Staff Training
Icebreakers
Page 5 of 5
These activities may be the primary way staff begin
to feel more comfortable, more trusting, and more
familiar with each other. These tried-and-true ways
to "break the ice" will prove invaluable to
you.
Strictly Name
Games
Some of these games start out down right silly
and some are more serious. Decide on the climate
you want to set at the beginning of your program
and use an appropriate Name Game or dive right into
an ice breaker and do introductions later when
everyone convenes as a group.
Name
Juggling
This is a true classic.
In Advance: Prepare by gathering a variety of
objects in a bag. Items should be soft without
sharp edges, for example, different sizes of foam
balls, soft flying disks, stuffed animals and, my
personal favorite, rubber chickens.
To Play: Have the group get in a circle facing each
other. Pull out an item from the bag and call out a
person's name who is across from you. Tell the
person that you are going to toss the object to
them. Once they catch it, tell them to call out a
person's name who is across from them and toss the
object, just like you did. The third person is to
call out and toss to another person. These actions
are repeated until all people are included. No one
is to go twice, except when the last person is
called, he is to say your name and toss to you, the
first person. Try this again and once the group
understands the concept, add another object in the
tossing process. Then another and another and
another. Everyone will have to pay close attention
or they might get a chicken flying at their
belly!
Animal
Nicknames
Have group sit in a circle. Have everyone think
of an animal that starts with the first letter of
their first name, for example, Raccoon Rena. Have
the person on your left start the process by saying
the animal and their first name. The second person
says the first person's animal and name and then
says their information. The third person says the
first and second person's information and so on. If
you have a large group, it can be tough for people
at the end of the circle to remember all of the
names as well as making it difficult to come up
with animals for very popular letters. If you want
to be cruel, rather than you be the last person who
has to say the entire groups' names, be the first
person to play! But, you wouldn't do that now,
would you?! Variation: Use an action /
verb/hobby/vegetable instead of an animal like
Ravishing or Rockin' or Rock Climbing or Radish
Rena.
Introduction
Game
This is a more mild-mannered version of Animal
Nicknames. First person says, "Hello, everybody, my
name is Ted." The second person says, "Hello, Ted,
My name is Fred." The third person says, Hello, Ted
and Fred, my name is Ned." And so on. This way
everyone greets each other and hears everyone's
name enough to hopefully remember most of the
group.
5 Card
Draw
Give everyone a playing card. If you have more
than 52 people in your group, add decks of cards as
appropriate. Tell everyone that they have three
minutes to find four partners and introduce
themselves. The group with the best "hand" wins a
special prize. How about a deck of cards for each
of them!
On the Fringe
In Advance: Make a yarn pompom for every
participant. This activity not only serves to
introduce everyone, but can also be used to
subdivide the large group into smaller groups.
Let's say that you want to have seven groups of
seven people. Get seven different colors of yarn
and make seven necklaces from each color.
How to make the pompoms:
First, get a piece of cardboard that is about 6"
wide. If you have 50 people coming to your
conference, wrap the yarn loosely about sixty times
around the cardboard. When you have done this, pull
the yarn as one unit from the cardboard. Using an
eighteen inch piece of the same color yarn, tie off
the middle of the wrapped yarn very tightly. You
may want to tie off the middle a couple more times
to make sure that the yarn is very secure and won't
fall apart. To finish off the pompom, cut all of
the ends of the wrapped yarn and shake it. It
should now look like a pompom with two long yarn
strings attached. Tie the two long pieces together
to make a necklace. You may want to trim the yarn
ends to make it more softball shaped.
To Play: Give everyone a pompom necklace. If you
already know who you want in each group, make sure
to give everyone in that group the same color
necklace for transition later. Inform them that for
a specified amount of time (for example, the next
twenty minutes, during all of the potty breaks of
the day, or the next three days of the conference)
they should "fringe" someone. That means to go up
to someone and introduce themselves while tying a
piece of their pompom yarn onto the other person's
necklace. You can add more conditions like they
need to share their hobbies or favorite music group
or their opinion on something. As people fringe
each other, their pompoms gets smaller and their
necklaces start getting multicolored. When this
exercise is through there should be very little
pompom, if at all, and a rainbow hued necklace.
