25 ICEBREAKERS

FOR GROUPS
A GUIDE FOR THERAPISTS,
TEACHERS AND GROUP LEADERS

By Suraya Keating, MFT

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3

BENEFITS OF ICEBREAKERS 4

CATEGORIES OF ICEBREAKERS

• GETTING TO KNOW YOU ICEBREAKERS 5

• BUILDING GROUP TRUST ICEBREAKERS 8
• MUSIC & MOVEMENT ICEBREAKERS 10
• DRAMA & CREATIVE WRITING ICEBREAKERS 12
• VISUAL ART ICEBREAKERS 14

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Suraya Keating, MFT #43996, RDT is an Expressive Arts Therapist and

Registered Drama Therapist who supports individuals in cultivating their
creative fire, and in turning their life stories into performance pieces that heal
and inspire. She is Expressive Arts Therapy Program Supervisor at Contra
Costa Health Services, Shakespeare for Social Justice Director for Marin
Shakespeare, and Adjunct Professor at CIIS. With an extensive background in
theater, dance, and yoga, Suraya has for 20 years facilitated expressive arts and
created theater with marginalized populations including at-risk youth and
prison inmates. Suraya provides training and consultations for those interested
in integrating healing arts modalities into their work, and sees individual clients
in her Bay Area office and by Skype. www.suraya.org
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INTRODUCTION

25 ICEBREAKERS FOR GROUPS

Are you a therapist, teacher or group leader looking for new
“icebreakers” to promote unity, community and vulnerability among
a group you are working with? Do you want to learn some fresh,
creative ways to promote trust and spontaneity among group
participants? If so, read on for some great ideas.

As an Expressive Arts and Drama Therapist, and as a Teaching Artist,

I have spent the last twenty years of my life exploring how creativity
can be cultivated as a source of vitality and wisdom. I have worked
with thousands of individuals in group formats- preschool children,
special needs youth, teens recovering from drug addiction, adults
dealing with anxiety and depression, prison inmates and more. With
every group with which I work, we use “ICEBREAKERS” as a way
cultivate positive connections among group members, and make the
group a place where learning, play, deep sharing and transformation
can happen.

This guide describes 25 favorite ICEBREAKERS that I have used in 20

years of facilitating groups with children, teens and adults. You can
use these icebreakers with your group exactly as they are described,
or you can adapt each icebreaker to suit the particular population
you are working with.

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What is an ICEBREAKER?
An icebreaker is any activity facilitated within a group that helps
people to connect with themselves and each other in such a way that
promotes unity, playfulness and trust.

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BENEFITS OF ICEBREAKERS
There are many positive results you can expect from
using effective ICEBREAKERS. Some of the benefits
you may experience with your group include:

• Increased group cooperation

• Deeper levels of vulnerability
• Heightened connection
among group members
• Deeper ability of group
to listen to one another
• Increased joy and self-expression
• Heightened unity among
group members

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GETTING TO KNOW YOU

ICEBREAKERS
Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone's hand
is the beginning of a journey. At other times,
it is allowing another to take yours.
– Vera Nazarian

1) NAME GAMES
There are many forms of names games. Four of my favorites include:

a) Name & Adjective: Ask each person to share their name, and
an adjective that describes them that starts with the same letter or
sound as their first name. (Examples: I’m dynamic Dave. I’m
sensitive Samantha.)

b) Stage Name: Each person in the group shares their real name,
and then introduces themselves with their “stage name” by
combining the name of a first pet they had with the name of the first
street they lived on as a child. For example, if a woman named
Helena had a cat named Rosie and lived on Main Street as a child,
they would say: “My real name is Helena, and my stage name is
Rosie Main.”

c) Name Circle: Sitting in a circle, one person shares their name

with the group. The person to their right then shares their name, as

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well as the name of the person who shared first. The next person
then shares their name, as well as the names of the two people who
shared before them. This continues until everyone has shared their
name, and each new person who shares has also repeated the names
of everyone else who has shared thus far in the group. This is a great
way to learn names quickly!

d) Name and Movement: Each person in the group shares their

name while making a movement to represent how they feel.
Everyone in the group then mirrors or repeats back that person’s
name and movement.

2) SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES IN PAIRS

Invite group members to find a buddy whom they do not know well.
Ask each buddy pair to find 1-3 similarities and 1-3 differences
between them. Later, later have each buddy pair share their findings
with the entire group.

3) SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES IN GROUPS

As with exercise number #1, invite group members to find a buddy
and to find 1 similarity and 1 difference between them. After this
task has been completed, invite group members to create new
groups of 3 each. Those in the group of 3 are then invited to find 1
thing that everyone in the group has in common, and 1 thing that is
different about everyone in their group of 3. Participants are then

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invited to make new groups of 4-5 individuals, and to repeat the task
of having everyone in the group find 1 similarity and 1 difference.

4) PEOPLE BINGO
On a piece of paper, draw a BINGO card with 8-16 squares. In each
square, type or write various unique characteristics of people.
Examples of unique characteristics include:

• speaks more than one language

• is an only child
• has lived in another country
• loves comedy shows
• considers her/himself to be a sensitive person
• is a parent
• has more than 3 siblings

Change these characteristics as you feel would be best suited for

your group. Each square should have a different characteristic.
Hand out the BINGO cards to every member of the group, and then
invite them to play a game of “People Bingo” in which they need to
find a different person’s name to write in each square that meets the
characteristic described in that square. To make the game more
challenging, make it a requirement that nobody can write the same
person’s name in more than one square.

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5) SPECTROGRAMS
A spectrogram is a tool from Psychodrama which invites individuals
to place themselves on a continuum of experience of with regard to a
certain quality, emotion or experience. To do this with a group,
invite the group to imagine a line running down the middle of the
room. One end of the line represents individuals who have a certain
quality very strongly. The other end of the line represents individuals
who have the opposite quality strongly. For example, the group
leader might say, “Place yourself at the far end of the line if you see
yourself as a very extroverted person, and place yourself at the near
end of the line if you see yourself as a very introverted person. If you
feel you are somewhere in the middle, place yourself wherever you
feel best represents you with regard to this quality.” Group
participants then place themselves along the line wherever they see
fit. Other examples of polarities you can use include: having a great
day/having a bad day; very open with your emotions/very private
with your emotions; optimistic/pessimistic.

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BUILDING GROUP TRUST

ICEBREAKERS
We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable
and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known.

– Brene Brown

1) BLIND WALKS
Assign each group member to a buddy, or let them choose their own
buddy. Buddy “A” puts on a blindfold, while buddy “B” leads the
person around the physical space, introducing them to different
objects in the space in a safe way. For example, if you are outside,
the buddy who is leading the blindfolded buddy can take their
buddy to feel a tree, the grass, a rock or anything that is safe to
touch. Roles are then reversed, with buddy “A” leading around
buddy “B” who is now blindfolded.

2) MAMA ANIMAL, BABY ANIMAL

Assign each participant a buddy, or let them choose their own
buddy. Buddy “A” plays a mama animal, while buddy “B” plays the
baby. The buddy pair decides on a sound that the mama will use to
“call” her/his baby to her/him. Buddy “B” puts on a blindfold, and
then follows the call of his/her mama animal by moving in whatever
direction s/he hears the mama’s voice. The mama animal must keep
the baby animal safe by not letting him/her move into any objects or
other people. Roles are then reversed.
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3) TRUST LEANS
Assign each participant a buddy, or have them choose their own
buddy. Buddies lean into each other back to back and rest their
weight on one another. Next, they turn around to face their buddy,
and while grasping hold of their buddy’s wrists, lean backwards in a
way that feels mutually supportive. Please note that participants with
an injury may choose to opt out of this exercise. One simple
modification for those with injuries is for buddies to sit down back to
back and lean against one another.

4) TRUST FALLS
Groups of 6-10 people create a small circle, with everyone standing
shoulder to shoulder. One volunteer goes into the middle and
crosses her/his arms over her/his chest in an “X” position. Everyone
else in the group holds their hands in front of their own chest with
palms out, preparing to catch the person in the middle. At the own
choosing, the person in the middle falls in any direction into the arms
of those surrounding them. The people in the outer circle catch the
person in the middle as s/he falls.

5) THE KNOT
Groups of 4-8 individuals stand in a circle. They are asked to grab
hold of the hands of two different people in the circle who are NOT
standing directly beside them. In this way, the entire group will form
a “knot.” Moving slowly, the group is invited to figure out how to
unwind this human knot without breaking the connection of the
hands. If the knot is unwound successfully, the group will end up in a
circle with everyone holding hands.
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MUSIC & MOVEMENT

ICEBREAKERS
When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place
on the dance floor. It is to enjoy each step along the way.

– Wayne Dyer

1) MOVING SCULPTURES
Participants find a buddy and assign roles of A and B. Person A is the
“sculptor” and B is the “clay.” Person A is asked to name a feeling
that s/he felt in the previous week, and to “sculpt” their buddy,
Person B, by asking them to do a movement that portrays that
feeling. Person B then practices this movement. At all times, the
person who is the “clay” is invited to take care of herself and stop
doing any movements that are causing discomfort. After the
sculpture is finished, Person A shares the moving sculpture with the
rest of the group. Roles are then reversed, with Person B becoming
the sculptor and Person A the clay.

2) LARGE GROUP JOURNEY DANCE

One person is the leader. That person is asked to think of a journey
s/he has taken in her/his life related to emotions, and to dance that
journey in slow motion. For example, someone might share a dance
that represents a journey from grief to acceptance, from anger to
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love or from heartache to contentment. Everyone in the group

“mirrors” or copies the leader as s/he moves. After the dance, group
members share their reflections on what they thought they journey
represented. The leader later reveals (if s/he wants to) the nature of
the journey dance that s/he shared.

Participants find a buddy and assign roles of A and B.

3) SMALL GROUP JOURNEY DANCES

This exercise is nearly identical to Exercise #2 above, with the
exception that participants form groups of 3-5 people. Everyone in
the small group takes turns being the leader of a journey dance, in
which the leader expresses through movement some journey s/he
has taken in her/his life. Everyone in the small group “mirrors” or
copies the leader as s/he moves. After each person in the group has
the chance to be leader, the group reflects on their experience of the
exercise by talking about what moved, touched or inspired them in
the activity, or about what was challenging for them.

4) SMALL GROUP SONGS

In groups of 4, participants are asked to write a 4-line song by
completing the following line starters:

• LINE 1: If you only knew….

• LINE 2: Life would be so….
• LINE 3: If you only saw….
• LINE 4: Life would be so….

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5) LARGE GROUP RHYTHM JAM

Participants sit in a circle. One person begins a rhythm using their
bodies, or using any ordinary object in the room (e.g., pen, cup,
bottle, book, etc.). The person sitting to their right then adds on to
the rhythm by adding a new sound. This continues with each person,
one by one, adding on to the rhythm and allowing the rhythm to
build through the space until all have joined in a large group rhythm
jam.

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DRAMA & CREATIVE WRITING

ICEBREAKERS
We are only as strong as we are united,
and as weak as we are divided.

– JK Rowling

1) WHEN THE WIND BLOWS

All participants minus one person sit in chairs in a circle. The person
who is not sitting stands in the middle of the circle, and says the
phrase, “The wind blows on you if…,” ending the phrase by naming
something s/he likes or doesn’t like. For example, the person in the
middle might say, “The wind blows on you if you like to watch
movies.” After this statement is made, all of those participants for
whom this statement is true must get up and find a new chair to sit in.
The last person standing shares the next “The wind blows on you…”
phrase.

