Birth Map

Hang a large map of the world on the wall. As people enter, give everyone a pushpin/sticker. Have them pin the location of their birth on the map. If it’s just Irish people or one country attendees, use a country map or county map. You can use this for people to state their name and say where they are from. It’s a fun and good memory tool to remember names. You can also just remind people at the start of the activity or meeting to check out the map later.

*Appendix 1*

Name and Topic

Ask participants to introduce themselves, giving their names and one unusual bit of information. Choose a common theme - you can choose anything random or you might want to have participants give information related to the content of the event.

My Object Is...

Invite everyone to bring an item/object that means something to them (if it’s for a debrief session, preferably something from their overseas experience/host country). Everyone places their item/object on a table as they enter the venue. Then when everyone is sitting in the circle after initial introductions, invite them to pick an item/object that does not belong to them.

Select someone if they don’t volunteer themselves to state why they chose that particular item/object and what it means to them, then when they are done the actual owner collects the item/object and then states why they brought it with them and what it means or perhaps a quick story to accompany it. Continue the process until everyone has had a chance to share.

Silent I.D.

Give each person a piece of paper with instructions to write words or draw pictures that describe themselves without talking. Then they are to pin their paper on their chest, walk around, and look at each other. Pictures are collected and shuffled and participants try to identify to whom each picture belongs.

Secret Talents

Give each participant an index card. Ask everyone to write down on the card something not immediately apparent about themselves: a secret talent or obsession - eg. I know how to juggle, or when I was ten I demanded that everyone call me “The Fonz,” or I know all the words to “The Sound of Music.”

Participants should not write their names on the cards.

Then, collect the cards and redistribute them and make sure they don’t receive their own back again (if they do, just give them a different one).

Next, participants should find the person whose card they received (this means everyone will have to get up and move around). They will need to introduce that person to the group, giving just the name and talent. When everyone has had time to find the person whose card they have and to talk a bit, select one person to begin the introductions. Then, the person just introduced will introduce the person whose card they received, and so on.

My Partner Is...

Participants interview each other using questions such as unique traits, unusual hobbies, proudest moment, most prized possession, most unusual accomplishment, etc.

Participants then introduce their partner to the class and this continues to go around the circle.

Scavenger Hunt

Prepare a list of requirements that the participants need to acquire over a set time period. This should be done in teams and preferably for the purpose of developing new networks, should be with people that the participants don’t necessarily know too well and gender balanced. State in the rules that teams should always stick together at all times and you can enable this by saying that group photos have to be taken at certain points along the route.

Paired Sharing

Ask the participants to move around the room and find someone they do not know or who they know the least of anyone else. When everyone is in pairs, the facilitator announces the topic partners can talk about, and a designated amount of time to do so.

Who Is It?

People write down something about themselves they think no one knows. The leader reads the slips of paper and others guess whom the person is. It is amazing to see the things some people reveal about themselves.

Two Truths and a Lie

Have participants say three things about themselves. Two should be true and one should be a lie. Have participants guess which response was a lie and give their reasoning.

Balloon Pop

Have everyone form a circle. Instruct the participants to put one piece of information about themselves on a small slip of paper, fold it, and put it in a blown up balloon. Throw the balloons in the middle of the circle and then have people take turns popping a balloon, reading the piece of paper, and guessing to whom the information applies.

Take Turns

This is the quickest icebreaker of all. Ask people their name and where they come from. That is it!

The Four Cs

Ask each person to name a cartoon character, a color, a car, and a cuisine that best describes his or her personality and explain why.

Extreme Rock, Paper, and Scissors

You play this energizer in the normal “rock, paper, scissors” fashion with a fun twist. Have the group pair off. Once the winner and loser are established, the loser must follow the winner around for the rest of the activity chanting the winner’s name. This continues until you are left with two people fighting with a large crowd of supporters watching.

Something New

On the second day of an activity, ask each person to share one thing they learned about someone in the group during the previous session/day. Have the rest of the group try and guess the person described.

Roll A Topic

You’ll need preferably a large sponge dice (with up to six spots on each face of the dice) and a chart/list of six questions that reveal something to be shared with the group. Each person in the circle takes a turn to roll the dice and subsequently will reveal something that hopefully no one or at least the majority of participants didn’t know about the individual.

Two Truths and a Lie

You can run this fun activity in pairs, small groups, big groups or entire groups. Each participant takes a turn to tell three statements about themselves, two of which are true and one being false (in random order). The audience then try to decipher which one is indeed false. This is the only activity that being a good liar is acceptable.

