Icebreakers
Things in common
You will need: a soft ball
Process: Ask for a volunteer and explain to the group that, when they are given the ball, they will
begin their activity by talking about themselves. They can talk about the things they like or dislike,
things they have done or are interested in. Everyone else listens.
When the speaker says anything that someone else in the group shares in common with them, they
must shout “freeze”. The person who shouted “freeze” is passed the ball and begins talking about
themselves.
The game continues until all or most people in the circle have had a chance to speak. (There could
also be a time limit challenge to speed up the task).
Shopping
Process: Each member of the group has to think of an item of shopping. They all say their items. On a
given signal they must get into alphabetical order within a set time limit.
Afterwards: You could ask the group


How did you determine the order?
How could you have done it more quickly?
Three people standing
Process: Ask the group to form a large circle sitting on chairs. Then explain that there should only
ever be three people standing at any one time. This means that as one group member sits down,
someone else must always be ready to stand up if appropriate. This activity should be done without
any talking. If more than one person tries to sit down/stand up you must start all over again.
Go if…
Process: Ask the group to sit in a circle with one volunteer to stand in the middle of the circle. There
should be enough chairs for everyone apart from the volunteer.
This person begins the activity by saying “go if…” and then they say something that is true of
themselves. e.g “go if you like dancing” or “go if you have a younger sister”
The person in the middle of the circle and whoever the statement applies to must move to a free
chair, but not the chair of the person next to them.
The person who does not get a free chair becomes the next volunteer in the middle.
Stealing Chairs
Process: Everyone places their chairs randomly around the room. One person is chosen to stand up
and move to the opposite side of the room, leaving an empty chair.
The person standing would then move towards the chair at a very slow pace. The rest of the group
should try and ensure that the empty chair is filled by the person standing up as reached the chair.
Remember that as you move other chairs will then become free.
If the person standing manages to sit on an empty chair then a new volunteer will be chosen and the
game begun again.
Fact or Fiction
Materials: Pieces of paper and pens
Process: Ask everyone to write on the piece of paper THREE things about themselves which may not
be known to the others in the group. Two are true and one is not. Taking turns they read out the
three “facts” about themselves and the rest of the group votes which are true and which are false.
Interview
Process: Split the group into pairs and get each person to interview each other. They must find out 3
things about each other. They must then feedback to the group. (This could also be a sell your friend
activity).
Splat
(when groups are about 8-10 in size)
Process: Group gets into a circle with one young person being in the middle of the circle. The person
in the middle is the splatter. They have to choose someone to splat by pointing their fingers like a
gun and shouting “Splat”. The person who has been shot must duck down and then the people
immediately beside the ducked person must turn and splat each other.
If a person splats last or makes a mistake then they are out and must sit down (still in the circle). The
original person in the middle may swap places with the person they splatted. The game begins again
until there are 2 people remaining in the circle. They stand back to back western style, then the
person who was in the middle counts down from 1-10. With each number the 2 remaining
competitiors must take a step away from one another, and at any random point between 1-10 the
counter shouts LIFT OFF instead of a number, at which point it is a quick draw on each other and the
last one to point at their opponent and say splat is out leaving a winner.