Breaking the Ice

When leading any group, it is important to help the group feel comfortable as a unit working together. In order to do that, the "ice" or tension that comes from being around new people needs to be "broken". Here are a few Ice Breakers from the past.

Going to California…

This game is really good as it helps a group to get to know each other because you have to remember your group member’s faces in this game. This game requires no supplies and is a lot of fun. I’m sure that a lot of you have played this before.

1. Have everyone get into a large circle.

2. Choose a person to start the game and decide which direction to pass the game onto. Clockwise or Counter-clockwise.

3. This first person begins the game by saying, “I’m going to California and I want to bring…”. The person now chooses an item and fills in the blank with that item. He/she then passes it on to one of the people on either side. That person also says “I am going to California and I am going to bring…” and an item. Now the trick is that this person has to say the previous players item before she/ he can say his/her item. If he/she gets it wrong he/she is out of the game and has to leave the circle.

The game then continues around the circle with everyone adding an item, until there are only two people left. Those two then win the game.

TRUST TAG

The game this week is called Trust tag. Trust tag is a game that emphasizes the importance of trust not only in theater, but also in a working team environment. This game is a lot of fun and does not require any materials to play.

To begin chose someone who is it. That person as in tag ,is responsible for tagging someone else making them it.

Then have everyone branch out and a large space and evade the person who is it. The only way to avoid getting tagged is to literally fall into some ones arms with your eyes closed. You have to fall with your back into the other persons arms, just like in “Trust”.

The game ends when everyone is tired of playing.

FACT OR FICTION

In turn each person states their name and one thing about them. They could be telling the truth or a lie. Group members write each name and true or false following, based on what he/she thinks. After everyone has said something the truth is revealed. (Or you can guess true or false right after each person says something)

"I opened up my meeting with an ice breaker . It not only made everyone feel comfortable it also helped them to start thinking creatively (which was good because they had to come up with a theme at that meeting. ) Plus people weren't as shy about giving ideas . This worked really well."

ZIP, ZAP, ZOG:

This game is designed to both get everyone excited and thinking fast as well it is a great game to practice concentration and quick thinking. You don’t need any supplies for this game, but you do need to have a decent size group to get this game to work. Anyway, now on to the game.

HOW TO PLAY

1. First have everybody get into a large circle.

2. Now after the circle is large and orderly explain the game, this is how you do it.

3. The purpose of the game is to get everybody out except for 2-3 people. You get people out by confusing them with one of three things to say. One way to get someone out is to say “zip”. To do a “zip”, you have to point to one of the people next to you and say “zip” and they then have control. You can also say “zap”. To do a “zap”, you point to someone across from you and say “zap”. The other move you can do is to say “zog”. To do a zog, when someone does a “zip” to you, you can block it by saying “zog”and holding up your arms to give the control back to the person that zipped you. However, you cannot do this move twice in a rule and you cannot “zog” a “zap” That are the moves in the game.

4. Now, the only way to get someone out is if 1. They take more then a second to react to someone’s move. 2. They say the wrong word on a move. 3. Are not clear on who they are doing something to i.e. For a “zap”, and “zip” they must point and be clear who they mean or they are out.

This game is a lot of fun once it gets going. The most important thing to remember when playing it, is that you have to keep it moving. The moves you play should be continuously done and should fly around the circle. Have fun gaming.

Concentration Game:

Not knowing what to call this game I decided to label it concentration. This game actually has three different levels with each level gradually getting harder and harder to get through. This game not only is great for a group to learn to work together on, it also teaches a person to concentrate which is a skill every worker/actor needs to be able to do. The only equipment you will need is a kick-ball or any ball roughly the same size. So anyway, on to the game.

HOW TO PLAY

1.   Have everyone get into a large circle. This first wrinkle is pretty easy to get and will be no problem. What you want to do is pass the ball around among your fellow students in the center of the circle. Before passing the ball though you want to choose an order of who passes the ball to whom and never leave that order. Once you have the order chosen you can begin to pass the ball. What you want to do is pretend that the ball is resting in the center on a column of air and that the ball never touches a persons hand for more then a second before passed to the next person. Let the first person begin and the second go ahead and walk over to him/her to get the ball and so on. The trick is for the next person to always be there the second the person before them touches the ball to keep the flow moving. Now all you do is run this order 3-5 times without stopping and once you get this step move onto the next wrinkle.

