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Category Archives for "Icebreakers"

Tree Switch

Tree Switch is a fantastic energizer to show people what their patterns are.

It needs little explanation and it can go all sorts of ways.

Just by saying: “Go stand in the tyre” there is a lot for you as coach to observe and give feedback on.

The idea is that there is always one tyre missing. Which means that when each member of the group goes standing in one tyre there is always someone without a tyre. Sometimes someone sees this on time and give the tyre to another member of the group. Or someone runs to make sure they have a tyre.

This means you can ask questions up front such as “Is this your strategy?”

After this you explain the game shortly.

Required materials

Tyres (amount = amount of participants)

Arrangement

The tyres are spread over an area of approximately 20x20m. (20×20 yard)

Frame

With this game participants usually don’t understand the purpose. The goal for the coach is to make clear that the patterns they are showing it the game correspond with their patterns everywhere else.

How it works

When you’re standing in a tree(the tyre) you might try to switch with someone else. The person who doesn’t have a tree tries to steal a tree.

A lot of times you don’t have to explain more than that the name of the game Tree Switch is. This is often enough explanation.

  • After one minute you say “Stop!”.
  • You call everybody together and ask them what they have shown of themselves. So, what did you do and do you recognise your behavior?
  • A next step would be to ask the participants to act different than they would normally do. What would the game look like then?

Differentiation (not really necessary in this case)

A few suggestions

  • Tyres more spread (a bigger area).
  • You must have been in every tyre.
  • Ask the participants to think of something.
  • Saying “You’re safe in the tyres” which makes it a whole different game.

Intervention

How was is to do it completely different?

Evaluation

  1. What happened?
  2. What did we learn from this exercise?
  3. What are we taking with us to the next exercise?

Attention points

You get the best result when all the members of the group concentrate and do their absolute best.

Good Luck!

The Challenge Circle

The Challenge Circle is used on all sorts of times and for different reasons

This activity promotes:

Instruction:

Time: 20 – 30 min

Participants: 5 or more

inside as well as outside possible

Inactive

Required materials

Two big ropes in a circle. By which the smallest rope a circle forms inside the circle from the longer rope.

Arrangement

Arrange all the participants to stand on the outside of the outer rope.

Frame

If your goal is to challenge your participants more you can do this after a break. This way you give them the opportunity to stretch themselves further in the remaining time.

When your goal is getting to know eachother better, you can do this at any moment.

When evaluating is your goal you almost always do this at the end.

How it works

The three circles stand for:

  1. comfortzone (inner circle)
  2. stretch zone (middle circle)
  3. panic zone ( outside the circles)

The activity goes as followed:

  • Someone says an activity (such as bungee jumping) and everyone goes standing in the zone that fits their perception.
  • Everyone takes turns in naming an activity. So, as coach you don’t have to do anything, but you can always join…

Evaluation

  • As trainer you can suggest activities that people in the group avoid or don’t think of. For example “giving feedback to your colleagues”.
  • You can say “You are standing over there, can you explain why…”
  • If you use this activity as evaluation you can ask: “When you look back on this day: Where are you then? Did you challenge yourself? Can you explain why your standing there?”
  • A good question to ask is “In which zone do you grow/learn the most?”(the stretch zone). What did you show today? And If you want to learn more what could you do? You can use these questions to challenge your participants.

Safety check

This is an emotional exercise, inquire how far you can go.

 

Have you ever?

This activity promotes:

Instructions

Time: 10 – 20 min.

Participants: 6 or more

Inside and outside

Active

Required materials

A tire or hoop for each participant (and maybe yourself).

Arrangement

Put the tires in a wide circle, approximately 2m from each other. In case you have a very big group, put the tires closer to each other. One tire lays in the middle. Give instructions while everybody is standing in his/her tire.

How it works

  • The person in the middle says “Have you ever….<names an activity such as “flying”>
  • The condition is that this person needs to have done this activity himself.
  • Everybody that has done this activity, steps out of his tire and finds another one.
  • Consequently someone else steps into the tire in the middle and the game repeats itself.

Differentiation

  • When the group is ready for it you can interfere and create more openness.

Evaluation

(Most of the time the exercise doesn’t need to be evaluated)

You can of course ask questions such as.

What did you learn from each other?

Gotcha

This exercise very good for at the end or as energizer. You can use it for a break, to get everybody laughing. Or if there have been moments of tension or irritation in the group. It’s also a great way to end your session with laughter and joy.

Required materials

None

Arrangement

All the participant stand in a circle.

Frame

This is a game by which you have to concentrate. Your left-right coordination is also tested.

How it works

  • Stick your right-hand to the right with you palm upwards.
  • Place your left-forefinger on the right-hand of your neighbor.
  • On 3, you try to catch your neighbors finger while trying not to get your own finger save.
  • Switch right/left hand, forefinger up or down.

Differentiation

  1. Let other participants count.
  2. Design the rule that during the countdown everybody needs to have his palm completely open.
  3. Skip 3 and fool the participants.

Evaluation

(Many times this isn’t even necessary.)

  1. Did you manage to get the finger of your neighbor?
  2. Did someone catch your finger?
  3. Did you get better over time?

Attention points

Don’t play the game for too long, it is mostly just a fun activity.

Security check

Not necessary.

