Fill In The Gap Icebreaker Template

What is the Fill in the Gap icebreaker? 😶

In this icebreaker activity, you’ll present participants with prompts and then ask them to fill in the blanks. Using fill-in-the-blank instead of entirely open-ended prompts will make it easier for people to participate.

You can either get everyone to post their answers in the chat at once or ask one participant to answer and then have them choose the next person to answer.

Here are the sample questions included in the flashcard deck:

• One thing I nerd out about is ____
• The most random object in my eye line is ____
• My favorite type of furniture is ____
• The sound of a vacuum cleaner reminds me of ____
• A weird food item I’ve eaten cold is ____
• My favorite weekend activity is ____

How it works

1. Share the prompt/sentence you want the group to respond to. The statement needs to have a gap (for example, “One thing I nerd out about is _________”). You can use the attached flashcard deck or add your own prompts.
2. Explain to your participants that they will fill in the blank themselves.
3. Have everyone type their answers into the chat but instruct them not to hit send until you give the go-ahead OR ask for someone to volunteer to start and then ask them to call on the next person “virtual popcorn” style after they share their statement.
4. Once everyone has shared, you can repeat with a new prompt or move on to debrief with the whole group.
5. You can always follow up on any answers that you think the group had strong reactions to or call on participants to expand their answers

About the creators

Facilitator Cards is a deck of 60 facilitation activities that are simple to implement and easy to reach for whether you're planning or in a pinch.

Facilitator Cards were created by the same two humans behind Facilitating.XYZ (a free online resource for all facilitators), Unlocking the Magic of Facilitation (a book about key facilitator concepts), & The Safe Zone Project (free curriculum & train-the-trainer retreat guide).

To learn more about using Facilitator Cards and Butter together, check out this blog.