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Icebreaker: In Order Of…

This activity serves as an icebreaker, team-building exercise, and self-leadership activity.

In order of can be done in many different ways.

You can come up with various variations as well.

The principle is to give different instructions where participants have to arrange themselves "in order of" (standing, sitting, or lying down).

A very enjoyable, simple, challenging, and insightful variation is: "Blindfolded, in order of shoe size".

I personally experienced my (lack of) leadership in this activity.

I literally stood still and did nothing.

Since then, I have become more aware in my life and ask myself, "What can I do in this situation?".

Imagine the impact this experiential exercise can have!

This activity promotes:
- Getting to know each other
- Team building
- Collaboration
- Self-leadership

Instructions for In order of:
Time: 20-30 minutes
Participants: 8 to 20
Indoor and Outdoor
Active

Materials Needed:
Blindfolds, or simply asking participants to close their eyes will work too. Purchasing a set of tea towels is also a quick option.

Objective:
Participants receive a group task that can only be completed together.

Instructions:
All participants stand apart, maintaining a distance from each other.

You provide the group with different instructions.

Here are a few suggestions:

Arrange yourselves in order of:
- First name
- Age (always hilarious)
- Height
- Place of residence
- Geographical order of residence (I usually don't provide clear explanations, leading to confusion. Participants tend to spread out, start shouting, and chaos ensues... until a leader emerges or not...)
- Etcetera, depending on the group's theme or the training/lesson

Variation:
The most enjoyable and impactful variation is:

First, everyone blindfolds themselves. After the instructions, no one is allowed to speak.

The task now is:
Arrange yourselves in a line, in order of shoe size, from smallest to largest.

icebreaker self leadership teambuilding in order of

As a trainer, you observe what is happening.

Personal leadership now comes to the fore.

You probably already guessed...

I didn't take action.

Ouch!

One person just starts laughing. Another person starts talking (breaking the rules). Yet another person secretly looks around (also against the rules). Someone insists on following the instructions precisely. Someone tries to put everyone else in their place.

At a certain point, I ask:
"If you think everyone is in the right place, raise your right hand."

And then I mention the number of hands I see raised.

3 handen in order of

Often, you will notice that after that comment, the number of raised hands either increases or decreases.

icebreaker, self leadership, teambuilding in order of

In short, it's a fantastic activity that brings out a lot of observable behaviors and provides participants with valuable insights both individually (self-leadership) and as a team (teambuilding).

Now, there's still the debriefing to be done...

Safety
Beforehand, check if the participants are comfortable with physical contact. If needed, discuss how they should touch each other.

Evaluation
What happened? (this asks for factual behavior)
How did you participate?
Did you play fair?
How did it affect you?
Where do you recognize yourself doing "this" (or your team doing this)?
What will you/we take away from this experience?

In summary, it's an excellent activity that reveals a lot of behaviors and provides participants with valuable insights both individually (self-leadership) and as a team (teambuilding).

icebreaker, self leadership, teambuilding in order of

“Guess the animal” The game

This way of working is, just like Human Bingo, a way to start before the training, workshop or meeting begins to get the participants to get to know each other.
This icebreaker promotes
Required material
  • two rolls (painters) of tape
  • good black highlighters.
Game sequence / instruction
The participants do not know each other. You want them to come into contact with each other in a easy-going way.
You start your explanation by saying that you tear off a piece of tape and write an animal name on it. You stick this tape to someone on his back without him knowing what animal name there is. This person must discover by asking closed questions which animal he ‘is’. In the meantime, others are also busy tearing down tapes and writing animal names on them and sticking these tapes to someone else’s back.
When the last participants have arrived, you can see if you can complete the game. Of course, there must be a few people who have guessed their name.
There is no need to evaluate. Look for yourself what kind of meat you have in the tub; which people are more easy-going and which are more quiet and introverted, so that you as a trainer also get to know the group.
Have you tried this game? Let us know what you think and leave a comment below!

 

Human Bingo: Bingo with a twist!

‘Human Bingo’ is a fun way to introduce participants to each other, at the start of the training, workshop or meeting. ‘Human Bingo’ is excellent for getting good energy. I always see hugely enthusiastic and happy faces. You hear everyone talking to each other, a lot of movement, laughing and finally there is someone calling “Bingo !!!”.

This activity promotes

communication
getting aquainted

Required materials

• pens.
• a bingo card with statements (for each participant a card).

