all the people in a circle. One of the persons (or a leader) starts off the game by saying "Hi! My name is...". Then the person next to the beginner continues by saying "Hi! My name is... and sitting next to me is...". This continues on around the circle, until the last person to introduce himrself also has to introduce the entire circle! This is a great way to learn names.
THE NAME JIVE
Sit everyone in a circle. Leaders have a special role to play in this game, so make sure they participate too! The goal of this game is to learn everyone's name by making up a silly rhyme. Following around the circle, each person has a chance to make up a silly rhyme about himself. Once he's said his rhyme, everyone repeats it. Meanwhile the leaders must quickly think up a second line to their verse. Here is an example: Person 1: "Bouncy Becky plays ball." Everyone: "Bouncy Becky plays ball." Leader: (totally spontaneously) "She plays it in the spring and fall!" Everyone: "She plays it in the spring and fall!" Person 2: "Kooky Carrie kicks the couch." Everyone: "Kooky Carrie kicks the couch." Leader: "She holds her toe and then says OUCH!" Everyone: "She holds her toe and then says OUCH!"
Proceed around the circle in this fashion. Once everyone has had a chance to make up a rhyme for themselves, go around the circle again as fast as possible, trying to remember both parts of everyone's rhyme along the way.
WHO AM I?
You will need paper, markers, and safety pins. This is another game that works best with a theme. Again I will describe this using the "cartoon" theme. For each player, write down the name of a cartoon character on a piece of paper and pin it to the player's back. The goal of the game is for the people to figure out what cartoon character they are by asking other persons questions. They can only ask each person one question!
CONFUSION:
Great high energy game to help participants begin to feel more comfortable in new group. Give each participant a sheet with various tasks and ask them to complete it when you say, “GO!” Here is a sample:
Get a male to do five push-ups and sign here
Stand on one foot with your arms outstreched for 20 seconds.
Have someone time you and sign here
Leap frog over someone 5 times
Get someone to whisper the pledge of allegiance and sign here
Get a female to recite a nursery rhyme
Have someone teach you a dance step (even if they make it up)
First person to complete the entire sheet, wins.
HOG CALL
Break the group into pairs. Each pair must choose two things; a machine and an animal. They then have to decide who is which. The pairs then divide up on opposite sides of the room. Everyone must close their eyes (if they feel comfortable), and by making only the noise that their character would make, they must find their partner. When they find their partner, they can open their eyes and wait until everyone else is done. Note: When conducting an activity with eyes closed, have the group raise their hands in front of their chests as “bumpers,” and have at least one person (facilitator) acting as a spotter.
ICE CUBES
Divide the players into two equal teams. At a starting signal, each team picks up an ice cube and tries to melt it as quickly as possible. Players can rub it between their hands or against their clothes, but they may NOT put it in their mouths. While they are trying to melt the ice cube, it should be passed around the team frequently - no player should keep it for more than a few seconds at a time. Players should keep it off the ground too. The first team to melt its ice cube, wins. On a really hot day, you may want to play more than one round of this one!
TOILET PAPER GAME
Get a roll of toilet paper and explain to your group that they are going camping and need to take as much toilet paper as they think they may need for a three day trip. Once everyone has an ample supply, explain to the group that for every square in their possession, they must share something about themselves. NOTE: If anyone knows the activity, ask them not to give away the secret under any circumstances.
THE GREAT SHOE DIVE
This game works best with lots and lots of players, at least 30-40. Get everyone to take off their left shoe. Put all the shoes in a pile. At "Go!", everyone dives for the pile and grabs a shoe, any shoe. The object of the game is then for each player to find the person who has their shoe and reclaim it!
Name Game
ОтветитьУдалитьSummary: A simple icebreaker useful for introducing people to each other and helping people learn names. This game is especially useful when there are new people present.
Ages: 10-21 years old. Materials Required: A fun attitude. Recommended Setting: Indoors.
The Name Game
How to play
The Name Game (also known as the Adjective Game) starts with one person in the room picking a word that describes himself or herself as a person. The catch is, that the word must start with the first letter of their first name. For example, my students call me Miss Velasquez. I would say “Hello! My name is Vivacious Velasquez.” The person after me must say my adjective and name before saying theirs. So they would go, “Hello, Vivacious Velasquez, my name is Silly Sam.” Then the third person would go, “Hello, Vivacious Velasquez, and Silly Sam, my name is Easy-going Edwin.” This continues on until all of the students have gone. Being last is hilarious in this game, because they must remember everyone’s name AND adjective before stating theirs.
