Instructions for Icebreaker Questions

A great way to help people open up is to ask them fun questions that allow them to express their personality or interesting things about them.  Here is a list of twenty safe, useful icebreaker questions to help break the ice:

1. If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?
2. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
3. What is one goal you’d like to accomplish during your lifetime?
4. When you were little, who was your favorite super hero and why?
5. Who is your hero? (a parent, a celebrity, an influential person in one’s life)
6. What’s your favorite thing to do in the summer?
7. If they made a movie of your life, what would it be about and which actor would you want to play you?
8. If you were an ice cream flavor, which one would you be and why?
9. What’s your favorite cartoon character, and why?
10.  If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go and why
11. What’s the ideal dream job for you?
12. Are you a morning or night person?
13. What are your favorite hobbies?
14. What are your pet peeves or interesting things about you that you dislike?
15. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
16. Name one of your favorite things about someone in your family.
17. Tell us about a unique or quirky habit of yours.
18. If you had to describe yourself using three words, it would be…
19. If someone made a movie of your life would it be a drama, a comedy, a romantic-comedy, action film, or science fiction?
20. If I could be anybody besides myself, I would be…

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This teambuilding exercise requires writing utensils, sheets of paper, and a hat. Allow about five minutes of writing time, plus one to two minutes per participant. The recommended group size is at least eight, but no larger than 20. It’s possible to run this activity with a large group, if the group is divided into smaller groups and if there are enough facilitators. This activity is for people ages 14 and up.

Setup for Fear in a Hat

Distribute a sheet of paper and a writing utensil to each person. Instruct them to anonymously write a fear or worry that they have. Tell them to be as specific and as honest as possible, but not in such a way that they could be easily identified. After everyone is done writing a fear/worry (including the group leaders), collect each sheet into a large hat.

Running the Fear in a Hat Teambuilding Activity

Shuffle the sheets and pass out one per person. Take turns reading one fear aloud, and each reader should attempt to explain what the person who wrote the fear means. Do not allow any sort of comments on what the reader said. Simply listen and go on to the next reader.

After all fears have been read and elaborated, discuss as a whole group what some of the common fears were. This teambuilding exercise can easily lead to a discussion of a team contract, or goals that the group wishes to achieve. This activity also helps build trust and unity, as people come to realize that everyone has similar fears.

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This active teambuilding exercise requires six people at minimum, and can support very large groups if the teams are divided evenly. Teams should be about three to six people in size. This game involves interacting with lots of strangers in a public place such as a school campus. Props required include small objects such as paper clips or pens (one for each team). Recommended age is 18 and up. This game can be played with adults and even in corporate settings. When playing with younger people, please be sure to provide proper supervision when necessary.

Setup for Bigger and Better

To prepare for Bigger and Better, get several paper clips or some small objects that are low in value. Be sure to have enough to provide one per team.

Playing Bigger and Better

Explain the rules to everyone: You will give each team a small object, and their job is to keep trading and upgrading their team’s object to obtain the largest and most valuable item possible. They may not offer anything other than the item they have, and they must stick together as a group. Set a time limit, such as one or two hours, and tell everyone that they must be back in time or else they will be disqualified. Announce that each team’s item will be judged in three categories: size, value, and creativity.

Divide the group into teams of three to six. Pass out the paper clip (or other small object) to the each group and send them off. When time expires, the judging process begins. Each team presents their item before the entire group. They explain why their item is biggest and best. At the end, choose winners for each of the three categories, or judge the items in any other way you wish. This activity involves good teamwork and creativity as each team coordinates their efforts and decides what strategies they will approach when playing. Camaraderie will be built, and surprises will come out of the activity. Who knows, a group might be able to turn a paper clip into a car! Well, maybe a toy car.

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This is an active game and teambuilding activity.  The recommended group size is: teams of three or four people.  Allocate plenty of time for this activity.  Recommended ages are: 15 and up.  You will need one camera (a digital camera or polaroid) for each team.

