Fun Icebreaker Ideas & Activities

Author: Blahman

  • Icebreaker Questions

    Icebreaker Questions is our list of over 20 great questions that you can ask people to help them feel more included — part of a group or team.  These questions are fun and non-threatening. You can use them as an icebreaker activity for meetings or classrooms, written on notecards and adapted for other games, or simply as a fun activity to help people get to know each other better. These are actually a great way to build initial trust and eventually even intimacy — for example, on a first date!

    Instructions for Icebreaker Questions

    A great way to help people open up is to ask them fun questions that allow them to express their personality or interesting things about them.  Here is a list of twenty safe, useful icebreaker questions to help break the ice:

    1. If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?
    2. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
    3. What is one goal you’d like to accomplish during your lifetime?
    4. When you were little, who was your favorite super hero and why?
    5. Who is your hero? (a parent, a celebrity, an influential person in one’s life)
    6. What’s your favorite thing to do in the summer?
    7. If they made a movie of your life, what would it be about and which actor would you want to play you?
    8. If you were an ice cream flavor, which one would you be and why?
    9. What’s your favorite cartoon character, and why?
    10.  If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go and why
    11. What’s the ideal dream job for you?
    12. Are you a morning or night person?
    13. What are your favorite hobbies?
    14. What are your pet peeves or interesting things about you that you dislike?
    15. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
    16. Name one of your favorite things about someone in your family.
    17. Tell us about a unique or quirky habit of yours.
    18. If you had to describe yourself using three words, it would be…
    19. If someone made a movie of your life would it be a drama, a comedy, a romantic-comedy, action film, or science fiction?
    20. If I could be anybody besides myself, I would be…

    Also check out How Do You Play for Icebreaker Questions. Or, for sillier and more hilarious questions, check out our Funny Icebreaker Questions.

  • Telephone Pictionary Game

    Telephone Pictionary is a hilarious blend between the telephone game and the dictionary drawing game. Phrases need to be drawn, and other players try to draw them. As the books continue to be passed along the line, the message starts to get lost! There will be guaranteed laughs as everyone tries to guess and draw in the booklets.

    The game is a party game / stationary game. There is a bit of setup required, but no special materials are required to play, besides a lot of standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper and pens. You can also use larger paper if you wish, but this is not especially required.

    Instructions for Telephone Pictionary 

    Setup: Prepare the picture booklets by giving each player a stack of X sheets of paper, where “X” is equal to the number of players who are playing the game. Think of each stack as a “flip book” for each player. Cut each stack of paper down the middle and then fold them in half.  Staple the books if you like. Make sure each player has their own book.

    Have all players sit in a circle. Give each player their own blank picture booklet and a pen.

    1.  On the first page, have each person write down a funny or interesting phrase. This phrase can depict a scene, or perhaps a quote or song lyric, or basically any phrase that might be interesting to draw. Some examples can include (feel free to be creative with these):

    • Elvis playing basketball
    • A cow in the desert
    • Ice, Ice Baby
    • Chicken dance
    • Hot dog eating contest
    • Hitting a home run
    • Crying over spilled milk
    • Who let the dogs out
    • The dog ate my homework
    • It’s raining cats and dogs
    • Dance party

    2.  Next, everyone should pass their booklet clockwise to the person on their right. This person read the phrase that was written, turn to the next blank page, and then draw a picture of their interpretation of what they read.

    Instruct everyone to pass their booklet clockwise to the next player, making sure that their drawing is open and visible. The next person will look only at most recently drawn picture, turn to the next page, and write a phrase that tries to interpret the image that they saw. Then, everyone passes their booklets clockwise to the next player.

    3. This player sees a phrase, turns the page, and draws an image based upon this new phrase. He or she then passes this book to the next player.

    This pattern of writing phrases, then drawing pictures, then writing phrases, then drawing pictures continues until the booklets return to their original owner.

    The game ends, and each player shows all the other players their hilarious picture and phrase books and how they evolve over time.

    You can order supplies for Telephone Charades at our online store.

  • Icebreakers for Families

    Icebreakers for Families

    Tired of video games for family game night? Need some good icebreakers for family time? Sometimes a good face-to-face activity can bring parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and siblings closer together through bonding or memorable experiences. Best of all, these group games are free, with absolutely no expensive equipment or technology required!

    Icebreakers for Families and Family Gatherings

    The following icebreakers are especially good if your family size is between three to six people. If your family gathering happens to be bigger, no sweat! You can usually play the same game as a larger group by subdividing into smaller groups or teams.

    The following are various icebreakers for families organized by category. Click on a guide below for step by step instructions on how to play.