думаю, эта игра подойдёт ученикам старших или по крайней мере средних классов, которые владеют лексикой
Giants, Wizards, and Elves
ОтветитьУдалитьSummary: An icebreaker / action oriented game good for medium and large sized groups. Two teams face off and decide to become either “giants,” “wizards,” or “elves.” Giants defeat elves, elves defeat wizards, and wizards defeat giants.
Ages: 10 and up. Recommended # of People: 20 and up (large groups work fine too!). Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors or Outdoors.
Giants, Wizards, and Elves is a fun, silly icebreaker game that is a good way to break the ice at meetings or in classrooms.
Setup
Teach everyone how to become three characters: the giant, the wizard, and the elf. Each character features hand motions and a noise.
For the giant, each person stands on their tippy toes, lifts up their arms, and makes an angry growling noise: “Roooar!”
For the wizard, each person crouches a little bit, flutters their fingers as though they are casting a spell, and they make a magical noise: “Woooo!”
For the elf, each person gets down very low on their knees, cups their hands around their ears, and makes a high pitched elf noise: “Eeeeee!”
Practice each motion together a few times. Divide everyone into two teams and have them separate into opposite sides of the room. The game invovles several rounds. For each round, the following takes place:
Each team forms a huddle and decides to become a giant, wizard, or elf.
Both teams then line up and face each other, about 5 feet apart.
The facilitator says “3..2..1..Go!”
Each team acts out the giant, wizard, or elf (whatever they decided to become).
As soon as they act out their character, the winner tries to grab the loser and pulls as many people over to their side as they can. The loser tries to run away, back to their side, in order to be safe. The winner of each round is determined by the following.The giant defeats the elf because giants “squash” elves.
Elves defeat wizards by outsmarting them, chewing at their legs.
The wizard defeats the giant by “zapping” them with a magic spell.
Identical characters are a draw (no one wins).This process keeps repeating for multiple rounds until one team is entirely consumed (or when time runs out.)
Variations
Other variations of this game exist - or you can make up your own. Be creative!
Hot Seat
ОтветитьУдалитьSummary: A good get-to-know-you game in which players take turn on the “hot seat”, being asked a barrage of questions, some hypothetical, some silly, and some interesting.
Ages: 10 and up. Materials Required: A chair. Recommended Setting: Indoors.
The Hot Seat
Instructions: Take a chair and identify it as “the hot seat.” Set a timer for any length of time (e.g. something like 2 or 3 minutes should be plenty) and ask each person to take a turn on the hot seat. Once they are seated, the timer begins and people may ask the seated person any question in rapid-fire succession. The hot seat member is allowed to say “pass” for any too personal questions — try to avoid asking these, as it can ruin the fun. The players should be encouraged to ask good, meaningful questions that can allow the person to share significant and important things about himself or herself, such as:
“What were your greatest disappointments in your life?”
“What would you do if you won the lottery?”
“If money were no object and you were guaranteed to be successful, what job would you do as a career?”
“If you could meet and have dinner with any person who ever lived, who would it be and why? What would you ask that person?”
“What three words would you use to describe yourself?”
Questions can be funny, too, such as:
“What was your most embarassing moment?”
“What was the silliest thing you’ve ever done?”
The game serves as a great way to get to know each other.
Cheeky-Cheeky
ОтветитьУдалитьRequired: Lipstick, small washablegrease pencil or markers
Players: Small to large groups
Game of the Month 12/99
Depending on the number of participants, you may want to pick a few helpers for this icebreaker game. The helpers will all have a small tube of lipstick in their pocket or hidden in their hands before the game starts. They can pretend at the last minute that they decide to join in the game; this helps them to find the person that they would like to stand next to. Have all participants line up in a straight line, side by side, instruct them that they have to look forward and they can’t turn their heads. Tell them that you’re playing the Cheeky-Cheeky game and everyone is to repeat what you do but must not move. Give them an example by lightly pinching the persons cheek on the right of you and say “Cheeky-Cheeky”. You should be at the beginning of the line. Note to them that that person is to do the same and then the next person all the way down the line until it reaches the end. Once demonstrated start out with Cheeky-Cheeky but this time behind your back you have lipstick that you put on your fingertips. After you’ve done Cheeky-Cheeky and the movement has gone down the line then do nosey, nosey. After that do chiny-chiny, eary-eary, heady-heady and right eary-eary. Each time add more lipstick to your finger tips without them noticing. In the process the person next to you should end up with lipstick all over their face. Pick a person that is a good sport to stand next to. If you’ve planted helpers in the line, a few other people should end up with lipstick on their faces also.
