The German Fulbright Alumni Association is becoming an established partner to the Fulbright Commission at the annual Berlin Seminar for current American grantees. Again Ellery Studio ran a workshop – this time on the subject of “Icebreakers, Warm-ups and Energizers: Group Games for Participatory Environments”.
When you are holding a meeting, either at your business or in the classroom, you need ideas to get things started. Icebreaker activities are a great way to introduce a group to each other for the first time, help people to get to know each other, and set the tone of your event.
Speaking of the Fulbright Alumni hands-on workshop, this killed two birds with one stone. First, it allowed the participants to come down, relax, and have fun after three days of conferencing, workshopping, networking, and listening to talks. Second, they could learn and experiment with some new ways to engage or animate their students and develop own ideas.
The Red City Hall, one of Berlin’s landmarks, offered a splendid environment on a sunny afternoon. Bernd and Eugen from Ellery Studio along with Herbert, a personal coach from Stuttgart, exercised several group games with the Fulbright crowd. The icebreakers, warm-ups and energizers were very funny and challenged the participants’ communication and coordination.
It was highly interesting, talking about our impressions afterwards and discussing the meaning and relevance of these games, such as helping to understand how groups function or to balance own expectations when working in a group.
If planned and executed well, group games can teach and practice useful skills in a playful manner.
Many thanks to Bernd, Eugen and Herbert for sharing their expertise and demonstrating in such a vivid way how the Fulbright Alumni can help current Fulbright grantees.