or, What Makes An Ice-Breaker An Ice-Breaker?
Sometimes, this is simply asking the question some program leaders are not willing to ask themselves – Why didn’t my opening exercise work?
Many leaders think that simply adding an activity to the beginning of their program makes it an ice-breaker.
Wrong!
To truly qualify as an ice-breaker, an activity (or any experience) must reflect most, if not all, of the following five criteria. An ice-breaker must be:
- Fun;
- Non-threatening;
- Highly interactive;
- Simple & easy to understand; and
- Success-oriented.
So, if an activity or experience you are considering does not tick off 3, 4 or (hopefully) all 5 of these attrtibutes and you’re calling it an ‘ice-breaker,’ don’t do it! It is highly unlikely it will prepare your group for whatever you have in store for them. And isn’t that the whole point…?