Dress the Mummy
Required: Rolls of toilet paper
Players: Small to large groups
Game of the Month 11/00
Set up teams with 2-4 players on each team. One person on each team will be the mummy and each team will be given 2 rolls of toilet paper. They will have 5 minutes to complete the game. The team players are to circle around the mummy and pass the toilet paper to each other while wrapping the mummy in it. The leader of the group will be the judge and decide which team has created the best mummy design.
Frozen T’s
Required: Plastic storage bag, freezer and large size T- shirts
Players: Small to large groups
Game of the Month 12/99
For each team you'll need one T- shirt and one plastic storage bag. T-ShirtPlace one nicely folded T-shirt in each bag then pour in about 2 cups of water and freeze all of them overnight. If this wasn't done where the event is taking place bring the T-shirt in a cooler filled with ice to keep them frozen. Instruct the teams that they'll be playing an Ice Breaker game. Then hand out the bagged T-shirts to each team. On "Go" the teams will have to get their T-shirts thawed out so that one person from their team can put the T-shirt on. Teams will get creative in their attempts to win. They could run the shirts underwater, put them in the microwave and even pounded the ice out of them. The first team to come back with one person in the T-shirt is the winner.
Gum Art
Required: Bubble gum, toothpick and index card
Players: Small to large groups
Give each participant a piece of bubble gum to chew, toothpick and index card. Allow them 10 minutes to chew the gum, place gum on index card and then design something on index card using only the toothpick as a tool (No Hands). The person with the best and most creative design is the winner. If you have quite a few players you can have several categories of winners, like “most ingenious”, “most creative” and of course the “What is that?” award. Please send in your ideas of award names and even pictures of your groups playing these games.
Gum Game
Required: Clean garden gloves, packs of gum
Players: Small to large groups
Game of the Month 10/08
Set up teams of five. Each team will receive one pair of new garden gloves and one pack of gum (5 pieces per pack). On go, the first person in each team is to put on the garden gloves, open the package of gum, pull out a piece, unwrap it, chew it, and then pass the gloves to the next person. The first team to complete the task wins. You can choose to have two packs of gum per team so that they would have to go around twice.
Ha Ha
Players: Small to large groups
Teams competing lay down side by side on floor or ground. The first person lays back of hand on next persons stomach and that person lays back of hand on the stomach of the next to him and so on. The first person in line is to laugh one HA. The next person in line is to laugh HA HA (two times). The third person is HA HA HA. And so on. Any person that breaks out into a giggle is out of the game and must get up and the hole is filled in. The last one to giggle, wins.
King Boe Boe’s Ring
Required: Vaseline or mayonnaise (or anything mushy), chair, stool and blindfolds
Players: Small to medium groups
From the group select a number of persons that you would like to play this game. Send them outside.
Have some one (preferably a man) that has a very ugly toe, sit on the chair with his foot on the stool. Put some mayonnaise or Vaseline on his thumb. Let him bend the thumb and you put it on the jointed area. You also put some on the big toe that is on the stool.
You then invite one of the persons that have already been blindfolded to come in with his/her hands behind him. It must stay behind him as long as he/she is approaching the king. They are asked to bow before the king in respect (keeping hands behind). Take them very close to the king where they can actually kneel right in front of the toe that has the mayonnaise or Vaseline on it. They bow as to kiss the king ring and the king puts his finger out so that the person kisses the finger instead of the toe. The king then puts his hand behind him leaving the toe as the visible object that has been kissed.
