ICEBREAKERS

Orsolya Reinbold-MatyasLiceul Teoretic Németh László, Baia Mare (Maramureș)15 mai 2023

• Interview
Time: 10-12 minutes
Age group: 14+
Participants have three minutes to find out as much interesting facts as possible about the group members. After the time is up, participants speak in turns and say what they found out about the other participants.

• Evolution (Amoeba, Monkey, Human or Egg, Chicken, Dinosaur)
Time: 10 minutes
Age group: 10+
Participants move around in the classroom, acting as if they were amoebas. When the teacher calls STOP, participants form pairs and start to play Rock, Paper, Scissor. The participants who win two in a row evolve into Monkeys and start to move around as Monkeys. When the teacher calls STOPS, Amoebas pair with Amoebas, Monkeys pair with Monkeys. Monkey winners evolve to Humans, etc. The game is over when all participants become Humans.

• What am I?
Time: 10 minutes
Age group: 10+
Participants are divided into two groups. The members of one group each receive a post-it paper and they have to draw an animal/plant/object on it, then stick it on the forehead of somebody in the other group. The participants with the stickers on their forehead have to move around and ask information about what is on the drawing. Example: Am I an animal? Am I big? Am I dangerous? The other participants have to answer, without naming the drawing.

• Find your Family
Time: 5-10 minutes
Age group: 10+
The teacher prepares little cards with family names on them. The names have to be chosen according to a topic. Example: Mr. Frog, Mrs. Frog, baby Frog, Frog girl, Frog boy. The participants pick a card and they have to act out their name. Participants who act similarly have to move close to each other to form a family. The game is over when each family is reunited.

• Whispers
Time: 10 minutes
Age group: 6+
Divide the class into groups of 8 to 10. Each group stands in line, one behind the other. The teacher prepares messages (short/long sentences) on scraps of paper. The participant standing in front of each line picks one message, and whispers it to the participant behind him, repeat this until the message reaches the end of the line. The last person in the line repeats the message out load for the whole group to hear. The message is compared with the original message from the paper.
Follow-up activity: discuss why the messages were changed and make a list of effective verbal communication strategies, to achieve a better result.

• Simon Says
Time: 10-15 minutes
Age group: 6+
This is a popular children’s game, but it is an effective icebreaker, too. The teacher plays the role of Simon and orders the participants to do various activities. Each instruction starts by saying “Simon says”. In case some participants do an activity when the leader did not say “Simon says”, they are eliminated. Participants can also act as Simons, then the teacher becomes participant.

• Stop
Time: 10-20 minutes
Age: 6+
The participants form a circle. The teacher names someone to be number one, than each even number goes behind an odd number. The teacher or a participant stands in the middle, walks in the circle slowly and winks to someone in the circle. Whoever sees the wink has to step forward. The participants standing in the back are supposed to look down, and only watch if the participants in front of them moves his legs to step forward. If he catches him, they remain on their position, but if he manages to step forward, he becomes the next leader in the circle, the person who was at the back steps in the inner circle, the leader from the middle goes behind, in the outer circle.

• Party invitation
Time: 20-30 minutes
Age: 12+
The teacher explains that he is preparing a party and everyone is invited, with one condition. It is up to the teacher to choose a rule. For example, only those people can participate at the party, who can name a vegetable. They start by saying “Hi, I’m going to the party and I will bring with me a tomato”. The teacher decides who can go to the party. The teacher can invent a new rule for those who did not know what to say in the first round, so the game can go on until everyone is invited to the party.

• Stop the music
Time: 15-20 minutes
Age group: 12+
The participants move or dance freely in the room, while music is played at the background. The teacher stops the music and the participants receive a task. For example: “Count in English for 10 seconds” or “Ask as many participants to go for a pizza with you as you can, in 10 seconds”. The teacher starts the music again, the participants walk around until the teacher stops the music again.

• Only questions
Time: 20-25 minutes
Age: 14+
The participants are divided into two teams. Each team forms a line, the participants stand one behind the other. The two teams face each other. The rule is to communicate using only questions. The teacher announces the topic and the first person in each team has to ask something from the person standing in front of the other team. When one of them does not what to ask next, he goes to the back of the line, and the person who stood behind him continues with the questions.

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