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Sunday, July 29, 2007

eating healthy is like a window because...

Description: An activity where participants explain how an object and a learning goal are similar. this is a very powerful activity for thinking out-the-box as it forces the mind to go where it hasn't. It also acts as a great exercise to increase retention around a specific training goal.
Loud Objectives: To define a comparison or association between two or more seemingly unrelated subjects.
Silent Objectives:

* solicit attitudes, values, assumptions and motivation
* warm-up & energize
* facilitate creative thinking

* generate brand & business
Materials: Pens and paper

Process: Have people team up. One person will write down 3 things that come to mind. The other person will explain how each object relates/compares/associates to your training goal. For example, the object is "window" and the word you want them to remember is "carrots." One might associate carrots to a window because drive thru windows are now offering healthy foods which include carrots. The participant invented the association and will surely remember carrots! Debrief to facilitate learning objectives.
Variations: For a class, point to objects in the room and engage the entire class. For a marketing event or creative meeting, have participants brainstorm how objects relate to your brand. It silently solicits public assumptions!



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Saturday, July 28, 2007

wedding couple trivia

Try wedding reception games to really get your guests into a spirit of fun. Some options for entertaining your restless crowd before the festivities begin are to include them in the reception before it begins, or to add a fun & meaningful activity in your reception.

Description: A fun trivia game for the guests to answer correctly about the wedding couple.
Secondary Objectives: To involve and entertain your guests and to pass the time between music sets or while your guests are seated and waiting for the meal to be served.
Primary Objectives:
* warm-up & energize
* entertain
* get acquainted
* build community & stimulate conversation

Materials: Index cards
Process: Have questions about you and your new spouse written down ahead of time, each relating to you, your spouse or both of you. Where did you meet? How did he propose? Who had what as a child? Have your DJ or MC select a guest to answer the first question. If they answer correctly, they can step up to the mic and call on the next guest, and so on.

Variations: If your one of your parents are up for it, have them stand at the microphone instead of the DJ! If any answer was regarding childhood, you can share a related picture on a projector. Table prizes are always a hit for the correct answers!
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debriefing

after completing a team-building activity, it is important to have the participants reflect on their experience. This is called "debriefing."

with the help of an insightful and energizing facilitator, the group has a discussion around what they did, how it worked, and how they could have altered the result by doing something different. suggested questions to facilitate desired learning outcomes are as follows:

  1. what happened?
  2. how did you work together?
  3. were agreements made?
  4. what would you do differently?
note: participants will not genuinely contribute unless the environment has allowed participants to let-down their guards, roles and assumptions. in other words, safety and trust have been established for people to actually say what is REALLY on their minds. a professional facilitator is required in this type of situation, as group dynamics need to be managed with care.
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treasure hunt!

Description: A treasure hunt involving clue solving.
Loud Objectives: Figure out the clues as you visit each mystery location.
Silent Objectives:

build community & stimulate conversation
foster social skills
promote team spirit
Materials: A trail of breadcrumbs...(any object will do)
Process: Divide participants in groups based on table, department, or interesting classification. Give them a time-limit, a list of clues, a worksheet to fill out, and some kind of incentive for completing.
Debrief to facilitate learning objectives, if any.
Variations: Have fun with the time-limit by making it 2 minute intervals, storing the worksheet in an odd place (on people's backs), turning this into a cooperative game, or creating an odd rule like closing one eye the entire time! This can be quite hilarious as guests climb under tables.




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Friday, July 27, 2007

what is an "icebreaker" anyways??

Compliments of wikipedia, an icebreaker is a facilitation exercise intended to "warm up" a group by helping the members to get to know each other in a light-hearted manner.

Commonly icebreakers begin the process of forming individuals into a team. Mainly, they are presented as a game and often focus on sharing personal information such as names, backgrounds, or opinions.
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why icebaker??


the name "icebreaker" was taken, silly.

instead, we're baking the ice.

see, the intention is the same. broken or melted, its not taking the original form!
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how it all began...

whoohoo! ever been asked what you would do if you didn't have to make money? well, this is it for me!

this blog is all about researching, inventing, testing and sharing the most easy & effective icebreakers. Please feel free to comment, or share your favorite icebreaker! I plan to label each post with one or more of the following, so feel free to search by label :)

  • party icebreakers
  • retreat icebreakers
  • meeting icebreakers
  • teambuilding icebreakers
  • icebreakers for youth
  • icebreaker games
  • icebreaker questions

positively,
me