By Ashraf Al Shafaki

Usage

The ball game icebreaker is a fun yet powerful method for making introductions among trainees during the initial part of the first session of a training course or workshop.

Process

1. Have participants seated or standing in a circle.
2. Throw a small ball to one of the participants while looking to him or her in the eye and asking him/her to catch the ball.
3. Ask that participant to mention his or her name in a load voice so that all other participants in the circle could hear it clearly.
4. Ask the participant to throw the ball over to any other participant he or she selects as long as that participant has not mentioned his or her name yet.
5. The next participant catching the ball mentions his or her name out load then passes on the ball to yet another participant.
6. The process repeats till every participant has mentioned his or her name.
7. The final participant passes the ball over back to the trainer, who might wish to also mention his name once again just for the fun of it.

Benefits

• Creates a fun and playful atmosphere among participants in the training room.
• Opens up communication channels between participants and makes them more familiar with one another.
• Hinders the rise of any difficult trainees.
• Energizes participants by including slight physical exercise.