Suggested Ice Breaker/Energiser Activities

1. Fear in a Hat

Fear in a Hat (Also known as Worries in a Hat) is a teambuilding exercise that promotes unity and group cohesion. Individuals write their personal fears (anonymously) on sheets of paper which is then collected in a hat and read aloud. Each person tries to describe his or her understanding of the person’s fear. This leads to good discussion centred around the fears.

This teambuilding exercise requires writing utensils, sheets of paper, and a hat. Allow about five minutes of writing time, plus one to two minutes per participant. The recommended group size is at least eight, but no larger than 20. It’s possible to run this activity with a large group, if the group is divided into smaller groups and if there are enough facilitators.

Setting Up

Distribute a sheet of paper and a writing utensil to each person. Instruct them to anonymously write a fear or worry that they have. Tell them to be as specific and as honest as possible, but not in such a way that they could be easily identified. After everyone has finished writing a fear/worry (including the group leaders), collect each sheet into a large hat.

Running the Activity

Shuffle the sheets and pass out one per person. Take turns reading one fear aloud, and each reader should attempt to explain what the person who wrote the fear means. Do not allow any sort of comments on what the reader said. Simply listen and go on to the next reader.

After all fears have been read and elaborated, discuss as a whole group what some of the common fears were. This teambuilding exercise can easily lead to a discussion of a team contract, or goals that the group wishes to achieve. This activity also helps build trust and unity, as people come to realise that everyone has similar fears.

2. Call my Bluff

Call my bluff is a classic get-to-know-you icebreaker. Players tell two truths and one lie. The object of the game is to determine which statement is the false one. Interesting variations of this game are provided below.

This game is a get-to-know-you icebreaker.  Recommended group size is: small, medium, or large.  Works best with 6-10 people.  Any indoor setting will work.  No special materials are needed, although pencil and paper is optional.  For all ages.

Running the Activity

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.

Variations to Try

“Two Truths and a Dream Wish.” - An interesting variation of Two Truths and a Lie is “Two Truths and a Dream Wish.” Instead of telling a lie, a person says a wish. That is, something that is not true — yet something that the person wishes to be true. For example, someone that has never been to Europe might say: “I often travel to Europe for vacation.” This interesting spin on the icebreaker can often lead to unexpected, fascinating results, as people often share touching wishes about themselves.

3. Unique and Shared

Unique and Shared is a get-to-know-you game as well as a team-building activity.  The game helps people see that they have more in common with their peers than they might initially realize, while highlighting their own individual strengths that they can contribute to the group.

An indoor setting is preferable.  Participants will split into groups of about five people, so this activity works fine with medium, large, and even some extra large groups.  Each group of five needs paper and a pen.  This activity is for all ages.

Running the Activity

Ask participants to form groups of five people with the people around them.  Pass out sheets of paper and writing utensil.  The first half of the activity is the Shared part.  Instruct a notetaker for each group to create a list of many common traits or qualities that members of the group have in common.   Avoid writing things that are immediately obvious (e.g. don’t write down something like “everyone has hair” or “we are all wearing clothes”).  The goal is for everyone to dig deeper than the superficial.  Allow about five or six minutes and then have a spokesperson from each subgroup read their list.  If there are too many groups, ask for a few volunteers to read their list.

The second half is the Unique part.  Keep the same groups or, optionally, you can ask everyone to rearrange themselves into new groups.  On a second sheet of paper have them record Unique traits and qualities; that is, items that only apply to one person in the group.  Instruct the group to find at least two unique qualities and strengths per person.  Again, strive for qualities and strengths beyond the superficial and past the obvious things anyone can readily see.  Allow another five or six minutes.  When time is up, share the unique qualities in one of the following ways: (1) each person can share one of their unique qualities themselves; (2) have each person read the qualities of the person to their right; or (3) have a spokesperson read a quality one at a time, and have the others guess who it was. 

