Getting to Know Each Other Icebreakers

CORE
Program / 2014-2015
Icebreaker Packet

Getting to Know Each Other Icebreakers

Autobiography-30 minutes

Give everyone a pen and piece of paper. Explain that you are in a bookstore and stumble across their autobiography. You flip the book open to page 94. Ask each participant to write what you would find on that page of their autobiography.

Give them 5-7 minutes to write, encouraging them to be creative and write about any moment past, present, or future in their life. There is no right way to complete the exercise. After they have some thoughts recorded, ask anyone who is willing to share read what they have written.

Alternate suggestions: have each participant create a list of chapter titles and/or the title for their autobiography.

Reflection Questions:

Ø  Did you find this to be difficult to complete? Why or why not?

Ø  How did you pick what to write about?

Ø  Did you learn anything about someone that surprised you?

Advertisements- 20 minutes

Give everyone a piece of paper and ask them to make advertisements which describe themselves. You may provide materials such as markers, crayons, glue, old magazines, etc. Allow about 10 minutes. When everyone has completed their advertisement have each person introduce him/herself to the rest of the group. If people are happy with the work they did you can glue all of them to a piece of poster board and keep it somewhere where they will see it often.

Reflection Questions:

Ø  How did you decide what to highlight in your advertisement?

Ø  What might someone else highlight in an advertisement for you (a friend, a supervisor, a family member, etc.)?

Serious Sam & Inquiring Ida- 5-10 minutes

Give each participant a blank index card. Ask each participant to choose an adjective that begins with the first letter of their first name which really matches their personality. Have them introduce themselves just as they wrote it on the card and allow time for others to ask questions.

That’s Me!- 15 minutes

Give each participant paper and something to write with. Ask them three questions about themselves to answer briefly (sample questions below). Have each person write their name on the paper and hand it in to you. You will read the responses aloud and have the participants guess who wrote them.

Example questions:

·  What is one thing that nobody in the room knows about you?

·  What is the best vacation you’ve been on?

·  Do you prefer cats or dogs?

·  How many siblings do you have?

·  What super power would you want to have most?

Stranded- 15-20 minutes

Ask group members to imagine they are stranded on a desert island. Have each person write five people (fictional or non-fictional, living or dead) with whom he/she would like to be stranded. Next to each of the five names each person should write the characteristics or qualities each individual possesses that would make him/her a good companion on the desert island. Have each member share their list. You may want to discuss the similarities and differences among the lists and the valued qualities or characteristics selected as important.

Reflection Questions:

Ø  Were there commonalities among the lists of people/characteristics?

Ø  Were there people that you would have changed after hearing others’ responses?

Ø  Did you choose any people specifically because they complemented some areas where you’re not as confident? Who were some of those people?

Masks- 30 minutes

Give participants a piece of paper or poster board and ask them to cut the shape of a face out. Or, you could have these shapes cut out ahead of time. Participants are then asked to decorate the face. One side represents what they think that other people see/know/believe about them. The other side represents what he/she feels about themself (things going on the inside, what people do not necessarily know or see, etc.). The participants then share with the group as much as the feel comfortable.

Reflection Questions:

Ø  How are the two sides different?

Ø  Why are they different?

Ø  Are there things on the “unseen” side that you want to be more seen by others? How can you bring those things out in yourself?

Ø  Without singling others out, were you surprised by the masks of others in the room?

Ø  How can we keep this discussion in mind when working with others? What are you taking away from the activity?

The Fence- 15 minutes

Provide the following instructions. “You are currently standing on a fence. I will read several choice statements, and following each statement, you will need to decide which side of the fence you will step to. You cannot stay on the fence - you must make a choice. After you have made your choice, look to see where others are standing.”

Choice Statements

·  I impact the world, the world impacts me

·  Hot, cold

·  I create my own reality, stuff happens

·  Sweet, savory

·  I form quick judgments about situations and people, I ask questions to learn more before judging

·  River, Lake

·  Egalitarian, hierarchical

·  Optimism, pessimism

·  Spontaneous, planner

·  Problems are to be fixed, Problems are opportunities

·  Leader, follower

·  I build rapport easily, It takes some time to get comfortable with others

·  Talk, Listen

·  Risk oriented, risk averse

·  Sun, moon

·  Open, closed

·  Manage fear by sharing it, manage fear by turning inward

·  Morning, night

·  Buttons easily pushed, buttons hard to push

·  Traveler, home-body

·  I, we

·  Do, observe

Reflection Questions:

Ø  What do you see?

Ø  How do our perspectives, opinions, beliefs, and experiences influence what we see?

Ø  How will our perspectives influence our interactions with each other this week? This year?

Values Discussion- 20-30 minutes

Give participants the list of values on the following page, and have them circle as many as they want which resonate with them. After it seems that they have completed this initial list, have them whittle this list down to only 10 values. Have anyone who is interested share with the group why they chose the values they did. If time allows, have them continue to pare down the list to only their top 3 values, and share again with the group how they made the decisions.

Reflection Questions:

Ø  Was this challenging? Why or why not?

Ø  Are there any values that seem to be common among all or most of the group?

Ø  How have these values changed or remained the same throughout your life?

Ø  Where did these values come from?

Ø  How do you interact with those who have significantly different values from you?

