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!

  • Late Arrivals Game

    The Late Arrivals Game is an entertaining word/talking game.  It is a parlor game that was featured on Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue in the United Kingdom.  Each player takes a turn as the toastmaster of a fancy ball, introducing the guests of the ball.

    This game can serve as an icebreaker or party game.  It can be silly and works best with people 16 and up.  The game works best with groups of about 6-8 people.  The game involves some creativity, so you may form pairs or groups of three as well.

    Setup for Late Arrivals Game

    First, the facilitator (host) of the game must decide what the late arrivals have in common — in other words, what the theme of the ball is.

    Ideas for a round could include:

    • Late Arrivals at the Builders’ Ball.
    • Late Arrivals at the Cake Eaters’ Ball.
    • Late Arrivals at the Churchgoers’ Ball.
    • Late Arrivals at the Policeman’s Ball.
    • Late Arrivals at the Animal Ball.
    • Late Arrivals at the Gardeners’ Ball.
    • Late Arrivals at the Undertakers’ Ball.
    • Late Arrivals at the Cheesemongers’ Ball.
    • Late Arrivals at the Dog Lovers’ Ball.
    • Late Arrivals at the Foodie’s Ball.

    Each player takes it in turn to be toastmaster announcing fictional people to the ball, all of which need to have something to do with the theme of the ball and hopefully be amusing.

    Typically, each person will follow the model: “I’d like to introduce Mr. and Mrs. X and their son/daughter…[clever name]”

    An example could be from the Animal Ball, “Mr and Mrs Raffe and their daughter Jay!”  (sounds like Giraffe).

    “Mr and Mrs Debeest and their son Will!” (Wildebeest)

    “Mr and Mrs Raree and their daughter Saffy” (Safari)

    and so on.

    At the hairdresser’s ball, clever names might include something like the “The artist formerly known as Rinse.”

    There is not really any right or wrong answer for this game — allow players to be funny and creative as they wish.

    Because of the difficulty of coming up with answers off the cuff, it is probably better to have prior warning of this game, and maybe play in teams of about three or so. This should mean that at least you come with some ideas. Each team could have a different theme or ball.

    Keep playing and take turns coming up with additional names until each group cannot come up any more.

    The winner may be the one who continues when the other players/teams have given up or when the host or all players determine who was the funniest.

     

     

  • Wedding Shoe Game

    The Wedding Shoe Game is a great way to create laughs and memories after the ceremony. The shoe game is ideal for a wedding because it allows the whole audience to participate, while still focusing on the newlyweds. There is no limit to the amount of players that can participate. Guests can get to know the bride and groom more through their comical shoe responses and inevitable disagreements.

    Set-Up

    Ask the tables or individuals to submit ‘who’ questions before the wedding to use.

    • The questions should focus on the couple and be easy enough to answer with a raised shoe.  For example: Who is the better dancer? Who is more likely to do the dishes? Who is more likely to make the dishes? Who said I love you first? Who is more likely to get sunburnt? Who wears the pants in the relationship?
    • Seat the newly married couple in front of or in the middle of the room, dance floor, etc.
    • Have all the guests seated around the couple, so that everyone can see/hear them.
    • The teams will be set up based on the table seating. Each table of guests will be one group that can contribute a question to ask.
    • Select one individual such as the DJ or someone from the wedding party to ask the questions.
    • The bride and groom should each take one of their shoes off to use for the game.

    How to Play the Wedding Shoe Game

    • Seat the bride and groom in the front or middle of the room.
    • Have the bride and groom seated back to back, so they can’t see each other’s responses.
    • Select someone to read off the ‘who’ questions from the guests.
    • Whenever the question applies to the person, they will raise their shoe in the air.  For example: “Who is a morning person?”   The bride might raise her shoe and not the groom.
    • There can be some disagreements when asking questions like, who is funnier? Both the bride and groom might raise their shoe in the air.

    Variations

    • This game can be played at any point during the wedding, but it is most commonly played during the reception before food is served.
    • Instead of using one person to read the questions, the bride and groom can read them off to each other.
    • Family members and friends can also ask the questions.
    • Give each table five minutes to come up with one question together during the wedding.
    • The couple can raise any object in the air—their hands, a wand, a balloon.
    • The couple can switch shoes—the bride holds a dress shoe, while the groom holds a heel.

  • Sparkle Game

    Sparkle is a great group game that can be done as a warm up to get the brain thinking. Traditionally, it is played as a spelling game, but you can also do it with math problems, a memory verse, or focus on a specific subject instead. It’s a fun way to study previously learned or new information. The game is fast paced — with players constantly listening and ready to speak at any moment!

