Hobbies And Interests
The objective of Ice-Breaker Games
Ice-breaker games are designed to allow a group of people to get to know one another quickly. Most ice-breaker games focus on getting people out of their seats and mingling to discover information about their peers in the group. Use various ice-breaker games to help a group of individuals become a collaborative community.
Similarities and Differences
The most useful and common ice-breaker games focus on similarities and differences between members of a group. For example, participants may be given a sheet of "facts" to discover about their peers. They attach a fellow group member's name to each fact. So, if the "fact" is "was born in the same month as you," the participant asks fellow group members about their birthdays until he or she finds another member that has the same birth month and then writes that person's name down beside the "fact". Any basic "fact" can be used in this game, from hair color to hometown to favorite food or activity. The possibilities are unlimited, however, it is recommended that the "fact" list be limited (8-10 "facts) or the game could go on forever.
This type of ice-breaker game works best with medium-sized groups of 30-50 people.
Biography Games
Another type of ice-breaker is the biography game. Participants use a specified form to talk about themselves. For example, if the group's aim is team-building, the participants might use the letters T-E-A-M to share facts about themselves with the letters serving as prompts. An example:
Joe stands and shares: "T is for time off--my favorite thing to do when I have time off is golfing. E is for education--I went to State College and majored in engineering. A is for anywhere--if I could go anywhere in the world, I would go to Egypt and see the pyramids. M is for meal--my favorite meal is my wife's fried chicken."
The next person would then stand and give their answers in the same format. In this way, the whole group would learn information about each person.
This ice-breaker variety takes a bit of time, so it is best used with groups of less than 20. It can also be used with larger groups that have already been broken into working teams.
Another version of the biography game is the "name game" in which participants use the spelling of their own names to discuss themselves and their backgrounds. Varieties of the "name game" use any number of letters from just the first letter of the first name to initials, to the spelling of the full first name.
Memory Games
A third popular form of ice-breaker game is the memory game. Memory games come in many varieties and styles, but what most have in common is that participants are required to remember what the person who spoke before them said.
Use of group members' names is also popular in the memory game. One common memory game is to have participants line up. The first participant states his or her name. The second states the first person's name and his or her name. The game continues until the last participant has to state all the names he or she has heard in order before stating his or her name. Often, this game promotes teamwork as earlier participants try to help later one remember all the names.
Other forms of memory games involve props such as balls that are randomly thrown from one participant to another with the catcher having to remember what the thrower said or the next fact in a set of information. Still others involve random names of foods, animals, or objects, with participants having to come up with something that starts with a specific letter.
Creativity Counts
Ice-breaker games have become so common in group settings that participants in a meeting or conference will hear the term "ice-breaker" and a collective groan will be heard across the audience. However, the reluctance of the group to play "yet another game" ends once the game has begun and they start meeting new people.
Group leaders who know their groups have played ice-breaker games before can avoid this reaction through creativity. Entirely new games are not necessary; just changing the rules, methods, or time limits on established games often does the job. Try offering prizes to the group that finishes a "fact"-based game the fastest or to the person who, at the end of a biography game, can name the most facts about a randomly-chosen fellow group member. Have participants in a biography group put their "facts" on a sheet of brightly colored cardstock and post it on the walls around the meeting room.
Ice-breaker games can help mold a group of widely different individuals into a collaborative team as long as the participants have fun, see the game's purpose and the game is fast enough for participants to feel like they are not wasting productive time.