Fun Icebreaker Games

Activity Description:
Good to see if people are really listening and a good ice breaker. Give everyone a pen and paper and then begin: "If you were driving a bus with 20 people on then the bus stopped and 7 people got off and 12 got on (now 25),at the next stop 17 got off and 13 got on (now 21),at the next stop 3 got off and 6 got on (now 24) who is driving the bus.

Most people start adding and subtracting people and forget that you said "If you were driving a bus"

Activity Description:
Participants in a circle. The task is to pass a ball (volley, soccer)hand to hand as fast as they can. Ask for a volunteer to start the exercise. In a card board mark the time achieved. Now the ball has to go around as many times as there are participants (15 people = 15 times) with a rule; each time the ball must be passed in a different way (by hand, kicking, jumping).

Ask the group how fast they expect to accomplish the task. Watch the exercise, put some pressure urging for speed (usually they under pressure throw the ball away from the circle, loose it, etc.). At the end record the time and challenge the group to improve their productivity (their time). give them 10´ to discuss what they did wrong and what can be improved. Start again. Now the group will come out with a much better score cheering their progress.

Close the exercise discussing the importance of planning, teamwork and the ability to resist to external pressures to obtain gains in productivity. (learned from a colleague, Ademir Rossi, and apllied a number of times)

Activity Description:
Your group is dispersed in a completely random fashion in the room/field/court etc. While standing still, the participants are instructed to look around them and identify the person who is standing closest to them on the right hand side of their body and on the person who is standing closest to them on the left hand side of their body. Upon the word Go the group is as quickly as possible to arrange themselves in such a way that each participant is standing directly next to those two people. It gets them into a very convenient circle for the next round of Speed Ball, or any other activity in a circle.

Activity Description:
This activity is great for non-verbal communication skills. It stemmed out of doing group on a day that we coudn't go outside. The equipment needed is a checker board set (preferably an oversized one). Your group is divided into two teams. Make sure that everyone knows the rules and agrees on the same set of rules for the game of checkers. Allow the teams a short time to strategize how they will approach the game and the challenge of playing as a team without speaking. After the allotted planning time, inform them that there is no more talking. Any talking results in the loss of a turn. Additionally, if the players on the team move out of turn, they lose their next turn. Your group will now engage in silent team checkers. Afterwards, processing focuses on what was difficult or frustrating, what skills and ways of non-verbal communication emerged, and how they may change their strategy next time. Then, if time allows, give the losers a chance at revenge!!!