Everyone is Em

This crazy tap game can give many insights into patterns and it can go all sorts of ways. With children it can often be about ‘honesty’, with adults I use this exercise to look at ‘setting goals’.

This activity promotes:

Instructions
Time: 5 – 10 min
Participants: 6 – 40
Outside
Very Active

Required materials
nothing, at most markings to line out the playing field.

Arrangement
Call the participants together and then give the instruction.

Frame
This game can be used as an energizer, but I usually use it functionally.

How it works

  • The participants have just heard that we are going to play a tap game called ‘Everyone is em’. As a trainer I often say directly afterwards; the game starts now!
    Half of them will immediately tap and the other half will looks a bit dazed because they are looking for the rules of the game.
  • This first variant does not last longer than 30 seconds to 1 minute.
    Then you call everyone together and you can ask questions like ‘Who is not tagged, etc.’
  • You give instruction that when you are tapped you will have to squat down because you are finished. After at most a minute you put it quiet. Now you can ask questions like “Who was tapping others in particular / who was mostly fleeing? What do you do if you both tapped at once? etc.
  • Then you give the instruction that if you are tapped, you squat down and others can give a ‘high ten’ to free you (hands against each other like a high five).
    This also takes a short time, one minute at the most. Afterwards you can ask if there is fair play and who was freeing others.
  • This too only takes a short time; at most a minute.
  • You call everyone together and say something like ‘What you show here, you show everywhere’. When people nod, you can share them about the behavior they showed and what they recognized from outside the game.
  • Then the variant follows that you will set a goal for yourself; how many people are you going to tap?
  • After 1 minute the evaluation on setting targets follows.

Evaluation

  • Concrete behavior; who has achieved his goal / who didn’t?
  • What was your goal?
  • Did you make it easy? – How do you normally set goals?
  • Was your goal too high? – find the connecting with practice…

Safety check
Don’t play on wet grass. Give instruction about ’tapping’ (soft, don’t hit).

Points of attention
This activity works well to keep people in parallel with the world at work or at home.

Clap clap

A very simple energizer which can give a lot of new insights is ‘Clap Clap’. (I love it when it’s more than just an energizer).

The participants stand in a circle. You as the trainer start by making a quarter turn with your body and look at the person which stands left to you. While you are making eye contact with this person you clap in your hands. Ask the other person to clap in his or her hands at the same time. Ask him or her to turn to the person which stands left from him or her and to do the same.

In this way you can make a cycle until everyone has participated.

After this you can do it again and challenge the participants to clap at exactly the same time. This happens best if people make contact with one another.

You can challenge the participants by asking them to do it faster. Or you can ask them to choose between clapping at exactly the same time or not clapping at exactly the same time.

This is always hilarious and can give a lot of insights in making contact, cooperation and focus.

Inside out

This is a group exercise/ energizer in which we won’t give you the solution but just challenge you to do it.

How it works:

Everyone stands in a circle and holds the hand of the neighbour/ neighbor.

This means that everyone looks in the inside.

Challenge:

You give the group the task to stand faced to the opposed side without releasing the hands.

It is possible without making all kinds of weird quirks with your body!

This is a great energizer that requires teamwork and out of the box thinking.

The stampdance

An energizer which immediately gives you energy and joy and can be finished within 2 minutes without a lot of explanation. icebreaker

How it works:

  1. Everyone stands in a circle.
  2. Stand firmly on the ground.
  3. first move your right hand from your chest to the front and back.
  4. Move eight times to the front in a rhythmic manner, you count since you are the trainer.
  5. Then your left arm; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. After that you stamp with your right foot on the ground until number 8. After this you do the same with your left foot.
  6. Subsequently you repeat the movements again with the arms and the feet but seven times, you keep counting.
  7. Then 6x, then 5x, then 4x, then 3x and then 2x and finally everyone just once.
  8. At a sudden moment you only need to call the number before you begin.

The knot

A fun energizer in which there is a lot of physical contact and people can laugh a lot is ‘The Knot’.

Give this instruction:

Stand shoulder to shoulder in a small circle.

Close the eyes, put the hands in front at the height of the shoulders.

Look with closed eyes for the hands of other people and grab them. When everyone has found two hands the eyes can be opened again.

Now the knot has to be untied WITHOUT releasing the hands!

Playing Transformer tag

Here is another old-fashioned active game which was invented for children but is very fun to do with adults.

Required materials

None

Arrangement

Arrange the children in a group, standing or sitting.

Concept

Tell the group that it’s important to put differences and habits aside. There won’t be fixed teams and it can happen that you suddenly belong to the team of the ” opponent”.

How it works:

  • Show the group the two possible positions which they can use
  • Tell the participants that they have to choose between two positions but that they aren’t allowed to tell their position to others.
  • If you say “transform” the participants start standing in their choosen position.
  • The teams tap eachother. If you are tapped you transform to another position and belong to the other team.
  • Keep on until 1 team is left.

It can be played multiple times if the group likes it. Make clear that with each new game a different position can be choosen.

Differentiation

Let the group think of two new positions/postures themselves. If those postures can be carried out well will turn out later.

Evaluation

Not needed

Points of interest

Fairplay is important, if you are tapped you belong to the other team.

Security check

Explain how people are supposed to tap, in order to prevent taps that look more like beating and pushing.

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