> Your guide to all things Icebreaker!
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 About Me o Materials:
 4 blank index cards for each group member
 1 pen for each group member o Instructions:

Hand out 4 blank cards and a pen to each group member. Have them write a different interesting/random fact about themselves on each card, such as “my favorite TV show is…,” “I’ve traveled to…,” etc. They should not write their names on their cards.
Then, collect all the cards, shuffle them, and redistribute them.
Participants then must find whose cards they have, and should introduce themselves as they are meeting new people and trying to figure out whose cards they have. Once everyone has their cards back, they should introduce themselves to the group and say what random facts they wrote down.
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Notes: Great for non-talkative group; Good for first day with group; Facilitator should participate as well.
 Name Stack o Materials:
 None o Instructions:
 The group should form a circle and one person should start by introducing themselves with their name and an activity that they like to do (can do different variations where they have to say an activity that starts with the same letter as their name or they say favorite food or something instead). Their activity should be accompanied by a motion associated with it. For example, if someone said “my name is Dan and I like to play basketball,”

their motion could be shooting a basketball. The person next to them in the circle would introduce themselves in the same way, but then repeat everyone’s name, activity, and action that came before them. The group is allowed to help people if they have a difficult time remembering people who came before them, and the facilitator should ask if someone thinks they can do the entire group (before you start).
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Notes: Good name-learning game, very good to judge energy level and outgoingness in a group; *Timeconsuming: can cut it off halfway and restart if needed*
 Who Am I? (Famous Pairs) o Materials:
 Mailing labels with name of a well-known celebrity (1 for each group member) o Instructions:

Before the group meeting, write the name of a well-known celebrity on a mailing label (or just a piece of paper with tape on the back). Put a mailing label on each of the group member’s backs, and they must determine what celebrity they are by introducing themselves to someone in the group and asking a yes or no question. They can only ask one question to each person, and then they must introduce themselves to someone else in the group until they figure out who they are.

Variation: Use the names of famous pairs (ie: Batman & Robin,
Bert & Ernie, Peanut Butter & Jelly, etc). Once they figure out who they are, they should find the other half of the couple and do partner introductions.

Notes: This is much more effective when used in pairs; it also helps the introverted people to feel more comfortable by giving them a smaller group to work with; *Make sure to come prepared!*
 M & M o Materials:
 Candy that comes in different colors/flavors o Instructions:

Have a bowl of M&Ms (or any type of candy) and ask each person to take as many pieces as they want and then pass the bag around.
Then, for each M&M, they must share one fact about themselves.

Variation: If you choose a candy with different colors/types, each color could signify something different the group members have to share about themselves. For example, if they get an orange M&M, they could share their dream vacation, red could be a famous person they would like to meet, etc.


Notes: It is recommended that you get one chocolate and one non-chocolate candy to be inclusive of all tastes/allergies. Make sure to buy candy at least a few days in advance. *Be prepared for some people being upset that they have to say so much about themselves if they decide to take a big handful of candy*
 Two Truths and a Lie o Materials:
 None o Instructions:

Ask each person, in turn, to state two true statements and one untrue statement about him/herself – not necessarily in that order.
The group then tries to guess which statement is the lie. Once the lie has been determined, the next person states his/her two truths and a lie, etc.
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Notes: Warning: This activity can lead to some shocking statements; be prepared to facilitate discussion if needed.
 Ten Questions o Materials:
 None o Instructions:

You can have them share answers with partners or with the whole group:
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1. What famous person would you like to meet? Why?

2. What ice cream flavor do you wish they would make?
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3. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
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4. If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?
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5. When you were a little kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
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6. What is one thing that you could never live without?
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7. What would you do with a million dollars?
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8. If you were on a desert island, and could only have three things, what would they be?
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9. What song would be the theme song to a movie about you?
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10. If they made a movie about your life, who would play you?
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Notes: These questions are good to get a quiet group talking; if adding questions of your own, make sure that they are “open” questions that cannot be answered with just one word.

 Beach Ball o Materials:
 Beach ball with questions previously written on it o Instructions:

One group member will start with the beach ball, introduce him or herself, and answer the question that is closest to where their right thumb is on the beach ball. Then they throw it to someone else in the circle, and the process continues. Game continues until everyone has had the beach ball at least once.
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Notes: Get creative with your questions; this game is only as good as you make it; *This is my absolute FAVORITE get-to-know-you activity; it almost always has a positive response*
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 Do You Love Your Neighbor?
o Materials:
 None o Instructions:

The group should form a circle, and one person will stand in the middle. The person in the middle should introduce themselves and say “I love people who…(ex: are wearing jeans, are from IL, like country music, etc.)” Then, everyone who this fits must move to another spot in the circle. You can’t move to a spot directly next to you. There will always be one person left in the middle, and this person will then introduce themselves and say “I love people who…” If the same people keep ending up in the middle, make a new rule that if you’ve already been in the middle, you have to pick someone else to come in the middle who hasn’t introduced themselves yet.

