No matter if you're looking for something new to do with the kids, or a fun diversion your whole squad can get behind, icebreaker games for friends and family pretty much guarantee a good time. Widely used as team-building exercises in work settings, icebreakers often encourage colleagues to share interesting tidbits about themselves so everyone can get to know each other better. For family members or groups of friends, these activities can create a real bonding experience, offering loved ones a chance to grow even closer because they can help strengthen communication and cooperation.
And icebreaker games are by their nature plenty engaging, so they're even great for fighting a carb coma after a big Thanksgiving meal, or for keeping the festivities going after the DIY presents have been unwrapped on Christmas.
Or, give these icebreakers a go during your next family dinner or cocktail night with the crew. From games that inspire players to discuss their week (like Rose Bud Thorn), to the classic This or That, which asks participants to choose sides on a light-hearted, debatable topic, many of these ideas don't require any supplies. Those that do for the most part need little more than pencils and paper to play. So grab the gang and get ready to engage your creativity and connect more fully with the most important people in your life.
Sharing Games
- Would You Rather?
Everyone prepares a "would you rather?" question, like "Would you rather visit deep space or the bottom of the ocean?" Then, go around in a circle, with each participant asking the person to their left their question. Make sure everyone explains the reason for their choice. - Morale Booster
Have each player give one compliment to every person in the group. Stay away from empty flattery. Instead, consider what you truly admire most about your friend or family member—what makes them special in your eyes. - Year of the Nickel
Bring a jar of nickels to the gathering and have everyone pick one. Each person should then share something notable or interesting they did the year their coin was made, like learning a new language or taking a polar plunge. - Desert Island
Imagine you're stranded on a desert island. Share what book, album and luxury item you'd bring along with you if you could, and why. - If You Were a...
Play a round or two of "If you were a ___, what would you be?" Ask everyone to come up with a few questions along the lines of "If you were an insect, what would you be?" or "If you were a soup, what would you be?" Ask every participant to explain their answer. - Question Bowl
Ask the group members to think of thought-provoking questions, like "If you could travel to any period in time, which one would you visit and why?" Jot the questions down on individual strips of paper, dump them in a bowl and pass it around, with each person answering the question they pulled. - Fast Fives
Everyone shares five facts about themselves that no one else knows. Think about using topics like life-changing books, favorite concerts, or places you'd most like to visit. - Bucket List
Ask the group to share one or two of their biggest dreams, which can be anything from writing a book to attending the Super Bowl. The really nice thing about this icebreaker is that it gives friends and family the opportunity to support each other's dreams. - Secret Identity
Everyone writes 10 secret facts about themselves on a piece of paper, which gets placed in a hat. Someone reads the entries aloud, and the group has to guess the person's identity. - Rose Bud Thorn
Go around in a circle and give the highlight of your day, something you're looking forward to in the next month and the low point of your week. This is the perfect game for sharing over the dinner table. - Blast from the Past
Participants share something they accomplished—or an interesting experience they had—before they turned 18. - High Low Buffalo
Much the same as Rose Bud Thorn, but instead of discussing what you're looking forward to, you pick a recent event that made you laugh. - School Days
Take a break from the usual board game night with friends or family and each week ask a different person to teach the rest of the group a skill they have. Keep it relatively simple—a card trick, whistling or throwing a football. - Share a Funny Photo
Everyone has to reveal an embarrassing photo of themselves along with the backstory about when it was taken. - Lock Screen Reveal
This is much like share a funny photo, but maybe even more telling. After all, people tend to choose what's really important to them for their lock screen image. - The Bright Side
Each person shares a recent negative event they experienced, with the rest of the group coming up with something positive about it. For example, an argument with a friend offers the opportunity to talk things through and make the relationship stronger than it was before. - House on Fire
Imagine your house is on fire, and every person and pet who lives there is safe. Now share what you would save if you had a minute to run in and grab three items, and why you would pick those specific things. - Speed Sharing
Pair people off and have them set their phone timers for two minutes. Give them a fun conversation starter to talk about, such as "If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?" After the buzzers sound, everyone should switch partners and answer a different question. - Upon a Star
Take turns telling each other the one thing you would ask for if you were granted one wish. - The Hot Seat
Each group member gets to ask the person in the hot seat one question, which can be about anything—but be careful not to get too nosy, because everyone has to take their turn sitting in the hot seat! - This or That
Sit in a circle, with the person starting the game asking the person to their left a This or That question. After answering, they ask the person to their left a different This or That question. The faster you go, the more fun it is, especially if the questions are ridiculous, like "talking babies or talking pets?" or "candy corn or circus peanuts?" Or, slow it down a bit and ask players to explain their answers. - Sweet Questions
Pass around a bowl of M&Ms and let everyone take as much as they want, but ask them not to eat it yet. Everyone then has to answer a question that's specific to the color of candy they have. For example, those with blue M&Ms might need to answer, "What food will you absolutely not eat?" - Personal Hero
Give everyone a few minutes to come up with a person, living or dead, whom they admire, and the reasons why they admire them. - Show and Tell
Ask everyone to share something from their wallet, purse, briefcase, or backpack that makes them happy, and something that makes them anxious. Everyone should explain why the item provokes the feelings it does.