The blindfold is now taken off and the person sees the toe and thinks that he/she has kissed this ugly toe. (Make sure that you keep adding more Vaseline to the finger as it will be kissed off, also make sure that enough is on the toe) Continue with the next person until all have come in. Do not tell the person what has happened but encourage the person to watch and see what has happened. He/she will laugh at himself.
The other players must be locked away so that they have no clue as to what is happening, they will hear the laughs and will be curious and anxious to come in. No one in the room is to tell them anything. The last person usually does not know what is happening. You may tell him or her if you choose to.
Two Truths and a Lie
ОтветитьУдалитьSummary: A good get-to-know-you icebreaker in which each person says two truths and one lie. The goal is to figure out which statement is the lie.
Ages: All. Recommended # of people: 6-10. Messiness factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors.
Two Truths and a Lie
Two Truths and a Lie is the classic icebreaker game in which one attempts to identify which of three statements is bogus.
Instructions: Have everyone sit in a circle. Each person prepares three statements, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. In any order, the person shares the three statements to the entire group. The object of the game is to figure out which statement a lie. The rest of the group votes on each statement, and the person reveals which one is the lie.
Variation: Two Truths and a Dream Wish. As an interesting variation to the classic Two Truths and a Lie icebreaker, people may also play a version called Two Truths and a Dream Wish. Instead of stating a lie, a person says something that is not true — yet something that they wish to be true. For example, someone that has never been to Hawaii might say: “I have visited Hawaii when I was young.” This interesting spin often leads to unexpected, fascinating results, as people often share touching wishes about their lives.
Whose Story Is It?
ОтветитьУдалитьSummary: An icebreaker in which you read various (bizarre) stories and try to guess whose true story it is.
Ages: All. Recommended # of People: 8-20. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: Paper, pens, container. Recommended Setting: Indoors.
Whose Story Is It?
This simple icebreaker can be a fun method to hear fascinating true stories about your friends.
Instructions
Pass out slips of paper and pens. Have everyone briefly write down a true story or experience that happened to them on the paper along with their name. The more bizarre, the better. Fold the slips of paper and put them into the container, shuffling them and mixing them up. A mediator picks out four slips of paper and calls out the names of the people. These people go and sit on chairs or a couch apart from the group. The mediator reads off the stories and then the group tries to figure out whose story is whose. The group does this by asking different people to tell different stories. The people on the couch try to convince the group that the story they tell really is theirs. After everyone on the couch has told a few different stories, the group votes. This repeats until everyone has gone up. The main goal of the game is to have fun telling stories and learn a few interesting or humorous facts about each other.
Icebreaker Game 1 – Who Am I?
ОтветитьУдалитьA silly icebreaker game for a small group.
Have each person secretly write on a post-it note the name of a famous person. Keeping the name hidden, stick the post-it to another’s forehead.
Each person takes turns to ask the group questions to figure out whom the unknown person is. The catch is that only yes or no answers can be asked e.g.
Am I alive?
Am I female?
If the answer is no your turn is over. If the answer is yes, you can ask another question. Keep going until you get a no or make a guess at whom you are. If you guess right, you win or if you guess wrong your turn is over.
Keep going until everyone has guessed or if time is tight, maybe stop after a few right answers.
Icebreaker Game 2 – Chat Show
Great for groups of strangers, and avoids the dreaded pain of introducing yourself.
Get the group to pair off and take turns in being a chat show host and guest. The chat show host has to find out 3 interesting facts about their guest. Switch the roles and repeat.
Bring everyone back to the big group and ask them to present briefly the 3 facts about their guest to the group. Maybe go round the group randomly so people are less aware of their turn coming up next and panicking about it.
Watch timing on this one as it has a tendency to go on too long if your group likes to chat too much.
Icebreaker Game 3 – My Name Means…
A good game for small groups who need to know a little bit more about each other.
Split the group into pairs. Each pair has to come up with words that describe the person using the letters in their first name. The phrase is then shared with the group.
As an example, Lyndsay could stand for “Loud, Young, Nerdy, Dreamer, Strong, Adventurous, Yearning”.
As a more creative alternative, each pair has to come up with a silly phrase based on the letters in their first name.
Lyndsay could be “Lively Young Nurses Dance Salsa All Year”
Icebreaker Game 4 – Line Up
Ideal for a quick energy boost and finding out a little more about your group. If you’ve got a bigger group, split them up into smaller groups and see who completes each task quickest.