Notes: Extremely effective first icebreaker; when having new students introduce themselves, have them include their name, hometown, major, fun fact, etc.
 Name Juggle o Materials:

 At least 5 balls of different types (could also use random stuffed animals, anything that is light and you can throw easily o Instructions:

The facilitator gathers the group into a large circle. She/he will say his/her name and toss 1 ball to another person. That person will in turn say “Thank you (the person’s name that just tossed the ball).” He or she will then say another person’s name and toss the ball to them. The process continues until everyone has caught the ball.

The facilitator will start the activity again by tossing the ball to the same person as before and the cycle begins again. The facilitator should slowly add additional balls to be thrown, requiring people to get others’ attention before throwing balls to them and helping group members learn additional names. Activity should continue until group members start learning new names or however long facilitator deems appropriate for the group.
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Notes: *Choose an open area free of hazards and obstructions*; This activity is very effective as a second icebreaker to get people more solid on names; not recommended to be used as the first name learning game.
 Get Acquainted Bingo o Materials:
 Bingo cards made up beforehand (1 per group member)
 Pens or pencils (1 for each person)
 Prizes (optional) o Instructions:

Using prepared bingo-type cards or sheets (with various different possible characteristics of people in the group in each square – such as: “has been abroad,” “loves to shop,” “plays an instrument,” etc.), each person is asked to move around the room until they find a person who fits the description in each square.
That person then signs his or her name in the appropriate slot.
You can follow the rules of bingo and have the first person with a bingo come up for a prize, encourage blackout (when all spaces are covered), etc.
 Earth People/Dude!
o Materials:
 None

o Instructions:
 The group should form a circle. Facilitator should say “Earth,” and everyone should look to the ground. Then, the facilitator should say “People!” and everyone should look at someone else around the circle. If they make eye contact with the other person
(that person looks back at them) then both are out. This continues
 King Frog until there are only 2 or 3 left.
 Slight variation: “Dude”: on the count of three, everyone looks up, and if two people make eye contact, they each yell “Dude!!” as loud as they can and they are both out. Just for funzies.
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Notes: This is a great way to pair people into partners if you want to do a partner activity afterwards o Materials:
 None o Instructions:

Everyone in the group should make up an animal noise and a motion that goes along with it. One person has to be King Frog, which has the noise of “whoop” like a frog leaping, and the action is the person making their right arm like a frog jumping over their left arm. King Frog is considered the top position in the circle, and the person to their left is the bottom position. The person who is King Frog starts, and then they have to do their animal noise and action followed by someone else’s. Then, that person has to do their own and someone else’s. This continues until someone makes a mistake.

The person who messed up then takes the bottom part in the circle and everyone in the circle before them shifts over one spot and therefore changes their animal noise to the one that the person in their new spot had. The people who were at higher points in the circle do NOT change their animal noise. The object of the game is to try to get as high in the circle as you can and to be King
Frog!
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Notes: Recommended to be used on a group that seems to be gelling fairly well; works best in second or third meetings.
 BOOM!
o Materials:
 None o Instructions:

All participants sit in the circle. They start counting out loud around the circle. Each person who has a number that is a multiple of 3 (3, 6, 9, etc.) or a number that ends in 3 (13, 23, 33,

etc.) must say BOOM! instead of the number. The next person continues with the normal sequence of numbers.

The numbers must be said rapidly (within 5 seconds). If they take too long, they are disqualified. The last 2 participants are the winners.
 Variation: When a specific number is reached (i.e. 30), the group must count backwards to 0.

Notes: One of the most calm of energizers, this works well to get a quieter group a little more energized. This is also a fairly quick game.
 Racecar/Yeehaw!
o Materials:
 None o Instructions:

The group forms a circle. One person will begin with the
“racecar,” and will send it around the circle by slapping their hands either to the right or to the left. The “racecar” is now going in that direction. That next person has the option of slapping in the same direction and continuing the motion of the “racecar” or the person can turn the car around by saying “eeeerr!” (like a car screeching) and making a hand motion like blowing a train whistle. The “racecar” will then continue going around in a circle in the opposite direction. Each time the “racecar” is passed, the receiver has the option of yelling one of the following terms and doing the accompanying motions:

Slapping hands one direction or the other: The way the person slaps their hands is the direction the “racecar” goes.
 “Eeeerr!” (car screech): Switches the direction of the
“racecar”
 “Oil Slick” (accompanied by waving your hands in the air): The next person is skipped and the “racecar” continues with the person after the skipped person.
 “Dukes of Hazard theme” (point across the circle at someone you want to “pass” the car to): This passes the
“racecar” to the person of your choosing and the
“racecar” continues with them (whichever direction they choose).
 Variation: “Yeehaw”:
 “Yeehaw”: The way the person swings their arm and says
“Yeehaw” is the direction the “Yee-hawing” goes.
 “Pole-Barn”: If a person yells pole-barn, the next person is skipped and the “Yeehaw” continues with the person after the skipped person.

