Ice-Breaker Ideas for Virtual 4-H Club Meetings
Download this tip sheet: Ice-Breaker Ideas for Virtual 4-H Club Meetings (PDF)
4-H has a responsibility to ensure programs promote a sense of belonging and inclusiveness among all 4-H members. High-quality 4-H programs where youth feel like they belong and have relationships with supportive adults help young people thrive. Ice-breakers can help to do the following:
- break down barriers and shyness
- help youth find connections and commonalities with one another
- reduce tension or anxiety associated with a new situation
- help to set the mood
Poll Questions
Poll questions are a great way to engage participants during a virtual meeting. They give everyone a chance to participate anonymously. You can use them at the beginning of the meeting or create a few to spread out during your meeting.
Which superpower would you like to have?
❏ Mind reading
❏ Invisibility
❏ Flying
❏ Super Strong
Which vegetable do you like best?
❏ Cucumber
❏ Carrots
❏ Squash
❏ Radish
What do you like to do best on a rainy day?
❏ Curl up with a good book
❏ Watch a movie
❏ Do an art project
❏ Take a nap
Poll questions.
Posting in the chat box.
Pick a Number
First ask each youth to type a number 1-6 into the chat box. Next, share your screen with a similar chart.
| 1 | Name one food you dislike. |
|---|---|
| 2 | Name two things you like to do in the summer. |
| 3 | Name three of your favorite people. |
| 4 | Name four places you would like to visit. |
| 5 | Name five foods you love. |
| 6 | Name six songs. |
Have each youth answer depending on the number they chose.
Chat box Questions
This is a great way to involve all participants, but they don’t have to speak and they don’t have to answer on the spot. Simply post a question in the chat box and ask youth to respond by typing their answer. Try these ideas or come up with your own:
- What was your most embarrassing moment?
- What are three of the most fun things you have done in your life?
- If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be?
- If you were an adult for a day, what would you do?
- List five foods you like and two you don’t.
Ball Toss
Take an old soccer ball or a beach ball and a sharpie marker and write a question on each section of the ball. Ask for a volunteer. Toss the ball in the air. Ask them the question that your left thumb lands on. After the youth answers the questions, have them choose who will answer the next question, and then have them pretend to throw the ball to them. Continue until everyone has answered a question.
In-house Scavenger Hunt
Give your 4-H members something to go find and bring back within three minutes:
- Find something that starts with a certain letter of the alphabet (ex. L: lettuce or lunchbox).
- Look under a couch, chair or bed and bring back what you find.
- Look at expiration dates and see who has the most out-of-date thing in their fridge.
- Provide a list of 10-15 common household items and categories and see how many they can find.
Show and Tell
Remember it is important to keep virtual meetings fairly short. To help with this, give the topic out prior to the meeting, have a few youth share each meeting or give a 30-60 second time limit. Ask youth to:
- Introduce their pet. If they don’t have a pet, share a picture of an animal they would like to have as a pet and tell why.
- Share a photo from when they were younger and explain what they were doing in the picture.
- Show their favorite place in their home or yard and tell why it is their favorite place.
- Share their favorite board game, card game or video game that they like to play and a story about a fun time they had with that game.