    Drawing Oriented Games – These games involve some drawing and basic artistic aspects – a lot of fun even if folks don’t have the best art skills!

    Get to Know Each Other Better / Sharing Games – These games can help people open up about their deeper thoughts and opinions, getting family members to know each other better!

    Word/Guessing/Spelling Games – These games are about words, guessing or telling stories.

    Fast Paced Games – These active games tend to be fast paced and involve quick reflexes or some other actions!

    Trust Oriented Games – Try these games for building trust and camaraderie within your family.

    Please share this page with your friends and family so they can also enjoy these activities! Have more excellent games that work well for family time (game night)? Let us know!

  • Buy the Icebreakers eBook!

    Buy the Best Icebreakers Vol 1 eBook!

    Like these games?  Find them useful?  You can now get all the guides on this website as a convenient eBook (PDF format!)  Print out guides, copy and paste freely with no distracting ads!

    Get all the step-by-step instruction guides to every game on this website, conveniently in one place, with no advertisements. Get it here! 

  • Screaming Viking Game

    Screaming Viking Game

    Screaming Viking is a stationary/active/party game that is highly interactive and silly.  Players must correctly act out interesting things such as a “screaming viking,” a “chia pet,” “power rangers,” and other funny things.

    This game is good for children age 9 and up.  It’s an excellent game for parties and families.  The ideal number of players is about 12-15, making it a good medium and large group game.  No special materials are required to play.   You can play indoors or somewhere like a park.

    Screaming Viking

    Setup

    There is no special setup required for this game.  Have everyone sit in a large circle, with each person facing the middle.  The facilitator should teach everyone all the various motions for how to play.  More details will be given below.

    Instructions for Playing the Game

    The basic idea behind this game is simple: one person is in the middle and tries to get someone on the outside (seated within the circle) to make a mistake.  If a person makes a mistake, he or she becomes the new person in the middle.

    To get someone “out,” the person in the middle points to one person who is sitting on the outside and commands the action.  Typically, three people must then proceed to do a funny motion and make silly noises: the person who was pointed to, and the two people on the left and right, respectively.  The three people have ten seconds to do the action properly without making any mistakes.

    There are various actions that can be done.

    • the “Screaming Viking”: the person in the middle is the main viking, who forms two horns with their fingers on their forehead and screams loudly; the person to the left and right of that person must also make a fast rowing motion with their arms.
    • “Smurfs”: three people interlock their arms and sing the smurf song, “Laaa, la, la-la, la-la….”
    • “Chia Pet”:  One person in the middle is the plant, and the people to the left and right form the pot.  All three of them must sing loudly, “Ch-ch-ch-chia…”
    • “Jello”: the person selected in the middle must wobble like gelatin (jello), while the other two people form a bowl with their arms.

    The following video demonstrates how this game works:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejV9BzjxZiY

    If a mistake is made by any of the three people (the person selected and the people to the left and right of that person) within ten seconds, that person must go into the middle to be “it.”

    Have fun!

     

  • Truth or Dare Game

    Truth or Dare is a classic party game that can lead to some memorable fun.  A player chooses to answer a question truthfully or  to do a crazy dare in front of all the other players.

    Truth or Dare works best with medium sized groups.  Not many materials are required, although it can be helpful to have various household items laying around, such as toothpaste, interesting foods, etc.  This party game is often played at camp, during slumber parties, or simply when hanging out.

    Setup for Truth or Date

    There is no setup required for this party game, though it can be helpful to come prepared with some ideas in case people need help coming up with questions or dares.

    Instructions for How to Play Truth or Dare

    Each player takes a turn asking another player, “Truth or Dare?”  The player who is asked must choose to do a “truth” or a “dare.”  A truth is to answer a question truthfully, and a dare is to do something silly or crazy.  For example:

    Sample Truth Questions:

    • What is the craziest thing you have ever done?
    • What is your most embarrassing moment?
    • What is the grossest thing you’ve ever eaten?
    • If you had to marry someone in this room, who would it be?
    • What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you?
    • What is is the most important thing you look for when dating?
    • If you had to live with only one object what would it be?
    • What is the most attractive thing in a man/woman?

    Sample Dare Questions:

    • I dare you to prank call another person we know.
    • I dare you to eat 5 packets of ketchup.
    • I dare you to put toothpaste all over your face.
    • I dare you to dance and spell your name with your butt.
    • I dare you to smell someone’s bad breath for 2 minutes.
    • I dare you to put your hand into the toilet bowl.
    • I dare you to brush another person’s teeth with your toothbrush.

    Once a person is given a Truth or a Dare request, he or she can agree to do it, or he or she can switch to the other Truth or Dare.  Be creative!

