Description: Getting to know you activity with sno-cones! Talk about breaking the ice!
Snowcone flyer(Word )
Instructions: (1) Purchase/obtain sno-cone machine or anything else that crushes ice. Or just get a hammer.
(2) Supplies needed are cups, spoons, and various flavors of sno-cone syrups.
(3) I utilized the "60 Second Life Story" icebreaker. This requires strips of different colored construction paper. Give each person one strip of paper and a writing utensil.
Instruct residents to partner up with someone they do not know. I am the RA for two houses, so this worked well to get them mingling. You could just count off by twos, or get creative and pair summer and winter birthdays together, etc.
Have a watch or other time keeping device ready and explain instructions. You will have exactly one minute to tell your partner absolutely everything you can about yourself. THEN, when time is called, the listener will have 30 seconds to write down whatever he or she can remember on the strip of paper. Then SWITCH! The original listener has 60 seconds to give his or her life story.
Stuck for ideas on where to begin? Try favorite color, hometown, pets, siblings, whatever! A minute can be torture for a boring person, or not enough time for a motor mouth like me!
(4) Then introduce your partner to the group and vice versa so everyone knows a little something about everybody.
(5) Upon completion of the stories, staple all the strips of paper together to create a chain. Your colorful creation has just literally linked all of your residents. And you have a cute decoration for your community.
Oh, and enjoy your icy treat.
Other Considerations: I already owned a sno-cone machine, so I needed to purchase limited supplies. Granted, the link is cheesy, but it's a tangible beginning to building community. I reccommend using this program early in the school year.
Also, use multiple colors of construction paper cut up into about an inch and a half width. Just eyeball it so it's big enough to write on but still small enough to connect.
Mandy B
University of Scranton, Scranton, PA
baira2(at)scranton(dot)edu?
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