Unique and Shared is a valuable team-building activity because it promotes unity as it gets people to realise that they have more common ground with their peers than they first might realise.  As people become aware of their own unique characteristics, they can also help people feel empowered to offer the group something unique. 

4. Desert Island

Lost on a Deserted Island is a teambuilding activity that also helps people share a little about themselves.  Given the scenario that everyone is lost and stranded on a deserted island, each person describes one object that they would bring and why. 

This game is a teambuilding and get-to-know-you icebreaker.  The recommended group size is medium, although small and large group sizes are possible too.  An indoor setting is ideal.  No special props or materials are required.  This icebreaker works well for any age, including adults and corporate settings.

Running the Activity

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 teambuilding 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.

Lost on a Deserted Island is an approachable way to get people to open up and share a little bit about themselves and what they enjoy or value.

5. Who am I? 

Prepare a card for each of your learners and write on it the name of a famous man or woman. On arrival, stick a card on the back of each learner who must then ask questions in order to find out their identity. Each question asked can only be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response e.g. ‘Am I a man’, ‘yes’.

As an alternative you could ask each learner to secretly write the name of a famous person themselves and stick it to the back of another learner, this encourages increased involvement.

6. ABCs of Me

You have been hired by the Creative Classroom Company to illustrate a poster to help children learn their ABCs. By happy coincidence, you and your first name are the subject of the poster!

1. First, take a piece of flipchart paper and write your name vertically down the left side.

2. Next, choose a word that starts with each letter of your name. The word should describe something about you. Write those words horizontally across the paper, using the letters of your name as the first letter of each descriptive word.

3. After you have listed your words, draw an accompanying picture to illustrate each.

4. When you are finished, tape your poster to the wall.

Variations

Narrow the focus of the words. For instance, all words must be adjectives, nouns, or verbs related to work, related to foods you like, etc.

7. Tattoo

You have just arrived at Tony’s Tattoo Parlour for a tattoo. Tony is competing for “Tattoo King of the Year,” a contest sponsored by Needle Knows magazine. Every design is a potential entry, and Tony wants each of his tattoos to say something about the person wearing them. From you, he needs a little inspiration and a design before he can start his work. Tony is excellent at lettering, animals, characters, band logos, maps, etc.

1. On your piece of paper, you are to design a rough tattoo that reveals something about yourself, your work, your hobbies, or your family, in

order to help get Tony’s creative juices flowing.

2. You must also make a note about how big the tattoo should be and where you will have it applied.

Variations

Narrow the scope of the tattoo design: what you do at work, an animal mostlike you, favourite song, favourite band, adjective that best describes you, etc.

8. The Magic Lamp

You and your team have just found a lamp. You rub it, and surprise! A genie appears. The genie grants you three wishes. You are allowed to make three wishes relating to your working life.

1. The facilitator will soon divide you into groups of three to five people and give your team a piece of flipchart paper and a marker.

2. Once you have your materials, design your wish list for your genie. When you are finished, post it on the wall and feedback to the group

9. FILL IN THE BLANKS

Ask these questions in a group setting, this allows for group members to find out more about one another.

I need ____________ to make my life complete. ...because . . . . . .

If I had ______________ I would be the happiest person in the world.

I can explain my life as an animal and that animal is a ________________

I like to imagine I'm the cartoon character _____________ because . . . . .

A gift I can give others is ________________

A gift I would like to receive from others is ____________

If I had all the money in the world, I would _________________

I will eat anything put in front of me except _______________

School for me was ________________

If I had to give up a prized possession, it would be _______________

My dream job is ________________

My nicest characteristic is ___________________

Family means _______________ to me

Again, make up your own question to best fit the characteristics of your group.

Taken from:

www.funandgames.org/Games_icebreakers.html

www.completetrainer.co.uk/

www.businesstrainingworks.com/Icebreakers

10. Water Carry

ObjectiveTo problem-solve as a group and to deal with frustration if the task is not easily accomplished.

