Icebreakers

Icebreakers are one of the most important sets of resources for trainers. Originally, an icebreaker was used at the start of a training course to “break the ice” between people who were out of their normal workplace environment and perhaps feeling nervous and apprehensive. They were also a useful way of getting people to speak up, join in, and have a bit of fun. From their “ice-breaking” role, icebreakers were further used at any points in a course to inject a change of pace, lighten the atmosphere, bring people together, or as a way of bringing home a learning point. Hence, today, it is quite normal to have icebreakers at the start of a course, the middle of a course (eg after a break), and at the end of a course to round things off.

The 65 icebreakers in this book are some of the best that we, at ManageTrainLearn, have used over many years of management and personal effectiveness training. They are based on 3 criteria. First, they are short and easy to use. Second, they cover all learning styles, from the linguistic to visual, from interpersonal to intrapersonal, from physical to mathematical. Thirdly, they work. They do what they say they do. That’s why we have included detailed steps so that you can also get them to work and alternative suggestions so that you can develop them to fit your situation. Icebreakers should be fun for both you as trainer and for your trainees. They are a key ingredient in helping you deliver successful and memorable learning programmes.

1. The Value of Teamwork
2. Name Tent Instructions
3. What I Know...
4. Normally...
5. The KSA Fit
6. On First Name Terms
7. Our Badge
8. The Washroom Notice
9. WIIFM
10. Dumb Questions
11. The Girder
12. Lucky Dip
13. Putting Us On The Map
14. Two Truths and A Lie
15. Human Bingo
16. Excuses, Excuses
17. Our Group
18. Hotball Build
19. What We Have In Common
20. Personal Sheets
21. The Draughtsboard
22. Hidden Phrases
23. That’s Torn It
24. Magazine Jigsaw
25. Alphabetter
26. Benefits and Features
27. Number Match
28. The Successometer
29. My Buddies
30. All Hell Breaks Loose
31. Solemn Face
32. Who Is The Mostest?
33. Party Pieces
34. Conceal the Celebrity
35. Three Shining Moments
36. The Bent Arm
37. Body Tensing
38. Human Spider Web
39. Tactile Copier
40. Before And After
41. Word Ladders
42. Rope Circles
43. Preferences
44. Human Chairs
45. Where We’ve Been...
46. Conscious Competence
47. Course Certificate
48. Change of Habit
49. Personal Feedback
50. How Will I Know When I’ve Learnt?
51. My Learning Style
52. STOP Notes
53. The Most Important Words
54. Gold, Silver and Bronze
55. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
56. Team Quiz
57. These Are The Answers, Now What Are The Questions?
58. Hotball A to Z
59. Step By Step
60. Group Hangman
61. Neither Extreme
62. Matching Cards
63. A Course Scrapbook
64. Boat Race
65. Bubbles