This icebreaker game involves to teams and requires no special materials to play.  It works both indoors and outdoors, so go ahead and have fun!

Setup for Giants, Wizards, and Elves

This game involves two teams who will act as one of 3 characters: giants, wizards, and elves. When a player acts out a character, he or she does the specific hand motions and also makes the noise associated with the character.

• Giants.  Stand on your tippy toes, raise your arms like a giant, and make a menacing growling noise: “Rarrr!”  
• Wizards.  Crouch slightly, as wizards are a bit shorter.  Wave your fingers as though you’re casting a magical spell, and make a magical noise: “Shaazaam!”
• Elves.  Crouch down very low, cup your hands around your ears, and make a high pitched elf noise: “Eeeee!”

Make sure everyone knows the motions and sounds.  Feel free to practice until everyone knows how to become each character.  Split everyone into two teams and divide them into separate sides of the room. For each round, both teams huddle and choose to become a giant, wizard, or elf.  When ready, both teams then line up and stand facing each other, about five or six feet apart.  At the start of each round, the leader says “Three, two, one, go!!”

At this point, each team acts out the character they chose (giant, wizard, or elf).  As soon as they do this, the winner tries to grab the loser — as many people over to their side as they can.  The loser tries to retreat back to their own side to be safe for that round.  If captured, a person now belongs to the other team.  The following determines who beats who:

Giants beat elves, because giants are able to “squash” elves.  Elves beat wizards because they outsmart them.  Elves chew at their legs.  Wizards beat giants because they are able to zap them with a magic spell.  If both teams show the same character, no one wins.  Rounds keep repeating until one team wins (the other team is completely captured).

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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…

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Candy Introductions can work with any group size.  The icebreaker 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!)

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React and Act is an active icebreaker game that can work with a variety of group sizes.  It can work for small groups of five people, or adapted for very large groups by selecting volunteers.  This game is best played indoors.  Materials required include paper, pens, and a bag.  React and Act works with all ages, including adults.

Setup for React and Act

React and Act involves some preparation; however, this is part of the fun!  Pass out sheets of paper and pens to the players.  Have each person write an event.  Tell them to be creative!  Examples of events can include:

• Being surprised by a large, aggressive bear in the woods
• You just won the lottery
• You have just been proposed for marriage with an engagement ring
• You just got fired by an incompetent boss
• Making the game winning pass to win the Superbowl
• You just fell in love

Once everyone writes an event, fold the paper once and place it into the bag.  Divide the group into two teams (or select five volunteers if it is a very large group). 

Instructions for How to Play

Ask five people on each team to randomly select an event from the bag.  Instruct them to react to this event, without explicitly giving away what the event is.  Choose a time limit (usually 30 seconds to a minute works well) and when you say “Go!”, have all five people to simultaneously react to their event using exaggerated gestures, facial expressions, and their voice.

For example, the person who has just won the lottery could raise his or her arms and scream excitedly, jumping up and down.  The person who has just confronted a bear might make a terrified look, shake in fear, and call for help.  And so on.  Each of the five actors can interact with each other, but they must stay “in character” and continue reacting and acting based upon what their sheet said.

After time expires, the other members of the team try to guess what happened for each person.  If you wish to keep score, each team gets a point for each correct guess.  This game is a great way to break the ice, while watching people act out silly (and usually hilarious) things.

Variations to Try

There are many variations to React and Act that changes the way the game is played.  Try experimenting with these and see whether you like them.

• No talking allowed, but noises are okay.  This increases the difficulty of the game by a lot, but it can be more hilarious. 
• Narrator explains the event before each person acts.

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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!)

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This active teambuilding exercise requires six people at minimum, and can support very large groups if the teams are divided evenly. Teams should be about three to six people in size. This game involves interacting with lots of strangers in a public place such as a school campus. Props required include small objects such as paper clips or pens (one for each team). Recommended age is 18 and up. This game can be played with adults and even in corporate settings. When playing with younger people, please be sure to provide proper supervision when necessary.

Setup for Bigger and Better

To prepare for Bigger and Better, get several paper clips or some small objects that are low in value. Be sure to have enough to provide one per team.

Playing Bigger and Better

Explain the rules to everyone: You will give each team a small object, and their job is to keep trading and upgrading their team’s object to obtain the largest and most valuable item possible. They may not offer anything other than the item they have, and they must stick together as a group. Set a time limit, such as one or two hours, and tell everyone that they must be back in time or else they will be disqualified. Announce that each team’s item will be judged in three categories: size, value, and creativity.

Divide the group into teams of three to six. Pass out the paper clip (or other small object) to the each group and send them off. When time expires, the judging process begins. Each team presents their item before the entire group. They explain why their item is biggest and best. At the end, choose winners for each of the three categories, or judge the items in any other way you wish. This activity involves good teamwork and creativity as each team coordinates their efforts and decides what strategies they will approach when playing. Camaraderie will be built, and surprises will come out of the activity. Who knows, a group might be able to turn a paper clip into a car! Well, maybe a toy car.

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This game can be classified as a get-to-know-you style icebreaker.  The recommended group size is medium, large, or extra large groups.  Players will be divided into multiple teams of at least five people.  This game can be played both indoors or outdoors.  There are no special materials required to play.  It works great with all ages.

