MSU Extension 4-H Advisory Group Support

Every meeting should include learning, fun and business. Through icebreaker activities, you can build trust, learn about group members’ strengths and weaknesses, and gain insight on how to work together. This Michigan State University Extension article is part of a series on icebreakers that can be done with simple supplies that group facilitators often already have on hand or could be acquired easily. A video of the activity is also available on MediaSpace.

Have you ever?

Supplies needed

• Chairs, paper plates OR pieces of paper
  • Only one of these items is required, not all three. The quantity needed is one per participant (not counting the facilitator).

Directions:

1. Put the chairs (or plates or papers) in a circle and have everyone sit at a spot (chair, paper or plate) in the circle. The facilitator stands, not at a spot. The facilitator will ask a question, such as “Have you ever been swimming in the Great Lakes?” 
1. Any person who can say yes to the question (in this example, if they have been swimming in the Great Lakes) has to move to a new spot (chair/paper/plate) and sit down. The facilitator plays as well, so will also move to a new spot if they answer yes. If the group is large enough, add the caveat that each person cannot move to a spot to their immediate left or right. Once all “yeses” have moved, there will be one person without a spot, similar to musical chairs. 
2. The person left standing will state their name, any other get-to-know-you facts (such as age or where they are from) and answer the question. In this example, they may share, “I went swimming in Lake Erie last summer.”
3. The person standing then asks a new question to which they can answer yes. The question can be designed to get everyone up (such as, have you inhaled oxygen today?) or to get a specific person moving (especially if they haven’t had a chance to introduce themselves yet).
2. Repeat the questions as long as time allows. Ideally, everyone will have a chance to speak, but that doesn’t always work. If someone gets up more than once, that is ok. They may also pick another person to get up.

MSU Extension and the Michigan 4-H Youth Development program help to prepare youth as positive and engaged leaders and global citizens by providing educational experiences and resources for youth interested in developing knowledge and skills in these areas. This article is part of the 4-H Advisory Groups Toolkit.  For more information about 4-H learning opportunities and other 4-H programs, contact your local MSU Extension office.