Stringing People
Along
In Advance: Get fifteen 3" x 5" cards per
person. Cut them in half and hole punch a corner of
each card. String them onto an eighteen inch piece
of yard and tie the ends of the yarn together to
make a necklace.
To Play: Give a necklace and a pencil to all of the
participants. The object is similar to the Fringe
game. Everyone should introduce themselves to each
other, but instead of giving yarn to each other,
everyone needs to sign one side of a card. They can
also write down a piece of advice, their personal
motto or a joke, if there is room.
Nametag
Switch
This game can be confusing but is a great way
to get to know some of the people in the group.
Give everyone someone else's nametag and tell them
that they have to find that person, by whatever
means necessary. When I played this game before, I
had to find someone in a crowd of several hundred
people spread over several large halls and it took
quite a while. Try to make sure that there is a
good chance that the person getting the nametag
doesn't know the person who is to receive it.
Everyone should meet at least two other people, the
person that they give the nametag to and the person
who gives them their own nametag!
Name
Dropper
A more colorful version of Nametag Switch.
In Advance: Write down all of the participants'
names on slips of paper. Roll up each name and
place one in a balloon. Blow up and tie off the
balloons and put them into garbage bags.
To Play: If possible, drop the balloons from the
ceiling at the signal. You could also just dump out
the balloons on the ground. Everyone is to get a
balloon and pop it. Then, they need to find the
person on the slip of paper and introduce
themselves.
Finish the
Line
Another version of Nametag Switch and a great
way to transition to an activity needing two
people.
In Advance: Prepare famous quotes on slips of
paper. Cut each one in half. Put into a hat. These
can be very classic famous quotes or current catch
phrases from songs or movies. For example, Misery
loves company, Blood is thicker than water, Money
is the root of all evil, Whomp! There it is!, Don't
have a cow, man.
To Play: Have everyone draw a slip of paper from
the hat. They need to find the person who has the
other half of the quote. They will become their
partner in the next activity. Make sure that there
are the same number of slips in the hat as there
are participants. You should have a few slips to
add, if you run out. Better to add some late than
have a lot of half-quotes left in the hat. Of
course, it would make for some interesting new
made-up quotes
Conversation Starter
Activities
Who Am I
Another classic game from long ago. The names
may change but the object is the same.
In Advance: Pick a category that the group will be
successful at, for example, current movie or TV
stars, musicians, songs, movies, or TV shows. If
you have an older group, you could have broader
range of categories or more complicated choices.
Let's use the example of cartoon characters. Write
the cartoon characters' names onto blank mailing
labels or 3" x 5" cards. Make sure that the names
are legible.
To Play: Have everyone turn around. Stick the label
or tape the card with the name onto their back
without them seeing what it reads. Everyone now has
to ask questions of each other regarding their
character. They can only be yes or no questions.
Once they guess correctly, they can put the label
on their front to indicate that they accomplished
the task. This is also a great way to separate into
sub-groups after this activity. With cartoons, you
could have all of the characters for famous
families or groups like the Flintstones, the
Jetsons, Hanna Barbara, Disney, etc.
Barnyard
Another well-known way to split into groups.
Think of as many animals as you want groups.
Whisper in each person's ear the name of a farm
animal. On the signal, they must make the noise of
that animal and find their family. You could also
try this in the dark! All of the mooing and
clucking is sure to make people giggle. Once the
whole group has found their families, the next
small group activity can begin.
People Bingo
This is good for people to get to know little
facts about each other and will prompt future
conversations. It's also a comfortable activity for
shy people. Statements are written in each square
of a 5x5 grid. Each person is given a sheet and
walks around trying to find others who match the
statements. When they do, that person signs one
square that applies to them. The winner is first to
"black out" or if you want to make it easy, the
first to five in a row. A big key is only one
signature per person on any one person's sheet. For
example, Julie can't sign ten items on Mark's
sheet, even if they are all true for her. This
encourages people to meet and mix and not just get
their friends to sign off their sheet.