    Note: This game can be hilarious but be sure to stay safe and not force someone to do something they do not want to do.  Icebreakers.ws does not accept any responsibility for dangerous or non-law abiding behavior!

     

  • Assa Party Game

    Assa (or Asa) is a Korean rhythm game that follows a pattern of saying “Assa [insert name]” and going back and forth between people, calling their sign/name.  There are many similar rhythm games that follow this kind of pattern as well.

    Setup for the Assa Party Game

    Everyone needs to prepare a two-syllable name (or something that can be said within two beats) and associated hand motion.  For example, a person’s call name could be “Su-per-man” or “Fly-ing Dra-gon” or just about anything, and their hand motion can be something that depicts their name (e.g. raising the right arm up like a flying superhero for Superman).  Each person needs a unique name and hand motion.  Before beginning the game, have everyone demonstrate their name and hand motion for the other players to learn.

    Playing Assa

    Like many rhythm games, the game follows a 4-beat count (1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.).  On the 1 beat, everyone pats their legs, on the 2 beat, everyone claps their hands, on the 3 beat, everyone does a thumbs up with their left hand, and on the 4 beat, everyone does a thumbs up with their right hand.  The speed of the count can gradually get faster during the game.  One person (usually the loser of the previous round) begins the new round by setting the tempo (speed) of the 4-beat count.  Players must first say and do their name and motion, and then “pass” the motion to another player by saying their name and doing their hand motion.  This must be done correctly with perfect rhythm.   This process continues until someone makes a mistake.

    For example, let’s say there are 5 players playing the game:

    • Adam (who chooses the name “Flying Tiger” and a hand motion of a tiger paw clawing)
    • Bob (who chooses the name “Awesome Dancer” and a hand motion of doing a simple disco dance move)
    • Cathy (who chooses the name “I love pizza” and a hand motion of eating a pizza slice)
    • David (who chooses the name “Elephant” and a hand motion of  moving arms like an elephant trunk)
    • Evette (who chooses the name “Crazy Ninja” and a hand motion of a ninja stance)

    To begin, choose any player to start the round.  Everyone does the four beat motion (pat, clap, thumb, thumb) together and says the word “Aaaa…ssa” each time.  Bob begins the round by saying “Aaaa….ssa, Awe-some Dan-cer” (which fills up the four beat count).  The next four beats, Bob says, “Aaaa…sa, [name of another player].”  Thus, he can say, “Aaaa…sa, I-love-pizza.”  This passes the sign over to Cathy, who is “I-love-pizza.”

    Cathy must first do her sign (says “I-love-pizza” while doing her eating motion) and she he can pass the motion to any other player.

    A typical round may sound and look like this:

    All players: “Aaaa…saaa…”
    Bob: “Awe-some-dan-cer.” (first says and does his own sign)
    All players: “Aaaa…saaa..”
    Bob: “I-love-pizza” (calls out Cathy’s sign and does the eating motion)
    All players: “Aaaa…saaa..”
    Cathy: “I-love-pizza.” (says and does her own sign first)
    All players: “Aaaa…saaa..”
    Cathy: “Cray-zee-nin-ja..” (calls out Evette’s sign and the ninja motion)
    All players: “Aaaa…saaa..”
    Evette: “Cray-zee-nin-ja..” (says and does her own sign first)
    All players: “Aaaa…saaa..”
    Evette: [chooses any other player and their hand motion]

    This process keeps going until someone makes a mistake (wrong hand motion, missed timing, etc.).  The person who began the round can also increase speed if he or she likes. When a person makes a mistake, the round ends and that person begins the next round.

     

  • Four Corners Game

    Here’s another good icebreaker for the beginning of a school semester or as a fun way for people to get to know each other better. Four Corners (also known as Four Squares) is a simple activity in which students share who they are through the use of handdrawn pictures. This icebreaker is for all ages, and works well with small and medium groups. It usually takes about 15 minutes, depending on how much time you want to allow for sharing the pictures. You’ll need sheets of paper and writing utensils. Don’t worry, no artistic skills are required for this icebreaker activity — just have fun and encourage everyone to enjoy being creative while illustrating who they are!

    Setup for Four Corners

    Distribute a pen and sheet of paper for each player. Each person divides the sheet into four boxes/squares either by folding the paper in half twice (vertically and horizontally) or simply by drawing a horizontal and vertical line that crosses in the middle. For each square, each person will describe themselves in the form of drawings. Choose these four topics in advance. For example, in the top left square, everyone could draw “favorite hobbies,” while in the top right, people could illustrate “favorite place on earth for vacation,” the bottom left could be something like “if you were an animal, which one would you be?” and the bottom right could be something like “what are the most important things in your life?” Feel free to be as creative, hypothetical, or deep as you like.