    Sparkle Set-Up

    This game is ideal for medium to extra large groups of people, and there is not a limit on the number of players.  It can be played in both indoor and outdoor settings.  The setup is fairly easy:

    • Create a circle or line standing up.
    • Assign one person to provide the words throughout the game.
    • That person can either create a pre-made list of words or think of the words during the game.

    How to Play the Sparkle Game

    1. Explain a memory verse, name a word, or a math problem—depending on which type of game selected.
    2. Arrange everyone in a circle or line, standing up, and facing the same direction.
    3. Choose one person to start the spelling.  For example, if the word is ‘LEADERSHIP’, the first player would say the letter ‘L,’ the second player would say ‘E,’ the third player would say ‘A,’ and this pattern would continue until the word ‘LEADERSHIP’ is fully spelled.
    4. After the word has been spelled, the next person must say ‘Sparkle.’
    5. The player next to the person who said Sparkle must sit down.
    6. If at any point in the game someone says the wrong letter, then they must sit down. The person next to them will continue the spelling.
    7. If you are sitting, then that means you are out of the game.
    8. After a word is finished, a new one will be selected to spell.
    9. This pattern continues–spelling and sitting– until one person is left standing, who is the winner!

    Variation

    • Instead of spelling words, players can use math problems or memory verses.
    • For a memory verse or song, teach the material first, and then assign different stanzas that players will have to memorize.

    For a song example,

    1. ‘Twinkle twinkle little star”
    2. “How I wonder where you are”

    Each player would sing one stanza until the song is complete.

    • Follow a theme when selecting words — for example, leadership, accountability, marketing, brand, and feedback. All of these words relate to the topic of business.
    • In a classroom setting, Sparkle can be played for students to memorize new vocabulary words in any subject.  For example, if students are studying history, Sparkle can be combined with quiz questions, such as:
      • Who was the first president of the United States?
      • The students would have to know whom the president was and how to spell his name.
      • G, E, O, R, G, E   W, A, S, H, I, N, G, T, O, N

  • Personal Artifact Game

    The Personal Artifact Game is the perfect icebreaker for those who want to stay away from the usual “who, what, where” questions that are typically asked in these sorts of activities. It requires participants to dig a little deeper than just their favorite color and bring something personal to the table!  Players are more likely to remember each other’s names from the stories behind each artifact. It encourages players to get to know each other personally and also provides future topics to discuss. Whether it’s the first day of class, camp, or on the job, the personal artifact icebreaker is sure to get discussions flowing and give each player a memorable moment associated with them.

    Set-Up

    • Note that this game requires people to plan a little bit in advance — ask each player to bring in a personal artifact from home.
    • A personal artifact can be anything that is special or who represents the individual. For example, players can bring in a stuffed teddy bear from childhood, an x-ray of a broken bone, a picture, or a locket.
    • Pair up with partners or set up seating into a half circle.

    How to Play the Personal Artifact Game

    1. Assign each a number or go alphabetically to select the order.
    2. If using a half circle, then have each person stand in front of the group. If using partners, then pair up people.
    3. Going one at a time, each person will briefly present their personal artifact to the group, including what it is and why they chose it.
    4. Depending on the amount of time, the audience can ask 2-3 questions about the artifact.

    Variations

    • Instead of having the player bring in a personal object, they can use anything they have on them. Players can pull something out of their purse, wallet, or even use their current clothing and tell about its origin.
    • Players can pass around their artifacts if they feel comfortable.
    • To make the game more interesting, you can take the items and mix them up on a table, then have players guess who each of the items belongs to and explain why.

  • Extremes Game: Where Do You Stand?

    The Extremes Game: Where Do You Stand? is a useful classroom icebreaker that helps people get to know each other’s opinions and stances a bit better.  It can be played with medium to extra large sized groups and is a good way to get everyone moving around a little bit.  The game can vary in time depending on how many questions you use; in general allow for 5-15 minutes as a good range.

    Materials required: None!

    Setup for Extremes Game: Where Do You Stand?

    In the front of the room, create an imaginary line.  All the way on the left side is one extreme, and all the way on the right side is the other extreme.  Make sure there is enough space for people to stand anywhere along this imaginary line.

    To play this game, you will ask everyone several questions.  Everyone will then respond by standing somewhere along the imaginary line according to how strong of an opinion they have on that item.  For example, if you ask people “coffee? or tea?” people will stand far along the left hand side if they strongly prefer coffee, and they will stand on the far end of the right hand side if they strongly prefer tea.  If they are neutral, they will stand in the middle.

