A Good Icebreaker - The Progressive Story.

This is more than a good icebreaker, a creative group will want to do this one over and over. This activity works for three or more people. The larger your group, the more the story will grow. Age is not afactor. Kids 10 years old to 100, and all participate together.

Materials required:
None

The Set-up:
Gather everyone comfortably, where they can hear the story progress. Seated on the floor works for younger participants, while adults may prefer to sit in chairs.

Do the Progressive Story Icebreaker
The host/hostess starts this good icebreaker, by either making up a beginning or reading a few paragraphs from a novel, fiction, non-fiction, biography, etc. She finishes her turn with an open ended statment and turns expectantly to the next person. The next person finishes the statement and picks up the story, making up plot, characters and action as he goes along. After about a minute he completes his portion of the story with another open ended statement and turns to the next person who picks up the story and continues on in the same manner.

You can decide beforehand, how many times you will go around. Or you can choose to have the last person tie up the loose ends and bring the story to a conclusion.

As an example, you might start off with a paragraph or two from the classic novel "Moby Dick", and see where the story goes.

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me. Today was one of those days, when I felt a deep need to break from the ordinary. So early this morning, I arose from my bed, dressed in my best clothes, grabbed an apple and a muffin for a breakfast on the go and was out the door, into the street, headed for ...

This good icebreaker typically takes 10-15 minutes to complete. The first time around will be a little bumpy, but if you do it a second time, imaginations will be engaged and the stories will improve greatly.

Variations
Use a prop. Not just any prop, but something peculiar. Wrap the story around the prop, but try not to tell exactly what it is. For example, an odd shaped container with some unidentified substance inside. Talk about where you found it, what it smells like, what it feels like, and what you think it might be, but being unsure, pass it to the next person for them to enhance the description, and its origins, possible uses etc. See how the possible uses, origins, value, and identity of the object can change as it goes from person to person.

Another variation is to hand each person a picture. The pictures need not be related ti each other. As each person's turn comes around, they need to relate their piece of the story to the picture they are holding. Just as if they are telling a real story, the person holds up the picture at the appropriate time.

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