Setup for the Superlative Game

The facilitator of the Superlative game needs to prepare a list of categories.  These categories can be surface-level categories such as height (in ascending order), birthday month (in ascending order, from January to December), shoe size, number of siblings (least to most), etc. or you can also make deeper categories, depending on your goals.

Playing the Superlative Game

Split the group into at least three teams.  The ideal team size is at least five players per team, but preferably no more than nine.  Explain the rules and consider using one of the variations below (such as the no talking rule). 

Read the first category aloud, such as “Line up by increasing order of height.  Go!”  Each team scrambles to get in the proper order.  When a team thinks they are done, they must all sit down and raise their hands.  At this point, the facilitator checks the team and verifies that they are in the proper order.  If they made a mistake, they get awarded zero points that round and the facilitator checks the next group that sat down.  The first team to correctly get in order and sits down gets awarded a point. 

The facilitator then reads off the next category, and this process repeats until the game is over (no more categories).

Variations

There are many variations to this game that are worth considering.  These include:

1. No talking allowed.  All players must rely on body language and hand gestures to get in the proper order.

2. Head and feet only.  You can only use your head and feet to signal where to go.  No talking or use of arms/hands to communicate.

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This is in active icebreaker that works best with a group of five or six people.  It can also be implemented for larger groups by taking five or six volunteers per round.   This game is best played indoors.  No special materials are required other than sheets of paper with the clues written on them.  Telephone Charades is for people age 10 and up. 

Setup for Telephone Charades

Telephone Charades or “Charades Down the Line” is an active icebreaker that combines charades with the “telephone down the line” game.   To prepare for the game, write a list of humorous actions to be acted out.  Some examples are:

• a pantomime 
• a nerd’s first date
• a cat bathing itself
• going skydiving
• fishing and catching a huge fish

Instructions for How to Play

Choose five or six people (or ask for volunteers) and ask them to line up in a row, facing the left side of the room.  Ask the first person to turn around to see the first clue to be acted out.  Reveal the clue to the person, and display the clue to the audience as well.  

The first person turns around and taps the next person in line on the shoulder.  He or she then acts out the clue using classic charades rules (no talking or noises permitted).  The second person then taps the third person and acts out his or her understanding of what was acted out.  This process continues until it reaches the last person in line, who must guess what the action is. 

This game is funny because the acting tends to warp and get distorted based upon each person’s interpretation of what is going on.

Variation

A good variation to try is to have two teams line up and act out the same clue simultaneously.  The teams that guess the clue correctly (or most correctly) wins the round.

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This get-to-know-you game can be played indoors or outdoors.  The recommended number of people for this game is ten to fifteen, but all group sizes can play by dividing into appropriate sized groups.  Recommended age is 8 and up.  No special materials are required.

Instructions for Never Have I Ever

Instruct everyone to sit in a circle.  If you have an extremely large group, tell people to form smaller circles of about ten to fifteen people.  To start each round, each player holds out all ten fingers and places them on the floor.  Go around the circle and one at a time, each person announces something that they have never done, beginning the sentence with the phrase “Never have I ever…”  For example, a person could say, “Never have I ever been to Europe.”  For each statement that is said, all the other players drop a finger if they have done that statement.  So, if three other people have been to Europe before, those three people must put down a finger, leaving them with nine fingers.  The goal is to stay in the game the longest (to be the last person with fingers remaining).  To win, it’s a good strategy to say statements that most people have done, but you haven’t. 

Playing this game, along with the benefit of getting to know each others’ experiences better, can be very humorous (e.g. saying silly statements such as, “Never have I ever skipped a class in school” or “Never have I ever soiled my pants.”)  Have fun!

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This exercise in teambuilding can be messy, so choose an appropriate setting where making a mess is acceptable.  The recommended group size is: teams of four or five people.  Several materials are needed: raw eggs, several plastic straws, masking tape, newspaper, and other materials of your choice.  This activity is for people ages 14 and up.

Setup for Defend the Egg

This game works well with teams that are not too large.  A good team size is four or five people.  Pass out one egg and a limited supply of materials (e.g. four straws, a three foot strip of tape, one section of a newspaper, etc.)  This activity is more challenging with less materials provided, so decide how challenging you wish to make it.

Gameplay for Defend the Egg

Explain the rules: the mission is to protect the egg from cracking using teamwork, creativity, and a good design.  You will drop each structure at least fifteen feet, and so the goal is for each structure to be able to withstand such a fall.  Each team will only be given limited resources, and so they must be wise with what they have.  They may not use any other resources other than what is given to them.  Optionally, you can have other critera for judging including:

• most creative design
• most stylish/visually appealing
• (any other awards you wish)

Decide on an appropriate amount of time (e.g. 20-25 minutes) and then instruct them to begin!  Tell them to place their egg inside their structure. 

Be sure to supervise each team as they build their structure. 

When time is up, collect all the structures.  Now is dramatic finale in which the structures are dropped (or thrown!) from at least 15 feet in elevation and then carefully inspected to see if the eggs survived. The winners are the groups that successfully protected the egg.  If you chose to have other awards, announce those winners also. 

This activity is useful to illustrate the importance of teamwork.  Ask everyone to reflect on how their group accomplished the task, what worked, what was challenging, etc.

Variation

A much more challenging variation of this activity is to provide no materials (other than the egg) and ask the participants to find materials from outdoors. 

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