With a meeting right round the corner, you need to list down some good icebreakers to initiate proper communication in a large group. Learn about some interesting activities to accomplish the purpose of the meet.
Inhibitions and isolation are commonly felt emotions when strangers come together. To make your guests feel at ease it is important to break the initial moment of awkwardness. Icebreakers are excellent games designed for this purpose. They help in facilitating gatherings smoothly.
These simple games ease out the tension by helping participants mingle with one another. Icebreakers, also known as warm-up games, make people think differently, which motivates team building and troubleshooting.
So if you are planning to conduct a corporate meeting, a reunion or an alumni meet, incorporate some fun activities to get things moving. These activities help the attendees to lose their fears, interact with each other and walk towards achieving the purpose of the gathering. These icebreakers need very little preparation. With such easy games, an entertaining time is a guarantee!
Icebreakers for Large Groups
Icebreakers must be easy and convenient to play. Most importantly, these games must be easily understood by the members. ‘Catch’, is one such game, that can be played by kids, and by teens, as well. Make all the members stand in a circle. Pass the ball around. As the players pass the ball to each other and catch it, they must shout out their names and an alternative use of the ball. It will be fun to hear some interesting uses one never knew before!
To play this game, you will need to make everyone sit in a circle. Ask the members to place their hands on the ground. Start the game clockwise. Each player in the circle has to say a thing, which he/she has never done before. For example, ‘never have I been to China’, ‘never have I had alcohol’ and so on. Each person gets five seconds to react, when their turn comes. The aim of the game is to stay the longest (till the last finger remains). This ice breaker for large groups of adults is a great way of knowing each other. Some of the statements can turn out to be absolutely funny! The trick to win this icebreaker is to say the things that others have done, that you haven’t (it’s not about speaking the truth)!
This is a classic, get-to-know-each-other game. The players, tell two truths about themselves and a one lie, as the name suggests, one by one. The rest, sitting in the circle, have to figure out which one is the truth and which one is the lie. A variation can be made by adding a dream wish, instead of one truth or a lie. This game is totally hilarious, towards the end, as ludicrous secrets are revealed!
Divide the large number of people into manageable groups and nominate a leader. Give the leader the notepad and a pen. The leader is supposed to figure out ten things about the group members, that are unique. For example, ‘we all can speak Spanish’, ‘we all love Vincent Van Gogh’, ‘we all can paint and cook’ and so on. Avoid writing the obvious observations such as ‘we all have hair’ and ‘we all are wearing clothes’. The idea of this game is to dig deeper and get to know the group members better. In the second half of the game, the leaders read on the list of things and has to determine how is their group different from the rest.
Take a big map of your city and give each person a pen to mark his or her address and name. To those who are not from the city, leave ample amount of space beyond the border of the map. Once everyone is done marking their names and locations, give each participant a chance to say a few words about their place. They can share trivia or some unique points about their locality with the other participants.
Hand out cards and pens to the participants. Each person must write their favorite color, cuisine, a dream, and a favorite activity. Shuffle these cards and let each person pick a random card to read it aloud. As the cards are being read, they also have to guess who must have written it. This is a simple icebreaker to help people find out what they have in common with one another. This breaks the awkward silence and initiates interesting conversations.
Assemble the participants together to start this game. Each person begins with a sentence and the person on the left has to complete it. For example, if the sentence starts with, ‘my favorite dessert is …’, the next person can end it with ‘tiramisu/cup of gelato/coffee’ and so on. If the answer is incorrect, the next person gets a chance to complete. This is a fun game which involves a little bit of guess work and mind reading.
Get the participants together and form pairs. Think of all the contrasting pairs such as ‘black and white’, ‘chalk and cheese’, ‘up and down’, left and right’ etc. Give each pair 10 minutes to decide which contrast suits them the best. At the end of 10 minutes, each person has to explain what their partners chose and why. This is a good way of knowing each others likes, dislikes, qualities and nature.
No one is allowed to speak in this game. The participants have to form a line according to their birth dates in 5 minutes. The first person being born in January and the last in December. Remember that dates also matter. For instance a person born on the 9th of January will stand before the person born on 12th of January. The game is solely based on dumb charades and quick thinking.
Make the participants write their prominent likes on one side of the paper, while keeping the other side blank. Each participant can sign next to the like or hobby stated by the fellow participant that they find in themselves. Once a signature is put next to the hobby, no one else can sign there. This way, the group will be able to find out the common things among each other. Some of the likes can be, ‘I love to cook’, ‘I am an avid reader’, ‘I love watching movies’ and so on.
These games must be well executed for best results. The whole idea is to help people know each other better. Such games can also help individuals to know their strengths and weaknesses. Lastly, they are a brilliant platform for individuals to develop leadership skills, understand team spirit and to be a team player.