2.      Next, you want to make a new order up of some kind of topic. Say my groups next topic is food, then everyone will choose a food and you will make up another order of who will say their food after who. Once you have the order down, you want the group to practice saying their food in the order chosen to make sure everyone knows the order. Now for the hard part. Go back to the passing the ball order and start the sequence again. After everyone is passing the ball well, tell the first person in the food order to start the food sequence while keeping the ball order moving well. The goal here is to have both sequences moving well with no pause. Now for the last wrinkle, isn’t this getting fun?

3.      For the next sequence you want to just repeat #2. Come up with another topic and have everyone find an order for this new topic. We did animal noises and let me tell you that was a lot of fun. Now once everyone fells good about this order, start the ball order, then go into the second sequence and after those two together move well, add this sequence in. This is where the game gets pretty hard and if your group can get all 3 sequences down together you have really accomplished something. Well anyway, have fun with the game.

PARK BENCH:

This game works on both Improv skills and is a great way to raise energy and for a new group to relax with each other. It’s also a lot of fun to play also. The only items you will need are two chairs or one bench.

HOW TO PLAY

1.      One person is designated to start the game. The scenario is that this person is waiting at a bench for his/her bus. This person needs to establish who he/she is and a major ailment or problem with his/her character.

2.      Next, a second person is to enter the scene. This person’s objective is to get the other person to get up off of the bench and to take his/her spot. This person should discover some kind of illness, disgusting trait, etc. to get the other out of the bench.

3.      When this person succeeds in getting the first person to leave, another actor enters the scene with his/her own problem to get the previous winner to leave. This continues in a cycle until the group wishes to stop the game.

4.      It is important that every person to enter the scene have a distinctive character with his/her own major illness/disease or problem to get the person sitting down at the time to leave.

5.      This game is a lot of fun and a lot of really wacky things get brought out into the open.

NAME GAME:

Variation 1:

-         Group together in a circle; 1^st person says his/her name; 2^nd person says the first person’s name and his/her own name, 3^rd person says the first and second person’s name then his/her own name. Go around until the last person has said everyone’s name.

Variation 2:

-         Same as above, but including something else other than the name, e.g. “My name is XXX and I like apples”.

Variation 3:

-         Go around in circle; introduces name and does an action; the whole group then says name and does the same action. Taking turns to do this for each person.

Person: “My name is XXX” <action/sound>

Group: “His/ Her name is XXX” <action/sound>

Next person: “My name is YYY” <action/sound>

Group: “His/ Her name is YYY” <action/sound>

Variation 4:

-         Take turns to introduce self (name), state an animal/ object you like, and state why.

Variation 5:

-     Put different names on a 3x5 index card and tape them onto each player’s back. They can follow a theme, like movie star names or cartoon characters, etc. Then each player is allowed to ask only 3 questions to identify their identity on their own card.

BIDDLE, BIDDLE, BOP:

HOW TO PLAY

Everyone stand in a circle. 1 person is "it" and stands in the middle. His/her objective is to beat one of the circle people and any one of a number of challenges. The "it" person randomly points at any member of the circle and shouts the name of a challenge. These are the following:

     BIDDLE, BIDDLE, BOP: The challenge for which the game was named. "it" person points to a circle person and begins to say the phrase "biddle biddle bop." The challenged circle person must beat the "it" and say "bop" first.

    MERMAID: The "it" person points and says "mermaid." The challenged person must, with absolute trust, throw his/her arms to either side and lean forward into the circle. The two people beside the challenged must grab his/ her arms and support the weight while he/she sings like a mermaid. All this must happen before the "it" person counts to five.

    TRUCK DRIVER: same as mermaid, except challenged person honks the semi-truck horn and the two side people make "wheels" with arm circles

    ELEPHANT: Same as above, except person in middle creates trunk and makes elephant sounds while side people make big elephant ears with arms.

PURPOSE Teaches fast thinking and gets people to just act silly and have fun.

The Minister's Cat:

HOW TO PLAY

Any number of people get into a row or circle (row is harder). The first person starts, rhythmically saying "The minister's cat's an ["A" adjective] cat." The second person does the same, only with a "B" adjective, and so on through the alphabet. For example, the minister's cat's an ambiguous cat; the minister's cat's a benevolent cat, the minister's cat's a curious cat...The activity continues until someone breaks the rhythm. When this happens, the next person must continue with the same letter, making it trickier to "plan ahead".

***This can also be done as Biddle Biddle Bop style, with 1 person in a circle directing who goes in what order.

Story-Building:

HOW TO PLAY

Four or more players

Basic story: The first player starts a story about anything he wishes. As the game progresses, the leader points out various players who must immediately step in and continue the story from the point where the last player left off. This is continued until the story has been completed or until the leader calls a halt.