Setup for the Photo Scavenger Hunt

As the facilitator of this activity, prepare a list of about twelve interesting places, things, and circumstances that can be captured using a camera.  Some examples of items you can write are:

• A family of animals 
• A group photo with a local celebrity or someone famous
• A very relaxing place
• Something big and the color pink
• The biggest tree
• A group photo with someone dressed in very formal attire
• A photo with a yellow car
• A human pyramid of at least seven people
• The funniest thing you can find
• Something that begins with the letter “Z”

Be creative with this list.  When you have the list prepared, make enough copies for each team. 

Playing the Photo Scavenger Hunt 

Divide the group into teams of about three to four people.  Distribute cameras (preferably digital, although polaroid is okay too) and copies of the list you made.  Explain the rules of the activity.  Set a time limit for the groups (e.g. two hours or so).  Instruct the teams to find as many things as they can on the list, and for each item, take a picture with all the group members in the photo.  Encourage the players to be creative and to think otuside of the box.

When time expires, have all members reconvene and present their photos along with their checklist.  Award one point for each successful photo item and bonus points for extra creativity or effort.

This activity is great for building team chemistry and for creating (and capturing!) funny memories.  Be sure to provide adequate supervision if there are younger participants.  Always keep safety first!

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This exercise in teambuilding can be messy, so choose an appropriate setting where making a mess is acceptable.  The recommended group size is: teams of four or five people.  Several materials are needed: raw eggs, several plastic straws, masking tape, newspaper, and other materials of your choice.  This activity is for people ages 14 and up.

Setup for Defend the Egg

This game works well with teams that are not too large.  A good team size is four or five people.  Pass out one egg and a limited supply of materials (e.g. four straws, a three foot strip of tape, one section of a newspaper, etc.)  This activity is more challenging with less materials provided, so decide how challenging you wish to make it.

Gameplay for Defend the Egg

Explain the rules: the mission is to protect the egg from cracking using teamwork, creativity, and a good design.  You will drop each structure at least fifteen feet, and so the goal is for each structure to be able to withstand such a fall.  Each team will only be given limited resources, and so they must be wise with what they have.  They may not use any other resources other than what is given to them.  Optionally, you can have other critera for judging including:

• most creative design
• most stylish/visually appealing
• (any other awards you wish)

Decide on an appropriate amount of time (e.g. 20-25 minutes) and then instruct them to begin!  Tell them to place their egg inside their structure. 

Be sure to supervise each team as they build their structure. 

When time is up, collect all the structures.  Now is dramatic finale in which the structures are dropped (or thrown!) from at least 15 feet in elevation and then carefully inspected to see if the eggs survived. The winners are the groups that successfully protected the egg.  If you chose to have other awards, announce those winners also. 

This activity is useful to illustrate the importance of teamwork.  Ask everyone to reflect on how their group accomplished the task, what worked, what was challenging, etc.

Variation

A much more challenging variation of this activity is to provide no materials (other than the egg) and ask the participants to find materials from outdoors. 

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An indoor setting is preferable.  Participants will split into groups of about five people, so this activity works fine with medium, large, and even some extra large groups.  Each group of five needs paper and a pen.  This activity is for all ages.

Instructions for Unique and Shared

Ask participants to form groups of five people with the people around them.  Pass out sheets of paper and writing utensil.  The first half of the activity is the Shared part.  Instruct a notetaker for each group to create a list of many common traits or qualities that members of the group have in common.   Avoid writing things that are immediately obvious (e.g. don’t write down something like “everyone has hair” or “we are all wearing clothes”).  The goal is for everyone to dig deeper than the superficial.  Allow about five or six minutes and then have a spokesperson from each subgroup read their list.  If there are too many groups, ask for a few volunteers to read their list.

The second half is the Unique part.  Keep the same groups or, optionally, you can ask everyone to rearrange themselves into new groups.  On a second sheet of paper have them record Unique traits and qualities; that is, items that only apply to one person in the group.  Instruct the group to find at least two unique qualities and strengths per person.  Again, strive for qualities and strengths beyond the superficial and past the obvious things anyone can readily see.  Allow another five or six minutes.  When time is up, share the unique qualities in one of the following ways: (1) each person can share one of their unique qualities themselves; (2) have each person read the qualities of the person to their right; or (3) have a spokesperson read a quality one at a time, and have the others guess who it was. 