If participants seem very interested in this conversation find another time to revisit these values and come up with the 10 core values that the group can agree upon for the team as a whole.

Values Exercise

Achievement / Friendships / Physical challenge
Advancement /promotion / Growth / Pleasure
Adventure / Having a family / Power and authority
Affection / Helping other people / Privacy
Arts / Helping society / Purity
Challenging problems / Honesty / Quality of what I take part in
Change and variety / Independence / Quality relationships
Close relationships / Influencing others / Recognition
Community / Inner harmony / Religion
Competence / Integrity / Reputation
Competition / Intellectual status / Responsibility and accountability
Cooperation / Involvement / Security
Creativity / Job tranquility / Self-Respect
Decisiveness / Knowledge / Serenity
Democracy / Leadership / Sophistication
Ecological awareness / Location / Stability
Economic security / Loyalty / Status
Effectiveness / Meaningful work / Time freedom
Efficiency / Merit / Truth
Ethical practice / Money / Wealth
Excellence / Nature / Wisdom
Excitement / Order / Work under pressure
Fame / Personal development / Work with others
Fast living / Freedom / Working alone
Financial gain

Feel free to add your own if these aren’t quite right.

Privilege Walk- 30 minutes

Directions: Participants begin by standing side-by-side. You will need a large space so individuals can step forward for the statements listed below. It works well outdoors. The facilitator should read the following statement before beginning the activity:

“This is an activity about identifying the privileges inherent in every individual’s experience. This is not meant to single out or marginalize anyone for the conditions of their lives. Rather, the purpose is to publicly acknowledge the advantages of your own individual experience. If at any point you do not feel comfortable acknowledging a part of your experience, move or respond as you deem most appropriate. When we have finished, we will discuss what you observed and how it made you feel.”

Take a step forward if......

·  You were part of the ethnic majority of your high school

·  While growing up, you had running water and working utilities

·  You could easily afford paper, pencils and other school supplies in college

·  You always have plenty to eat in college

·  You were not hospitalized for a significant period of time

·  You celebrate Christmas

·  The majority of the people in your classes and dorm rooms were your same ethnicity

·  You could afford to go home for the holidays

·  You could easily find hair and beauty products in the town where you attend college

·  You are the same gender as most of your professors

·  You could walk up a flight of stairs

·  Your parents owned their own home

·  You could read and write proficiently in the English language

·  You had adequate clothing for the different seasons

·  While growing up you had access to computer equipment

·  You are the same ethnicity as the president of the U.S.

·  Your high school offered AP or college prep classes

·  You are a native speaker of American Standard English

·  You did not experience any racial slurs/jokes in college

·  You felt comfortable and secure with the police

·  Your high school had a pregnancy rate of less than 25%

·  While growing up, there were books in your home

·  You or a family member has had an inheritance.

·  You could easily find a hair salon that catered to your hair type

·  You never had to ask for extra time on a test.

·  Your high school had a graduation rate of more than 80%

·  You were not raped or didn’t experience any form of sexual harassment

·  You have family members who have graduated from college

·  You didn’t have to work or take out student loans to pay for your education

·  You made college visits before college

·  You did not have any family members who were incarcerated

Reflection Questions:

Ø  How did this activity make you feel?

Ø  What surprised or didn’t surprise you?

Ø  How do you feel about where you are standing?

Energizing Icebreakers

Hand Slap- 10 minutes

Group members sit/lay in a circle facing in, and place both hands on the ground in front of them. Group members should alternate their own hands with those of other group members in the circle. A designated leader slaps the ground with one hand, and all others follow suit (one hand at a time) around the circle in a clockwise motion. Play reverses if a group member decides to “double slap” the ground in a clockwise motion. Group members remove an offending hand anytime it plays out of turn or hesitates too long to make a move. Game play continues around the circle clockwise and counterclockwise, depending on the sequence of single and double slaps, until only one group member remains.

Picture Telephone- 10-15 minutes

Give everyone a blank sheet of paper. At the very top have them write a sentence. They can be as creative as they want, but keep in mind that someone else is going to draw the sentence that they wrote. Everyone should pass their paper to the person on their right. That person will draw a picture underneath the sentence and fold the paper back so that the sentence cannot be seen. Then it will be passed to the right again, for that person to write a sentence about the picture. Continue folding over the top so that only one picture or sentence is visible, and alternating between drawing a picture and writing a sentence. Once the paper returns to the person who wrote the original sentence they can unfold it all and see how their sentence evolved with each person.

What are you doing?- 10-15 minutes

One player initiates the game by doing a random motion. It can be anything: waving your arms around wildly or miming a vacuum. The opposing player then asks the first player, "what are you doing?" The first player then responds to this question with an activity or feeling that has nothing to do with whatever he/she was just doing. For example, if Player 1 was miming a vacuum, he/she would have to say that she was "milking a cow," or "flying a kite." It can be anything but "vacuuming." It is very important than Player 1 only says he/she is milking a cow. He/She shouldn't do it as he says it. Player 1 can simply stop his/her action and respond with his/her answer. Players go back and forth until one is unable to come up with something that hasn’t been said or is too close to the action that they are miming. This player would be out and another person in the group steps in. Continue until everyone has a chance, or as long as people are interested in playing.