    You can ask many kinds of questions.  For example,

    • winter or summer?
    • sweet or salty?
    • Hawaii or New York City?
    • boxers or briefs?
    • rock music or classical?
    • chocolate or strawberry?
    • Morning person or Night person?
    • would you rather be short or tall?
    • would you rather be rich or beautiful?

    Many of these questions can be very funny.  You can also ask many deep questions as well — use your imagination and have fun!

    If you don’t want to come up with your own questions, a good board game version with many questions provided is: Would You Rather? Boardgame – Classic Version, now available from Amazon.  Enjoy and have fun!

  • Shoe Pile Mingle Game

    A great way to break the ice is the Shoe Pile Meet-and-Greet Mingle Game.  This icebreaker game is especially useful for corporations and training situations where you want to break the ice and build up team chemistry.

    Setup for Shoe Pile Mingle

    Ask everyone to take off one of their shoes (only one of their shoes).  Have everyone throw their shoe into a big pile in the center of the room.

    Playing Shoe Pile Mingle Game

    Explain the rules of the game.  Once everyone takes off one shoe and throws it into a big shoe pile, have everyone randomly grab a shoe. The goal is to mingle and go around the room, introducing yourself and talking to many people and trying to find the person whose shoe you are holding.

    Warning! This game may be a bit smelly.  But that’s okay — all in the name of teambuilding and breaking the ice, right?

  • 3 Games of Intimate Cooperation

    1. Pucker Up

    You won’t kiss anyone in this game, but you won’t be far off. The game challenges you to carry a tennis ball between the mouths of two players. Get in sync with your partner or risk dropping the ball and ruining the mood.

    You will need

    • 3 tennis balls per team
      A glass for each team
      A bowl for each team

    Set-up

    1. Put the glass and bowl, which are your start point and endpoint respectively, on opposite sites of the room.
    2. Place the tennis balls near the glass.
    3. Arrange players into pairs. v

    Rules

    One teammate will place a tennis ball on top of the glass. This is so you have easy access to all sides of the ball. Both teammates now lower their faces to the tennis ball and place their mouths on opposite sides of the ball.

    Now that the ball is trapped between their faces, they should now be able to lift and move the ball. With ball only in contact with both player’s mouths, the teammates will transport the ball to the bowl on the other side of the room, and drop the ball in the bowl.

    Return to the other side of the room, and repeat for the other two tennis balls to finish the challenge. The team that finishes first, wins!

     

    Ready Spaghetti

    A similar concept to above. There’s no Lady And The Tramp spaghetti action here, but you will be holding a piece of uncooked spaghetti lengthways between two player’s mouths. They use this rigid pasta prop to transport soda cans, threading the pasta through the can’s ring pull.

    You will need

    • A strand of uncooked spaghetti per team.
    • 3 empty soda cans per player. Pull the ring pulls on all cans into a vertical position.

    Set-up

    1. Place the soda cans on one end of the room.
    2. Designate an “target area” on a surface at the other end of the room.
    3. Arrange players into pairs. The two teammates will start by standing on opposite sites of the soda cans.

    Rules

    One teammate places one end of the spaghetti in their mouths, so that it is pointing away from them. Without using any other part of their body point the spaghetti towards the can, and thread it through the ring pull. The other player now uses their mouth to hold the other end of the spaghetti.

    The team can now lift the spaghetti supported can between them. Take the can to the target area. One player now releases the spaghetti so it can be freed to use for the next can.

    Go back to the cans and repeat twice more. The first team to transport all three cans wins!

     

    Belly Balloon Break

    Use the power of hugging to violently burst as many balloons as possible between you and your teammate’s bellies. Don’t get too affectionate — this is squeezing is for competitive purposes!

    You will need

    1. 10 baloons for each team.

    Rules

    Arrange the players into pairs. Players must pick up a balloon, hold it between the bellies of themselves and their teammates, then remove their hands so that the balloon is supported only by belly pressure.

    Together, the teammates squeeze the balloon between them until it pops! Take another balloon and repeat the process.

    The first team to pop all ten of their balloons wins!

  • Photo Scavenger Hunt

    Photo Scavenger Hunt is a fun team-based scavenger hunt activity with an interesting twist — the goal is to bring back digital photos (or polaroids) of various places and things.  By doing this, people will capture good memories and also have some experience working together and collaborating as a team.

