ICEBREAKERS

   Data Processing

Divide the students into groups of 10 to 20, depending on the difficulty level you want. The more students in a group, the higher the level of difficulty. Give directions for the "data", groups are to  "process" themselves. The more creative the "data" the more fun the "processing." Give prizes to the group who is the first to correctly process their data. Several rounds can be played in a short amount of time, depending on the size of the groups. Here's a list of my favorite "data" for this activity: Alphabetical by best friend's first name Alphabetical according to favorite food Length of hair Shoe size Birthdays Number of letters in last name Length of thumb For teachers, number of years taught

Knots of People

Divide the group into teams of 8 to 12 members. Have each person join right hands with another person in the group, but it has to be someone who is NOT standing immediately to the left or right. Then have each person join left hands with another person in the group, but it has to be someone who is NOT standing immediately to the left or right and someone other than before.Now the groups have to untangle themselves without letting go of hands. They may have to loosen their grips a little to allow for twisting and turning. They may have to step over or under other people. The first group to untangle their knot is the winner. SPECIAL NOTE: There are four possible solutions to the knot. One large circle with people facing either direction. Two interlocking circles. A figure eight. A circle within a circle. Who Am I? For this activity you will need one sticky note per person. On each note write the name of a celebrity, political figure, cartoon character, book character, etc. You can choose one category or mix them up. Use a different person for each note.Place a sticky note on the back (or forehead) of each participant. The participants are to figure out who they are, but can only do so in the following manner. Find a partner and read each other's sticky notes. You may ask the other person three questions to which there are yes or no answers. Once your questions have been asked and answered, make a guess as to your identity. If you are correct, move the sticky note to your chest and you become a "consultant" who gives clues to those still trying to figure out their identities. If you are not correct, find a new partner and repeat the process. SPECIAL NOTE: Be sure to choose characters that are appropriate to the age of the participants to avoid "generation gap frustration." Animal Scramble There is some preparation for this activity. On a slip of paper, write the name of an animal that makes an obvious noise. Create five to ten slips for each animal.Give each participant a slip of paper, but tell them to keep their animal a secret. The participants are to find the rest of their kind, but there is no talking. So how do they find the others? They have to make the noise of the animal. Once two of the same kind have found each other, they stay together to find more. Continue until all of the like animals have created one big group. Use Animal Scramble, but add a hint of danger by planting a couple of danger animals who if incorrectly approached can take you out of the game ( snake, lion, tiger, etc). The last survivor of non-dangerous animals is winner (Non-dangerous animals need to gather say 4 of a kind to be safe in a  pack; they can even fake being a dangerous animal but cannot take out anyone - someone catches onto this and the fun begins!)   Clever catch Inflatable ball that has icebreaker questions for students to answer.  Questions include, "What do you like best for breakfast?" and "What would you have in your will for the person you care about the most?" Complete the sentence                                                                      One student starts by forming a sentence about himself/herself. "My name is ............and " and the next finishes the sentence talking about himself/herself "I spent my holidays in Canada." and then the same student starts another sentence "My name is ..................and" and so on.                                                                                                                     Did You Know? Bingo                                                                     The objective of this game is for people to wander around the room and to obtain the signatures of people who have the facts listed on the bingo sheet.  Once a person successfully obtains a full row (5 in a row), whether horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, he or she shouts “BINGO!” and wins. This game requires a little bit of setup.  Prepare a 5 by 5 table, with interesting facts written inside the boxes.  These facts can include funny or bizarre things.  For example: Likes anchovies Has been to Hawaii Speaks more than two languages Has never been on a plane Has more than four brother. Pass out a sheet to each person, along with a pen.  Explain the objective of the game and the following rules: (1) each person you talk to may only sign your sheet once, and (2) to win, you must get signatures to form 5 in a row horizonally, vertically, or diagonally.  Say “Go!” and ask your participants to begin.                                                                                                                                                                 Fabulous Flags Pass out a sheet of paper, pens, and colored pencils, crayons, and/or markers to each person.  Explain the activity: “We’re now going to draw flags that represent or symbolize us.  Please design your own flag of you – include some symbols or objects that symbolize who you are or what you find enjoyable or important.”  You can show your own sample flag if you like.  For example, you could draw: a guitar (representing your passion for music) a tennis racket (someone who enjoys sports) a country like India (representing your affiliation with a country) a cross and a heart (representing Jesus and His love for the world) Give everyone a set amount of time to draw (e.g. 15-20 minutes or so) and then reconvene.  Ask for volunteers to share their flags and explain the meaning of what they drew.  If it is a large group, you can divide everyone into smaller groups and ask them to share their flags with each other, or you can just ask a small number of volunteers to share. Variations After everyone has finished sharing the individual flags, as a big group you can ask everyone to brainstorm ideas on what to draw for a large class-wide flag.  Proceed to delegate individuals to draw certain parts of the class-wide flag.  Alternatively, you can collect the individual flags and paste them onto a board to create a “quilt” of individual flags, representing unity.

Two Truths and a Lie Ask all players to arrange themselves in a circle. Instruct each player to think of three statements about themselves. Two must be true statements, and one must be false. For each person, he or she shares the three statements (in any order) to the group. The goal of the icebreaker game is to determine which statement is false. The group votes on which one they feel is a lie, and at the end of each round, the person reveals which one was the lie.

                                             

Some more suggestions at http://insight.typepad.co.uk/40_icebreakers_for_small_groups.pdf