My preferred icebreakers and games for mid-level workshops and training. I like very much the 10 dollar auction game! My website moved now to Boxolog.com

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Icebreakers and games

2. Icebreaker – Alphabet
search
The game:
Divide yourselves into small groups.
Instructions:
Search your person for objects that you have on you or
with you ranging from A-Z. Make a list. First group to get
all 26 letters represented wins.
Tips:
You can play with finding things in the space you are in.

3. Icebreaker – Lined Up
(verbal)
STEP 1
Instructions:
Get up out of your seats. I will ask you to line up in
different orders.
Example:
Street address numbers – chronologically, shoe
size, birthdays

4. Icebreaker – Lined Up
(non-verbal)
STEP 2
Now we will do the exercise non-verbally. You are not
allowed to talk!
Example:
Age and Height and Shades of your shirts, blouse or top
of your dress; lightest to darkest colors.

5. Icebreaker – Ha!
Description:
This exercise is to pass the word 'ha' around a circle.
Instructions:
Form a circle. The objective of this activity is, without
laughing, to pass the word "ha" around the circle. I will
designate one participant to be the head of the circle.
That participant begins by saying "ha". The person sitting
to his or her right must repeat the "ha" and then say
another "ha." The third person must say ha ha and then
given an additional "ha."

6. Icebreaker – Ha! Yuck!
Variations:
Use another word in place of "ha." For example: "yuck,"
"har," or "tee hee."
Instructions:
Repeat the "ha's" stopping only to let the person whose
turn it is pipe in with his or her own. You can continue the
exercise for five minutes regardless of how many times
the "ha's" go around the circle.

7. Game - Listening
Description:
Three people sit in chairs facing the audience. They act as
if they have one mind between them (i.e. they cross their
legs at the same time and mirror each other’s
movements as close as possible).
They are The Caregiver Expert a being with three bodies
but only one mind. A being three times smarter than
anyone else in the room. As such an intellectual
powerhouse The Caregiver Expert can answer all
questions.

8. Game - Listening
The game begins by getting a question from the
audience. The three people answer the question by
speaking one word per person to form sentences. After
the third person speaks the third word the answer can
continue with the first person speaking another word and
so forth untill the question is answered.
The only goal is to listen to the person before and answer
quickly. Example of an audience question: Why is the sky
blue?
The Caregiver Expert :
The - sky - is - blue - because - it - is - not - green.

9. Game - Paper-Tearing
Description:
We are going to play a game that will show us some
important things about communication. Pick up your
sheet of paper and hold it in front of you. Now, close your
eyes and follow the directions I will give you—and no
peeking! Participants cannot ask questions.

10. Game - Paper-Tearing
Instruction:
1. “The first thing I want you to do is to fold your
sheet of paper in half.
2. Now tear off the upper right-hand corner.
3. Fold it in half again and tear off the upper left
hand corner of the sheet.
4. Fold it in half again. Now tear off the lower right-
hand corner of the sheet.”
Now open your eyes, and let’s see what you have. If I
did a good job of communicating and you did a good
job of listening, all of our sheets should look the same!
Hold your sheet up for them to see.

11. Game - Ten-Dollar Auction
Instruction:
FIRST, I will be auctioning off a 20 Baht bill.
The bidding begins at 10 Baht, and yes, I really will be
giving out the money, no matter how low the highest
bid.
The game continues until I call out “Going, going, gone”.
SECOND, I am conducting the auction again.
This time, the two highest bidders (the winner AND the
runner-up) must BOTH pay out their bids, regardless of
the winner.

12. Game - Ten-Dollar Auction
The Point: Competition has a price. In our effort to beat out our
rivals (often co-workers), we can easily fall into behaviour that
disregards cost and time efficiency.
20 Baht has a clear monetary value of exactly 20 Baht in an even-
tempered, thoughtful business environment.
Once competition is added to the mix, however, the atmosphere
becomes more charged and the opportunity increases for hasty and
imprudent decision-making. A 20 Baht bill, in this short-
sighted, antagonistic environment, now gets purchased at 40, or
60, or even 100 Baht sometimes! P
People lose sight of what a $10 bill really is; namely, a $10 bill!