by Haley Worley | Aug 30, 2013
It is always a little bit difficult starting something new in a new place with new people. In 4-H we want to create a safe environment where all youth and volunteers can speak their mind, share ideas, and work together as a team. That is why we try our best to make anyone and everyone always feel welcome.
Teambuilding is a major part of 4-H and a very important one too. In order for youth to grow and expand they must be able to work together and accomplish tasks as a team. This also helps them feel accepted, wanted, and confident in the role they play as part of their club or team.
The new 4-H year is upon us, and I felt it was a good idea to share some great icebreakers and get to know you activities, so as we have new members join our 4-H programs all over the district we can reference some great resources from our toolbox to get everyone acquainted.
Listed below are the icebreaker activities I have included with directions and links to pdf’s so you can print.
- Two Truths and a Lie
- Purpose: Teambuilding/Icebreaker
- Groups of: 4-20 (split groups larger than 20 into smaller groups)
- Age Range: 9 and above
- Procedures: Everyone is given a card or piece of paper on which they are instructed to write two truths and a lie about themselves. After they have done this, each participant takes their turn reading aloud their three statements about themselves and the group must guess which they think is the lie.
- TIPS: As they are writing them, encourage them to find unique and possibly strange things about themselves that are true, so that it will be harder for people to guess. You can also prepare them for this by letting them know a day early what will be asked of them so they can take some time to think up some good stuff.
- Icebreaker 1
- Ball Toss
- This activity can be high energy, but with a large group ends up being more about focus and group problem-solving.
- Directions 1. Ask group to form a circle
- 2. Explain that you will toss the ball to one person and they must say their name. They will then toss it to a new person and they must say their name, but everyone must remember who threw it to them and who they threw it to and their name. This will create a pattern which will include everyone in the circle. Everyone must get the ball once (but only once), until the ball ends up with the person who started it.
- 3. Rules: If the ball is ever dropped, it immediately starts over. Also, you may not toss to the person immediately next to you.
- 4. Note to facilitator: When the ball is dropped, encourage the group by saying its okay. Help them support each other. After a few drops, before starting over again, pause the activity and ask the group to problem-solve: ‘What can we do as a group to help us succeed?’
- 5. Sometimes, it will take a group very long (10-15 minutes) just to get it around one time. If that’s the case, you may celebrate and be done. If the group is able to complete this in a relatively short period of time (a few minutes), start them over, but let them know that you will be adding a second ball, which will follow the same pattern. Plus, if any ball is dropped, all balls must start over. If the group is expert, you can then add in a third, fourth, or even fifth ball. When you’ve reached a level of high challenge, let them know that if they succeed here they will have finished the task at its highest level of difficulty.
- Icebreaker 2
- Name Association
- Items Needed: None
- Each person sits in a circle and thinks of one thing (food, animal, etc.) that starts with the same letter as their name. Then the children can introduce themselves: “I am _______, and I like ________.” The next person repeats what the first child said and then adds his/her own.
- example – child 1: My name is Alex and I like apples; child 2: Alex likes apples. My name is Jara and I like junk food; child 3: Alex likes apples. Jara likes junk food. My name is Carlos and I like carrots; continue around circle until everyone has had a turn.
- Icebreaker 3
- Find the Guest
- Items Needed: Sticky-type Name Tags, Marker, 3×5 cards, Pens or Pencils
- Place another person’s name tag on the back of each person in the group.
- Do not tell the person whose name is on their back. Give each person a 3×5 card and a pen or pencil and instruct group members to find out from others as much as they can about the person whose name is on their back and write the information on the card.
- While gathering information, he/she tries to guess whose name is on his/her own back.
- At the end of a set time limit, have the group gather together and allow each person a chance to guess whose name they had on their back.
- After finding out whose name was on his/her back, have each person introduce the person whose name they had on their back by using the information gathered on their card.
- Icebreaker 4
I hope you find these activities beneficial and helpful for your new 4-H year. If you have any questions about 4-H or being involved in your local county programs contact your local Extension Office for more details.
Thank you to http://4hvolunteercafe.wordpress.com/ice-breakers-energizers/ and http://utah4-h.org/htm/resource-library/resource-materials/by=category/category=300 for the icebreakers and directions. These two websites also have many more to choose from, so I urge you to take a look.
by Suzanne Wilson | Aug 16, 2013
It’s time for our 4-H clubs to start the new 4-H year. If your 4-H club took time off for the summer break the first club meeting can be a little crazy. Everyone will want to catch up and share their summer adventure stories. Why not take advantage of this excitement and make it part of a club meeting. There are several factors that will determine your options. The age of your club members, socio-economic factors, and family dynamics should all be considered. Be mindful of everyone’s family circumstances. Set ground rules so everyone is treated with respect. As the 4-H club leader, it is important for you to create an environment where your members feel safe sharing experiences and ideas.
