Cheer Practice Ice Breakers for Team Bonding

Here are simple cheer practice ice breakers that you can use to help your team bond and get to know each other. We used these simple cheer practice ice breakers during the first weeks of cheer practice this season and our team enjoyed them!

Introduce Yourself

The first cheer practice ice breaker that we did at the first cheer practice was having each cheerleader introduce themselves to the group. The team sat in a circle and went around and introduced themselves. They shared their name, their year in school, the number of years that they have been cheering, and a fun or boring fact about themselves. You can prompt them to share something else. A ‘fun’ fact to share can be intimidating which is why I saw someone suggest sharing a ‘boring’ fact which can be less intimidating!

Groups Of

The next cheer practice ice breaker that we did on the second day of cheer practice was ‘Groups Of’. We would share a statement, and the cheerleaders would find groups of teammates who shared the same fact. For example, we would say “Find a group of people who have the same favorite restaurant as you.” So, the cheerleaders would be asking others what their favorite restaurant is and sharing their favorite restaurant until groups are formed. Once groups were formed, we prompted them to share their favorite food order with their group mates. This is a fun cheer practice ice breaker to get the cheerleaders to talk about something other than cheer that they have in common with their teammates.

Ideas for Groups Of Prompts:

• Find a group of people with the same favorite restaurant as you; Share your go-to restaurant order.
• Find a group of people with the same favorite holiday as you; Share your favorite holiday tradition.
• Find a group of people with the same number of siblings as you; Share your siblings names.
• Find someone who has cheered the same amount of years that you have cheered; Share the name of your first team.
• Find a group of people with he same favorite school subject as you; Share why you enjoy this subject.

Would You Rather

Another fun and simple cheer practice ice breaker is called Would You Rather? Get your cheer team up and moving during this game. Share the prompt and point to opposite sides of the room then cheerleaders walk to that side of the room that they choose. For example, we would say “Would you rather wake up early or sleep in?” We would point to the right side of the room for ‘wake up early’ and we would point to the left side of the room for ‘sleep in’. Then, cheerleaders would walk to the right side or the left side and form two groups. Then, prompt them to share with their group about why they chose their side. This cheer practice ice breaker gets the cheerleaders talking more than you would expect!

Ideas for Would You Rather

• Would you rather wake up early or sleep in?
• Would you rather take a vacation at the beach or in the mountains?
• Would you rather have to wear high heels to school every day or be barefoot at school?

Two Circles

A simple cheer team ice breaker to encourage your cheerleaders to talk to each other and get up and moving. There is probably a better name for this activity, but I am calling it two circles until I find that name! Split your team in half. One half of the team forms a circle in the middle, then the other half of the team forms a circle around that circle. Make sure each cheerleader is facing a partner. The partners will be someone inside of the circle and someone outside of the circle. Give the cheerleaders a prompt to discuss. Once they are done discussing, tell the outside circle to move to the right to the next person. Then you can give them the same prompt to discuss or a different prompt.

Ideas for Two Circles

• Favorite food
• Favorite music artist
• Favorite movie
• Favorite school subject
• Favorite fast food restaurant

Taking the time to help your cheer team get to know each other will create a stronger bond. The cheerleaders want to get to know each other, so these cheer practice ice breakers are a great way to encourage them to talk to each other. Happy Coaching!