ice breaker ideas for new volunteer training

[Amanda Wanlass]

Hi everybody,

I'm doing a virtual training for some new volunteers. I need ideas for an ice breaker activity / get to know you activity for the beginning of our training. I specifically need something that will work in a virtual format, but please share any and all ideas you have whether they work virtually or not. I'm drawing a total blank here.

Thanks,

Amanda Wanlass

Indiana Phenology

[Einerson, Jody]

Hi Amanda,

 

We use an ice breaker where we have people pair up and describe their birthday month to their partner by telling what is happening outdoors at that time.  The other person then tries to guess what month it is, and switch.  Afterwards they introduce their partner to the group and share the clue that they found most helpful to guess the month.  I think you could modify it for a virtual training by just having people introduce themselves and describe their birthday month for the group to guess.

 

You definitely need to give people a good example and a few minutes to think about it.  Or send it out as homework before the training.  That way no one feels put on the spot.

 

I usually give myself as an example (the days are getting longer, daffodils and other bulbs are blooming, early migratory birds are moving through, if you are a gardener you might even be planting early peas - March) of course the descriptions would vary by your location.

 

Jody Einerson, Educational Program Assistant ll

Oregon State University | 4-H, Forestry, & Oregon Season Tracker

OSU Extension Service – Benton County

4077 SW Research Way, Corvallis OR 97333

Tel.: 541-713-5014

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[M. Blue Baldwin]

Very simple, totally unsophisticated, and nothing to do with nature, but my two favorites are:

1) What music kind of music or band are you embarrassed to admit you love and only listen to alone in the car?

2) What is the worst fashion trend you fully rocked back in the day? 

If you want to start your session with some laughs, these are guaranteed to deliver. Have fun!

Blue in Tucson

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M. Blue Baldwin

Ecology Program Coordinator

Manzo Elementary

office: 520.225.1918

 

[Sara Schaffer]

I think those are both great ideas, Blue & Jody. The simple ones are nice because you can use them on the spot and not have people need to put a lot of effort into crafting a response. Tying in phenology is a terrific idea, especially for a workshop, training or meeting on Nature's Notebook. I could see that working well virtually as well.

A good one I came across in a zoom webinar this week was "What's something new you learned this week?"  We were given one min to think of our answer, then the meeting facilitator asked for someone to go first, then started calling on people. Responses ranged from "I learned the difference between male and female jojoba plants" to "I learned my partner's favorite type of pasta". People can pretty easily come up with a short answer and can make it as personal or professional as fitting for the audience.

-Sara

[Jamie Kochensparger]

Great ideas! For a really simple one, the Tree Commission Academy just uses "What is your favorite tree and why?". You could do it in reverse and have the person describe the tree until someone guesses. You could also go "abstract" with "If you were a tree, which species would you be?"

~ Jamie K.  :)

>>> Sara Schaffer <sa...@usanpn.org> 5/22/2020 3:55 PM >>>

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