ENVIRONMENTAL

& SOCIAL:


GETTING-TO-KNOW-YOU BINGO

Purpose/Goal: This icebreaker helps students to learn interesting facts about each
other. Particularly effective to utilize with a new group of students or first time
advisory setting to help students familiarize themselves with the group.
Participants get to know each other by walking around the room and asking each
other questions. Through asking questions and writing down each others names on
the BINGO sheet, students identify similarities and differences. This activity allows
participants to recognize that they arent alone and other students may share
similar life experiences. Once a person successfully finds 5 in a row, whether
horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, he or she shouts BINGO! and wins.

Age: Ages 12 and older

Group size: Large or extra large groups

Materials: Bingo sheets, pens/pencils

Time needed: 15 minutes

Set up: Create a BINGO sheet that best suits your participants by preparing a 5 by 5
table, with interesting facts written inside the boxes. These facts can include funny
or silly things. For example:
Likes cats
Has traveled to another country
Speaks more than two languages
Has never been on a plane
Has brown eyes

Most importantly, be creative. After the BINGO table has been completed, print out
enough copies for the entire group.

Activity: Distribute BINGO sheets to each student along with a writing utensil, and
explain to students that this is a great way to find out what they have in common
and how they differ. Students are advised to follow some basic rules to include:
each person you talk to may only sign your sheet once, and to win, you must get
signatures to form 5 in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. In order to
acquire signatures, students will walk around asking each other questions from the
BINGO sheet. For example, if the BINGO sheet says brown eyes then students may
ask their classmates what color eyes they have.

Ask students to take their time, as this is not a race. Everyone must be respectful of
each others space as well in order for this activity to go smoothly. Say Go! and ask
your participants to begin. Once someone shouts Bingo! everyone returns to his
or her seats and the winner must introduce the students who signed his or her sheet
to validate the fact. To conclude, the class should discuss observations, any overlap
on BINGO facts, and overall examine how it felt to conduct this activity.

Adapted from: http://www.sdcda.org/office/girlsonlytoolkit/toolkit/got-02-getting-toknow-you.pdf

MENTAL HEALTH:


WORRIES IN A BAG

Purpose/Goal: This icebreaker is a great activity to run at the beginning of a class
semester or after summer break to allow students to reconnect. The Worries in a
bag activity is a teambuilding exercise that promotes unity and group cohesion, and
fosters empathy while at the same time keeping a level of anonymity in the
classroom. Class discussions can lead to establishing group goals or class
expectations. As this activity involves much self-disclosure, it is necessary to
establish boundaries and expectations of respect and active listening. This activity
assists in building a sense of group harmony and many students will come to realize
that they have similar fears, thus eliciting trust within the group. To conclude, the
counselor can then facilitate a group discussion surrounding common fears, types of
fears (i.e. rational versus irrational), and gauge if the group would benefit from
future interventions on this topic.

Age: Appropriate for students 14 years of age and older

Group size: Medium to large

Materials: A bag, pens/pencils, small pieces of paper

Time needed: 20-30 minutes depending on group size

Activity: Distribute a small piece of paper and a writing utensil to each student.
Instruct them to anonymously write a down a worry or fear that they have and fold
the paper in half. Advise them to be as specific but do not include something that is
easily recognizable to other classmates. Upon completion, collect the papers and
place them into a bag.

Mix up the papers and pass the bag around the room. Each student should take one
paper and read the worry or fear aloud. Ask the students to imagine what it would
feel like to have that concern or fear or how they might respond to it. Ensure that
students are actively listening. All comments should be held for the end of the
activity. Once the activity is completed, review as a group. Ask students for
observations such as if there were any themes or patterns to the worries shared.



Adapted from: http://www.eslinsider.com/how-to-teach-english-videos/warm-upicebreakers/fear-bag
References: Icebreakers.ws. (2012). Fear in a hat. Retrieved from
http://www.icebreakers.ws/medium-group/fear-in-a-hat.html


REACT AND ACT

Purpose/Goal: The purpose of this activity is for students to reflect on their
feelings, reactions, and situations that may occur on the school setting. It allows
them to confront potentially challenging scenarios in a playful manner in an effort to
examine their emotional reactions. This icebreaker provides an opportunity for
students to collaborate in groups and become animated and expressive as they react
to suggested events. Players randomly select a sheet of paper that has an
occurrence on it (for example, getting an A on a difficult test) and they must react to
the occurrence using enthusiastic expressions, gestures, and words. After a set
amount of time, other players try to guess what happened that caused those
reactions and actions.

Age: 12 years of age and older applicable to all age groups depending on the
events and scenarios

Group size: Small to large

Materials: Paper, pens/pencils, a bag

Time needed: 30 minutes

Activity:
Distribute sheets of paper and writing utensils to students. Have each person write
an event on paper that would occur in a school setting or is relevant to his or her age
group/life stage. The facilitator should start with a few funny or silly examples to
introduce students to this activity (i.e. winning the lottery or the Super Bowl).
Examples of events that pertain to the school setting or age group include:
Getting fired from a job
Winning a championship football game
Being bullied at school
Falling in love
Getting an A on a test
Making a new friend

Once everyone has filled out an event on paper they should fold the paper in half
and place it in the bag. Students should break down into groups of 4-5 and each
team should randomly select an event from the bag. Instruct the groups to react to
this event, without explicitly giving away what the event is. Students should have
between 30-60 seconds to complete the reaction. Say, Go! and have the entire
group try to react to the even using exaggerated gestures, facial expressions, and
their voice. For example, if a group selects the paper that says, wins the
championship football game, the team might do a touchdown dance or become very
excited and jump around like a winning team would. All group members must stay

in character during their reaction and other group members try to guess what
happened.

To conclude the icebreaker, the counselor should encourage group discussion by
asking students to reflect on the below questions:
What was this like for you?
How did it feel to have to react to an event that you may not have personally
experienced?
What feelings questions did this experience bring up for you?
What did you learn about others and yourself during the icebreaker?
































Adapted from:
https://sao.nd.edu/studentgroups/groupresources/halls/fyo/FunGames.pdf

COLLEGE & CAREER READINESS:

WHERE THE WIND BLOWS

Purpose/Goal: The purpose of the activity is for students to reflect on and share
about their goals for college. Many students will notice that there are similarities
and differences among the ideas shared within the group and this may encourage
continued research and exploration of college options.

In order to build and support students aspirations for college it is important for
schools to develop a college going atmosphere. This would be a great icebreaker to
coincide with college readiness lesson plans, driving home the importance of
preparation in the college process. This icebreaker allows students to share college
aspirations and learn about their classmates college desires, goals, and exploration.

Age: 14-18

Group size: Medium

Materials: Open classroom space and chairs

Activity:
Have the group stand in a circle and ask for a volunteer or pick someone to be in the
middle of the circle. When the student is in the middle, they are instructed to call
out something true about their goals for college. For example, they may say, I plan
to double major, or I plan to graduate within 4 years. If the students statement
applies to someone sitting in the circle, that student has to move from his or her seat
and sit in a different chair (they cant sit back down in their original seat). The last
student standing starts a new round by saying a different college statement. Please
note people cannot move to seats on their immediate left or right. For example, they
can sit two seats away, but they cannot move to the left or right of their current
chairs. If students struggle to come up with ideas the counselor or facilitator can
provide a few examples to help guide this activity.

To conclude the icebreaker, the counselor should encourage group discussion by
asking students to reflect on the below questions:
What was this like for you?
How did it feel to share and hear your peers contributions?
Did you learn anything new about college or the college experience?
What questions did this experience bring up for you?
What did you learn about other students college goals and yourself during
the icebreaker?


Adapted from: http://www.icebreakers.ws/medium-group/great-wind-blows.html