What's in your purse?

Those of you who know me or who have been following my blog for awhile know that I lead a women's small group at my church. My main goal as a leader is to create an environment where the women feel safe to share, grow, and learn together. One of the ways people begin to feel safer with one another is when they feel like they can relax and be themselves. I think icebreakers, whether in the form of a question or a hands on activity, are a great way to start off a group because they help to loosen people up and often provide everyone with an opportunity to get to know each other better. I find that when it is then time to get serious and go deeper, the women are less reserved.

What got me thinking about ice breakers was a phone call from a friend who is leading up a women's study for the summer and was in need of some ice breakers. She was looking for something geared specifically toward women. I gave her an idea based on something I had done in the past but couldn't really think of anything specific to women. This must have planted a seed because when this morning rolled around and I found myself awake in a quiet house after putting the baby back to bed, my mind went straight to ice breakers (I know, I have a strange mind). I began to wonder what I could come up with that would be specific to women. This is what I thought up:

What's In Your Purse?

(Off subject, but this is a cake. Cool, huh?)

- You are going to start by writing out a simple phrase either on paper or on a whiteboard/chalkboard if you have one available. For my church group I might write out something like "Jesus Christ is Lord of all." You could also do the name of your group (Mother's of Preschoolers) or the title of your book/study. Get creative!
- Have everybody get out their purses. Tell them that the goal is to find an item to correspond with each letter in the phrase. It is okay if not everyone has a purse, they can still participate by suggesting items that the other group members may not have thought of. One person can also be responsible for crossing off each letter as it is found.
- It may go something like this: "I have a lipstick!" (L) "I have a one dollar bill!" (o) "My red wallet works for the letter r!" (r) "How about a driver's license?" (d) Right there you have the word Lord taken care of. This would continue on until you have found an item for each letter or until a designated amount of time has gone by. It isn't necessarily important to cover each letter, the object is to get the women to work together and learn a little bit about each other in the process. Having a timer set might add a whole new element of fun to this activity as well!

I know this isn't an earth-shatteringly great idea but I think it has the potential to be a lot of fun. You can learn so much about a woman by the contents of her purse! What are some of your favorite icebreakers? Do you know any that work especially well in women's groups?