    This is an active game and teambuilding activity.  The recommended group size is: teams of three or four people.  Allocate plenty of time for this activity.  Recommended ages are: 15 and up.  You will need one camera (a digital camera or polaroid) for each team.

    Setup for the Photo Scavenger Hunt

    As the facilitator of this activity, prepare a list of about twelve interesting places, things, and circumstances that can be captured using a camera.  Some examples of items you can write are:

    • A family of animals
    • A group photo with a local celebrity or someone famous
    • A very relaxing place
    • Something big and the color pink
    • The biggest tree
    • A group photo with someone dressed in very formal attire
    • A photo with a yellow car
    • A human pyramid of at least seven people
    • The funniest thing you can find
    • Something that begins with the letter “Z”

    Be creative with this list.  When you have the list prepared, make enough copies for each team.

    Playing the Photo Scavenger Hunt 

    Divide the group into teams of about three to four people.  Distribute cameras (preferably digital, although polaroid is okay too) and copies of the list you made.  Explain the rules of the activity.  Set a time limit for the groups (e.g. two hours or so).  Instruct the teams to find as many things as they can on the list, and for each item, take a picture with all the group members in the photo.  Encourage the players to be creative and to think outside of the box.

    When time expires, have all members reconvene and present their photos along with their checklist.  Award one point for each successful photo item and bonus points for extra creativity or effort.

    This activity is great for building team chemistry and for creating (and capturing!) funny memories.  Be sure to provide adequate supervision if there are younger participants.  Always keep safety first!

  • Funny Icebreaker Questions

    Funny Icebreaker Questions

    What are some funny icebreaker questions that you can use for your classroom or work event? Check out this guide for several excellent (and hilarious!) questions that you can use.

    Here are several discussion starters that you can use to break the ice! These questions are sure to make your group laugh and giggle, especially when players get creative with their answers! You can award bonus points at the end (or via group vote) for the silliest or funniest answers. We’re pretty sure that these open ended questions will get people to chuckle or crack up; more importantly, they can make it easier for your students or teammates to feel at ease with each other after they’ve had some funny moments together.

    Funny Icebreaker Questions

    See below for over 30 questions that you can choose from. Some are random and silly, while others involve a bit more sharing or some thoughtfulness that might reveal something about one’s personality, preferences, memories or interests. Enjoy!

    Silly, Zany and Wacky Questions

    1. If you were an animal, what animal would you be (which represents your personality best?)
    2. If you could be any food, what would you be and why?
    3. What is something shocking that you wish you could do before you die?
    4. What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
    5. If you had to be one body part, what would it be and why?
    6. If you were to be a superhero, who would you be and what super power would you have?
    7. If you had to live in another planet with the aliens, what job would you have?
    8. If you had to rename yourself into a strange word, what would your name be?
    9. If you could only have one sense (sight, taste, hearing, touch, smell) for the rest of your life, which one would you choose and why?
    10. If you had to change something about yourself, what would you change?
    11. If you had three wishes but had to wish them on someone else, what would you wish for?
    12. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life (every day), what would it be?
    13. If you were an ant, what would you do first?
    14. If you had a time machine and could go back in time, what would you change in history?
    15. If you were a pet, what would you want to do to your owner?

    Embarrassing Moments and Other Funny Things to Share

    1. What was one of your most memorable embarrassing memories in your life?
    2. What was the funniest thing that has ever happened to you?
    3. What was your craziest experience you’ve ever had?
    4. What was the happiest memory you’ve ever had?
    5. What was the most interesting food you’ve ever eaten (this one might surprise folks)?

    Would You Rather Questions

    1. Would you rather be a giant that everyone always can see, or a microscopic size that no one can see, and why?
    2. Would you rather be a cat or a dog?
    3. Would you rather live in the ocean or in deep outer space?
    4. Would you rather be loved by someone special (but hated by everyone else) or liked by everyone (but never loved)?
    5. Would you rather live forever but have a boring life or live a short but amazing life?
    6. Would you rather be chocolate or vanilla ice cream and what does that say about your personality?
    7. Would you rather be a hero but have no one notice or a zero but have everyone think you’re a hero?
    8. Would you rather be invisible or always visible?
    9. Would you rather be the best at everything but have everyone dislike you, or the worst at everything but have everyone like you?
    10. Would you rather be a fruit or a vegetable?

    If you like these questions, we also recommend you check out similar activities, like our original icebreaker questions, and even more good icebreaker questions.

    Love these funny icebreaker questions? Let us know what you think!