Leadership Handout Series

BREAK THE ICE

Ice breakers and getting acquainted exercises are important elements of team building as groups come together again each year and especially when bringing in new members. Following are some reasons for using ice-breakers as well as some easily implemented examples:

1. They can be excellent devices to help people feel more comfortable with themselves and with others and feel more “at home” in a group.
2. They break up the “cliques”, invite people to form random groupings, and help individuals meet others in a non-threatening and fun way.
3. They can be used to set a tone for the time a group will be together, will encourage people to feel “safe” and hopefully will evoke lots of laughter and release tension.
4. They can foster team building within the group and make effective feedback possible.

EXAMPLES OF ICEBREAKERS:

Human scavenger hunt

Find someone who:

• is a graduate student.
• owns cross-country skis.
• has been to Europe.
• wears contacts.
• (or make up your own).

Hometown

Members tell where they are from and information about their hometown.

Name games

Why or how the member got his/her name. Tell name and hobby, members try to memorize information.

Human Circle

Form a circle by holding hands with the persons on each side of you. Without letting go of each other’s hands try to turn the circle inside out.

Human Knot

Members stand in a circle and extend their right hands into the middle and clasp the hand of another. Repeat the process using the left hand. (Do not hold the hands of the person standing next to you.) Try to untangle the knot without unclasping hands.

EXAMPLES OF GETTING ACQUAINTED EXERCISES:

Dyads

Members get into groups of two and find out information about each other. Possible questions/statements to use:

• Who do you think is the most important person who has lived in the past 100 years?
• What is the best movie you have seen recently?
• What is the title of the last book you have read?
• If you could be any animal other than human, what would you be?
• If you could travel to any place in the world, where would you go and why?
• What is your favorite sport?
• One adjective to describe me is…
• The emotion I find most difficult to control is…

Crest or Coat of Arms

Members create their own “Coat of Arms” by filling in information about themselves using words or drawings. Information can include:

• Hobbies
• Hometown
• Major
• Favorite Emotion
• Family Members
• Five or Ten Year Goals

Forced Choice

Ask members to stand in the middle of the room and have them move to either side to indicate their choice. Have them find a partner on the side they have chosen and discuss reasons for their choice. Are you:

1. More like a Cadillac or a Volkswagen?
2. More of a saver or a spender?
3. More like Colorado or New York?
4. More yes or no?
5. More like a student or a teacher?
6. More here or there?
7. More like the present or the future?
8. More religious or non-religious?
9. More like a file cabinet or a liquor chest?
10. More intuitive or rational?
11. More like a tortoise or a hare?
12. More like an electric typewriter or a quill pen?
13. More like a roller skate or a pogo stick?
14. More like a bubbling brook or a placid lake?
15. More like a gourmet restaurant or a McDonald's?

The Forced Choice exercise questions may be amended as needed to include topics that may foster diversity and human dignity within the group.

For additional icebreaker and/or get acquainted exercises please refer to the Office of Student Activities Resource Library.