Game sequence / instruction

The group is instructed to enter into a dialogue with each other and to enter the names of the participants on the bingo card.
After all the participants are in possession of a bingo card, the icebreaker starts. Then people start talking to each other and try to answer all the statements on the bingo card as quickly as possible. An example: “Are you in possession of a first aid diploma?” If the person to whom the question is asked “yes”, he writes his name on your bingo card.
The person who called “Bingo!” may come forward. Naturally, the card is checked. I do this by simply mentioning one of the questions: ‘Which of you is in possession of a first aid diploma?’

Differentiation

You can only ask one question at a time. Then you must first have been with someone else before you can ask a second question to the same person.

Goal of the game

Try to fill your bingo card with as many different names as possible.

Game sequence

Find a participant for whom the question is valid.
Have this person fill in his or her name in the box.
Only one name will appear in each box moreover, each name can be placed on the card only once.
Loudly call “BINGO” once you have filled all the boxes.

Human Bingo, Bingo with a twist! Bingo card

Have you tried this game? Let us know what you think and leave a comment below!

Making Connections

Mark Collard is the founder and director of playmeo and he has written many books on the subject of icebreakers.

He started playmeo as an innovative online platform to share fun and valuable group games. Besides having a website and many books on his name, he now also has a youtube channel. It is called Mark Collard and it gives a helpful guide on how to facilitate a great group activity. The channel also give a few examples of great teambuilding activities.

In this video he explains and shows a fun exercise you can do with a group of people that don’t know each other yet.

The Lunch Game

Hey everybody,

Check out this video from our new friend Herman Otten. He make video’s on teambuilding activities and icebreakers.

In this video he explains the icebreaker called The Lunch Game.

This is how it works:

First, you assemble all the participants in a circle, then you divide the group by three. As a result you get multiple groups of three. So for example if you are with a group of fifteen, you get five groups of three people. Secondly, you tell the groups to each come up with a assignment. This assignment can be anything they want it to be, as long as it can be done during lunch. Then each group passes their assignment on to the next group. (group 2 get their assignment from group 1, and 3 from 2, etc.). Lastly each group goes to lunch and does their assignment. Afterwards you show each other what you have accompliced.

On his Youtube channel you will find some variations.

 

201 Icebreakers : Group Mixers, Warm-Ups, Energizers, and Playful Activities.

By Edie West

activitiesContent

201 Icebreakers is great for trainers, speakers and group facilitators. The book contains many activities that cost little time and preparation. Most activities can be done in less than five minutes. This makes it perfect at the beginning of a meeting to break the ice, or in the middle to get everyone excited and going again. With the games, quizzes, energizers, and brainteasers, this book has to offer. You will have a great atmosphere in no time!

The big book of icebreakers

By Edie West

Content

Are you trying to get people to work together in a great atmosphere? Yes! Then this is the book for you. You can use icebreakers when leading a meeting or giving a presentation. It is a great way to start a workshop or event and it will encourage people to participate more. In The big book of icebreakers you will find 50 icebreakers that are designed for everyday business situations. The book helps you start every session or meeting with energy and fun. In this book are icebreakers for sales meetings, teambuilding, meeting complete strangers, introducing a topic, staff meetings, groups over 20, outdoor settings and many more. These quick fun activities will help light up your meetings and workshops.

Appearance

This book is a must-have when it comes to icebreakers. It has a very clear structure and there is a matrix at the beginning of the book to help you find the perfect icebreaker. With a couple of questions you can easily find the icebreaker you need. Edie West gives you tips on how to use these icebreakers. He also made a list of his top 10 icebreakers and he even took care of opening and closing lines. Besides that the book is very convenient it also has a humorous tone in it. So, is there for example one icebreakers category called “Icebreakers for stuffy conservative types who hate icebreakers”. This makes the book fun to read. And the icebreakers themselves have the same structure every time, which gives the book a organized look.

If you want to order the book or read more about it, you can click here or on the picture.

101 Icebreakers

By Gary Miller & Heather Horn

Content

In 101 Icebreakers you will find 0ver 100 activities that will make people feel connected and part of the group. They are very helpful when you want people to actively participate to accompish the goals of the group. The icebreakers can be used as a part of you business presentation but also on birthdayparties. No matter what age, gender, or level of experience, everybody can join. One of the best things in the book is that with almost every activity, there are variations and questions included. These can help to get a good picture of what the icebreaker has brought the group and the individuals in it.

Appearance

In 101 Icebreakers, the icebreakers are explained short and clear. And for most of the icebreakers you don’t need any materials or very few. Which is convenient especially when you use it at work. Group size, time limitations, purpose, and physical capabilities are all given, which makes it easy to find the right icebreaker very quickly. Above every new icebreaker there is a picture that is relevant to the icebreaker. This really adds up to the book as a whole and give it nice appearance.

If you want to order the book or read more about it, you can click here or on the picture.

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