Ice Breakers - What Are They?

Definition of ice breakers

Ice Breakers are essentially short activities designed to break down barriers and get everyone working together before an event.

Literally...Ice Breaking!

'Icebreakers' is an exciting teambuilding activity, giving participants the opportunity to 'try their hand' at ice carving, an activity usually experienced only by professionally trained ice sculptors. 

Within a tight 1-hour timeframe, guests are trained in ice carving techniques and given the task of creating the perfect horses head out of ice - often with surprising and humorous results!

Ice Breakers 

The 'ultimate' package option includes a demonstration from a professional ice sculptor - thrilling in itself to watch. A finished ice sculpture can also be supplied as an example of how it should be done.

After your ice carving challenge is complete, teams present their creation to rest of the group, with points awarded for creativity, team cohesiveness and overall presentation.

Ice Breakers - Breaking the Ice 

Ice Breakers is about working together, being creative and getting stuck into the task.

The activity is a great way to treat a team, or for entertaining clients - and can taken to virtually any venue in the UK and Europe.

Ice Breaking Ideas

  • Roller Ball

This is a great game that highlights the importance of teams working in unison. It helps them visualise the bigger picture. In this challenge teams are tasked with transporting initially one, and then a series of balls around a circuit within the conference room.

Each individual carries a selection of tubular components which forms part of the track. The assembly has to be coordinated with the activities of other members within the team. 

Close concentration and communication is required to ensure the ball / balls have continuous motion along the completed track. Participants need to maintain their link in the chain to ensure the balls don't drop!

Outcome - The event demonstrates the power of cohesive teamwork, communication and united celebration.

 

  • Happy Clapping.

As the title suggests this is an uplifting conference energiser. The session is emotively boosting; putting delegates in a lively motivated mindset ready to absorb and adopt a message from the business sessions.

Very much like the famous musical 'Stomp', in this session the first speaker is amusingly interrupted by a strange character on stage. The speaker is ushered off stage and substituted with 10 minutes of fun. Our professional rhythm master introduces a very light level of rhythmic clapping.

This builds into a series of layered clapping beats and very soon the whole team are making harmonious tunes! This event carries a very powerful organic message of 'together we can'. If in 5 minutes 200 people can make music with just their hands, imagine what we are capable of achieving on the corporate playing field!

Outcomes - This event helps to achieve group participation, motivation, and demonstrates the power of unity.

 

  • Tubular Tunes

Every event is very similar, in its opener, to 'Happy Clapping', but this time individual's use a plethora of musical tubes called 'boom whackers'.

Each 'boom whacker', when played (as simple as tapping against your hand), makes a different tone. At the start, the sound appears to be just 'noise'. 

After 5 minutes, guided by our rhythm master, participants are united in melody.

Outcomes - This event promotes group interaction, increases motivation and enhances the power of unity.

 

  • Guess Who

This team building event is an amazing networking game. Individuals really get to know those around them from different departments within the business. This is an ideal game to 'kick off' any conference, particularly, where teams from various geographic or demographic regions, are coming together.

As guests are seated, the surrounding area turns colourful as a sea of balloons drop from the ceiling. Each balloon has a tag attached detailing a person's name and their department.

Each person must grab one balloon and network with other people around the room to find the rightful owner. Once completed, the balloons are burst to reveal a 2nd tag with 2 unique things about someone within the company. Now the activity re-commences as the rightful owner of the second tags has to be identified.

This is an ideal icebreaker for teams up to 50. For bigger teams, try 'Speed Networking'!

 

  • Speed Networking

This is an ideal team event, where the total number of participants is greater than 50. Individuals in the team are all given a fun ID card associated with someone within the room. The ID card details 3 things about that other person.

Two are true and one is false. Participants (teams) must find the right person associated with the card by networking the room. Teams rotate from group to group and make a group decision as to who is who.

This is a hilarious way of getting to know people within your company on a fun, business and social level.

 

  • Ice Breaker Rally

Our Ice Breaker Rally is a package of different ice breakers designed to give a conference or meeting a great uplift. It can be used to avoid death by PowerPoint and also sore posteriors! 

The rally consists of 4 games.

One is used to introduce the event.

The second is used between the start and lunch - a vital refresher point for people's attention span.

The third is utilised directly after lunch to avoid any digestion lethargy.

Finally, the last event is used mid afternoon - again a vital mental refreshment point!


   The Rally Games

Game 1 - Heads or Tails - A game of elimination. Each delegate has 2 giant coins, one for heads and one for tails. Our resident host flips a giant coin on stage. If it comes up heads all those with heads stay standing up, those with tails are eliminated and sit down. The coin flips again until there are 5 remaining players. The players take to the stage for the play off to determine the winner.

Game 2 - Crime Scene Investigation - In this game, teams rotate from table to table investigating a 'Who Dunnit' style crime. Each table contains a series of clues. The clues are randomly mixed, but all come together as evidence to reveal the murderer, murder weapon and motive for the crime. Teams must share information and ideas to try and solve the mystery crime. Conclusions are disclosed by each team and finally the real result is revealed.

Game 3 - Cracker - A real cracker of an event. On each table is a safe. The safe is locked by a code. Teams have a series of clues and mind boggling riddles and conundrums' that they must solve to identify the code. The first teams to open their safe wins! Do you know what goes up a chimney down but not down a chimney up? Well they are not all as easy as this one!

Game 4 - Operation - Back to the Biology class. On stage is Mr Briggs the typical high school science geek. Today's class is Biology. Each team nominates their star pupil. Mr Briggs announces one by one a series of body parts. Each team must label their pupil as to where they think the relative body part is located. Pupils then t