Human Bingo

Everyone receives a prepared grid of different characteristics, personality traits and or life facts. The participants then have to get up and interact with people to try and find someone who matches the grids description. A name can only be used once - this means hopefully engagement and interaction will happen.

*Appendix 2*

Positive Name

Use the first letter of your name to create a positive word followed by your actual name. E.G. Awesome Adam. Each person tries to say the word and names of the people before them (obviously if your last it will be harder to remember but it’s fun).

Pass the Name

First say your own name then throw the ball to someone who isn’t either side of you. Continue until everyone has introduced themselves.

Then get people to state the name of the person they are throwing it to. Keep the same order and do it a few times until everyone is quite confident. Then tell them the ball has to be reversed and see if they know the other directions name.

My Name Is and I Like To...

Everyone in the group stands in a circle.

The first person says, "My name is and I like to ______ (insert hobby and act out a motion from that hobby.)

The next person then says, "(Person's Name) likes to (hobby) and acts out motion. Example, "My name is Dave and I like Fish (action out casting a reel).

The next person repeats the process.

This continues until the last person goes, at which the entire group calls out everyone’s info and moves along through the whole group.

Five Common Facts

This is a nice follow up from the name game where people are put in groups depending on the number of letters in their names.

Get participants in groups of four. Then challenge the group to come up with five things they all have in common. Five is a nice odd number that will require some discussion to achieve it.

Take What You Want

Get a bowl of loads of M&M’s or some sweets and get loads. Pass around the bowl of M&Ms, encouraging people to take as many as they want (everyone must at least take one). Tell them they can't eat them yet. One or two will always take a big handful. Once everyone has some in front of them, tell them that for every M&M they took, they have to volunteer one interesting fact about themselves.

Candy Introductions

Similar to “Take What You Want” (directly above), this activity requires sweets. This time we have five bowls filled with a single colour sweet. Red, green, blue, yellow and orange (change if needs be to suit). Inform participants that you will pass out five bowls with five different colours and by the end of the rounds, they must atleast have two different coloured sweets in their hand.

Then pass one bowl around at a time and invite the participants to take one sweet only if they’d like to. Then pass the next bowl on and so on until all five bowls have been around.

On a chart/powerpoint - reveal that the colours mean something:

Red – Favorite hobbies

Green – Favorite place on earth

Blue – Favorite memory

Yellow -Dream job

Orange – Wildcard (tell us anything about yourself!)

(You can change the info wanted to suit workshop theme)

The participants take turn to reveal at least two things each about themselves that correspond with the colour scheme

First Names

Have everyone count the number of letters in their first name. Now ask them to find someone who has the same number of letters. Those two are now partners. If a a person can't find someone let him/her use another name s/he is called by (i.e., a student named Matthew may use the name Matt and then look for someone with 4 letters instead of 7.) If they still can't find someone pair up with a person who has the closest number of letters.

Screamer

In a circle, people look at the ground, then on "heads up" look into someone else's eyes. If 2 people are looking at each other, they scream and are both out. Continue to see who is last - hilarious.

Dream Vacation

Ask each person to introduce him or herself and describe details of what their ideal, perfect dream vacation would be like.

Hot and Cold

Two members of the group are chosen to be “it” and sent out of the room. The remaining people choose a task for them to do (stand on the table, do a somersault, etc.). When the chosen two return, it is the group’s job to encourage them to perform the task. However, the only encouragement allowed is applause when they’re hot and booing when they are cold. You can repeat this as many times as you wish.

Movie Ball

Everyone stands in a circle. One participant bounces a ball to somebody else after saying the name of a movie. There is a five second limit after the ball is bounced. The ball continues to be bounced to individuals in the group. A person is out of the game if they repeat a movie name or fail to say a name within the five second time limit. Eventually there is a competition between two people for the winner.

Talent Show

Everyone selects one talent or special ability that they possess and can show the group. Then each person introduces themselves, explains what their special talent is, and then perform their special talent for the group.

21 Questions

One participant sits in the "hot seat" and has a character/public figure/celebrity portrayed above their head (they cannot see the name/picture). The rest of the participants can see and should know the name of the character/public figure/celebrity.

The participant in the "hot seat" then asks "yes/no" questions to try and figure out who they are within 21 questions!

Example of questions;

"Am I a Male?"

"Am I American?"

"Am I an actor?"

FIND SOMEONE...