Group Size4 to 12 participants (or break a larger group into small teams)

Materials- 10 paper cups filled three-fourths full with water- Cafeteria-type tray

DescriptionPrior to the activity, fill ten paper cups with water about three-fourths full and place five at one end of the room (or outside area) on the ground and five at the other end. The cups should be at least twenty feet apart from each other if possible.

Gather the group together in the middle of the room with a cafeteria-type tray placed on the ground and give them the following challenge. “You must retrieve all ten cups of water and place them onto the tray without spilling any of the water. You may only get one cup from one end of the room at a time. Before getting a second cup from that side of the room you must travel to the other side of the room with the tray and retrieve a cup from that side. When all ten cups of water are on the tray you must place it on the floor in the center of the room. By the way, each person can only use one foot and one hand for the entire duration of this activity and if any water spills the whole group must start over!”

Most groups will try to hop with the tray at first but this spills water. The best way to accomplish the task is to pass the tray down a line and for the person at the end to hop to the front of the line so that the chain can continue all the way to the end of the line.

Discussion Prompts1. Did anyone get frustrated at any time during this activity? Why or why not?2. Did you try different things before you came up with a solution?3. Are you ever a part of a team and you just want to quit? When and why?4. How do you feel when you are a part of a team and you work together to accomplish a difficult task?

11. Bridge of Life

ObjectiveFor team members to work cooperatively in decision-making and planning.

Group Size4 or more

Materials- None

DescriptionBreak the group into teams of four to ten. (This game may be played as a race or as a one-team challenge.) Mark off an area that is wider than all the team members standing side by side. The challenge is for each team to get one member from one side of the area to the other without touching the ground or being carried.

Some possible solutions are:- for team members to lie down, forming a human bridge for the person tocrawl across- for the team to pass the person down the line in a prone position, with team members shifting position in line as necessary - for the person to walk on the feet of his/her team members

Discussion Prompts1. How did you decide who would be the person who had to try to get across?2. How did you decide on a method for getting this person across?3. Did everyone contribute to the decision process? Why or why not?4. What role do you usually take when part of a decision-making process?5. Do you wish you had a different role? Why or why not?Variation- Tell the group they have to get half of the team across rather than just one person.- Simply challenge the entire group to get one person across a large open area.- Put obstacles in the area that the group must get one person around when moving them from one side to another.

Pig Personality Test

1. Give each person a sheet of paper and a marker pen and tell them to draw a pig

2. After everyone has finished drawing their pig, read out the following information: “The pig serves as a useful test of personality traits of the drawer. If the pig is drawn

towards the top of the paper, you are positive and optimistic towards the middle, you are realistic towards the bottom, you are pessimistic and have a tendency to

behave negatively facing left, you believe in tradition, are friendly and remember dates

birthdays facing right, you are innovative and active, but don’t have a strong

sense of family, nor do you remember dates facing front on, you are direct, enjoy playing devil’s advocate and

neither fear nor avoid discussions with many details, you are analytical, cautious and distrustful with few details, you are emotional, you care lithe for details and are

a risk takerwith fewer than 4 legs showing, you are insecure or are living through a period of major change

with 4 legs showing, you are secure, stubborn and stick to your ideals, if there are more than 4 legs, you are stupid!

The size of the ears indicates how good a listener you are — the bigger the better!

“Who didn’t draw a tail on their pig?” The length of the tail indicates the how much you think about sex! “OK, so who had the longest tail?”

Fun Facts

1. A rat can last longer without water than a camel. 2. Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks

or it will digest itself. 3. The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle. 4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and

down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top. 5. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate. 6. A duck's quack doesn't echo. No one knows why. 7. During the chariot scene in "Ben Hur," a small red car can be seen in

the distance (and Heston's wearing a watch). 8. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily!

(That explains a few mysteries....) 9. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't

wear pants. 10.There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange, purple

and silver. 11.The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan. There was

never a recorded Wendy before. 12.The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin in World War II

killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo 13. If one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go

mad and sting itself to death. (Who was the sadist who discovered this??)