 “Get Down Little Doggy”: While squatting and yelling
“Get Down Little Doggy” a person makes a “6-shooter” motion at someone on a different part of the circle. The
“Yeehaw” then continues with that person.
 “Cows in the Barn”: While making a “lasso” action,
“Cows in the Barn” is yelled and everyone must run to a different part of the circle and find a new spot.
 “Forward for Shift Your Gear Box”: Everyone leans to the middle of the circle, and puts forward one fist. Then pump arm forward and backwards 4 times counting each time out loud, “1! 2! 3! 4!” The circle then returns back and the
“Yeehaw” is started by the last person to receive a “Get
Down Little Doggy.”

To add a competitive edge to these games, make a rule that the person that messes up is eliminated from the game and can heckle others to confuse them.
 TV Jingle Game o Materials:
 One paper per group
 Pens o Instructions:
 Split the group into smaller, equal number groups (if possible).
Have the groups come up with and write down as many TV jingles they have heard as possible in the specified amount of time. When this time is up, the facilitator points to each group at random and the group must stand up and everyone must sing a jingle. The group is out if they repeat a jingle that has already been played or they run out of jingles.
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Notes: This is a good energizer for earlier meetings and is especially good if the weather is bad.
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 Giants, Wizards, and Elves o Materials:
 None

o Instructions:
 This game is based on the same concept as “rock, paper, scissors,” and is a great energizer to de-inhibitor activity. In this game:

Elves beat Wizards (because the spell goes over their heads)
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Giants beat Elves (they stomp on their heads)
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Wizards beat Giants (because they can hit them with a spell)
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*Think Harry Potter if you forget*

The group needs to be split into 2 groups. Each group huddles separately to choose one of these signs. The two teams come face to face in parallel lines about 2 meters apart. The facilitator will count down from three and yell go. On go, both teams will perform the action of their choosing. The side that won chases the other team back to their home and tries to tag them. The players that are touched must join the other team. The object is to get everyone on your team.
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The actions are:

ELVES – squat low to the ground and put one finger to either side of your head like little pointed ears
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GIANTS – stand up on your tip toes and stretch your arms high over your head
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WIZARDS – turn body 90 degrees to the left. Stretch right arm out in front and put left hand by left shoulder. Wiggle your fingers like you are casting a spell.

If both teams do the same sign, it is a tie and each team picks again. Repeat activity until everyone is on the same team (or for a set amount of time).
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Notes: Great activity to challenge another group to, recommended that it is played outside in an open space.
Works best as a final activity for a meeting.
 Samurai Slap (name game) o Materials:
 None o Instructions:

A fun active name game. The group should form a circle and everyone should have their hands in front of them, palms facing up. One person should stand in the middle. Someone in the circle should be designated to go first, and they will call out their name and then someone else’s in the circle. The person whose name was called does the same. The person in the middle tries to (lightly!) slap the hands of the person who is calling out names before they

can say both theirs and someone else’s. If they do, then the person whose hands they slapped is in the middle. No one can pull their hands away if the person in the middle is coming to slap them!
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Notes: This is a great name game to get a group energized; not a good game to start off with on a new group
 360 Tag o Materials:
 None o Instructions:

This is a modified game of tag. Each person should find a partner; if there is an odd number, the facilitator should play too. Partners should decide which one is #1 and which one is #2. Partner #1 will be “it” and needs to tag partner #2. Everyone can only move by walking heel to toe. When one partner tags the other, the other partner becomes it, but needs to spin around completely 3 times before chasing their partner.
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Make sure to set boundaries for this activity – there shouldn’t be a whole lot of room to move around so that people must maneuver around each other.
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Notes: This is a good first day energizer, works best towards the end of the meeting
 Elbow Tag o Materials:
 None o Instructions:

Everyone should form groups of 3. Ideally, there will be one group of 2; the facilitator could play as well to make this happen.

