Icebreakers - Animal Name Game

  • Group Size: 5 to 25
  • Time Needed: 10 to 15 minutes depending on group size
  • Goal: To provide participants a fun way to learn each other’s names
  • Audience: Couples, Parents, Teens, Children, Singles
  • Special Considerations: This game can become very loud with lots of laughter.
  • Resources Needed: None

Step-by-Step Instructions

1

Have the group form a circle.

2

The facilitator is a part of the circle and starts the activity by telling the group his/her name and a name of an animal that starts with the same letter. For example, Katherine/Kangaroo.

3

Then, the next person in the circle repeats the first person’s name and their animal, then their own name and an animal. For example: Katherine/Kangaroo, Maureen/Muskrat, David/Dog.

4

Each person must go back to the first person in the circle and say everyone’s name and animal, and then their own.

5

The last person has the hardest job as they have to memorize the most names and the most animals before they can say their own.

Tips for Discussion and Processing

This is a fun introductory icebreaker. It can also start a good discussion on how we can remember things if we associate them with something else.

Resources

Note: These activities can be modified to reflect a variety of skills.

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