Have your group ready to form a line in order of….
Height, from smallest to tallest
Birth months, from Jan through to December
Distance they travel to work, from close to far
Anything else you think up!
To make it more of a challenge, get the group to do this silently, using sign language or other alternative communication.
Icebreaker Game 5 – If I were a…
A fun icebreaker game to encourage creativity, best for smaller groups.
Ask each person to say what they would be and why, if they were a…
• A piece of fruit
• An historical figure
• A household object
• A cartoon character
• Any other off the wall group you can think of!
I would be a pineapple as I am exotic, sweet and zingy.
I would be a whisk as I like to stir things up.
I would be Taz as I rush around like a crazy creature
Summary: Autograph Bingo is an icebreaker that asks people to mingle and find people that match interesting facts listed on a bingo card. The game is useul in that it causes players to discover interesting and humorous facts about each other.
ОтветитьУдалитьAges: 12 and up. Recommended # of people: Larger groups of 24+ people. Messiness Factor: No problem. Materials required: bingo cards prepared in advance and writing utensils. Recommended Setting: Indoors.
Autograph Bingo
Autograph Bingo is a fun way to help both new acquaintances and old friends discover facts about each other. The goal of this icebreaker game is to mingle and obtain the signatures of people who have the facts listed on their bingo card. Just as regular bingo rules, once a player successfully obtains a full row (5 in a row) on his or her Bingo sheet, whether obtained horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, he or she shouts “BINGO!”
Setup
Prepare a table with 5 rows and 5 columns (5×5), with interesting facts inside the boxes. These facts can include humorous or bizarre things. For example you can use facts such as:
• Speaks more than two languages
• Enjoys walking in thunderstorms
• Likes anchovies
• Has been to Alaska
• Has gone skydiving before
• Has more than three sisters
• Has gone without a shower for more than three days
Try to be as creative as you can. Like traditional bingo, you can mark the center square as a “Free Space”. After you are finished preparing the table, print out enough copies. You are ready to play!
Instructions for How to Play
Pass out pens and the bingo cards to each player. Explain the game along with the following rule: each person you talk to may only sign your sheet once (so that people can interact with as many people as possible). When everyone is ready, say “Go!” and begin the game!Once a player shouts “Bingo!” everyone returns to the center and the person must introduce the people who signed his or her sheet. If desired, you can ask each person to explain their fact.
The Autograph Game is a great way to learn humorous or unique facts about people. Have fun!
Summary: The M&M Game is an icebreaker that allows people to get to know each other. Each person grabs some M&Ms and shares facts about himself or herself.
Ages: All. Recommend number of people: Groups of 3-12. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: A large bag of M&Ms or any candy with multiple colors (e.g. Skittles).
M&M Game
This icebreaker is a simple way to help people introduce facts about themselves. It’s very flexible and adaptable - and (if you have a sweet tooth) delicious too! The M&Ms Game goes by other names: the Skittles Game, the Candy Game, the Color Game, among other names.
Setup
Pour M&Ms or any other multicolor candy into a bowl. Have everyone in the group grab as much or as little as they like from the bowl. Make sure that no one eats their candy right away.
How to Play
For each piece of M&M candy they took, they will have to answer a question, depending on its color. For example, you can designate:
• Red candy: favorite hobbies
• Green candy: favorite foods
• Yellow candy: favorite movies
• Orange candy: favorite places to travel
• Brown candy: most memorable or embarrassing moments
• Blue candy: wild cards (they can share anyone they choose)
You can be creative and choose any questions you think would be fitting for your group. The facilitator will then call out the color topic and everyone will go around the room sharing 1 answer per M&M. As an example: if you chose two red pieces of candy, you will have to name two of your favorite hobbies. After the individual has shared that color with the group, he/she may then eat their candy. Continue to go around the room until each color topic has been shared.
Summary: Big Wind Blows is a good icebreaker that helps people get to know each other better. Players sit in a circle, with one person in the center as “the big wind.” This person says identifies a characteristic that is true about themselves and then all players who share the same characteristic must find a new seat.
Ages: All. Recommended # of people: At least 6 players. Messiness factor: Slight running. Materials required: Chairs for each player, minus one. Recommended setting: Indoors or Outdoors.
