Catholic Youth Rural Outreach at Box 277, Bigfork, MT 59911 US - Ice Breakers and Games

Action Name

Have the group stand in a circle. The leader introduces themselves by saying their name and performing an action simultaneously. For example, saying "Mike" while balancing on one foot. The person to the leader's left must now say the leader's name and perform his action, then say their own name and perform their own action. The third person repeats the first two, does their own, and so on. This one is FUN.

For this one everyone must be in pairs, preferably with someone they don't know. Each person in the pair must interview the other, asking whatever questions they want. When all pairs are done, each person must introduce their partner to the larger group by saying, "My new friend is..." They then proceed to introduce their partner along with information they got from the interview. this continues until everyone is done. Obviously this one takes some time.

It can be be adapted for a large group be having everyone interview three different people. There is no reporting, but everyone will at least have met and learned about three new friends.

Have the group form a circle, preferably sitting because this one takes some time. the leader introduces themselves by saying their name preceded by an adjective that starts with the same letter as their first name, and that describes them. For example, "Joking John" or "Awesome Allison." The person on their left must now repeat the leader's name and adjective, then give their own name and adjective. The third person must say the first two, then their own, and so on. Off course the last person has their work cut out for them. Beyond 15 people it starts to get crazy - you may want to break larger groups up. Junior high students will not stay interested as long as high school or college aged students will.

Break the group into teams of 2-4 people. Each team must come up with three things that they have in common. They may be as simple or complex as they want (such as - we all are alive!). When they have completed that, they must write a short paragraph that introduces all members of the group by name and what they all have in common. The kicker is that when they read the paragraph to the whole group, they must alternate saying each word in the paragraph (one person says the first word, the next says the second, and so on). Interesting things happen with this one...

Needed for this one is a sheet of questions (as many as you like) such as, "Find someone who has visited another country, find someone who had eggs for breakfast," and so on. You are only limited to your imagination. Each person is then given the list, along with a pen, and must get the signature of someone who did whatever each question asks. If you require a different signature for each question, participants will meet as many people as there are questions.

This works well as a gathering activity - each person receives a sheet as they arrive. It works well if there is a small prize (i.e., candy) for everyone who completes the sheet.

Pass out a small bag of skittles to everyone in the group. Tell them not to open the bags until you tell them to. Explain that when you say go everyone needs to go around and trade with the others to try and get all of one color. When they have all of one color they need to go to specific color areas and count their candy. The person with the most amount in each color group wins. only allow 15 minutes for this activity.

Everyone in the group needs to take off both of their shoes. The shoes are then placed in a large pile and mixed together. The group then divides into two groups and form a line. When you say go they take turns running out to find their shoes, put them all the way on, and then tying them before they run back to touch the next person in their line. The first line to finish wins.

Have people in the group get into groups of ten or more. All the persons in the group need to face each other and hold hands. Place a hula hoop over one set of hands with the couples holding hands between the hoop. The group must now move the hula hoop around the circle by stepping through the hoop and not letting go of hands.

Have everyone in the group get a chair and sit in a circle. You will need two people to stand in the middle of the circle. You must have an even number of participants. Every other person in the group needs to count of a number starting with 1 through? (Including the couple in the middle) The person that has the number in the circle needs to lock arms with the person to their right, to form a two person team. Now that everyone in the group has an arm partner, the couple in the middle also needs to lock arms. Now to start the game the couple in the middle hollers out three random numbers very rapidly. Like 4,22,16, then those people who have those numbers need to get up and with their arms still locked together they need to run and find a chair that is vacant. The couple in the middle also need to try to get to a chair, hoping your partnership isn't the last ones left in the middle. The game continues until all people are exhausted. It can last for hours if they enjoy it. The fun thing to do is sometimes during the game you have the couple in the middle holler EVERYONE and everyone in the group needs to get up and run for a new chair and hopefully not be left in the middle. Have fun.

The group is broken down into smaller groups of approximately the same size (groups should not be too large nor too small or the game is too difficult/easy). Each group stands in a circle and everyone is asked to close their eyes and extend their hands in to the center of the circle. On the count of three everyone grabs another hand. The object is then to untangle the know without letting go of any hands. We have had times when two separate circles have been formed or there is a knot that simply cannot become untangled. It is a lot of fun watching everybody in each group cooperating and trying to figure out how to undo the knot without letting go. The first team to untangle the knot and return the group to a plain circle "wins."

Somewhat related to musical chairs, this is a game best played with a really large group of people. The group is instructed to dance, walk, mill around to the music being played. When the music stops the MC calls out a number (e.g. seven) and a body part (e.g. elbows). The kids must then form small groups of the required number with the required body parts touching. In the example you would have small groups of seven kids touching elbows. WARNING: it is best to use smaller numbers when dealing with parts of the head!:) The game continues until there are two or three people left and they are declared the "winners." High school kids get a kick out of this because it involves a little competion, music they know, and the chance to interact with other people without having to talk or be in the spotlight. Another benefit - it also helps to wear them out a little so that when you do the opening talks/discussionss of a retreat or meeting, there is a little less energy to deal with.

Shuffle Buns

 

Have everyone sit in chairs in a tight cirle, one chair per person. The chairs should be touching. Have one person get up and stand in the middle of the circle (there is now an empty chair.) The person in the middle must try to sit in the empty chair. If that person sits in the empty chair, the person to the left must stand in the middle of the circle and is now "it". The effect is that the entire circle shuffles their buns counter-clockwise as the chair next to them becomes vacant.

 Variations:

Try changing directions, the person to the right of the chair becomes "it" - the circle moves clockwise.

Have two people in the middle with two vacant chairs.

 

Minnie Nicolaus, Youth Minister, St. Matthew's Catholic Church, Phoenix,AZ