14.Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to s-l-o-w film down so you could see his moves. That's the opposite of the norm...

15.The original name for butterfly was flutterby. 16.Roses may be red, but violets are indeed violet 17.By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you cannot sink into

quicksand. 18.Celery has negative calories. It takes more calories to eat a piece of

celery than the celery has in it to begin with. 19.Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike

contest. 20.Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying. 21.Sherlock Holmes NEVER said, "Elementary, my dear Watson." 22.An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman to

take more than three steps backwards while dancing! 23.The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher. 24.The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book

most often stolen from public libraries. 25.Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space

because passing wind in a spacesuit damages them. 26.Bats always turn left when exiting a cave!

← Five Things… ←

← Answer the following questions:←← I've always wondered about...

← If I could stay at any age, I'd like to be...

← If I had the day off tomorrow, I would...

← The most fun thing I did this year is...

← I've always wanted to (but never had the courage to) ....

←← You have three minutes!

Animal Kingdom

Materials: None

Icebreaker Description

Young people will identify themselves as an animal the most reflects some aspect of their personality. It's a great way for them to get to know a little about each other.

Preparation: Choose 3-5 animals, one animal for each group you want to have. Choose animals that are vastly different from each other. Some options are:

Aardvark, Albatross, Anteater, Armadillo, Badger, Bat, Bear, Camel, Cat, Chicken, Chinchilla, Cow, Crab, Crane, Crayfish, Cuckoo, Deer, Dog, Dolphin, Dove, Duck, Dugong, Eagle, Elephant, Emu, Ferret, Flamingo, Flying fox, Frog, Giraffe, Goat, Goose, Hamster, Hawk, Hedgehogs, Hippo, Horses, Hummingbird, Iguana, Kangaroo, Koala, Lemur, Lion, Lizards, Llamas, Loon, Mammoth, Monkey, Mouse, Octopus, Ostrich, Otter, Owl, Panda, Parrot, Pelican, Penguin, Pig, Pigeon, Porcupine, Rabbit, Rat, Raven/crow, Rhinoceros, Seal, Sheep, sloths, Snake, Sparrow, Stork, Swan, Tapir, Toad, Tortoise, Turtle, Unicorn, Weasel, Whale, Wolf, Wombat, Zebra

Icebreaker Activity

1. Ask kids to introduce themselves by giving their name and then choosing which of the selected animals they most identify with.

2. Then have kids group themselves according to the animals they chose. (Combine the two smallest groups if either has fewer than three members.)

Debrief

Direct learners to answer one of the following questions in their small groups:

Are you more commonly the predator or the prey? Nocturnal or diurnal? What do think the choice of a this animal says about a person? What does the chosen animal reflect about you? What are some of the characteristics of this animal that are like you? What lessons could we learn from this animal?

If…

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

If I gave you £10,000, what would you spend it on?

If you could watch your favourite movie now, what would it be?

If you could talk to anyone in the world who would it be?

If you could wish one thing to come true this year, what would it be?

If you could live in any period of history, when would it be?

If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?

If you could be someone else, who would you be?

If you could have any question answered, what would it be?

If you could watch you favourite TV show now, what would it be?

If you could have any type of pet, what would it be?

If you could do your dream job 10 years from now, what would it be?

If you had to be allergic to something, what would it be?

If you sat down next to Jesus on a bus, what would you talk about?

If money and time was no object, what would you be doing right now?

If you had one day to live over again, what day would you pick?

If you could eat your favourite food right now, what would it be?

If you could learn any skill, what would it be?