The groups of 3 should link arms with each other and form a circle. Each group should be a few feet apart.
 The group of 2 should be in the middle. One of them will be “it” and try to tag the other. In order for the other person to avoid being tagged, he/she can link arms with any of the people on an end of one of the groups of 3. However, these chains can only have 3 people in them, so the person on the opposite end would then have to let go and be chased by the person who is it. You may not link arms with the person in the chain directly next to you.
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Variation: If the group evenly splits into groups of 3, you can have one person in the middle be “it” and have them chase both of their

partners. They both then would be able to grab on to the same group to be safe.
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Notes: This is a physical activity; watch out for people who are not comfortable with touching or being touched.
 Human Musical Chairs o Materials:
 Ipod speakers or some other source of music that you can turn on and off o Instructions:

Have everyone pair up into partners. The first partners in each group will form a circle and the second partners will form a circle surrounding them. The outside circle people are the “chairs” and the inside circle of people have to sit in their chairs. When the music plays, the circles walk in opposite directions past each other. When the music stops, the outside partners drop down where they are on one knee while their inside circle partner has to try to find their partner and sit on their knee before the other partners sit down. The last partner pair to sit down loses and is out. Keep whittling down the number of partners until only two pairs remain. They must circle each other at least 5 feet apart and the first pair to sit wins.
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Notes: This is obviously for a group that feels comfortable around each other and don’t mind being touched. It also helps to have a judge to tell who sits last.
 Eechy, Meeny, Hoy o Materials:
 None o Instructions:

This game is a cross between baseball and rock, paper, scissors.
Set up bases with materials that you have in the room (shoes, binder, etc.)

Both teams line up at home base, but will be traveling around the bases in opposite directions (one towards 1 st
base, the other towards 3 rd
).

The first member of each team starts by walking heel to toe around the bases. When they meet, they do rock, paper, scissors, but with each pound of the fist, they shout “Eechy, Meeny, Hoy!”

The winner continues walking heel to toe around the bases and the loser returns to the end of the line and the next person on that team starts from home until he/she meets the previous winner of Eechy
Meeny Hoy.
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One team scores by getting all around the bases.

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Notes: Works best outside; this can be as loud and energetic as the group is comfortable with; works well with all types of groups.
 Evolution Rock, Paper, Scissors o Materials:
 None o Instructions:
 This game is based on the same concept as “rock, paper, scissors” with a twist. It is a great energizer or de-inhibitor activity.

Everyone in the group starts out as a single-celled amoeba. They must play rock, paper, scissors against each other. The winner moves up in the evolutionary chain and the loser moves down.
Each individual may only play rock, paper, scissors against someone of their same species.
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Evolutionary Chain: single-celled amoeba, eel, fish with legs, lizard/alligator, bird, orangutan, human
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The first person to reach Human status is the winner. The game could last for a while but other times it can end quickly. Have a back-up plan if you are planning on using this.
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Notes: This is a very energetic game and works best outside. This game will last only about two minutes when played through.
 Celebrity Rock, Paper, Scissors o Materials:
 None o Instructions:

Yet another modification of the classic rock, paper, scissors. For this version, everyone finds a partner to play rock, paper, scissors against. Whoever loses that game in each pair then becomes the
“cheering squad” or “fan” of the winner. That way, when the winner goes to take on another person, the cheering squad cheers on their person as loudly as they can. The winner of that game, then, takes everyone with him/her as his/her cheering squad, etc, until at the end of the game, you have two people facing off with two big cheering squads behind each person.
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Notes: This does get loud, so make sure you aren’t going to disturb anyone if this is the energizer you have chosen to do. It also is very quick and gets everyone really excited.
 Hot Categories o Materials:

 Soft ball
 Pre-picked categories o Instructions:
 Have the group sit in a circle and announce a category like “candy bars.” Throw the ball to someone who must catch it and immediately name a candy bar and throw the ball to someone else.
If a person cannot quickly think of a candy bar, they are out.
When a person is out, they must stay in the circle, but keep their arms crossed. If someone in the circle throws them the ball, the person who threw the ball is out for not paying attention.

The person who gets out hands the ball to the person next to them, who then gets to start a new category such as “state capitals.”
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Notes: This energizer is fun it is fast-paced and people get a good laugh out of it. It can be more fun if you think of silly categories such as “topics that might appear on Jerry
Springer.” Have some fun categories pre-picked, so you are prepared.
 Ninja o Materials:
 None o Instructions:
 Have everyone stand in a circle. Everyone puts their hands in the middle, and rubs them together while the facilitator counts down
“3, 2, 1, NINJA!” As soon as the “ninja” is shouted, everyone jumps back into their position in the circle in any ninja pose they want. Starting with the first person (established before the game), a player has one smooth movement of their hand and body to try to hit the hand of another player in the circle. That player they go for must try to dodge the attack with one smooth movement, in turn. If they dodge it, they stay in. If their hand gets hit, however, they are out. After the first person completes their turn, the next person to their right has their turn, and so on. The order must remain the same every time (excluding those people who get out). If you flinch when you are not being attacked, or if you move out of turn, you must stand in “squirrel pose” (stand up straight, with your hands tucked under your chin like a squirrel). Play continues until there is only one ninja left.
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Notes: GREAT energizer. It takes a bit to learn, but everyone loves this game! Great way to end a great meeting!
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