4-H is Like a Roller Coaster
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by Suzanne Wilson | Dec 5, 2012
Here are activities to help members get to know each other, break up cliques, and decrease disruptions during meetings.
Birthday Line-up
Have members line up in a straight line by their birth date without talking to each other. Depending on the age of the club members you can make it easy using only the month and day or if you really want to challenge them include their birth year!
Once the line is completed have the youth whisper their birthday to the leader. If anyone is out of order simply announce “Out of Order” and try again. When they get the correct order have them announce their birthdays.
The values of this activity:
– teaching the group to work together
– youth demonstrating leadership
As they end the activity have the line of members fold in half so that the youngest is standing next to the oldest, second youngest is next to second oldest, etc. The first pair of members sits down together followed by each succeeding pair.
The 4-H Chant Challenge
As members arrive at your 4-H meeting, randomly put them in groups of 3 to 6. While waiting for others to arrive, these groups work independently to create a 4-H chant, song, or rap. Tunes for the chants can be offered such as “Call Me Maybe” (Carly Rae Jepson), “We’re All in This Together” (High School Musical), “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (Nursery Rhymes), and “We Will Rock You.” You may select songs that your group is familiar with or let them select their own.
The goal is to create lyrics to share how great 4-H is for kids and families. Through the process, the club members will connect and have a great time. Actions to the lyrics are welcome, too! Don’t forget to include any parents and family members in the groups!
Be sure to have a video camera ready! You won’t want to miss the fun as 4-H members share their chants with the entire club! This can go into a county-wide event for even more fun.
The 4-H Club Pennant Challenge
As clubs grow they develop an identity – help them share what their club is all about! Have the club member’s work together to develop their own 4-H Club Pennant – just like sports teams. National 4-H Week is a great time to have 4-H clubs present colorful banners that tell a story about their club. They can be displayed at the county 4-H office – this is a great way for the public to learn and ask questions about the 4-H program. Photos of club banners can be used on Facebook or other web pages as the profile picture.
Material for felt banners or pennants is inexpensive and easy to use with stencils for quality artwork. They can also be done on poster board and laminated. Set guidelines that include proper display and use of 4-H clover and prohibit use of copyrighted or other protected materials. Have a standard size and shape for all clubs that includes enough room for basic information. Be ready for an explosion of creativity!
by Sherri Kraeft | Nov 26, 2012
When most of us go to the pantry to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, we don’t think about where the ingredients come from. We all know that peanuts go into the peanut butter and grapes and sugar make the jelly, but what about the bread itself?
There are four main ingredients in any basic bread and its uses and variations are endless. Basic bread recipes usually include flour, water, yeast, sugar.
While working with 4-H youth in a cooking project, why not try to encourage them to make their own variation of plain bread and have some fun?
Some of the many varieties you can bake are: French peasant bread, honey wheat bread and Italian loaf. Click on any of the following links to get great bread-baking tips and recipes to use with kids. Who knows, they may come up with a great variety of their own!
As a volunteer, we encourage youth to develop their own ideas and exert their independence by experimenting within the safety of a 4-H Club environment. Here are some other ideas for extensions of a simple bread-baking activity with youth that incorporate the four essential elements:
Mastery – Have a bread tasting contest and incorporate a skill-a-thon with measurements, tools and ingredients from basic breads to fancy, specialty items.
Gennerosity – Youth can have a Bake-A-Thon or Bake Sale and give all proceeds and products to a local shelter, food bank or food ministry. Students can also make gifts of bread and products that they have made for relatives and other club members.
Belonging – Since all youth like to share their creations, make a collage of pictures of everyone baking and sampling their breads to post to a local website, newspaper or social media page. This is also a great way to raise awareness for local 4-H clubs and their activities.
Independence – Allow 4-Hers to visit a local bakery and ask questions about their business model and how they got started. This allows youth to seejobs and careers related to their interests in the community.
Some other resources are:
http://www.bakingmad.com/kids/getting-kids-interested-in-cooking.
http://www.bakingmad.com/recipes/whitebreads
http://www.perishablenews.com/index.php?article=0018522
http://www.bettycrocker.com/tips/bakewithkids