The YS Personality Test

TEST ONE - THE SINKING SHIP

You're the lone survivor of a sinking ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There's a deserted island in the distance, one serviceable lifeboat and plenty of time for you to pick eight of the many items on board your stricken vessel to take to the shore. Since the island is uninhabited you'll be totally on your own. You have no idea how long it'll be before you're rescued, if ever. Pick your eight items from the list below: An electricity generator ( R )A saw (G)A hammer and some nails (G)Your favourite computer or games console ( R)A fishing rod (G)An umbrella ( R )Loads of bits of black polythene (G)A sleeping bag (G)Some snazzy shorts ( R)A pair of shades ( R )A telescope (G)Loads of bits of thin cardboard ( R )Twenty boxes of matches ( G)A radiator bleed key ( R)Five jars of Marmite ( R)A spade ( G )A small plaster bust of Paul Daniels ( R)A ball of thick string (G)A bathtub (G)A fridge ( R)Various bags of vegetable seeds (G)A warthog (R )

HOW YOU SCORED:

Mostly Green (Seven Or More)You’re a logical person. You think things through quite thoroughly. You're fairly solid and reliable, though, which is a point in anyone's favour. You also think things through before acting.

Mostly Red (Seven Or More)You'd survive on a desert island for about twelve minutes. You're probably rather scatterbrained and tend to think with your heart rather than your head. You are a nice person who likes to spend time enjoying themselves.

Even Mixture Of Green And RedPeople might see you as wild and crazy! You probably have lots of friends and like making decisionsTEST TWO - PSYCHE SHAPES

Take a very quick look at the shapes below. Decide which one is 'you'. If you really can't decide, then it might be worth taking a look at the notepad next to the computer, or telephone, or meeting room - there are sure to be doodles on it somewhere. Find one of your doodles and look for the predominant shape. That's the one to pick!

Squares Triangles Stars Squiggles Circles

What You Picked:

Square: You like to examine things and think them through.Triangle: You have good communication skills and are motivated by success.Star: You get excited very easily and enjoy life.Squiggles: You get bored easily and like to keep busy.Circle: You are a caring and emotional person.

TEST THREE - IT'S IN THE PICTUREGrab a bit of paper and a pen and quickly draw a scene containing a house, a tree, the sun, a snake, some water and flowers.

Now analyze your drawing, referring to the points below.

The house represents how you see yourself and the windows reveal how open you are. Count your windows. The bigger and more numerous, the more honest and open you are. None at all? You’re very secretive. If you've put a TV aerial on the roof, you're quite a receptive sort of person. If there's a chimney alongside it you might have pent up frustrations which you'll need to vent sooner or later. And if there's smoke coming out of your chimney, you're probably a little on the nervous side. The tree represents your mum. Compare the size of the house (you) to the size of the tree (mum). Does the tree positively tower over the house? Then, you have respect for your parent and look up to them. The snake's a goodie - it represents how you see your own sexuality. If the snake is quite short it means that you're not particularly interested in sex, while a longer one shows more interest and less inhibition. If the snake is jolly looking then you're a bit of a flirty type - if it's scary then you find the prospect of sex a bit frightening. The further away from the house the snake is, the keener you are on sex.

The water is your emotional state. The more water there is, the more emotional you are. If you drew a moat surrounding the house then you're swamped by your passionate nature. A stream means you're hard on the surface but soft underneath. A pond means that you keep your emotions firmly in check.

The number of flowers you've drawn is meant to indicate the amount of people you feel really close to. One particularly large flower means you have a 'best friend', or a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Paper Step Through

A novel paper-cutting icebreaker exercise, played in pairs, or threes, or as a group. The activity can be used as a bigger group problem-solving and team-working task.

Equipment: Scissors and sheets of paper, A4 size or similar.

Instruction to group: You have five minutes to devise a way of cutting the sheet of paper so that it creates a ring - without any breaks or joins - large enough to fit over both people, and then to step through the ring (in your pair/three/as a group).

Depending on your purposes, situation and group, you can change this exercise in various ways, for example:

Issue the cutting diagram to all participants. This should ensure that the activity produces at least one successful demonstration of the task.

Do not issue the cutting diagram, but instead demonstrate the solution, and instruct the participants to remember it. This tests people's concentration and retention.