When you make up the Bingo sheet you can keep the
info very general or make it specific to your
member's experiences. You want to make sure your
information will work on at least two of the people
expected to come, just in case one doesn't show
up.
I, Me, My
Give out 10 beans (candies, peanuts, etc.) each
and have the group converse and mingle. If anybody
says the words "I", "Me" or "My," they must give up
a bean to the person they're talking. Whoever was
able to get others to open up about themselves and
has the most beans in five minutes is the
winner!
Question Circle
A great way to share information and opinions
with each other.
In Advance: Prepare questions on sheets of paper.
These questions can be related to the theme,
leadership techniques, or opinions. Another good
source is "The Book Of Quotations." Copy the
information onto bright-colored paper and put them
inside plastic slipcovers to make them last
longer.
To Play: Place the questions one at a time in a
circle formation on the floor. Make sure that the
group is divided evenly and that there is enough
questions for exactly half of the group. Have one
of the groups individually stand next to the
questions inside the circle and have the other
group do the same on the outside of the circle.
When the signal is given, the two people facing a
question read it and give their input on the answer
to each other. After one or two minutes, announce
that everyone is to move exactly three questions to
the left. Each turn from then on, announce a number
and indicate if they should go left or right. The
neat part is that since the inside and outside
circle are facing each other, each group will go in
the opposite direction so no one should not have
the same partner again.
More In-Depth Share &
Tell Games
Take As Much As You Need
Have an item of quantity to share with the
group. Suggested items can be a bag of candy,
unshelled peanuts, pennies, or my personal
favorite, a roll of toilet paper. Your group should
be seated in a circle so everyone can see each
other. Pass the item around and ask each person can
take some. While this is happening, tell the group
to "take as much as they need." This will be met by
looks of confusion and lots of questions. Continue
to tell them the same thing. If anyone says "Oh, I
know this" and starts to describe it, ask him
politely not to give it away. Some people will take
a few and some will take a lot. (The guy who wraps
half of the roll of toilet paper around his hand
will be in for a surprise!) When the item is
finished being passed around, tell the group that
for every piece they have, to say something about
themselves. You learn more about people this way
than with the standard icebreaker.
The Colors Game
This is just like the above game except that it
is only with colored candies (like M&Ms or
Skittles). Have everyone take three different
colored candies. After the whole group has them,
explain that they need to say their name and the
following things based on the color of the candy
that they selected.
M&Ms Color Code
Dark Brown - Favorite TV Show
Light Brown - Favorite Movie of the past year
Yellow - Favorite Sport
Red - Favorite Singer/Band/ Type of Music
Blue - Favorite Vacation
Green - Favorite Fast Food Restaurant
Two Truths And A Lie
Have everyone partner up and talk about
themselves in turn. The couples should be away from
each other so they can't hear anyone but their
partner. Find out as much interesting and unique
information about your partner as you can and share
facts about yourself. Come up with a lie about a
pretend accomplishment and then get back together
in the group. Each person introduces their partner
and talks a bit about them stating three
interesting facts. The group then has to guess
which one is the lie. What is neat about this
exercise is many times the more ordinary "fact" is
the untruth while the more wild item is the truth.
This exercise can break down stereotypes. For
example, you may find out that a seemingly shy
person appeared in a movie and an outspoken, tough
guy has a teddy bear collection.
Spinning a Yarn
Gather group in a circle. Holding a ball of
yarn, the leader shares interesting information
about herself. When finished, she holds the end of
the yarn and throws the yarn across the circle to
any person who, in turn, shares a fact about
himself, holds onto the strand of yarn, and throws
the ball to another person. This process is
repeated until every person has shared something
about himself and the yarn has formed a web inside
the circle. During this activity, the staff is each
responsible for sharing, listening, and keeping the
web secure. Through total cooperation,the web must
then be untangled and the ball rewound. Great with
kids!
Thanks to Sharone Ross and San Jose Neighborhood
Services Training Unit/Cathy Morrey & Crew for
their additional contributions. A special thanks to
Nancy Peyton for sharing some "encouragement" and
Liz Havel, my sweet staff member, wherever you
are!
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