Drs Producoes
Creative Games
- Vision Boarding
Create vision boards using everything from magazine images to photos, notes, bits of fabric and more. You'll discover more about the dreams and desires of your loved ones while sharing your own with them. - Tall Tales
One member of the group begins making up a story using the opening line, "Once upon a time..." After a little bit, the leader interrupts and the next person must pick up where the story let off. - Word Association
Read out a list of ten words, with everyone writing down whatever other word immediately comes to mind when they hear it. Try to use words that aren't obviously part of a pair, so the answers will be more interesting. - Poetry Portraits
Have everyone tell the story of their day in a haiku (a short poem that contains a line each of five, seven and five syllables). - Six Word Memoir
Every person thinks up a six-word sentence that best summarizes, describes or encapsulates their life. - Goody Bag
Just like the Tall Tales game, although with this activity everyone must also pull a random object out of a bag and then find a way to integrate it into the story. - Building a Story
This is also similar to Tall Tales, but instead of telling a story until the leader asks you to stop, each person adds just one word to the narrative at a time. Or, instruct each person to begin their part of the story with the word suddenly—the results are usually hilarious and always unpredictable. - Talent Show
Hold a talent show for each other, with everyone performing one skill they're proud of, be it tap dancing, folding a fitted sheet or doing an impression of a famous person. - The Pitch
Break up into teams, with each team coming up with an idea for a movie they want to make. The groups then pitch each other their movies, with everyone voting for the pitch that deserves funding (no voting for your own team). - Don't Smile
This is an especially fun game to play with young kids, who tend to crack up pretty easily. One person stands in the center of the circle, while everyone around them tries to make them smile by telling jokes, making funny faces, or doing anything else they can think of to get a grin.
Henrik Sorensen
Competitive Games
- Two Truths and a Lie
Everyone tells two truths about themselves and one lie. The other players have to guess which one is the lie. Dig deep for surprising truths to make the game more challenging. The person who correctly calls out the most lies wins. - 10 Things in Common
Divide everyone into partners with the goal that the first pair of people to find 10 things they have in common wins. - Going on a Picnic
For this classic memory game, each person names something that they'd bring to a picnic in alphabetical order. The catch is that you also have to name all of the things that everyone else did before you add to the list. For example, the first person might use "apple pie." The second person would have to say "apple pie" followed by something like "beer." - Have You Ever?
Create a list of questions to ask the group, with everyone raising their hand if the answer is yes. The person who answers affirmatively the most times wins the game. The quirkier the questions the better for this one, like "Have you ever kissed your dog on the lips?" or "Have you ever fallen asleep standing up?" - Different is Good
Each player takes turns listing 10 things about themselves that they think make them different from anyone else in the room, such as "I jumped out of an airplane," or "I've never had a cavity." Anyone who shares the characteristic raises their hand, with the person who has the greatest number of unique characteristics at the end of the game winning. - Team Trivia
Split everyone into pairs and hand out a list of 10 or so trivia questions to each twosome. The team that answers the most questions correctly within a specific amount of time wins. Topics can include anything from romantic movies to ocean life and American cities. - Marshmallow Challenge
Break into teams, with each group receiving a yard of tape, a yard of string, 20 pieces of uncooked spaghetti and one marshmallow. The group that can build the tallest tower crowned with the marshmallow wins. - Charades
This iconic game enhances communication and teamwork skills, which makes it an ideal icebreaker. Write down charades grouped around a particular subject, like careers, Broadway plays or sports, on index cards. Break the group into two teams, with someone from each team acting out the word or term on the card to the rest of the team. The team that figures out the most charades wins. - Who Am I?
Write the names of famous fictional characters, or real people, on index cards and tape one card to your family members' and friends' backs. They then mingle, asking each other yes or no questions to get enough information so they can figure out who they are. The first person to guess correctly wins. - Jigsaw Puzzle
Have two teams put together the same jigsaw puzzle. The team that finishes first wins. - Paper Airplanes
Each group member writes a silly fact about themselves on a piece of paper, which they make into a paper airplane. Everyone tosses their airplane into the air, picks up someone else's, and tries to figure out who it belongs to based on the fact that's written on it. The first person to do so wins. - People Bingo
Make bingo boards with squares labeled with things like "is the youngest child" and "loves scary movies." People mingle, asking each other questions, until someone gets Bingo. - Red Light Green Light
This children's game favorite is actually a good time no matter your age. Everyone lines up on one side of the yard, except for one person positioned on the other side. When they yell "green light" everyone can move toward them, but anyone caught moving after they yell "red light" is out. The participant who reaches the other side of the yard first wins. - Pair Up
Write words that are part of a pair, like shoes and socks, or peanut butter and jelly, on index cards and tape one card to each person's back. The group mingles, asking yes or no questions of each other so that they can figure out the word on their back and link up with the person who has the other half of the word pair. The first couple to do so wins. - Tic Tac Toe
Pick a theme for the game, like personality traits. Everyone fills in their grid, listing one of their traits in each square. The group mingles, with people crossing out each other's boxes that have the same trait listed. The first player to have three squares in a row crossed out wins. - Best Bad Joke
Or maybe this should be called best dad joke...whichever way you go, the idea is that everyone tells the biggest groaner they know and then votes at the end for the absolute worst.
Jill Gleeson is a travel journalist and memoirist based in the Appalachian Mountains of western Pennsylvania who has written for websites and publications including Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, Country Living, Washingtonian, Gothamist, Canadian Traveller, and EDGE Media Network. Jill is the travel editor for Enchanted Living. Learn more about her journey at gleesonreboots.com.
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