ice breakers and meeting games - free or paid service

Ice breakers are a means of introducing people, allowing people to get to know each other better, breaking down barriers between people, & having people to mingle before any event commences. They can be used as preludes to meetings, trainings, functions, or as a programme themselves. Ice breakers are a great start to a meeting - they help to relax participants, making them more receptive to listening and contributing. An ice breaker can also serve to set the tone & atmosphere for a meeting, and to generate enthusiasm.

Ice breakers can be fun, sombre, humorous, competitive or just plain silly.
The timing of ice breakers also differ, depending on group size, overall duration of event, & the purpose of the event. Ideally, it should not be too long, otherwise the other activities will not be given enough time. It should not be so short either, otherwise participants may feel it was a perfunctory exercise. An all-day retreat might warrant a half hour ice breaker, but a one-hour meeting may merit only a couple of minutes.

Professional Ice Breaking Sessions
We have included some free ice-breakers for non-commercial use below, should you require our assistance to conduct any ice-breaking sessions do drop us an enquiry (ice breaking service is only offered to group sizes of 100 and above).

name-tag

- get participants to introduce themselves using an adjective that begins with the first alphabet of their first name, & without repeating an adjective that has already be used e.g. active Alan, amiable Alice, beautiful Beatrice, cheerful Christine, etc

signature bingo

- participants race to collect signatures of others who fit the criteria on a grid with different descriptions (e.g. wears spectacles, owns a pet, has tasted durian, etc) to get a bingo

birthday queue

- get participants to line up according to the month and day of birth without any talking

concentration

- a rhythmic game that has participants clapping twice then calling out their own names (or doing their own actions), followed by another two claps & then the name (or action) of another participant, who will continue the rhythm until everyone has been called

electric current

- lined up in 2 competing teams, participants join hands to pass an ‘electric current’ (squeeze on the hand) when the first men see the ‘current switch’ turned on (head of a coin)

blanket game

- teams are gathered on opposite sides of a large canvas sheet/ blanket & each sends a representative to the front. team representatives will compete to see who can call out the name of their competitor in the front once the blanket drops at the count of three

gordon’s knot

- in teams, participants are first tasked to join hands & tangle themselves in a systematic manner, after which teams compete to see who untangles first, without letting go of their hands at all times

human machines

- each team acts out a machine with sound effects (i.e. telephone, fax, washing machine, dryer, blender, typewriter, stereo, airplane)

shapes

- participants are tasked to form shapes required by the game master, in the fastest time possible

balloon frenzy

- everyone tosses their balloons (different colours or with individual markings) in the air & tries to keep it afloat, while getting opponents’ balloons on the floor

human burger

- with a different burger ingredient on an adhesive paper stuck behind his/her back, participants race to form the correct order in which a burger is assembled, without talking

finger copier machine

- with participants arranged in a line, a diagram is shown to the last person, who uses his/her finger to reconstruct the diagram on his team member’s back. players take turns to pass the image until the last person, who has to draw it on paper

flip-hat

- one participant begins with a hat on his/her head. the objective is for him/her to get it on the next person's head without using hands, arms teeth or legs

hunter, woodcutter, fire

- participants form clusters of three: two trees & one squirrel. at different calls by the game master (‘hunter’, ‘woodcutter’ or ‘fire’), the participants would disperse to look for other ‘trees’ or ‘squirrels’ to form a new cluster

longest chain

- in two teams, participants compete to form the longest chain using paper clips/ rubber bands, within a stipulated timing

whacko!

- “IT” will move within a circle with a “weapon”, in an attempt to hit the participant whose name is called out. to protect himself, the participant would have to call out another person’s name before “IT” smacks him. the person who eventually gets “whacked” would in turn be “IT” & the game continues. this game can get a little violent, so do ensure that you use something soft like an inflatable as the “weapon”

mumble jumble

- everyone holds a piece of a picture & try to locate the other members of the group with the pieces to form the appropriate pictures

listen & tell

- participants share & find out three things about their neighbours seated on their left & right, & takes turns to introduce one another to the rest of the group. examples of things to find out about:
- dream/ aspiration
- regret
- someone they admire & why
- a personality trait they would like to develop
- a country they would like to visit, & why
- any pet peeves