The Big Wind Blows Game
Big Wind Blows is an icebreaker game that combines aspects of musical chairs with a get-to-know-you task. It can be humorous and entertaining, especially when you discover interesting facts that you might not expect about people.
How to Play Big Wind Blows
To set up the game, arrange several chairs facing inward into a medium sized circle. There should be one chair for each player, minus one. One person starts as the “Big Wind” in the center of the circle, with everyone else seated. The Big Wind raises both arms and spins around, while saying the following: “The Big Wind blows _____”. The blank must be filled with a true statement about himself or herself, such as “The Big Wind blows everyone who has been to Canada” or any other true fact. At this point, any of the players who share this characteristic (including the person who is currently the Big Wind) must stand up and quickly find a new seat. For each statement, no player is allowed to sit in the same seat or a seat directly adjacent to his or her previous seat. One person will be left without a seat. This person becomes the new “Big Wind” for the next round.
This game is especially interesting when players use unique, unexpected, or funny statements. For example, a player can say embarassing statements such as, “Big Wind blows those who have gone without a shower for three days.” Have fun and remember the objective of the group game: to get to know each other better.
Summary: An icebreaker in which people write down two things that they’ve done and one thing that they haven’t on an index card. The goal is to correctly guess who wrote each card.
Ages: All. Recommended # of people: 8-15. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: Several pens and index cards. Recommended setting: Indoors.
ID Guessing Game
The ID Guessing Game is a good, simple get-to-know-you game that is especially good for groups with new people, or for whenever you wish to help people get to know each other better to break the ice.Instructions
Pass out an index card and a pen to each person who is playing. Then each person has to write two things they have done and one they haven’t. The more unique and interesting the better, but the object it to make it hard for the others to guess that it is your card. Then the cards are collected and the group votes on who they think the card represents and which item they haven’t done.
(This game was contributed by Larry Bray. Thanks Larry!)
Summary: An icebreaker where players sit in a circle and take turns saying interesting things they have never done. Each player starts with ten fingers. Each time someone says something that you’ve done, you drop a finger. The goal is to be the last player remaining.
Ages: 8 and up. Recommended # of people: 10-20. Messiness Factor: No Sweat. Materials Required: None. Recommended Setting: Indoors.
Never Have I Ever
How to Play
Tell everyone to sit in a circle. Each player holds out all ten of your fingers and places them on the floor. One by one, each person announces something that they have never done; for example, they say, “Never have I ever been to Canada.” For each statement, all the other players remove a finger if they have done that statement. So, if three other people have been to Canada before, those three people must put down a finger, leaving them with nine fingers. The goal is to stay in the game the longest (to have fingers remaining). Thus, it is a good strategy to say statements that most people have done, but you haven’t. This can be humorous (e.g. “Never have I ever skipped a class in school” or “Never have I ever soiled my pants.”) The game provides a good way to find out unique experiences and facts about people
Icebreakers for medium sized groups (5 to 10 people)
ОтветитьУдалитьGetting To Know You
Four Corners
Here’s another good icebreaker for the beginning of a school semester or as a fun way for people to get to know each other better. Four Corners (also known as Four Squares) is a simple activity in which students share who they are through the use of handdrawn pictures. This icebreaker is for all ages, and works well with small and medium groups. It usually takes about 15 minutes, depending on how much time you want to allow for sharing the pictures. You’ll need sheets of paper and writing utensils. Don’t worry, no artistic skills are required for this icebreaker activity — just have fun and encourage everyone to enjoy being creative while illustrating who they are!
Setup for Four Corners
Distribute a pen and sheet of paper for each player. Each person divides the sheet into four boxes/squares either by folding the paper in half twice (vertically and horizontally) or simply by drawing a horizontal and vertical line that crosses in the middle. For each square, each person will describe themselves in the form of drawings. Choose these four topics in advance. For example, in the top left square, everyone could draw “favorite hobbies,” while in the top right, people could illustrate “favorite place on earth for vacation,” the bottom left could be something like “if you were an animal, which one would you be?” and the bottom right could be something like “what are the most important things in your life?” Feel free to be as creative, hypothetical, or deep as you like.
Allow five to ten minutes to draw. When everyone is finished, gather them together and share the drawings as a group. This icebreaker is an excellent way for students to show-and-tell what makes them unique!
