Ice breakers / warm up

• Aim: warm-up
• Group size: 5–25
• Time: 15 minutes
• Supplies: none
  

Instructions

1. The facilitator arranges the group in a circle.
2. The first player pronounces “HA” pointing at another player with his/her palms together and then lifts her hands up and lets them fall fast – as if holding a sword in their hands and wanting to cut someone in half.
3. This person “who is halved” then pronounces “HE” (second person) and simultaneously puts his/her palms together and brings his/her arms from where they have been kept down to up over the head.
4. The two people standing next to the person who says “HE” (third + fourth person) put their palms together and sweep towards the stomach of the “HE”-person. At the same time they say “HU”. The movement always looks like you want to cut someone in half with a sword. Afterwards the “HA”, “HE”, and “HU”, the person who said “HE” (the second person in the signal chain) now passes on the signal by starting, just like the first person, with the sound “HA” and the signal chain starts again.

• Aim: ice-breaker, learning names and preparing the group for later phases in working with action based methods
• Group size: 4–25
• Time: 10–15 min
• Supplies: none

Instructions

1. The group stands in a circle. The facilitator gives a rhythmical motive, and the whole group follows; clapping their hands on their thighs two times and then snapping their fingers two times, as follows: thighs-thighs, fingers-fingers, thighs-thighs, fingers-fingers, etc.
2. The participants start repeating their names to have a combination of voice and rhythm in the following sequence: thighs -thighs/ my name – my name, fingers – fingers/the name of the person standing next to me – the name of the person standing next to me. The one whose name it is, has to continue with the game, without losing the rhythm. The game will continue until everyone has said their name.
3. Variation: thighs -thighs/ my name – my name, fingers – fingers/my name, the name of someone else in the group. The one that hears his/her name has to continue with the game, without losing the rhythm.

• Aim: ice-breaker / getting to know you games
• Group size: 4–25
• Time: 10 min
• Supplies: a ball, for example a Pilates ball, a ball that is easy to catch or a bean bag. Open space and enough room to form a circle

Instructions

1. The group stands in a circle. The participants say their own names and throw a ball at another person in the group. The ball is tossed from one to another until everyone has said their name.
2. Next round: the participants say the name of the person to whom they are going to throw the ball. The facilitator should encourage the participants to look in the eye of the person who they are going to throw the ball to and throw it carefully so that it is easy to catch.

• Aim: ice-breaker / getting to know you games
• Group size: 5+
• Time: 5–10 minutes
• Supplies: chairs

Instructions

1. The facilitator divides the participants into an equal number of three to four fruits, such as oranges and bananas. The participants then sit on chairs in a circle. One person must stand in the center of the circle of chairs.

2. The facilitator shouts out the name of one of the fruits, such as ‘oranges’, and all of the oranges must change places with one another.

3. The person who is standing in the middle tries to take one of their places as they move, leaving another person in the middle without a chair. The new person in the middle shouts another fruit and the game continues. A call of ‘fruit salad’ means that everyone has to change seats.

Variation: a getting to know you game: The group stands in a circle and one person must stand in the center of the circle. The person in the center says something about herself, such as “I like dancing“ and all  participants who like dancing must change places with one another. And again, the person who stands in the middle tries to take one of their places as they move, leaving another person in the middle.
As a facilitator you can encourage the participants to share something about themselves – strengths or weaknesses: “I´m scared of new situations“, “I can’t swim” or “I can speak three languages”.

• Aims of the exercise: ice-breaker and energizer
• Group size: 4–25
• Time: 10 min
• Supplies: none

Instructions

1. The group stands in a circle. The participants pass round the circle word “Shwish” from one to the other, with the voice, the head and movement of the hands.
2. To change the action and stop the flow anyone can in her turn use the word “Bang” and make a stopping movement with their hands.
3. Third option is “Poing”, which can be tossed across to someone on the other side of the circle by movement and voice.  For example; A gives a “Shwish” to the person standing on her right and he/she (B) may change the circle’s flow by giving A back a “Bang”, so A must  “Shwish” to  the one that stands on her left (C), who passes it to her left to person D who sends a “Poing” to the other side of the circle to E who will then pass a “Shwish” to the person standing on her left, and so on.

• Category: ice breakers/ warm up and energizers
• Group size: 7–30
• Time: 15 min
• Supplies: A big room that would fit all of the participants moving around it

Instructions 

1. The group stands in a circle. One person is chosen to stand in the center of the circle.
2. The facilitator will explain the rules of the game and introduces the figures  with just a verbal description of the figure or showing in detail: 

Figures: 

Mixer

The chosen person in the middle is the mixer. Both hands are stretched out with the fingers pointing downwards. The other two players position themselves under the hands of the middle player and spin around.

Puking kangaroo

The person in the middle forms a circle with their arms (a pouch), the people to the left and right pretend to throw up into the pouch and make the necessary sound effects.

James Bond

The chosen person in the middle is James Bond. This person moves into a casual gun pose of James Bond (hands made into a pistol). The two people to the left and right are the bond girls who look at James Bond adoringly and say “oooohhh Jaaames”.