Issue the cutting diagram half-way through the exercise when (as is likely) participants fail to discover a cutting solution - which highlights the importance of having instructions and knowledge for challenging tasks which might initially seem quite easy.

Ask people to do the exercise in teams of three rather than pairs, which increases the brain-power available, but also the potential for confusion, and also the size of the paper ring necessary to fit over three people rather than two.

Issue sticky tape, allow joins to be made, and add a two-minute time penalty for each join in the ring.

Change the task so that the group creates a paper ring large enough to fit over the entire group - allowing for only one sticky-tape join per pair of delegates. This opens the possibility for many different cutting solutions, because each pair is effectively then required merely to convert their sheet into a long length of paper rather than an unbroken ring.

Activity notes:

As facilitator it is recommended you practice the suggested cutting solution so that if necessary you can demonstrate it (before or afterwards, depending on your adaptation) to the group.

Beware of using this activity in any situation that could cause embarrassment to overweight people or where delegates would be uncomfortable with the inter-personal proximity required.

The qualification of putting the ring of paper over a given number of people is that while standing (necessarily very close) together they are able to pass the paper ring over their heads and down to the floor, enabling them to step over and thereby through the ring without breaking it.

Here is the cutting diagram, assuming that the sheet of paper is first folded. This is one solution to the exercise. If you know another please send it.

Fold the sheet of paper in half, and cut it through both sides of the paper, as shown in the diagram, in the following sequence:

Cut 8-12 slits (8 are adequate - the diagram shows 12), from the folded edge up to about 1-2cm of the open edge, each slit being about 1.5-2cm apart.

Cut a slit between each of the above slits, from the open edge to about 1-2cm of the folded edge.

Cut along the folded edge, but not the ends marked with blue circles.

You should then be able to open the paper into a ring which comfortably fits over two people.

Cutting more slits increases the size of the ring, as would using a larger sheet of paper. Slit dimensions can be increased for larger sheets.

You will be surprised how large a ring can be created. An A4 sheet easily makes a ring circumference of 3m. A big newspaper sheet easily produces a ring circumference of 7m.

Defend the Egg

Defend the Egg (also known as the Great Egg Drop) is a teambuilding activity that involves collaboration, problem solving, and creative teamwork.  Groups build a structure out of ordinary materials and try to protect a raw egg from breaking when dropped from a high elevation.

This exercise in teambuilding can be messy, so choose an appropriate setting where making a mess is acceptable.  The recommended group size is: teams of four or five people.  Several materials are needed: raw eggs, several plastic straws, masking tape, newspaper, and other materials of your choice.  This activity is for people ages 14 and up.

Setup for Defend the Egg

This game works well with teams that are not too large.  A good team size is four or five people.  Pass out one egg and a limited supply of materials (e.g. four straws, a three foot strip of tape, one section of a newspaper, etc.)  This activity is more challenging with fewer materials provided, so decide how challenging you wish to make it.

Game-play for Defend the Egg

Explain the rules: the mission is to protect the egg from cracking using teamwork, creativity, and a good design.  You will drop each structure at least fifteen feet, and so the goal is for each structure to be able to withstand such a fall.  Each team will only be given limited resources, and so they must be wise with what they have.  They may not use any other resources other than what is given to them.  Optionally, you can have other critera for judging including:

most creative design most stylish/visually appealing (any other awards you wish)

Decide on an appropriate amount of time (e.g. 20-25 minutes) and then instruct them to begin!  Tell them to place their egg inside their structure. 

Be sure to supervise each team as they build their structure. 

When time is up, collect all the structures.  Now is dramatic finale in which the structures are dropped (or thrown!) from at least 15 feet in elevation and then carefully inspected to see if the eggs survived. The winners are the groups that successfully protected the egg.  If you chose to have other awards, announce those winners also. 

This activity is useful to illustrate the importance of teamwork.  Ask everyone to reflect on how their group accomplished the task, what worked, what was challenging, etc.