Candy Introductions
ОтветитьУдалитьCandy Introductions is a get-to-know-you game that helps people learn new facts about each other in an easy way. They select various pieces of candy from a bag, and each candy variety is associated with a fact about themselves which they will introduce to the others. This game also goes by other names, including the M&M game, Candy Confessions, the Skittles Game, the Gum Drop game, among others.
Candy Introductions can work with any group size. The icebreaker works best when the group size is limited to 12, so if you have more than 12, divide the larger group and run the icebreaker within the smaller sized groups. This icebreaker works best indoors, and is well suited for classrooms or meeting rooms. Materials required are: candy with about five different variations (color or candy type), and an optional chalkboard/whiteboard.
Setup for Candy Introductions
Purchase several variety packs of candy, enough for each person to be able to have at least five pieces. They can be any candy type, but not too many choices (limit it to around five or six different varieties). Alternatively, you can buy gummy bears, life savers, gum drops, skittles, m&ms, or any other candy that already has a variety of colors.
Instructions for How to Play
Pass around the candy and tell each participant to choose anywhere from 1 to 5 pieces of anything that they want. Instruct them not to eat it yet, though. After they have chosen their candy, you will tell them what each candy type/color represents.
If there is a whiteboard or chalkboard present, write on the board the following:
* Red - Favorite hobbies
* Green - Favorite place on earth
* Blue - Favorite memory
* Yellow -Dream job
* Orange - Wildcard (tell us anything about yourself!)
If you don’t have the above colors, change the above to match the candy types that you have. Each person takes turns introducing himself or herself, beginning with their name and then saying one fact for each candy type that they have. This easy introduction game should go relatively quickly (assuming they weren’t greedy and that they didn’t take too many pieces of candy!)
Never Have I Ever
ОтветитьУдалитьNever Have I Ever is an icebreaker game that helps people get to know each other better. Everyone sits in a circle and take turns saying something they have never done. Each player starts with ten fingers showing. Each time says something that you’ve done, you drop a finger. The goal is to be the last player remaining.
This get-to-know-you game can be played indoors or outdoors. The recommended number of people for this game is ten to fifteen, but all group sizes can play by dividing into appropriate sized groups. Recommended age is 8 and up. No special materials are required.
Instructions for Never Have I Ever
Instruct everyone to sit in a circle. If you have an extremely large group, tell people to form smaller circles of about ten to fifteen people. To start each round, each player holds out all ten fingers and places them on the floor. Go around the circle and one at a time, each person announces something that they have never done, beginning the sentence with the phrase “Never have I ever…” For example, a person could say, “Never have I ever been to Europe.” For each statement that is said, all the other players drop a finger if they have done that statement. So, if three other people have been to Europe before, those three people must put down a finger, leaving them with nine fingers. The goal is to stay in the game the longest (to be the last person with fingers remaining). To win, it’s a good strategy to say statements that most people have done, but you haven’t.
Playing this game, along with the benefit of getting to know each others’ experiences better, can be very humorous (e.g. saying silly statements such as, “Never have I ever skipped a class in school” or “Never have I ever soiled my pants.”) Have fun!
Telephone Charades
ОтветитьУдалитьTelephone Charades (also known as Charades Down the Line) is a hilarious icebreaker in which a person acts out a charade only for the next person in the line, who in turn acts out for the next person. The last person standing in line attempts to guess what the original clue was.
This is in active icebreaker that works best with a group of five or six people. It can also be implemented for larger groups by taking five or six volunteers per round. This game is best played indoors. No special materials are required other than sheets of paper with the clues written on them. Telephone Charades is for people age 10 and up.
Setup for Telephone Charades
Telephone Charades or “Charades Down the Line” is an active icebreaker that combines charades with the “telephone down the line” game. To prepare for the game, write a list of humorous actions to be acted out. Some examples are:
a pantomime
a nerd’s first date
a cat bathing itself
going skydiving
fishing and catching a huge fish
Instructions for How to Play
Choose five or six people (or ask for volunteers) and ask them to line up in a row, facing the left side of the room. Ask the first person to turn around to see the first clue to be acted out. Reveal the clue to the person, and display the clue to the audience as well.