1. The person who is standing in the center chooses one person by pointing at the person and tells the figure he/she must perform e.g:” James Bond!”. The neighbouring people standing to the right and to the left of the chosen player automatically become the fellow players. The facilitator tells them when it is time they will change roles and the new person in the middle points another person and shouts a new figure  and the game continues.

Variation: The one of the three persons performing the figure who reacts last or does a wrong figure, will swap places with the one in the middle.

Another Variation:  As a facilitator you can encourage the participants to create new figures as the game goes on.

1. The difficulty level is increased according to the speed at which the figures are called out. 

• Category:  ice breakers/ warm up and energizers
• Group size: 6 + you have to have an even number of participants!
• Time: 5- 10  minutes
• Supplies: chairs, a tennis ball, a hacky sack or bean bag.

Instructions

1. Group forms a circle of chairs. The facilitator divides the participants into a two equal teams counting from one to two,starting with one person and following the circle. Each participant will have a number one or two in the end. Group remains seated. Everyone with the number one belongs to team number one, everyone with number 2 belongs to the other team. Each person must have members of the opponent team sitting to the left and right of them. 
2. Each group gets an item: e.g. a pillow, a tennis ball, a hacky sack or bean bag.  The item will be handed to two people from the opponent teams sitting across from each other. The facilitator shouts: Ready-Set-Go! The teams start passing the item around. The item will only be passed to the team member that sits right next to the person who is about to pass the item on. Aim is to try to overtake the opponent team’s item. 
3. As a facilitator you can randomly change the direction in which the item is passed around. 

• Category:   ice breakers/ warm up and bodily improvisation
• Group size: 4–50
• Time: 10–15 minutes
• Supplies: open sheltered space, music (optional)

Instructions

1. All the participants are scattered around the room and the facilitator asks them to move around like free molecules (music optional). When the facilitator calls out “Atom“ and  a number e.g ” 5“. the participants will have to get into groups of a number as quickly as possible and form an atom.
2. When they all  have formed the groups they get a task to fulfill. The facilitator now calls out different body parts and numbers. The group needs to have this certain amount of body parts touching the floor. Not more and not less. E.g : “5 feet, 5 hands, 2 bottoms“. Each group tries to find a creative solution. As a  facilitator you can check if they got it right and give points for the group that solves the task as the first group.
3. Games continues, atoms break up and participants run freely around the room till the next “atom [number]“ is heard. Between making the atoms the facilitator asks the participants to move around the room so that it is possible that they arrange themselves in a group with different people every time.

• Category: energizers / warm up
• Group size: 10-20
• Time:  20  minutes
• Supplies: open sheltered space

Instructions:

1. The group has to make different gestures according to the phase of the moon that the person who encourages the activity tells them. 
2. The person leading the activity has to shout a phase of the moon pointing to a partner and the latter has to make the gesture.
3. Whoever makes a mistake can be left out of the game or have an added difficulty (squat, covered eyes, tongue out…).
4. Phases: 

• New Moon, you have to cover your face with both hands;
• Full moon, you have to make a circle with your arms in front of your face; 
• Waning moon, C-shaped arms (looking to the right) 
• Crescent moon, D-shaped arms (looking to the left).

• Category: energizers / warm up
• Group size: 10-20
• Time:  20  minutes
• Supplies: open sheltered space and a large rope

Instructions:

1. For this exercise we need a long rope. We stand in a row along the rope that is on the ground, so that the rope is between our feet (we open our legs and leave the rope in the middle).
2. The person who energizes the activity has 4 words to say: EARTH, SEA, FIRE AND AIR.

• EARTH: starting position with the rope between the legs.
• MAR: we jump to the right
• FIRE: we jump to the left
• AIR: we jump up (regardless of our position)

1. Whoever dynamizes the activity intersperses the words earth, sea, fire and air so that we have to jump and place ourselves in the correct area. In case of error, the person can be eliminated or continue playing with a limitation (lame leg, hands on the head, etc).
2. An adaptation that increases the difficulty of the game is to say names of animals that live on land, sea or that fly.

• Category: energizers / warm up / Bodily improvisation
• Group size: 10-20
• Time:  15-20  minutes
• Supplies: open sheltered space 

Instructions:

1. We stand in a circle and each person thinks a distinctive gesture (peace sign, hands up, touching their nose, tapping…). With claps we will all set the rhythm of the famous song We will rock you.
2. When the person who has the first turn deems it appropriate, substitute the pat for the gesture that he/she has thought. After him/her, the partner on the right must follow the rhythm of the song by adding his/her own gesture, but always leaving a rhythm + clap between the gestures.
3. Thus, the turn will go by indicating it by gestures. In case of error, the person can be penalized or removed from the game

Example:

Player 1: rhythm + clap, rhythm + touch nose, rhythm + clap, rhythm + touch nose …

Player 2: rhythm + clap, rhythm + touch nose, rhythm + clap, rhythm + wave in the air, rhythm + clap, rhythm + touch nose, rhythm + clap, rhythm + wave in the air …

Player 3: rhythm + clap, rhythm + touch nose, rhythm + clap, rhythm + wave in the air, rhythm + clap, rhythm + jump, rhythm + clap, rhythm + touch nose, rhythm + clap, rhythm + wave in the air, rhythm + clap, rhythm + jump…