Fun Icebreaker Ideas & Activities

Category: Large Group

Large group icebreakers. Is your group between 10-30 people? The following games below should work great. Try them out and see for yourself!

  • 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.

  • 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!

     

  • 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.

     

  • 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.

  • Connecting Stories

    Connecting Stories is a fun team-building activity and get-to-know-you game that is all about finding common experiences or themes between people.  This activity works best in small groups of 6-8 people.

    Materials required: Pens and Post-it Notes.  Notecards or other small slips of paper will also work.

    Setup for Connecting Stories

    Have everyone divide into small groups of 6-8 people.  Ensure each table has several post-it notes and pens.  The goal of the game is to connect mini-stories in an interesting way.  Each person must share at least one item that connects to the other mini-stories.  The longer the chain of items that can be created, the better.  Write down a few words on a post-it note to keep track of each part of the story.

    The first player begins by sharing an interesting memory or experience that they have.  For example, one player can say: “One time, I accidentally locked myself out of the house.  So then I spent the entire day at a coffee shop.”

    Any other person can tell a related story that has any similar themes or elements to the previous story.  For example, the next person can say, “I am a total coffee addict.  Every day I drink 3 cups of coffee and it sometimes prevents me from being able to sleep at night.”

    The next player, based upon the previous story shared, can say something related, such as: “I don’t sleep much at night because I play lots of computer games until early morning.”

    Any person can then add to the story, by saying something like, “I also love computer games.”

    To help the group remember each part of the story, write a few words on a post-it note for each part of the story chain.  The more interesting or funny the story, the better.

    At the end of the game, the group with the longest connected chain of stories is the winner.  You may ask the group to share the entire story with the whole group.  This activity is a fun way to get people to share stories, while helping people learn similarities or common interests.

    You can get everything you need (materials and supplies) for Connecting Stories at our online store, powered by Amazon.

     

  • Story Starters Activity

    Story Starters is a good get-to-know-you icebreaker to help people share interesting stories about themselves.  It works in groups of all sizes.  For very large groups, simply have everyone split into smaller groups of 4-6 people.

    Setup for Story Starters

    Setup of this icebreaker is flexible.  Materials required: Oxford 5″x8″ notecards and plenty of ballpoint pens.

    The facilitator can prepare cards in advance, or the following could be written on a chalkboard/whiteboard/Powerpoint slide.

    Write the following sentences, one on each card:

    • “Once upon a time, I…”
    • “My favorite place I ever went to is…”
    • “The silliest thing I ever did was…”
    • “My ideal vacation is…”
    • “The craziest thing I ever did (that I’ll admit to) is…”
    • “If my life were a book, I would title it…”

    You can also come up with many more.

    Distribute these cards to each group (or show these on a chalkboard/whiteboard/Powerpoint on the front of the room).  Within each small group, each group member must choose one Story Starter and begin a story using one of these sentences as a starting point.

    Each group can vote on which story is the most interesting.  The most interesting stories can be shared to the larger group.

    Buy the materials for Story Starters at our online store, powered by Amazon.

  • Good Icebreaker Questions

    Good Icebreaker Questions is simply a list of 12 good questions that you can ask to help break the ice.  These questions are fun, and generally pretty easy and safe to answer.  You can use them as an icebreaker 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.

    Instructions for Good Icebreaker Questions

    In terms of facilitation, a great way to help people get to know each other is to ask them fun questions that allow them to express their personality or interesting things about them.  Here is a list of fun, useful icebreaker questions to help break the ice:

    • If you were a comic strip character, who would you be and why?
    • What thought or message would you want to put in a fortune cookie?
    • If you had to give up a favorite food, which would be the most difficult to give up?
    • What is one food you’d never want to taste again?
    • If you won a lottery ticket and had a million dollars, what would you do with it?
    • You’ve been given access to a time machine.  Where and when would you travel to?
    • If you could be any superhero and have super powers, which one would you like to have and why?
    • Mount Rushmore honors four U.S. presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt.  If yuo could add any person to Mount Rushmore, who would you add and why?
    • What award would you love to win and for what achievement?
    • If you could transport yourself anywhere instantly, where would you go and why?
    • In your opinion, which animal is the best (or most beautiful) and why?
    • What is one item that you really should throw away, but probably never will?
    • Growing up, what were your favorite toys to play with as a child? 
  • Blanket Game

    Blanket Game

    The Blanket Game is a funny icebreaker to get to know other folks in the room.  A large blanket is held up between two groups, and one player from each team stands behind the blanket.  The goal of the game is to be the first to identify the other person behind the blanket.