Unique and Shared is a valuable team-building activity because it promotes unity as it gets people to realize that they have more common ground with their peers than they first might realize.  As people become aware of their own unique characteristics, they can also help people feel empowered to offer the group something unique. 

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This game is a teambuilding and get-to-know-you icebreaker.  The recommended group size is medium, although small and large group sizes are possible too.  An indoor setting is ideal.  No special props or materials are required.  This icebreaker works well for any age, including adults and corporate settings.

Instructions for Lost on a Deserted Island 

The situation is dire — following a shipwreck, everyone has been stranded on a deserted island!  Each person is allowed to bring one object to the island — ideally something that represents them or something that they enjoy.  The first part of this icebreaker is simple: each person is asked to describe what object they would bring and why.  This need not be realistic; if someone loves music, he or she might choose to bring a guitar, or an animal lover might choose to bring a dog, a food lover might choose to bring sirloin steaks, and so on.  Encourage people to be creative. 

After everyone has introduced their object and why they have chosen that object, the teambuilding portion follows.  Divide into smaller groups and ask everyone to work together to improve their chances of survival by combining the various objects that they introduced.  If necessary, you can add more objects, but be sure to use all the objects that everyone mentioned.  If you wish, you can reward the most creative group with a prize.

Lost on a Deserted Island is an approachable way to get people to open up and share a little bit about themselves and what they enjoy or value.

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This activity is an active teambuilding activity that requires a great deal of space.  An outdoor setting with some obstacles (but nothing too dangerous!) is ideal.  The recommended group size is: small, medium, or large.  Participants will form pairs.  Materials required include blindfolds and any props that you can set up as minor obstacles.  This activity is for ages 14 and up.

Instructions for the Trust Walk Teambuilding Activity

The Trust Walk Activity is an effective team building activity involving leadership and building trust, as blindfolded participants must rely on instructions given to them in order to avoid various obstacles.

As the faciliator of the Trust Walk Teambuilding Activity, be sure to scout out a safe area in advance.  Large fields or the woods may be good places to try.  Minor obstacles (trees, branches, small hills) are okay, but do not play this game in a dangerous environment (for example, anywhere with very steep ledges or sharp protruding objects).  Once you have found a safe, large area, you can prepare additional obstacles if desired (cardboard boxes, balloons, etc.).

Start in a nearby location.  Ask participants to arrange themselves into pairs.  Instruct one partner to be the guide (navigator) and the other to be blindfolded.  Once the blindfolded partner is ready, slowly spin the person around a few times so that they are unsure which direction they are headed.   Guide the participants to the field with obstacles.  From this point on, the guide should not touch the partner at all, but rely solely on verbal cues (e.g. “In approximately five steps ahead, there will be a tree branch.  Go ahead and step over it slowly.”)

Remember that the guide is solely responsible for his or her partner’s safety.  He or she try their best to steer their partner away from obstacles.  Valuable lessons can be learned to teamwork and unity.  For example, the guide will learn about the challenge and responsibility of caring for another individual’s well being, while the blindfolded partner learns to trust and rely on another person. 

Reflection of the Trust Walk Activity 

If desired, ask participants to reflect and share what they learned from this experience.  The following are some sample questions to ask following the Trust Walk team building activity:

• What was it like to be the “guide,” being fully responsible for the safety of your partner?
• What do you think was the purpose of this team building activity?
• Did you have any difficulty trusting your partner while blindfolded? Why or why not?
• Why is trusting your teammates important?
• Afterwards, how did it feel when you and your teammate successfully trusted each other to accomplish something challenging?
• How does this relate to _______ (here you can fill in the blank with the current scenario of the participants, such as class, a sports team, employees working together on a project, etc.)?

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