    Allow five to ten minutes to draw. When everyone is finished, gather them together and share the drawings as a group. This icebreaker is an excellent way for students to show-and-tell what makes them unique!

  • Ghost Game

    Ghost is a word game in which players try to add a letter to a growing word fragment — without ever actually spelling a word.  If they accidentally spell a valid word, they lose the round.  If they add a letter but a word is no longer possible to be made using those combination of letters, another player can “challenge” them.

    Ghost can be played with two or more players.  No materials are required, making it a convenient game for long car rides, etc.

    Setup for the Ghost Game

    There is no setup required.  Players must simply understand the rules of the game.

    Playing the Ghost Game

    The rules of ghost are relatively simple: each player takes turns adding a letter to an ever-growing word fragment.  Try not to spell a word (of length 4 letters or more).  Try to force another player to spell a word, or else try to get a player to say a letter that makes it impossible to form a word.

    Choose any player to start the game.  He or she may say any letter of the alphabet.  Each player then takes a turn to add a single letter to this fragment.  Instead of adding a letter, a player can “challenge” the last player who added a letter, if he or she thinks a word does not exist that starts with that fragment.  If a challenge occurs, the last player must try to say a word that begins with that fragment.  If the player who was challenged is able to spell a word, the challenger loses a point.   If the player who was challenged cannot spell a word, the challenger earns a point.  If a player accidentally spells a word, he or she also loses a point.  The round ends.

    After a round ends, play usually starts with the player who won the previous round.

     

  • King Elephant Game

    King Elephant (also known as Animal Kingdom Game) is well suited as a good party game or an icebreaker for meetings. It involves a little bit of silliness and is a lot of fun. The goal of the game is to become the King Elephant, the head of the circle.

    This active game works best if you have between 8 and 15 people. It is a good indoor game, and although it does require some movements (mainly making animal gestures), there is no running involved. No special props are required – it’s pretty simple to play! The recommended age is 10 and up.

    Setup for King Elephant Game

    Not much setup is required. Instruct all players to have a seat and arrange everyone in a circle, facing each other. Each seat in the circle will be a different animal, arranged in order from the top of the food chain (the King Elephant) down to the bottom of the food chain (a slimy worm). Designate one person to be the King Elephant and then assign the other animals in order. If you wish, you can let players choose their own animal and invent their own gesture for the animal. Otherwise, typical motions for the animals are:

    • King Elephant – hold one arm out, extended away from your nose, while the other arm wraps around and holds your nose.
    • Bird – join both of your thumbs together and flap your hands like a bird flying
    • Chicken – place your hands under armpits and flap your arms
    • Alligator – extend your arms out in front of you, with one hand facing up, and the other down, and clamp them both together like an alligator’s jaws
    • Bear – hold your two hands out like giant bear claws
    • Lion – connect your hands above your head like a circle, make a growling face like a lion’s roar
    • Snake – make a slithering snake movement with one of your arms
    • Fish – clasp both your hands together and imitate a fish swimming upstream
    • Monkey – puff cheeks, while pulling your ears out
    • Worm – wiggle one bent finger

    How to Play King Elephant

    King Elephant is a rhythm game in that you must successfully stay on beat. Depending on the chair you are currently seated in, each person adopts an animal gesture (as described above, or you may create a new one). The task is to correctly do your animal signal when called upon, and then to make another animal’s signal to try to get that person to make a mistake.

    The rhythm to maintain is set by the person who is King Elephant. He or she can alter the speed as desired. Everyone follows the rhythm of a 1-2-3-4 pattern, where 1 is a pat on the knee, 2 is a clap, 3 and 4 are left and right thumbs (or the signals). The person does his or her own signal (animal gesture and noise) first, followed by another animal’s signal. So for example, a round could look like this:

    King Elephant starts rhythm: knee pat, clap, elephant signal (his or her own signal),
    King Elephant signals a different player: knee pat, clap, bear signal (or anyone else’s signal),
    Bear continues: knee pat, clap, bear signal (his or her own signal),
    Bear signals another player: knee pat, clap, fish signal,
    Fish continues: knee pat, clap, fish signal (his or her own signal)..

    and so on. When people fail to keep the rhythm or make a mistake on their signal (e.g. do a signal when they aren’t supposed to) then they become the new worm and everyone else moves up by sliding up a seat. Those who change seats take on the role of a new animal. The goal is to try to be the King Elephant by knocking out anyone in front of you.

    Great fun! Be sure to get everyone to make funny animal sound effects when they do their signal too.