Fabulous Flags

Fabulous Flags (also known as the Personal Flags Activity) is a useful icebreaker activity to help people convey what represents them or what is important to them.  Each person draws a flag that contains some symbols or objects that symbolizes who they are or what they enjoy.

This get-to-know-you activity is best done indoors.  Any number of people can participate.  The recommended age is 7 and up.  Materials required are: several sheets of paper, pens, and coloured pencils/crayons/markers.

Instructions for Fabulous Flags Activity

Pass out a sheet of paper, pens, and coloured 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.

Icebreaker Questions

Icebreaker Questions is simply a list of 20 great questions that you can ask people to help them feel more part of a group or team.  These questions are fun and non-threatening.  You can use them as an icebreaker for meetings or classrooms, written on note-cards and adapted for other games, or simply as a fun activity to help people get to know each other better.

Instructions for Icebreaker Questions

A great way to help people open up is to ask them fun questions that allow them to express their personality or interesting things about them.  Here is a list of twenty safe, useful icebreaker questions to help break the ice:

1. If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get? 2. If you were an animal, what would you be and why? 3. What is one goal you’d like to accomplish during your lifetime? 4. When you were little, who was your favourite super hero and why? 5. Who is your hero? (a parent, a celebrity, an influential person in one’s

life) 6. What’s your favourite thing to do in the summer? 7. If they made a movie of your life, what would it be about and which

actor would you want to play you? 8. If you were an ice cream flavour, which one would you be and why? 9. What’s your favourite cartoon character, and why? 10.  If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go

and why 11.What’s the ideal dream job for you? 12.Are you a morning or night person? 13.What are your favourite hobbies? 14.What are your pet peeves or interesting things about you that you

dislike? 15.What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten? 16.Name one of your favourite things about someone in your family. 17.Tell us about a unique or quirky habit of yours. 18. If you had to describe yourself using three words, it would be… 19. If someone made a movie of your life would it be a drama, a comedy, a

romantic-comedy, action film, or science fiction? 20. If I could be anybody besides myself, I would be…21.What thought or message would you want to put in a fortune cookie? 22.You’ve been given access to a time machine.  Where and when would

you travel to? 23. If you could be any superhero and have super powers, which one

would you like to have and why? 24.What award would you love to win and for what achievement? 25. In your opinion, which animal is the best (or most beautiful) and why? 26.Growing up, what were your favourite toys to play with as a child? 

Name that Person

Divide group into two teams. Give each person a blank piece of paper and tell them to write 3 interesting / unusual facts about themselves that will be difficult for others to guess.

Examples:

I have a pet iguana.

I was born abroad.

My grandmother is called Doris.

Collect the paper in and place them in two team piles. Read out the information on a piece of paper from one team and tell the opposing team they have to guess which person wrote it – give the team 3 points if they get it on the first fact, 2 points if they get it on the second and 1 point if they get it on the third. The team with the most points wins.

Masks

You will need crayons, pens, coloured paper / card, scissors and glue. Ask each person to draw a mask and to decorate it. The front of the mask should represent what they think other people see / think about them, and the back of the mask should represent what they feel / think about themselves.

This is best used in an established group where the young people already know each other reasonably well. It can also be used as a good discussion starter on self image and self worth.

Word Association

Ask the group to sit in a circle. The leader of the group starts with any word i.e. red. The next person says a word that they associate with the first word, and so on. To keep the game moving, allow only five seconds per person.

Anagrams

Unscramble the letters to form the name of a famous person.

1. I snubbier jet

2. I am a weakish speller

3. Ya! On or weeny

4. Tackier pie

5. Cordial or on saint

6. Hang larger flak

7. Ha! In ran

8. An ill yell

9. This trendy cry

10. Brain now

Answers1. Justin Bieber2. William Shakespeare3. Wayne Rooney4. Katie Price5. Cristiano Ronaldo6. Frank Gallagher7. Rihanna8. Lily Allen9. Tinchy Stryder10. Ian Brown