    Materials required: One very large blanket (or curtain).

    This game works for small, medium, and large groups, although teams of 10 people probably work best.  For extremely large groups, pick about 20 volunteers to go to the front of the room to play.

    Setup for the Blanket Game

    There is not much setup involved for this activity.  Form two large teams, preferably about 5-10 people per team.  Have each team go to the front of the room.  Have two volunteers hold a blanket or curtain open between the two groups, so that each group cannot see behind the blanket.  If players do not know each other well, quickly have each player introduce their name to the room.

    Playing the Blanket Game

    blanket-game

    For each turn, each team chooses a volunteer to stand (or sit) behind the blanket.  The facilitator will count “1, 2, 3” and then drop the blanket.  The first player to correctly identify the name of the other player wins the round, earning one point.

    Repeat until one team reaches a desired number of points (or whenever time runs out).  This activity is a good way to learn names.  Have fun!

    To get supplies for the Blanket Name Game, shop our online store.

  • Candy Introductions Activity

    Candy Introductions Activity is a get-to-know-you game that helps people learn new facts about each other in an easy way.  They select various pieces of candy from a bag, and each candy variety is associated with a fact about themselves which they will introduce to the others. This game also goes by other names, including the M&M game, Candy Confessions, the Skittles Game, the Gum Drop game, among others.

    Candy Introductions can work with any group size.  The icebreaker game works best when the group size is limited to 12, so if you have more than 12, divide the larger group and run the icebreaker within the smaller sized groups.  This icebreaker works best indoors, and is well suited for classrooms or meeting rooms.  Materials required are: candy with about five different variations (color or candy type), and an optional chalkboard/whiteboard.

    Setup for Candy Introductions

    Purchase several variety packs of candy, enough for each person to be able to have at least five pieces.  They can be any candy type, but not too many choices (limit it to around five or six different varieties).  Alternatively, you can buy gummy bears, life savers, gum drops, skittles, m&ms, or any other candy that already has a variety of colors.

    Instructions for How to Play 

    Pass around the candy and tell each participant to choose anywhere from 1 to 5 pieces of anything that they want.  Instruct them not to eat it yet, though.  After they have chosen their candy, you will tell them what each candy type/color represents.

    If there is a whiteboard or chalkboard present, write on the board the following:

    • Red – Favorite hobbies
    • Green – Favorite place on earth
    • Blue – Favorite memory
    • Yellow -Dream job
    • Orange – Wildcard (tell us anything about yourself!)

    If you don’t have the above colors, change the above to match the candy types that you have.  Each person takes turns introducing himself or herself, beginning with their name and then saying one fact for each candy type that they have.  This easy introduction game should go relatively quickly (assuming they weren’t greedy and that they didn’t take too many pieces of candy!)

  • Fabulous Flags Game

    Fabulous Flags (also known as the Personal Flags Game) is a useful icebreaker activity to help people convey what represents them or what is important to them.  Each person draws a flag that contains some symbols or objects that symbolizes who they are or what they enjoy.

    This get-to-know-you activity is best done indoors.  Any number of people can participate.  The recommended age is 7 and up.  Materials required are: several sheets of paper, pens, and colored pencils/crayons/markers.

    Instructions for Fabulous Flags Activity

    Pass out a sheet of paper, pens, and colored pencils, crayons, and/or markers to each person.  Explain the activity: “We’re now going to draw flags that represent or symbolize us.  Please design your own flag of you – include some symbols or objects that symbolize who you are or what you find enjoyable or important.”  You can show your own sample flag if you like.  For example, you could draw:

    • a guitar (representing your passion for music)
    • a tennis racket (someone who enjoys sports)
    • a country like India (representing your affiliation with a country)
    • a cross and a heart (representing Jesus and His love for the world)

    Give everyone a set amount of time to draw (e.g. 15-20 minutes or so) and then reconvene.  Ask for volunteers to share their flags and explain the meaning of what they drew.  If it is a large group, you can divide everyone into smaller groups and ask them to share their flags with each other, or you can just ask a small number of volunteers to share.

    Variations

    After everyone has finished sharing the individual flags, as a big group you can ask everyone to brainstorm ideas on what to draw for a large class-wide flag.  Proceed to delegate individuals to draw certain parts of the class-wide flag.  Alternatively, you can collect the individual flags and paste them onto a board to create a “quilt” of individual flags, representing unity.

    (credits: thanks Eunice!)