Icebreaker games are a great way to overcome awkward initial interactions in a group setting. Whether it is a classroom, camp, sports team, or any other gathering, teens can benefit a lot from having a fun game to get to know each other better. While a lot of these games might feel silly, they’re pretty casual and not too intimidating for shy teenagers.
What are Icebreakers?
Icebreaker games are activities designed to reduce the social awkwardness in a group setting. By having everyone participate initially, it relieves the tension and creates a more relaxed atmosphere.
The expression “break the ice” means to say or do something that relieves tension or get a conversation started when people meet for the first time. You can ask an icebreaker question to spark more conversation or you could play a quick and un icebreaker game to get things going.
Icebreaker Games for Teens
Teenagers can benefit greatly from playing icebreaker games in groups. It is very common for teens to be a bit socially awkward, and these games can help overcome that awkwardness. We’ve put together this list of popular icebreaker games for teens that are fun and also productive!
Never Have I Ever
Never Have I Ever is a great game because the rules are simple and everyone learns something new about each other. Start the game by having everyone hold up 5 or 10 fingers on their hands. You go around taking turns with everyone saying something that they’ve never done before. For example, someone could say “never have I ever ridden a horse.” If someone in the group has done the thing before, they must put down a finger on their hand. Then you keep going until someone runs out of fingers. The game can be over at that point, or you can keep going until everyone is out.
Common Thread
Start by splitting up the large group into smaller groups of 3-5 people. Once the smaller groups have been created, everyone in the group has to work together and find something that they all have in common. For example, one group might find that everyone in the group has a cat. Finding common interests is a great way for people to get to know each other. You can increase the difficulty of this game by making the groups larger, or giving less time for the groups to find what they have in common. After time is up, have every group announce everyone else the common thread that they were able to find.
Would You Rather
Would You Rather questions are a great way to learn about people’s personal interests and preferences. You simply ask someone a question that starts with “would you rather” and is followed by a couple of options. For example, you could ask someone if they would rather live in a city or by the beach. After you ask the question, the other person would say which they would prefer, and why. You can play many variations of this game, such as one on one, or in a larger group.
Honestly, the most difficult part of this game is coming up with the questions. If you’re getting stuck on brainstorming questions, just use this large list of would you rather questions that we have put together!
Hangman
If you’re in a group setting that has a whiteboard or a piece of paper, consider playing hangman to relieve some tension! The reason hangman works as a great icebreaker game is because you take turns guessing letters. This means that everyone gets to participate. Sometimes, speaking up for the first time is the hardest, so getting this out of the way in a relaxed way can be great for teens.
This or That
This icebreaker game is very similar to “Would You Rather”, except it is much faster paced. The way it works is that you give people two options and they must choose if they would rather “this” or “that.” You can play this in a group, by asking the entire group a “this or that” questions and then having them raise their hand for which option they would prefer. This is a great icebreaker because people get to see who else has a similar interest to them based on who has raised their hand.
The Story Game
This is a very silly game, but it is a great way to relieve social awkwardness in a group. Start by having everyone sit together in a circle and choose a person to start with. This person will benign a story by only saying a single sentence. After they say their sentence, the person to their right has to continue the story by adding another sentence. Then you keep going and as a group, you create a silly story that everyone played a part in writing. It’s a great way to laugh, and get a sense of other people’s creativity.
Name Game
The name game might be the simplest and most effective icebreaker. The way it works is that you go around the room and everyone must say their name as well as something that starts with the same letter. The brilliance of this game is that creating the alliteration makes the name more memorable. For example, someone might say “Penguin Peter” or “Elephant Emily.” This game is insanely effective for learning names, which makes it perfect for a group of people who mostly don’t know each other.
Categories
Start by selecting a category such as “animals” or “countries.” Then go around and have everyone say something in that category. The only rule is that they cannot repeat something that has already been said before. If they repeat something in the category, or they can’t think of something, then they are out. You can keep going until you have a winner! It’s a competitive game, but not overly competitive where people feel bad if they lose. This icebreaker game makes it a great low-stakes way to get everyone chatting and relieve stress.
Mad Libs
This is a fantastic game to get a group of people participating and relieve some tension among strangers. Mad Libs is a word game where everyone takes turns filling in the blanks of a story with words of a specific type such as a noun or a verb. The catch is that the players don’t know what the story is about until they suggest all of the words. It’s a great bonding experience because everyone participates in putting the story together. After all of the words have been filled in, you go and read the story together and share a laugh.
Rock Paper Scissors Competition
Friendly competition is a great way to introduce people in a group setting. You can start by creating a bracket with everyone’s names and have a single elimination-style tournament. Since the bracket is created using names, this is a good way for people to learn the names of their opponents and people become more familiar with each other. The tournament might be pretty quick in a small group, so you can repeat it a couple of times if you’d like!
Where are Icebreaker Games Played?
The purpose of icebreakers is to help people get to know each other and build connections more quickly. That being said, icebreaker games are ideal in any group where some people are strangers to one another. Icebreaker games are played in classrooms, parties, orientation events, camps, and team meetings. Instead of boring introductions, playing a game helps people become more engaged and learn about who they are meeting.