Ice Breakers and Energisers

The Right and Wrong Ways of Using Ice Breakers and Energisers

I have attended many training courses, workshops, seminars and conferences in the course of my life, and ice-breakers and energisers never fail to appear in their programmes. Most of these were entertaining but many had fallen short of expectations because they were used for the wrong reasons.

Ice-breakers and energisers must be used intentionally. They cannot be relegated to filling up the programme, creating relatedness amongst participants, or injecting energy into a group of tired trainees.

Experienced facilitators deploy ice-breakers and energisers for more advanced purposes. They use them to:

• Collect information on the type and amount of prior knowledge already possessed by the participants,
• Create opportunities for the expansion of wisdom in the group, and
• Check for the level of learning so far attained by the participants.

This means, we should not copy ice-breakers and energisers from elsewhere and use them indiscriminately at our facilitated events. Their design and use have to meet some preset objectives, and here are 6 different types of activities facilitators could use to create outcomes that meet these higher objectives.

Jargon Game

Participants are divided into 2 groups – Group A and B. Each participant in Group A is to hold up a placard showing the definition or description of a jargon to be covered at the event. Each member in Group B is given a jargon and he is to identify and match the meaning held up by a particular member from Group A and engage in a conversation with him on the jargon and its definition.

Guess My Line

Participants are grouped into pairs. One in the pair will have a jargon pasted on his back. It is the responsibility of the other in the pair to communicate the definition and description of the jargon to him without naming the jargon itself until his partner names the jargon.

Toilet Roll Exercise

A roll of toilet paper is circulated amongst the participants at the event. They are told that this is the last roll available and each is to pull a length of paper he thinks he need for the day. When all the participants collected their paper, they are asked to use the paper to write on a topic they wish to learn or have learnt at the event. It is a requirement that they fill up the paper with words.

Throwing the Ball

Participants are seated in a circle and a ball is circulated by passing it to the sides or throwing it across. The participant holding the ball is to say what he wishes to learn or has learnt at the event. He is to pass or throw the ball to the next person. The next person has to repeat what was wished or learnt by the previous person before sharing his, and the process is repeated until all has shared.

Lining All Together

Participants are again seated in a circle. A ball of knitting thread is circulated by passing it to the sides or throwing it across. The participant holding the ball is to ask a question about the topics covered at the event which he likes answered, and he is to pass this ball to another participant who he think knows the answer. At the end of the activity, the participants are chained together by the thread.

Call My Bluff

The participants are grouped into 4’s. Each team is to create 3 multi-choice questions, each with 4 possible answers of which 1 of these is the correct answer. In rotation, each team is to present their questions to other teams. The respondent has to justify why their choice is correct. If they are, the winning team can pass one of their questions to the team asking the questions.

This article was written by Anthony Mok on 9 Nov 2008.

Copyright 2008. Anthony Mok. All Rights Reserved.