Get people laughing and moving and put them at ease. These are meant to be fast and fun.
Use: At the beginning of meetings, or when things are beginning to drag and to refocus after breaks.
If you need additional ideas, please find many more icebreakers here.
Five Things in Common
Split the group up into pairs. Each pair will have 30 seconds to find 5 things they have in common. At the end of the 30 seconds, put two pairs together and give the foursome a minute to find something all 4 participants have in common. Finally, each group can present the list of things they have in common. You can use this activity to form groups.
Once Upon a Time
Objective: Quick ideas to get people focused in the room on each other; also ready to participate.
Procedure: Go around the table (or circle) and complete one of these sentences:
- Once upon a time, I...
- My ideal vacation is...
- The riskiest thing I ever did was...
- The wildest thing I ever did (that I'll admit to) is...
M&M’s
Pass around a bag of M&M's. Tell the participants to take as many as they want. Once everyone has M&M's, tell them that for each M&M they took they have to say one thing about themselves. For instance, if a person took 10 M&M's, they would have to say 10 things about themselves.
Two Personal Items
Step 1: Ask each participant to find two items in their pocket, purse, briefcase, etc. that will help them introduce themselves to the group (i.e., family picture – being a parent/wife/brother is one of the most important things to me; Botanical Garden Membership Card – one of my favorite ways to relax is to spend time in my garden).
Step 2: Write out the question you want people to answer about their personal items on a flipchart so they can refer to it, if needed. For example, “What do your personal items say about who you are?”
Step 3: If individuals don’t know each other at all, ask them to state their name, where they are from and/or what role they play in the organization before they share their personal items. If they do know each other, skip the introductions and have them share their personal items. It’s usually a good idea to model the introduction by going first. You should also state that these introductions should be only 1-2 minutes – depending on the time available in the agenda and the number of people in the session.
Step 4: Thank the participants for sharing.
Creative Expectations Icebreaker
Methodologies:
- Small Groups
- Art Project
Materials Needed:
- Art supplies such as pipe cleaners, paper, ribbon, stickers, glue, and pens
Purpose:
- Discuss expectations for the training or event
- Get to know other participants
Activity 1:
Step 1: Divide participants into small groups of 3-4 people. Provide each group with a mix of art supplies.
Step 2: Ask participants to share their expectations of the training with each other in their small groups. Make sure each person in the group has 1-2 minutes to share their expectations.
Step 3: Once each person in the group has shared his/her inputs, instruct the groups to use their art supplies to create a visual image that represents their collective expectations. Allow 8-10 minutes to complete the project.
Step 4: Ask each group to share their project and discuss their expectations with the larger group.
World Map
Goal: This activity allows participants to know more about each other and to feel more comfortable and relaxed, which will encourage them to actively participate.
Group Size: Any
Materials:
- Large world map
- Stickers or thumbtacks
Instructions:
- Put the world map on a wall where all participants can see it.
- Hand out a sticker or thumbtack to each participant.
- Tell them they will be introducing themselves by putting the sticker or thumbtack on a spot of the world where they have some sort of connection. You can use any of the following to define the connection:
- A place that you have a fond memory of
- A place where you had an interesting or funny personal experience
- A place where you want to go
- Have all of the participants take turns introducing themselves and telling why they chose the particular place to put their marker.