Rhyme story: First player gives out one line, second player adds a line, and so on. All lines must rhyme. Leader can point out at random a player to supply the next line to add an extra challenge to the game. Every player who misses a rhyme drops out.

PURPOSE This exercise is intended to help people in the group energized in quick thinking and having fun at the same time.

Duck, Duck, Analyze:

HOW TO PLAY

This is a fun, cute game to get to know each other in your group. It goes like this

Everyone begins the game on their knees in a big circle.

There is a person that is chosen to go around the circle and tap each person on the head saying you guessed it, “Duck”, until he/she finds a “victim”. He/she then says the word “analyze” on that person.

The Tapper must then return to the spot that the person that was tapped was sitting.

The goal is for the Tappee to touch the person that tapped him/her.

Everyone else then has to analyze how the person tried to get the other person.

Red Light Green Light:

HOW TO PLAY

Everyone in the world is familiar with this game, but most people use it only for fun. It is actually a great game to help actors and technicians to build strong focus and concentration and of course have fun at the same time. I strongly recommend this exercise to every troupe as a game that is played on a regular basis. It will get harder and more challenging each time for the person who is "it," as people’s focus and concentration grows.

"What ya doin’? What ya doin’?"

HOW TO PLAY

The game starts with everyone in a circle. Choose one person to start the game and send him/her in to the middle of the circle.

The person in the middle starts to do an activity, any activity (ex. digging a hole).

After the person has established the activity that he/she is doing, the person standing to the left of where the person in the middle was standing steps in to the middle and asks person #1 "What ya doin’? What ya doin’?".

Person #1 must then respond to person #2 by stating any activity other than the one they are actually doing (ex. if person #1 is digging, he/she would say "swimming")

Person #2 then begins to do the activity stated by person #1 as person #1 returns to his/her place in the circle.

This process continues going to the left around the circle until everyone has had a chance to go.

PURPOSE This game helps to get people’s creativity and imagination warmed-up. It also helps people to get to know each other through the types of activities they choose.

Pelvis Ball:

HOW TO PLAY

1. Everyone stands in circle.

2. One person starts by tossing an imaginary ball with their pelvis. At the same time he/she should make a weird noise and call the name of the person they are throwing the ball to.

3. The person catching the ball must catch it with his/her pelvis, and then repeat step two immediately.

4. If the ball is dropped, the only way to get it back to continue playing is by reciting the rhyme:

“Pelvis Ball,

Oh Pelvis Ball,

Please come back

Oh Pelvis Ball”

PURPOSE This will make your group more comfortable with each other as well as energize and excite them. It is a good way to release stress and have a few minutes of fun.

Name and Gesture:

HOW TO PLAY

1. Everyone sits/stands in a circle.

2. Starting with yourself, say your name using vocal inflections that fit your personality and also do a gesture that would fit your personality as well.

3. Continue STEP 2 going person to person around the circle.

PURPOSE This exercise is intended to help people to learn each other's names by giving them both a verbal and a visual. It also gives a good hint as to what the person's personality is like.

Have You Ever?

HOW TO PLAY

1. Have group members form a circle sitting down in chairs.

2. Take one chair away and have the owner of that chair stand in the middle of the circle.

3. To the group that person poses the question "Have you ever __(state an activity)__?

4. Those that have done the activity must run around the circle until they find a vacant seat.

5. The person left without a seat must go to the center of the circle and pose the same question.

PURPOSE To unite a troupe by discovering the similarities in the different members, and to open people up to new ideas and opinions.

Pull-up Game:

HOW TO PLAY

Everyone sits in a big circle with one person (the leader) standing on the outside, and six students (three girls and three boys) in the middle.

The leader of the circle is the one to call "Go" and "Stop"

When the leader yells "Go," the six players in the middle race to the edge of the circle to "pull-up" a member of the opposite sex into the middle, and they switch places, the one in the middle now sitting and the one sitting now in the middle.

Students in the middle are to repeat step 3 as quick as possible, getting as many members of the opposite sex into the middle.

When the leader yells "Stop" everyone stops. The group (boys or girls) with the smallest amount of members standing in the middle of the circle wins.

Note : This could also be done dividing the group into Technicians and Performers, Upper-classmen and Lower-classmen, or any other way that would divide the group into twos.

PURPOSE This exercise is good for warming-up physically, and also to unite the people inside of each group and create a sense of pride for each group.