Leadership Resources
Leadership Skills — Ice Breakers
Icebreakers are important when groups come together each year and when bringing in new members. They can be excellent devices to help people feel more comfortable with themselves, with others and feel more "at home" in a group. They also break up the "cliques", by inviting people to form random groupings and helping individuals meet others in a non-threatening and fun way. When used to set a tone for the time a group will be together, members are encouraged to feel comfortable and this can relieve tension.
Icebreakers, figuratively, break the ice when a group just forms or reforms after a break. Icebreakers are an effective method to initiate a new member orientation. A few examples are:
- Human Scavenger Hunt/Human Bingo — For example, find someone who: is a graduate student, owns cross country skis, has been to Europe, wears contacts… Make up your own. Be creative!
- Hometown — Members tell where they are from and information about their hometown.
- Name Games — Why or how the member received his/her name. Share name and hobby; members try to memorize information.
- Knots — Form a circle by placing hands in the middle of the circle. Grab someone else’s hands (not on either side of you), and without letting go, try to untangle the “knot.”
- The World of Numbers — Stand in a circle. Everyone is told that they have to count to 20 as a group. Someone starts with one, then someone else or the same person says 2, then 3, etc. up until 20. The moment two people say the same number at the same time, the counting starts all over again at one. The game ends when the group reaches 20.
Additional icebreaker ideas can be found online. Some good resources are: