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Icebreakers and Team Builders

Take a ball and write different numbers on it. Have participants stand in a circle and throw ball around to different participants. Have participants answer questions based on the number where their thumb lands. Make sure to have questions predetermined.

Pass around a bag of M&Ms. For each M&M in their hand, the participant must say something about himself or herself. Have the participants count the number of M&Ms they have and then let them go ahead and eat them otherwise they might melt in the hand and not in the mouth. Another twist on this game is have each M&M color assigned to a pre-determined question and each person answers questions based on the colors and number of M&Ms they have.

Fill a bag with different questions and then have each member of the group draw a question and then answer it and share the answer with the group. Sample questions include: I get frustrated when...; I need support when...; What motivates me is...; My pet peeve is...; I’m afraid of...; My favorite daydream is...; What is something you need from this group? When someone doesn’t listen to me I...; What do you want to be when you grow up? Who is your hero and why? What is your favorite spare time activity? What TV commercial do you like the most? What was the nicest gift you ever got? What is your favorite sound? What is your favorite music? What is your talent? What is your nickname? My favorite movie is...; My favorite food is...; My favorite color is...; What I do in my spare time is...; What I do to blow off steam is...;

The most fun I ever had was...; The most difficult thing I ever had to do was...; The fictional character that best matches my personality is...; 

One person starts out by introducing themselves to the group with their name and an interesting fact about themselves. When someone in the group hears something they have in common with the speaker, they say “Connection” and link arms with the first speaker. Then the next person introduces themselves and a new interesting fact. The pattern continues, and the last person has to find something they have in common with the first person. Eventually, everyone’s arms will be locked in one big chain.

The goal of this activity is to keep the ball in the air for a designated number of hits and a designated number of hits per individual. If the ball hits the ground, the group must start over. If an individual hits the ball twice in a row, the group must start over. As an example, for a group of 10, the total goal might be 100 hits and each individual must hit the ball 8 times