SPEED DATING

Purpose:  To get your students talking and learning more about each other and building a foundation for deeper conversations.

 

Prep

1)  Prepare you room by placing the chairs in clusters of 2, 3, 4, etc… depending on the size of your group.

2)  Have a stopwatch or some other device for keeping time.

3)  Prepare a series of short questions for the group to answer.

4)  Assign each chair a number value equal to the number of chairs in each group.

5)  Number sheets of paper with the same number values of chairs and groups of chairs.  I you have 6 groups of chairs with 3 chairs in each group you will need 6 stacks of paper numbered from 1 – 3.

 

Icebreaker

1)  As the students enter the room, give each one a slip of paper with a number and ask them to find a chair with the corresponding number.  (You will need to determine whether it would be best to split up your normal groups.  It would probably be best to leave visitors with someone they know.)

2)  Give one person in the group a list of the questions prepared before hand or put them on the big screen for everyone to see.

3)  Have the person in the #1 chair begin. Explain that each person will have one minute to answer as many questions in the chosen category as possible.

 

Possible Questions

HAVE YOU EVER:
Skipped school?
Been lost?
Swam in the ocean?
Been on the opposite side of the country?
Cried yourself to sleep?
Played cops and Robbers or Cowboys and Indians?
Gone to another country?
Sang karaoke?
Been on a plane?
Paid for a meal with coins only?
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?
Made prank phone calls?
Laughed until some sort of beverage came out of your nose?
Caught a snowflake on your tongue?
Baked a turkey?
Written a letter to Santa Claus?
Watched the sun rise on the East Coast?
Watched the sunset on the West Coast?
Sat outside in the rain?
Lived one of your dreams?
Eaten just cookies for dinner?
Been on TV?
Stolen traffic signs?

What is your:
Nickname?
Birthplace?
Birth order?
Dream home?

What is your favorite:
Beverage?
Vacation spot?
TV show?
Body wash?
Movie?
Holiday?
Dessert?
Food?
Toothpaste?
Smell?
Time of day?
Season?
Excuse?
Book?

How do you:
Relax?
See yourself in 10 years?
React to rude people?
Get to school?
Like you steak cooked?
Spend time with your parents?
Greet your friends?

 

Be creative when you make up your list of questions for students to answer.  We would love for you to share them with us in the comment section.

TWO OF A KIND

Purpose:  To stimulate conversation or to help your group break out of their normal cliques and share with others in the group.

 

Prep

1)  You can use a variety of items for this icebreaker as long as their are an equal number of paired items to choose from.  You can have colored marbles, cut up pieces of construction paper, colored paper clips, etc… Just make sure their are only pairs.  If you use construction paper their should only be two blue pieces, two green pieces, two yellow pieces, and so on.  Make sure their are enough unique paired items for your entire group.  If you have a large group you could use 3, 4, or 5 of the same color or similar item.

You can also use random items.  Two pencils, two golf balls, two quarters, etc… If you use random items, one of your questions could be “why did you choose the item that you chose.”

 

2)  Prepare in advance a list of 1 – 3 questions for the group to answer depending on how much time you have.  If you will be teaching you could have the question relate somehow to the topic.  Make sure it isn’t too personal.

 

Icebreaker

1)  Put enough paired items for your whole group in a container.

2)  Have each student select an item from the container.

3)  Have the students with similar items to pair up.

4)  Have each student take turns answering the questions prepared before hand.

 

Please comment below and let us know how you used this material, how your audience responded, how you improved the content, or any suggestions you might have.

Digital Scavenger Hunt

submitted by LARRY WESTFALL

Preparation
Before the day of the scavenger hunt you will need to make a few arrangements:
1)  Create a way for individuals to sign up so that you can have an accurate number of participants.
2)  Once you know the number of people that are participating you need to break the groups into even teams and arrange for each team to have transportation and a driver.  Make sure that each vehicle will hold the size of the group assigned to it.
3)  Arrange for each team to have a digital camera or cell phone to take pictures with.
4)  Prepare a list of wacky photos for each team to take with their camera/cell phone.  Each picture taken must include every member of the team except the person taking the photo.  Please e-mail me or post your list of photos below for all to see.

The Day of the Hunt
1)  Separate everyone into their groups.
2)  Make sure each team has a camera/cell phone and a list of photos to be taken.
3)  Let everyone know their driver and which vehicle they are assigned to.
4)  Set a time for each team to return to ground zero.
5)  Say Go! 

Wrap Up
1)  Order Pizza and have everyone come back to a big party.
2)  You could arrange for teams using cell phones to e-mail or text pictures to an address that can be accessed from ground zero and downloaded into a slideshow.  Have someone available with a multi-card reader for teams using digital cameras.  Pictures can be downloaded while everyone is eating and slideshow presentation can be done after the meal.

Extra Thoughts
    I like to use a list of 50 items so that I know it will take some effort to complete the list.
    I usually give 2 hours to complete the list
    This is a good way to get younger sibling or parents involved in an activity

Photo Suggestions
Will be posted soon