2) FAMILY SCULPTURES or TABLEAUS

One at a time, group members are asked to create a “family
sculpture” by inviting other group members to portray his/her family
in a tableau. For example, the protagonist, or the person who is
creating their family, might ask someone to represent their mother,

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another person their brother and another their grandmother. The

protagonist is also invited to choose someone to represent
him/herself. The protagonist then puts everyone into a position that
represents his/her relationship to everyone in the family.

3) INSPIRATION & CHALLNGES

WITH MOVING SCULPTURES
Sitting in a circle, one person shares one thing that has inspired them
and one thing that has challenged them during the past week. The
two people sitting to their right are then asked to “act out” whatever
the person shared through sound and movement. The first person to
the right acts out whatever was inspiring to the person who shared,
while the second person the right acts out whatever was challenging
to that person.

4) “I LOVE” GROUP POEM

On a large blank piece of paper, one person in the group writes a
line of poetry or prose that starts with the phrase “I love…” That
person then passes the paper to a second person in the room, who
reads the previous line and then writes a new line starting with the
phrase “I love”. After this person writes his/her line, s/he then folds
down the paper so that the first line can no longer be read, and
passes the paper to a third person so that s/he can add a new line
starting with the phrase “I love….” When the third person completes
his/her line, s/he folds the paper again so that only the third line is
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visible as s/he passes the paper to a new person. The paper

continues to move through the room in this way until everyone has
added a line to the poem. When complete, one person reads aloud
the entire poem, and everyone guesses who wrote which line.

5) GROUP POEM with TABLEAUS

Groups of 4 participants create a 4 line poem, with each person
creating one of the lines that starts with the phrase “I love…”. Feel
free to adapt this line starter and use other phrases to begin each
line of the poem. After creating the 4 line poem, the group then
creates a “tableau” or a frozen picture to depict each line of the
poem. When complete with rehearsing, each group presents their 4
line poem for the rest of the group.

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VISUAL ART ICEBREAKERS

The power of imagination makes us infinite.

– John Muir

1) CONSTRUCTION PAPER SELF PORTRAITS

The facilitator supplies the group with construction paper of many
different colors, as well as glue sticks. Participants are given 15
minutes to create a self portrait by ripping the construction paper in
any way they like and gluing it in the form of a self portrait. No
scissors are supplied or other arts materials. This helps people to
work spontaneously and lowers any tendency towards perfectionism
or to “get it right.”

2) IF THIS IMAGE WERE ME

The facilitator brings in a collection of 25-50 images for the group,
and instructs the group to select one image that s/he resonates with.
Sitting in a circle, each person in the group introduces their image by
saying, “If this image were me, it would tell you that….,” and then
completing the phrase in any way that feels truthful.

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3) IMAGE WISDOM
The facilitator brings in a collection of 25-50 images for the group,
and instructs the group to select one image that s/he feels expresses
wisdom of some sort. Sitting in a circle, each person in the group
speaks aloud the wisdom of their image by saying, “The wisdom I
have to share with you is…,” and then completing the phrase in any
way that feels truthful.

4) GROUP COLLAGE
Each participant brings an image of something they love or
something they feel inspired by. On a larger piece of paper, each
person places their image in a spot of their choice to create a group
collage of things that the group loves or feels inspired by.

5) VISION FLAGS
On a piece of white or light-colored fabric approximately 8” X 24”,
participants draw or write their vision for their lives using fabric
friendly markers, crayons or paints. After creating their flags, each
person shares with the group what their vision for their life is. You
can adapt the theme of the flags and have group members create
flags about things they love, things they are challenged by, people
who are important to them, etc. When each person’s flag is dry, hang
them together in a place where the entire group can see them.

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Suraya Keating, MFT

[email protected]
(510) 841-0888  
www.suraya.org

COPYRIGHT 2018

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