Here are some icebreaker ideas:

 

CANCER…

"Stand Up if..." - Have people stand up if they meet a series of things... Example - Tell them to "Stand up if.." if any of the following is true, and to stay standing:

- you have a parent with cancer

- if you have had cancer

- if you know someone who has received tamoxifen

- if you have had a child with cancer

- if you have had a friend with cancer

- if you have had a co-worker with cancer

Stop once everyone in the room is standing...

"Name and Reason To Relay" - Simple but quick - have each person say their name and their Reason to Relay… The personal connections are often a great way to motivate all those involved.

COLLABORATION…

“Making Money the Hard Way” – Have two people arm wrestle… Tell them for each victory they each win, they get $100… See who is the first to figure out that letting each other win, and simply going back and forth (Person a wins, person b wins, person a wins, person b wins, and so on) is the best way to raise the most money.

“Four Corners” – Send your team captains or committee to four corners of the room and have them come up with something “Relay”! Give them 3 minutes to come up with it, have them do it, and have a small prize (Relay For Life pen, etc.) for all the winners

ENERGIZERS

“Relay Clap” – To keep them motivated throughout your team captain meeting or kickoff, let them know that at random times, when you clap three times, you expect them to scream “Relay!”… If they don’t scream loud enough, get on a chair, and do it again ‘till they’re pumped up!

"Relay High Five " - The Relay High Five is trying to high five, missing, and "low fiving" as your hand misses and comes around below...

DIVERSITY

"Pirate Walk" - Have pepole divide into four groups.... Secretly get to one member of each group before hand and have one person (in Group A) be highly positive. Have one person (in Group B) be highly negative. Have the third group (C) observe group A... Have Group D observe Group B. The task is to have groups A and B choose the 20 things they absolutely must have to survive on a desert island. Group C will make observations on the impact of the negative person in Group A, Group D, the positive person in Group B on the overall dynamics of how things go.

Talk about the impact of encouragement. When all is said and done, point out the following:

- groups/teams with a highly negative person are quantifiably less successful

- Individuals and teams that are considered successful make 2 times as many mistakes; they are not defined by their mistakes, but by their reactions to them.

- Groups with a "can-do" team player are more likely to come up with a workable solution to a problem.

- Gain their observations on this.

"Fill In The Blank" - A Game of Thought association... Give a set of words - slumber blanket snore pillow relaxed nap peace bed dream doze restful pajamas ... Read them off slowly... Hand out Post-Its and have people write them down... Did people write down sleep? Put up actual words and see how people did - ask for others... Talk about how people fill in patterns... When it comes to diversity, there are pieces of the puzzle that people don't see and assume, because the "gaps" make sense based on the pattern... Example - stereotypes about people, etc.

"Two truths and a Lie" - Have people tell two truths and a lie about themselves and have everyone guess the lie... People may surprise you sometimes on how different they can be from each other, or by the things the know/do that you never knew about. Use it as a way for people to ask questions to get to know each other better.

GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER

"Divide your life into three phases" - Draw a pictoral representatoin of your life divided into three, with key milestones that explain each of the transitions...

- Talk about who you are, the role in your life the transition played, key things about your family that matter to you.

- Finish with one word that describes you

“Name and Reason To Relay” – Simple but quick – have each person say their name and their Reason to Relay… The personal connections are often a great way to motivate all those involved.

"Picture that describes your life" – have each person draw the picture and write down 1 word that describes what they value most, and share with everyone.

“Rambunctious Rhonda!” – have each person say their name, preceded by the adjective that most describes them – for example – “Rambunctious Rhonda or Fabulous Fred!”

"Who Are You" – Have people fill out a chart pad sheet with Name, Nickname, Drawing of their life (tell them it can contain anything they consider to be central to their life)

OTHER INFO

Also, websites with nice icebreakers (they have done a beautiful job!) are:

http://www.mwls.co.uk/icebreak.htm

http://www.bbyo.org/bbg/ideas/mixers.html

 

Ramesh Moorthy Webmaster: acsrelay.org, Ideas for Volunteers

Relay Blog: acsrelay blog

Moderator: relayforlife.org</