Ice Breakers

• How many people will be there?
• How much time do you want to allot to this activity?
• What is the purpose of the activity (purely 'get to know you' or other goals)?
• How much space do you have?
• Do you want an active or a passive activity?

• Choose one of the introductions below.
• Gather people around and give them the instructions and an example using your own name as an example.
• Tell the group that you will be passing to your (left or right) and then ask if there are any questions. 
• People should have the right to pass if they can't think of an answer right away, just make sure to get back to them at the end to see if they have an answer. 

2.  Dalke Nash at United Way of King County (Washington) has one where you  introduce yourself with your first name and an adjective that starts with  the same letter.  (Hi!  I'm Nan.  I'm feeling nutty today.)

3.  Similar, back in my MYF daus (a few centuries ago) we did one where we said our name and something we were thankful for that started with both initials.  So Ernie Jones was thankful for eggs and jam.  (Hi!  I'm Nan Hawthorne.  I'm thankful for Netscape Help!) 

4.  One I used in my volunteer classes that I made up myself was to have each person introduce the person next to them and describe an outlandish volunteer job.  I used to do this one a lot, "This is Jim.  He is part of a program that puts radio receivers on penguins in Antarctica.  During their winter it's Jim's job to send encouraging messages and play Hawaii music to help them handle the cold." 

5. The "Koko Glenhope" one was another icebreaker.  People introduce themselves with their first pet's (or doll's if they didn't have a pet) as their first name and the street they lived on as their second.  So my first cat's name was Koko and I lived on Glenhope Drive.  If people lived on a numbered street, they could say "the 5th" --- if I lived on 3rd Ave., I would be Koko the Third.  The funniest one we had was "Sparkles Fontanelle".

• Choose one of the introductions below.
• Gather people around and give them the instructions and an example using your own name as an example.
• Tell the group that you will be passing to your (left or right) and then ask if there are any questions. 
• People should have the right to pass if they can't think of an answer right away, just make sure to get back to them at the end to see if they have an answer. 

FIRE 
Ask participants to tell what one object they would want to save if there 
was a fire in their home, assuming that their family and pets were out of the blaze. 

TRUTH OR PRETEND? 
Have each person tell one thing about themselves that is true and one 
thing that is false, without revealing which is which.  Then have all 
participants try and guess which one is the truth. 

PURPLE PANDA BEAR 
Have each person tell what animal best fits their personality as a description and why. 

DREAM VACATION 
Have each person tell were they would most like to visit on a dream 
vacation and why. 

RAP INTRO 
Have each person make an acronym out of their name using words that describe  them.  Ex:  F = Funny  I = Intelligent  R = Rambunctious E = Extroverted 

SAME LETTER 
Have each person describe themselves using only words that start with the first letters in their first and last name or screen name. 

MEMORABLE 
Have each person tell the most memorable moment in their life so far (one they care to share).

• Medium to large sized group
• Minimal space

• Choose one of the introductions below.
• Gather people around and give them the instructions and an example using your own name as an example.
• Tell the group that you will be passing to your (left or right) and then ask if there are any questions. 
• People should have the right to pass if they can't think of an answer right away, just make sure to get back to them at the end to see if they have an answer. 

Build a Team
Give everyone a slip of paper when they come in that has a famous person, character, or something that could be "grouped" on it.  The goal is for people to find other people that are a member of the same prearranged "group" and get together.  The ways to implement this are numerous - i'm happy to talk over different ideas.  Then once people find everyone in their group, they can do something as a group if you wish (typical things are a human knot, making up an introduction for their team and each member in it, etc.). 

Team goal setting
You can also end a "find your team" or some sort of icebreaker with a goal setting exercise where people set their own expectations/goals  for the training.  Then small groups (mixed with folks from different offices) can present their ideas to everyone. 
Alternatively, you can split people into groups interactively and then have them do some creative problem solving.