d to create. Also, many adult learners will view icebreakers as a waste of time regardless of the amount of fun they and others have. For these reasons, set some limits when selecting or developing icebreakers for a training session.
Many books and other resources contain training ideas that can be used as icebreakers. Here are a few that have been used in financial education classes:
General Description of the Activity and Instructions for Facilitating
And Now I’d Like To Introduce…3
Materials Needed: Pencils/pens and note card or paper for taking notes
About the Icebreaker: Each participant pairs up with another whom they do not know. The facilitator explains that instead of people introducing themselves, they will introduce their partners.
1. Instruct partners to interview each other. Explain that the notes from the interview will provide the foundation for the introduction of the partner.
2. The facilitator should provide a list of questions that people should be prompted to ask, such as:
- Where are you from?/Where do you live?
- IDA goal?
- What is interesting about you that not many people know?
- If all your living expenses were paid for, how would you spend your time?
3. The facilitator should give the group 5 minutes for the pairs partners to interview each other (the facilitator should instruct participants to switch interviewer/interviewee status after two and a half minutes).
4. Facilitators should ask partners to volunteer to do the introduction and instruct them to start by saying “And now I’d like to introduce…”
5. After everyone is finished, ask people to share what they learned about the other participants in the group.
And a Lie4
Materials Needed: Half a sheet of flip chart/newsprint paper and a marker for each participant.
About the Icebreaker: Participants introduce themselves by stating their names and then three truths about themselves and one lie. They do not share which statements are true or which is the lie. The other participants then guess which statement is the lie.
1. Instruct participants to write on their papers: their names at the top and then four statements about themselves. Explain that three of the statements should be true and one should be a lie.
2. Tell participants they should keep secret the statement that is not true.
3. Explain that they will introduce themselves by showing their papers and stating their names and then the four statements.
4. Explain that the other participants should then guess which statement is not true.
5. The facilitator should ask for more information—“tell us more about the time you hiked in the Grand Canyon”—for a couple of them.
6. Provide an example to get going:
My name is Ana Martinez.
- I am the oldest of 5 girls.
- I have been on a 500-mile bike ride to raise money for MS.
- I have seven cats.
- I used to sing and play tambourine in a garage band.
(The seven cats statement is the lie in this example.)
7. After everyone is finished, ask people to share what they learned about the other participants in the group.
Materials Needed: None
About the Icebreaker: Participants think about what three things and what three people—known to them or not, living or not—they would want to have with them if they were marooned on a desert island (assuming there was plenty of food and water).
1. Instruct participants to reflect individually on the following scenario:
You have been stranded on a desert island. There is plenty of food and water. What three things would you want with you on the island? What three people would you want with you? The people can be ones you know or not, living or not.
2. After 2–3 minutes, start by providing an example. Be sure to ask people to provide both the items and people they would want as well as the rationales for their choices:
- My name is Ana Martinez, and I would have with me: My iPod filled with music and audio downloads to keep me entertained, my cell phone so I could call for help, and a sleeping bag so I could sleep well every night and stay warm and comfortable. The people I would have with me are my grandmother because