Icebreakers and Team-Builders

Materials and Props:

Raccoon Circle: 1 15-foot length of 1” tubular webbing, available at Novack’s Outdoor Store on King Street. To tie ends together, use a water knot.

Hog Tie, Sticky Knot, etc: 1 length of ropes, 50 feet long, per group.

Blind Geometry: 100 foot length of rope per group – use LARGE space

Magic Carpet: 1 6x8 tarp per group

Circle the Circle: 2 large hula hoops per group.

Wrapped Around My Finger: Have folks stand in groups of 5 around a raccoon circle that is not knotted. Instructor says: “In a moment, but not now, someone will begin by picking up one end of the webbing and tell the group things about themselves for the length of time it takes to wrap the webbing around one finger. You can share anything; how many siblings you have, your favourite foods, your third cousin’s favourite foods, what you want for your birthday… anything you want to share is great! As soon as a person is done, thank them, then move on to the next person. Go!” (A great way to keep people’s hands busy while they go through the process of self- disclosure).

Arm in Arm Walk: Have folks link arms with a person they do not know who is nearby. Have them walk together and talk, trying to find three commonalities they have between them. If you both like dogs, drill deeper and find out what specific thing about dogs you love the most. Share stories. (This activity is non-confrontational and non-threatening due to the nature of the body positions. Saves people from having to talk in a large group).

OVER HERE! Part I: Have folks gather around in groups of 5 around a raccoon circle. Have them step inside the raccoon circle. Instructor says: “When I say go, but not now, point at the person who is the tallest in your circle, and wave bye-bye to them. The tall person, when I say go, but not now, please leave the circle, and find another circle to join. Other folks, you will call someone new over by saying OVER HERE! OVERE HERE! Ready? Go!” Now do this again: Person wearing the brightest top, person with the cleanest shoes, person with the most siblings. Establishes a safe zone for people to feel lost, and then found again.

OVER HERE! PART II: Now that people are warmed up with the “Over here!” concept, the Instructor says: “We are going to do this one more time, but this time you must try and convince as many people to join your circle as possible. Note that there is a difference between coercion and abduction. Person with the shortest hair! BYE BYE!” (Everyone goes crazy trying to convince outsiders to become part of a group).

Bump: Everyone standing on the inside of the circle now face outwards. Bend over (Cue laughter). Now try and bump everyone out of the circle using your rump. Go!

Raccoon Circle Trust: Have folks find a raccoon circle and gather around it, groups of 5-6. Groups pick up the circle with both hands, and, as a team, lower themselves down to the ground, then up again. Now do it without talking. Now do it without talking, eyes closed. (An easy trust-building activity that builds trust and communication skills quickly within a small team).

Hog-Tie: Get your group together in a tight bunch, have someone hold the end of a long rope (Recommend 50 feet). Instructor will grab the other end and run around the group 5-6 times, tucking the end in somewhere. The group is now “hog-tied”. The group now has to move together (Instructors, you are right there with them to manage risk of falls) to a designated area (about 200 feet away), possibly over, under and around obstacles, while sharing facts about themselves no one else knows. (HILARIOUS de- inhibitizer).

Magic Carpet: Groups of 10-12 stand on a 6x8 tarp. They are standing on a magic carpet, soaring hundreds of feet above the trees, but they are going backwards! The only way to get going the right direction is to flip the magic carpet over, with everyone standing on it. Go! (Groups will soon realize the challenge of this task, and become deeply invested in ensuring no one will “fall off”. The trick: Fold the tarp corner to corner so that it takes the shape of an hourglass, and slowly shift thee group from one side to the other).

Circle the Circle: Each group gets into a circle and joins hands. The Instructor puts a hula hoop between two people, and the group has to pass it around without breaking hands. Can they do it FASTER?? Now add another hula hoop and send them around in different directions. (Increases encouragement in the group, solidifies sense of group purpose).

