Bible Icebreakers - Knowing the Ice

Bible Icebreakers
- Knowing the Ice
Learn some key principles for making your ice
breaker the highlight of your next party, team
event, and classroom discussion!
www.CreativeYouthIdeas.com
CreativeIcebreakers.com

When planning ice breakers, think about the “ice” that needs to
be broken.
1. If you are bringing together liked-minded people, the “ice”
may simply reflect the fact that people have not yet met.
2. If you are bringing together people of different grades and
levels in your organization for an open discussion, the “ice”
may come from the difference in status between
participants.

3. If you are bringing together people of different
backgrounds, cultures and outlooks for work within
your community, then the “ice” may come from
people’s perceptions of each other.

You’ll need to handle these differences with sensitivity. Only
focus on what’s important to your event. Remember, you
want to break some ice for your event, not uncover the whole
iceberg! And as you move on to design and facilitate the
event, it’s always best to focus on similarities (rather than
differences), such as a shared interest in the event’s outcome.

A simple way to figure out what kind of “ice” you’re facing is to consider
the following factors:
1. Size of the Crew
Some icebreakers work best in large groups of 20 or more, some are
better for small groups of 5 or so. If you have too many people for the
icebreaker, split into smaller groups of the right size and run the
icebreakers concurrently.

Another often overlooked consideration is the size of the
premises you will be conducting your activities. It’s always
advisable to have twice as much free room as participants if
there is to be any running or moving around.

2. Knowing Your Crew (Participants)
One obvious point to consider is the audience. You
will want to consider:
A) Age (which affects the physical energy level and
mental ability)
B) Backgrounds (Familiarity between participants,
culture, personality types, etc.)

3. Plotting Your Course (Purpose)
The tone for the remainder of the event is set
by the icebreaker. What are you doing after
the ice breaker?
• Are you brainstorming new ideas?
• Discussing year end results?
• Kicking off a new project?
• Teaching an important lesson?
• Team building?

Match the mood of the ice breaker to the mood for the
meeting. The participants may immediately come to a
conclusion about how the rest of the session will go
based on the tone of the opening ice breaker.

Ask yourself: Is the icebreaker there to:
• ease introductions
• increase understanding of others
• improve communication
• build group cohesion
• build trust
• get mental juices flowing
• just be downright silly
• increase the energy level of the group in the MIDDLE of a meeting

In any case, the group members
should be able to take
something away from the
activity that will be beneficial to
the remainder of the session.

4. Preparing for the Journey (Preparation)
• Try out your explanation of how to play in advance and carefully
choose your words and instructions.
• Run through it with other leaders and facilitators in advance.
• Take note of any materials you might need before leading the
icebreaker.
• Consider the safety of participants. (Dangerous activities, furniture,
etc)

5. ETA (Time)
Be realistic about the time you have for the meeting ice breaker
and stick to it.
• Choose a short punchy icebreaker to get energy levels up.
• Choose longer icebreakers when more disclosure is
desired.
• Remember icebreakers always take a bit longer than we
think they will take.

6. Full Speed Ahead (Take It to the Next Level)
An important part of choosing an icebreaker is deciding whether or not
a serious message will be incorporated into the activity. One must
remember that regardless of whether or not learning is a focus of the
activity, icebreakers inherently contain hidden messages.
We always prefer to use icebreakers that contain significant learning
points because they can create powerful teaching opportunities
without appearing like we are lecturing the students.

7. Disembarking (Debrief)
When finished with an icebreaker, it is important to take a few minutes
to help the participants find meaning in the activity. If the time is not
taken to bring it all together, the participants may feel as if they were
simply playing a game. Discuss the purpose of the activity, what was
learned from it, and how it can be related to their lives. Be sure to make
the discussion interactive. The participants will take more away from
the debriefing if they are a part of it, rather than being lectured to.

A standard debrief that we use following our icebreakers or
activities has this basic structure:
• “What happened?”
What actually happened in the activity? What did you do?
• “Why?”
What factors limited your success? What factors contributed to
your success?

• “What changed?”
What did you do it differently? What changes did you make in
your strategy? What made it more successful the second time
around?
• “So what?”
How does this apply to us? What lessons can we learn from this?
• “Now what?”
What is one thing you would change in your life because of this?
What would you do differently as a result of this activity?

Be sure to give participants the opportunity to ask questions
throughout the activity. Nothing promotes learning like dialog.
We encourage participants to discuss among themselves what
they have learned and what the activity means to them. You
may be surprised at the level of depth and insight your
participants will have!

A well chosen icebreaker is worth it’s
weight in… ice!
Choose your icebreakers wisely and
you can impact many lives.

www.CreativeIcebreakers.com
This EBook not only provides 52 of the
world’s most popular group icebreaker
activities, but also includes lesson ideas and
questions to smoothly transition into
discussions about issues common to most
groups.
Click here to find out more!
Icebreakers Ahead: Take it to the next Level

Bible Icebreakers - Knowing the Ice

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Bible Icebreakers - Knowing the Ice