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Salt & Light Company | |||
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Fun
Small Group Icebreakers
A What? *this
is a complicated exercise and therefore complicated to explain 1.
Have the students sit in a circle on the floor. The instructor will sit
within the circle and before him will be many small objects. 2.
He will pick up an object, a pencil for example, and while passing it to
the person at his right, he will say "This is a pencil" The
person will answer, "A What?" The instructor will answer
"A pencil", and again the person will ask "A what?"
and the instructor will again answer "A pencil." The person
will answer "Oh, a pencil." The person than turns to her right
and the process continues; "This
is a pencil", "A what?" "A pencil" "A
what?" "A pencil" "Oh, a pencil!" 3.
Practice this once so everyone can follow the pattern. Then start again,
this time continually adding in objects so each person is carrying on
two conversations at once. One person will say to the person on his
right, "This is a pencil", then turning to his left he'll ask
"A what?" and continues, passing on the next object. 4.
Try to get the objects clear around the circle. Ask me, Answer me This
is a fun small group icebreaker for all ages that has nothing to do with
God. Have each person take
two strips of paper. Have
them place the same number on both sheets.
Make sure nobody has the same number.
Then have them place one of the numbers in the middle.
Then have the group pick a different number. Each person should have their original number and a different
number. Now have them write
a funny question on the original number piece of paper and a funny
answer on the different numbered piece of paper.
Then go around the group saying the number and then asking a
question, then have the person with the same number answer the question. This should be a funny icebreaker. Hula Hoop Passing This
is a good small group activity that is enjoyable for all ages.
Have the group hold hands with the hula-hoop hooked inside.
Now pass the hula-hoop around the small group.
This is a fun game that should help break the tension that is in
the group.
Human Knot number
of people: 4-15 number
of minutes: 10 retreatants:
junior high school, high school, and college You
get everyone in a tightly packed circle and the people in the group grab
the hands of people across from them.
They cannot grab the hand of the person next to them. They also cannot grab both hands of the same person.
This way, everyone's arms are tangled up.
They must try to form a circle without letting go of each other's
hands by climbing over and under each other.
You can revise this by placing a person in the middle and have
them tell the others how to get out of the knot, while he/she is
standing in the middle. Jenn’s Game This
is a small group game that is participated with all the small groups
doing it at once. You will
need an object to pass around the circle and music.
This game is like hot potato, you pass around an object within
your small group, while a leader of the whole large group plays the
music. When the music
stops, the person with object must stand and listen to what the leader
says for them to do. The
leader then calls out an action that they must do every
time they touch the object while the music is playing.
Some of the things we have done in the past are standing on your
chair and acting like a monkey, running
around the small group, make animal noises, stand up and say
everybody’s name, etc. The
rule is that the object cannot leave that person’s hands until he/she
sits back down and finishes what he/she has to do.
The other rule is that a person cannot get more than two things
to do. So if they get
caught a third time then they can pass the action to someone in their
small group. This is good
for all ages and it takes about 10-15 minutes. Squeeze This
is a good non-religious small group icebreaker for all ages. The
group sits in a circle with one volunteer from the group sitting in the
middle. The group is told
that a rare diamond is going to be smuggled from person to person and
that it will be up to the one sitting in the middle of the circle to
find the diamond. The
diamond is passed along in the following way: 1) everyone, except the
person in the middle, joins hands.
2) The group leader squeezes the hand of the person to his
immediate left or right. 3)
The person that has received the squeeze has the option to pass the
squeeze on to the next person or pass it back to the person they
received it from. 4) A
person can only hold a squeeze for 2 seconds.
5) When the person in the middle sees the squeeze take place, he
says “gotcha” and if he is right the one trying to pass the squeeze
moves to the middle. The
person who just got out of the middle starts it off.
You can improvise on this game by actually passing an object or
make like you are passing an object, while the person in the middle
tries to figure out who is really passing the stolen diamond. Three Things Theater 1.
Have three students stand at the front of the class and prepare to do an
improvisational skit. 2.
Ask certain members of the class to offer different items that must be
used in the skit. For example, ask one students for an item found in a
bathroom. Ask another for a person found on a cruise ship, and another
for a place or setting. 3.
Have the performers create a skit where the three items are utilized
successfully. Two Conversations 1.
Break the class up into groups of 3. Have them sit with one person in
the middle and the others on both ends facing the middle. 2.
The students on both ends will simultaneously hold conversations with
the person in the middle as though there was no one on the other side of
the middle person. The person in the middle will try to earnestly carry
on both conversation. 3.
Rotate players
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