Here are a few icebreaker games you can do with a short piece of 1″ Tubular Webbing
You can find tubular webbing online, or at local outdoor stores, such as REI. It comes in several different colors, and you want to get webbing that is an inch wide.If you don’t have a local outdoor store near you, you might also find webbing at horse tack shops and/or military surplus stores.
Use these for individual exercises, or group them together for a unique team building experience. I would also recommend using some creative debriefing exercises following each activity if you’re doing more than one.
1. Webbing House
For this icebreaker activity, you will need your length of webbing, and you will also need to print out the following image on a piece of paper:
The object of this activity is to make the webbing look like the picture. There are 3 levels that a person can enter into (don’t let the participant know what “level” they’ve achieved until after completing it one time.)
Level 1 – The webbing crosses over itself in at least 1 place.
Level 2 – The webbing does not cross over itself at all, but the ends do not touch.
Level 3 – No webbing crosses over itself and the loose ends meet.
After an individual or team has attempted the activity once, let them know what level they entered at, and see if they can “level up” from there. At this point, you can let them know what it takes to get to the next level.
(*Facilitator’s note. I learned this activity from Mark Collard, formerly of Project Adventure. As far as he knows, no one has ever achieved Level 3; however, do not let participants know this. When you debrief with them, you can talk about adventure. Part of adventure is experimenting with what is possible. Would you try something if you knew it wasn’t even possible?)
2. Where ya from/Where ya been?
This activity also uses a circular piece of webbing. The goal of this activity is for each person in the group to:
1.) Share where they are from or a place they have been to recently.
2.) Create a shape with the webbing that represents the place they have described and then share what about that place makes it important to them.
It’s a simple activity, but it’s a great way to get to know your group better. We all have significant places in our history – it’s part of our story. This game allows people to share that part of their story with others.
3. Twice around the block.
This fun icebreaker game helps people introduce themselves in a non-threatening way. You’ll need a piece of webbing for every 5-6 people. The webbing should be made into a circle using a water knot.
The person closest to the knot goes first and lets go of the webbing. As she begins to introduce herself, the rest of the group starts sliding the webbing through their hands so that the knot moves around the circle.
Once the knot goes twice around the circle and ends up back at the person talking, that person’s turn is over, and it moves to the next individual.
If the story is interesting, people can slow the rotation down to hear more about the speaker. If they would like the person’s time to end, they can speed it up! Often, teams will speed up the knot passing, laugh, and then slow it down to let each person have ample time to speak.
4. That’s a Wrap!
Each person takes turn telling a story about themselves. The participant chooses the story and as they talk they begin to wrap the webbing around their index finger. The story ends when all of the webbing is wrapped around the finger.
The person who told the story must unwind the webbing by holding on to the loose outside end, and flinging it through their legs backward. Just don’t hit anyone in the process! 🙂
5. Spectrums.
This is a great get-to-know-you activity where people answer questions based upon where they fall along a given spectrum. For instance: Cat lover or dog lover? Chocolate or vanilla? etc.
Make sure there are no knots or kinks in the webbing and lay the piece of webbing along the ground in a straight line. Also, be sure there is ample room on either end of the webbing, in case more space is needed.
You will ask the group certain questions, and each person will need to position himself or herself along the line according to how they answer each question.
For each spectrum chosen, let your group know which end corresponds to what answer. Participants can line up anywhere along the spectrum. For example, if you say one end represents “Chocolate” and one end represents “Vanilla”, people can choose one end or the other, or anywhere in between.
Ask for some people to share why they chose that specific place along the spectrum. Be creative, and use as many questions as you want. What ways would you like to get to know your team?
What other ways can you use webbing for an icebreaker game? Let me know in the comments below!
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[caption photo courtesy DaveOlsen, Flickr]