Ice Breaker Activities 1. True or False The class is divided into small groups between four and six students. Each student comes up with two facts about themselves that are true and one fact that is a lie. Ideally the lie seems very plausible and at least one truth sounds fishy. One student in the group takes a turn sharing their three facts. The rest of the group then tries to decide which fact is a lie. After the group has made their guesses, the student reveals the lie. This is a great way to share and learn some unique things about a group. Also it's low pressure and a student who really doesn't want to reveal true facts about herself can create more than one lie.
2. If I were an animal..
In the traditional class setting you can either break the class up in to small groups or if it is a small class already do it sitting a circle. Each person takes turn to introduce themselves and then introduce themselves as an animal which is most like themselves. The simple questions to ask are these: 1. If you could be an animal, what animal would most represent yourself? 2. What personal attributes do you share with this animal and why? Other questions-‐ 3. Who do you admire the most and strive to be more like in your life? 4. Where is your "happy place"? 5. Where have you been in life that has impacted your thinking?
For example: "If I were an animal... I would be a bear." "I am tall like a bear and sometimes can be overbearing. I am often fearless and can be aggressive if provoked. I also like to eat a lot and could be described as "cuddly"
3. My favourite…
The teacher writes the beginning of a statement on the board. The statement should be something that describes a person such as "My favourite food is..." or "I used to live in...". Everyone ends the sentence in their own way. This way, everyone can learn something about everyone else. Once everyone has answered, another question can be written.
4. Five W's Icebreaker This is an extremely simple example of an icebreaker that will lend itself well to the use of a wiki and the population of students that I work with. It combines the use of navigating the technology and the use of answering questions related to who, what, when, where, and why. The instructor will start by posting the first question and interject their own answers and question throughout the ice breaker's duration. Directions: Every student is responsible for asking a who, what, when, and where question to their peers throughout the activity totalling 4 questions total. They are then answer 4 questions and explain their answer with a statement telling why. Questions are encouraged to be of a personal "get to know you" nature so that students are able to find out more about their classmates and share information about themselves.
5. Deserted Island Announce, 'You've been exiled to a deserted island for a year. In addition to the essentials, you may take one piece of music, one book (which is not the Bible) and one luxury item you can carry with you i.e. not a boat to leave the island! What would you take and why?' Allow a few minutes for the young people to draw up their list of three items, before sharing their choices with the rest of the group. As with most icebreakers and relationship building activities, it's good for the group leaders to join in too.
6. Something in common This activity gets the students up and moving around the classroom and also gives them an opportunity to talk to each person in the class. Each student is given a spreadsheet (or a table) with a list of eight attributes listed across the top of the page. Each student puts their own name in the top spot and fills in their own attributes under each heading. Then the students walk around the classroom and they meet with each person in the class to find out what attributes they have in common with each person. If the person they are meeting with has the same attribute they put a check mark on their spreadsheet. This part of the activity can be divided into a few days depending on how many students you have in the classroom. I typically have around 30 students so I have the students meet with about ten students per day. After the completion of filling in the spreadsheet, each student determines which students they have the most in common with and which students they have the least in common with. (You can extend this activity into math. Depending on the age you can adjust the activity. Primary students can do bar graphs while upper grade students can figure percentages of a given attribute. )
7. Food glorious food! This activity based the notion that everyone has at least one favourite dish or food. Also, a kitchen is a common place where a lot of gatherings and talking tends to happen in a home. I love to cook, experimenting with different flavours and influences but most of all I think we all have some sort of food really enjoy, enjoy talking about or sharing with one another. The idea behind this icebreaker is for group members to learn about each other through their favourite foods, what makes it their favourite and why. Not only is sharing what they like to eat and why a good way to introduce yourself and get to know new people the design allows it to be done in a non-‐threatening manner or setting. It also allows group members to find commonalities with one another and lends itself to sharing new foods they may have never had or heard of before.
8. Interviews During this activity, students briefly introduce themselves to the person they are interviewing, and then begin to ask a series of questions of their classmates which are designed to get to know their classmates. During the interviewing process, the interviewer will also be able to ask one question that is not one the list of questions provided for them. As they are interviewing their classmates, the
interviewer will pick out a unique or interesting quality about their classmate and share it with the class when they introduce them to the class. After the interviewing time has concluded, we then go around the room and each student introduces the classmates they interviewed. They will share what they learned about the classmates, discuss what they found interesting or unique, and they have to share the question they ask which was not on the list of questions. Over the years, one of the items during this process the students seem to enjoy the most is sharing the unique or interesting thing they share about the individuals they interview. Here are the questions each student is given to ask: 1. What is your name? 2. Are you part of any extracurricular organizations like clubs, sports teams, band, etc.? 3. Do you have any pets, and if so, what are they and what their names? 4. What are different types of music you enjoy listening too? 5. What kind of candy would you be if you were going to be one? 6. If you could be a super hero, who would it be and why? 7. What makes you laugh? 8. What do you see yourself doing in 5 years? 9. Of everything in your life, what is the one thing that means the most to you? 10. Student question
9. Shipwreck! The situation is dire — following a shipwreck, everyone has been stranded on a deserted island! Each person is allowed to bring one object to the island — ideally something that represents them or something that they enjoy. The first part of this icebreaker is simple: each person is asked to describe what object they would bring and why. This need not be realistic; if someone loves music, he or she might choose to bring a guitar, or an animal lover might choose to bring a dog, a food lover might choose to bring sirloin steaks, and so on. Encourage people to be creative. After everyone has introduced their object and why they have chosen that object, the team building portion follows. Divide into smaller groups and ask everyone to work together to improve their chances of survival by combining the various objects that they introduced. If necessary, you can add more objects, but be sure to use all the objects that everyone mentioned. If you wish, you can reward the most creative group with a prize.
10. What are you more like? DIRECTIONS: Think carefully about the choices offered, make a choice, and then explain your reasons for choosing as you have. It is your explanation that proves your answer “right” or “wrong”. Answer each question in one or two complete sentences, restating the question. Please do ALL of the twenty questions. Example: "I am more like the letter "M", as I am in the middle of my life, but the story is unfinished" (Cary L. Tyler) Take three to four of the questions and your answers and share them with the group.
Are You More Like...
1. May or December? 2. A Hyundai or a Mercedes Benz? 3. Brown or blue? 4. The letter A, the letter M, or the letter Z? 5. Vanilla ice cream or charlotte russe? 6. New York City, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, or New Orleans? 7. A hammer or a nail? 8. White, rye, or pumpernickel bread? 9. A short story, a poem, an essay, or a play? 10. Soap or dirt? 11. Fire, water, earth, or air? 12. A cathedral, a pup tent, or a log cabin? 13. A filing cabinet, a garbage pail, a wood lathe, or a kitchen stove? 14. A lock or a key? 15. The comics, the sports section, the business report, or the editorial page? 16. A TV quiz show, a news report, or a soap opera? 17. A forest fire or a mountain stream? 18. A cat, a dog, or a goldfish? 19. A mystery, a western, a romance, or a science fiction book?