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Icebreakers
Recommendations for your PD Workshop
Top 3 Icebreakers for professional development workshops
AlliterationNamegame
Recommended Head Start Science
ScienceProcessSkillCharades!
Curriculum of 2017
BigRedBallImprovgame
*Seeicebreakerdescriptionsandstepsbelow
Icebreaker sources
NISENetwork
o
SearchforNISEnetimprovexercisesformanymoreideas
Icebreakerideas.com
o
Searchforicebreakerideasandfindbestideasforadultsandquickicebreakers!
Ice Breaker Guides
1. Gettoknoweveryone’snamewithanalliterationgame!
Haveeveryonestandinacircle
Eachpersonwillintroducethemselvesbysayingtheirnamefollowedbyaverbora
nounthatdescribessomethingthattheylikethatstartswiththesameletterastheir
name!
o
ForexampleLaurenlikeslemonsorVictorialikesviolets
Makeitmoreexcitingbyalsoaskingeachpersontocomeupwithamotiontogo
withthenounorverbthattheypick
Lastly,youcanalsoexpandthisgamesothataftereachpersonintroduces
themselves,everyoneelsesaysHi___________anddoesthemovementassociatedwith
thethingtheylike
Havingmanylayersofthisgameonlyhelpspeopleremembereveryoneelse’s
namesevenmore!
2. BigRedBallImprovgame–thisisagreatgametogeteveryonemovingandlaughing
Haveeveryonestandinacircle
Putyourarmsoutinfrontofyouandexplainthatyou’reholdingabigredimaginary
ballthatyou’regoingtopassaroundthecircle.Buttheballissoheavythatyoucan
onlypassitwithyourforearms.Eachtimeyoupassityoumustsay“woosh”.
Topassittotheleftyouwilluseyourrightforearmandpushtheredballtothe
persononyourleft.Topassittotherightyouwilluseyourleftforearmtopushthe
balltothepersononyourright.
Passtheballaroundthecircle!
Makethingsmoreinterestingbyaddingsomeramps.Saythepersononyourright
passesyoutheball,insteadofusingyourrightforearmtosendittothenextperson,
youwillpointyourrighthanddownataforty-fivedegreeangleandputyourleft
handintheairata135-degreeangle.Thiscausestheballtoskipthepersononyour
left.
Ifthepersononyourleftpassesyoutheball,yourrampwillbetheoppositewith
yourlefthanddownandaforty-fivedegreeangleandputyourrighthandintheair
ata135-degreeangle.Thiscausestheballtoskipthepersononyourright.
Trygoingaroundthecircleandexperimentingwithramps
Thelastpieceisahalfpipe.Ifthepersononyourrightpassesyoutheball,insteadof
usingyourrightforearmtomovetheballyouwillmaketheletter“C”withyour
armsfacingthepersonwhojustpassedtheball.Yourrightarmisthebottomofthe
“C”andtheleftarmisthetopofthe“C”.Thisreversestheballtogobacktothe
personwhojustpassedittoyou.
Doonelastgoaroundwithallthreemethodsofmovingtheball!
3. Scienceprocessskillcharades
Toprepare–writeeachscienceprocessskillonanindexcard.Prepareenough
cardstobeabletobreakteachersintogroupsof3-4people
Giveeachgroupofteachers1processskill.
Thenasktheteacherstoactouttheirassignedscienceprocessskillwithouttalking
andeveryoneelseisgoingtohavetoguesswhatskilltheywereassigned!
Creditsandrights
DevelopedbytheSciencenterfortheCollaborativeforEarlyScienceLearning.
Contact:LaurenVanDerzee,[email protected]
Copyright2017,Sciencenter,IthacaNY
ThisprojectwasmadepossibleinpartbytheInstituteofMuseumand
LibraryServices
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