Mitt and Toothpicks Relay: Group Divides into 2 teams lined up one behind the other. In front of each team is a paper bag. 50 feet away is a pile of 20 toothpicks on a plate. The runner must put on mitts and run to the pile, pick up a toothpick and return to drop it in the bag. The first team to complete their task wins. (Just for fun, establishes sense of team in a light- hearted environment).

Human Knot: Groups of 6-8: Instructor says: “Please, stand close together in your group. When I say go, but not now, I am going to ask you to do two things. I am going to ask that you reach over and grab a hand of someone in your group. I am then going to ask that you reach over and grab a hand of someone different with your other hand. Go!” (Group will grab hands). Instructor says: “You are now in a knot, and the only way to untangle the knot is to do so without letting go of hands. Please go right ahead!” (Establishes a problem-solving community, sense of accomplishment, breaks down touch boundaries).

This is Not A Stick: Instructor grabs a stick and starts by saying “This is not a stick. This is a… (make something up that the stick could be, like a ski, a comb, a javelin, a spoon…) pass the stick t the next person. They repeat. (Good for getting creative juices flowing, promotes tolerance of the ideas of others).

TP Shuffle: Draw a long, straight line in the snow/on the ground (or use a long piece of webbing to ‘draw’ the line. Have group of 10-15 stand on the line. Now tell them they have to arrange themselves in order of tongue length without stepping off the line. (Breaks down touch boundaries, provides comedy, shared experience, challenge, strategy).

Birthday Line Up: Have everyone go silent. Folks must arrange themselves in a line, in exact birth order. They will want to ask if you mean year/month/day, or day/month/year… just shrug – don’t say anything. Let them figure it out. They will do this pretty fast. Debrief and ask them how they worked out the “language” that they all understood. Now blindfold them and have them repeat the exercise. (Put a ten-minute time limit on it for yourself, as frustrations can run high with this). No matter what happens, stop after ten minutes, and debrief. (What changed? Did they succeed? Who felt frustrated? Why? Did their ideas get listened to? How is this exercise like working in education?)

Blind Trust Circle: Folks are in a large circle, one person from the circle is chosen as the walker. The walker closes their eyes and has to walk from one side of the circle to the other. Before they crash into anyone, someone in the circle near them says “stop”, turns them around and the blind person continues to walk. The Instructor will add one more person, then after a minute another person…. Until there are about 6 people walking blind. (The more people added the more dangerous for the walkers, as there are less people to protect them around the outside, and more people to crash into on the inside. Develops a heightened awareness of compassion and trust in group).

Sticky Knot PLUS Tie a Tree: Instructor gets a length of rope and tie as many knots in it as there are people. Have everyone grab the rope with their right hand. The snow has now FROZEN their hands to the rope. They must, as a group, undo the knots without letting go of the rope, and without using their left hands. Once the rope is unknotted, they must now choose a tree and tie an overhand knot around the tree without letting go of the rope. (An exercise in communication and problem-solving).

Blind Geometry: Have group cluster. Instructor will then pass around blindfolds. Everyone helps each other get blindfolds on. A 100 foot length of rope is then passed throughout the group (groups of no more than 12-15 people). Instructor then says: “When I say so, we are going to do some geometry. We need to make a square, so please do so now”. Natural leaders will emerge. Once they feel they have it, remove blindfolds. If they found it too easy, Instructor ramps up the challenge by having them make an oval, a trapezoid… (Problem-solving, communication).

Flag Seek: Take your group to a wooded area. Without speaking, show them an object. Move through the woods (make sure the group can still see you) and place an object 200 feet away from your group at the base of a tree. Come back to your group. Instructor says: “You must now retrieve the object. You must all, as a group, be connected to each other physically in some way, so that if an electric current were to zap one person, it would pass through all of you. You must, as a group, retrieve the object. You must have your eyes closed at all times” Ask how much time they need to plan. As soon as they are ready, eyes are closed and away they go.

The Zipper: Suitable for large group (up to 100) Group stands in two lines approx 3 feet apart, opposite eachother, arms extended out “zipper” fashion. One at a time, members of the group start at one end and run as fast as possible through the zipper, as both lines lift arms up at the last second. A wonderful, thrilling way to establish trust and community.