The first person turns around and taps the next person in line on the shoulder. He or she then acts out the clue using classic charades rules (no talking or noises permitted). The second person then taps the third person and acts out his or her understanding of what was acted out. This process continues until it reaches the last person in line, who must guess what the action is.
This game is funny because the acting tends to warp and get distorted based upon each person’s interpretation of what is going on.
Variation
A good variation to try is to have two teams line up and act out the same clue simultaneously. The teams that guess the clue correctly (or most correctly) wins the round
Good Icebreaker Questions
ОтветитьУдалитьGood Icebreaker Questions is simply a list of 12 good questions that you can ask to help break the ice. These questions are fun, and generally pretty easy and safe to answer. You can use them as an icebreaker for meetings or classrooms, written on notecards and adapted for other games, or simply as a fun activity to help people get to know each other better.
Instructions for Good Icebreaker Questions
In terms of facilitation, a great way to help people get to know each other is to ask them fun questions that allow them to express their personality or interesting things about them. Here is a list of fun, useful icebreaker questions to help break the ice:
If you were a comic strip character, who would you be and why?
What thought or message would you want to put in a fortune cookie?
If you had to give up a favorite food, which would be the most difficult to give up?
What is one food you’d never want to taste again?
If you won a lottery ticket and had a million dollars, what would you do with it?
You’ve been given access to a time machine. Where and when would you travel to?
If you could be any superhero and have super powers, which one would you like to have and why?
Mount Rushmore honors four U.S. presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. If yuo could add any person to Mount Rushmore, who would you add and why?
What award would you love to win and for what achievement?
If you could transport yourself anywhere instantly, where would you go and why?
In your opinion, which animal is the best (or most beautiful) and why?
What is one item that you really should throw away, but probably never will?
Growing up, what were your favorite toys to play with as a child?
FEAR IN A HAT
ОтветитьУдалить1) Ask everyone to complete this sentence on a piece of paper (anonymously):
"In this trip/group/program, I am [most] afraid that..." or "In this trip/group/program, the worst thing that could happen to me would be..." or "I am most afraid of ... in my life".
2) Collect the pieces of paper in a hat, mix them around, then invite each person to a piece of paper and read about someone's fear.
3) One by one, everyone reads out the fear of another person and elaborates and what he/she feels that person is most afraid of in this group/situation. No one is to comment on what the person says, just listen and move on to the next person.
4) If the reader doesn't elaborate much on the fear, then ask them one or two questions. Avoid implying or showing your opinion as to the fear being expressed, unless the person is disrepecting or completely misunderstanding someone's fear. If the person doesn't elaborate after one or two questions, leave it and move on.
5) When all the fears have been read out and elaborated on, then discuss what people felt and noticed.
Variations:
- Likes and dislikes (in two separate hats)
- Worries
- Wishes
- Favorite moments
Dream Vacation
ОтветитьУдалитьAsk students to introduce themselves and describe details of the ideal, perfect dream vacation.
Favorite Animal
Before you write their names on a name card, ask them to tell you their favorite animal and three adjectives to describe the animal. As they tell you, write the three adjectives on a name tag BEFORE their name (omit the name of the animal). Ask them to mingle with the crowd, sharing why these adjectives best describe their own personality. EXAMPLES: Loyal, cuddly, playful Dan
Long Lost Relative
As a group, 1) ask each person to turn to the person on their right and greet him/her as if they really didn't want to be there ("you can't wait to get out of there!"). Then everyone (simultaneously to create lots of fun and excitement) turn to the same person and greet him/her as if (s)he is a long lost, deeply loved relative who has just returned home and you're about to see the person for the first time in years! In fact, you thought you may never see this person again until this very moment. Now ask everyone (again simultaneously) to turn to the same person and greet him/her as if this person just told you that you won the state lottery for 50 million dollars and you have the ONLY winning ticket!
One more game called AUTOGRAPH SHEET.
ОтветитьУдалитьStudents are given a sheet with various traits on it. The objective is to find a person in the group who fits one of the descriptions and get that person’s autograph next to the trait. When making up the list, be creative, but include traits pertinent to the group. Each person may sign each sheet only once. Here are some examples:
Likes broccoli ______
Collect coins ______
Has been to a fortune teller _____
Speaks another language _____