Would You Rather

An Icebreaker Game for Adults

Yelling man wearing furry pink costume in underbrush.

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This party game is perfect for use in the classroom, at a seminar or workshop, or any gathering of adults. It's easy and lots of fun. Would you rather be bald or completely hairy? Give your students impossible questions to answer and help them ease into learning together.

Why Use Ice Breaker Games?

Icebreakers are important tools for teachers of adults. If you're teaching adults, you know they learn differently than children. They come to the classroom with a lot of life experience, some more than others, of course, and some of them bring wisdom, too, depending on their age. When you begin a new class or start a new lesson, an icebreaker game can help your adult students feel more comfortable participating by getting them to laugh, helping them to meet fellow students, and relaxing everyone. Have fun. People engage in learning more quickly when the experience is fun. Starting a session or a lesson plan with an icebreaker can help your adult students focus on whatever you have gathered to learn.

Instructions

The game takes 30-60 minutes, depending on the size of the group. Break large groups into smaller groups by counting off if you have less time for this exercise.

Give the participants a minute to think of a Would You Rathe question. Give some examples. There are published Would You Rather books and game cards available for sale if you have the budget to purchase them, but once you get going, you can easily make questions up yourself. If your group does not seem creative at all, you can always print handouts with question ideas and let your students choose from the list.

Introduce yourself and ask the first person your question.

Example: My name is Deb, and I want to know if you would rather speak to a large group or hold a snake.

After the person answers, he or she should give their name and ask the next person their question. And so on. Save time for laughter and explanations if appropriate!

Depending on the purpose of your class or meeting, ask participants to come up with a meaningful or thought-provoking question. If you use this game as an energizer, encourage people to just be silly.

Debriefing Is Not Necessary

No debriefing is necessary unless you’ve asked the group to come up with questions related to your topic. If so, some of the choices probably inspired some remarkable responses. Choose a few to discuss further or to use as a lead-in to your first lecture or activity. This icebreaker game makes a good warm-up exercise for adult education lesson plans.

Would You Rather Ideas

If you need some questions to get the game rolling, start with these and see if they inspire others:

  • Would you rather play Monopoly or chess?
  • Would you rather have super hearing or x-ray vision?
  • Would you rather be good at drawing or singing?
  • Would you rather be a cat or a fish?
  • Would you rather be Catwoman or Wonder Woman?
  • Would you rather babysit a couple's child or their dog?
  • Would you rather go one year without TV or without reading books?
  • Would you rather attend a big party or have an intimate dinner with a few friends?
  • Would you rather lose your hearing or lose your sight?
  • Would you rather be able to breathe underwater or fly?
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Your Citation
Peterson, Deb. "Would You Rather." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/would-you-rather-ice-breaker-31399. Peterson, Deb. (2023, April 5). Would You Rather. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/would-you-rather-ice-breaker-31399 Peterson, Deb. "Would You Rather." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/would-you-rather-ice-breaker-31399 (accessed March 29, 2024).