Engage and Connect with Icebreakers
An icebreaker is a short, fun activity that helps people get to know each other and feel more comfortable participating. Starting with an icebreaker sets a positive tone, builds connections, and encourages students to engage in the meeting.
⏰ These Icebreakers take 5-10 minutes each.
Try a different icebreaker each meeting to keep students engaged!
Speed Meeting
If the students are new to each other or new to you do the Speed Meeting icebreaker:
Divide students into 2 groups and form pairs such that students from different teams are in the pair. Each pair has 2 minutes to find out each other’s answers to the below questions:
- Their name
- Their contact information
- What do they like doing in their free time?
- Why do they want to be a part of Technovation?
After 2 minutes ask all the students from one group to switch partners and repeat the same process for 2 minutes. Repeat until time permits.
End the icebreaker by sharing that you want everyone to work towards building a safe and comfortable environment where they trust each other.
If the students need help, give them an example of a chair – could be used to sit, to store objects, to dry clothes, as a stool to reach higher objects, to sleep, etc.
Object Remix
Get the creative juices flowing! – Give everyone the name of an object (i.e. toothbrush, shoebox, brick, piece of paper, ruler). Give them 2 minutes to write down every way to use the object they can think of. Helps to get them thinking outside the box.
If the students need help, give them an example of a chair – could be used to sit, to store objects, to dry clothes, as a stool to reach higher objects, to sleep, etc.
Would You Rather?
Take 5 minutes to get the team warmed up and talking, to help make discussions later in the meeting flow better.
Suggested icebreaker: Would you rather? – pick a few questions and go around the group asking “Would you rather…?” to start a discussion.
Scavenger Hunt
Give the team a list of 3 things to find, send them off and have them come back and show their team one or all of the items. The list can be simple, for example (1) the most colorful thing they own, (2) the newest thing they own, (3) something you’ve owned the longest. Have fun with the prompts, but keep them open so girls don’t feel they are missing out on not having a specific item.
Connect and Focus
Virtual team meeting: Touch blue
Energise teams with a quick and easy challenge that also gives them the opportunity to share something from their lives!
In person meeting: Sync Claps
This circle exercise is simple, but challenging and very effective for generating focus and alignment in a group.
Lift Each Other Up
Go around the room (or zoom screen) and have each person say something they appreciate about another team member. Each person should pick someone who has not been appreciated yet, so everyone gets spotlighted. You can also do this activity with post-its, either in person or online chat, where everyone can post something they appreciate about each of their teammates.
Rose, Thorn, Bud
Team members can quickly convey what’s on their mind by sharing three bits of information:
Rose: A recent positive happening like a personal highlight or win
- Thorn: A challenge or roadblock they need support on
- Bud: An idea for the future they’d like to share, or excitement for events in motion
Do-Over Moment
Ask your team members if they could do one thing differently in the past week, what would it be? This might spark a conversation on motivation and time management on the project. Or it could just be one way for members to connect on their personal lives.
Destination Charades
This might get the acting juices flowing! Each person chooses a favorite place they have visited, or hope to visit in the future, and then act out the place. Other team members guess what the destination is. For example, for Hawaii, you could do a hula dance.
Take a Picture
Prep the team to bring a picture of something to the meeting (could be a picture of their shoe, out their window, their closet, etc). Share the pictures in the meeting and have each person talk about the picture they brought.
Reflection
Each person on the team takes a minute to talk about the one thing they are most proud of about the project.
Simple Questions
Need a quick icebreaker? Pick a question from the list below and have each student share their answer!
- If you could have any superpower for a day, what would it be?
- Would you rather travel to space or the bottom of the ocean?
If you had a theme song that played every time you walked into a room, what would it be?
What’s something you have in common with the person next to you?
