Icebreakers and Training Games

Link to Us

Icebreakers and training games are essential for effectively delivering your message. Incorporating interactive activities that promote participation is critical to a successful presentation. Learning takes place when participants feel engaged. The audience will hear your message better when you involve them in a way that feels like a conversation.

Choosing the right icebreaker or training game depends on several factors, including:

Type and size of the group you are facilitating
The facilities you have available (Stage or conference room? How is the sound?)
The technology you have available (Computer lab?)
The seating arrangement (Tables or no tables? Theatre style? Round table structure or classroom?)

Just to mention a few.

One of my favorite games for working with groups of 10 to 30, is what I call the picnic game. There are all kinds of variations to this game and many trainers I've met have put their own spin on it and call it something different.

The Picnic Game. Basically, as a group, we are all going on a picnic together and each person must bring an item that starts with the same first letter as their name. The first person introduces themselves and says what they will bring to the picnic. The second person introduces themselves and says what they will bring to the picnic, and also what the previous person's name is and what they will bring to the picnic, and so on, like this: "I'm Jennifer and I'm brining jam, and this is randy and he's bringing raspberries, and Gary is brining grapes, and Mary is brining melon..." and so on. The further around the circle it gets the more challenging it becomes.

I've noticed that some of these seem to stick as nick names throughout a program or upon my next visit. What I mean is, the group is still calling some guy named Dan "Danny Donut" or whatever.

However, one time, during a professional development class for care workers I learned an important lesson about details I had one participant who sounded like they had a firm grasp of English, but the next day, Kim brought a bag of kiwis thinking that we had actually planned a picnic for that day. I'm not kidding. The person knew English quite well, but was apparently still learning social customs and was quite excited about the picnic. I felt so bad, but turned it into a positive, thanking her for the gift she brought to share with the group.

It taught me to make a point of explaining the game more thoroughly and I created a sheet with instructions, even though some may find the written instructions unnecessary. As I get older, I find it doesn't hurt to have just about everything in writing.

Below are some additional icebreaker resources I have found over the years, and while I haven't used them all, I have tried many of them on different types and sizes of groups.

Training Bubble
http://www.trainerbubble.com/Products.aspx?Category_ID=15

These are pedagogical teaching resources, but the facts found there can be used in professional presentations, as well:
http://www.free.ed.gov

Education World - Icebreakers
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson196.shtml

Break the Ice:
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/breakice.htm

Icebreakers, Warm-up, Review, and Motivator Activities
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/icebreak.html

Activities that are just plain fun
http://www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/classmanagement/icebreakers.html

The Top 10 Icebreakers for Meetings and Training Seminars
http://topten.org/content/tt.AU20.htm

Introductory icebreakers primarily for group interaction
http://www.eslflow.com/ICEBREAKERSreal.html

Things to get 'em talking!
http://www.ideazone.com/IceBreakers_&_Warmups.html
FREE Edutainment Games
http://www2.gol.com/users/language/games.html

Ten Ways to Break the Ice!
http://www.susan-boyd.com/tenways.htm

ESL/EFL Icebreakers and Games
http://www.eslcafe.com/ideas/sefer.cgi?Ice:Breakers

Icebreakers from Meeting Wizard
http://www.meetingwizard.org/meetings/icebreakers.cfm

If you need a trainer, instructor, or group facilitator, please contact me:

Jennifer Henczel
The Communication Coach
www.TheCommunicationCoach.com
jh@TheCommunicationCoach.com
604-615-9622