Youth Group Icebreaker Games

Youth Group Icebreaker Games

Easy Mixers

If you are looking for easy mixers that will help people get to know each other, the following games are perfect for tweens and teens.

• Alphabet Get To Know You – each member of the group will have a pre-printed piece of paper that has the letters A-Z on the left hand side of the page and a line to write on next to each letter. For each letter, the person has to find out something about someone else in the room. For example, for the letter A, a person could write, "Bob likes Apples or Jen has a broken Arm." The number of responses each person can use depends upon the number of people in the group. The object is for the group to meet and learn as much about the other members by asking them questions.
• Blow Pop Rings or Necklaces – you will need to know how many people you have in your group to plan for this youth group icebreaker game. Each person will receive three blow pop rings or necklaces when they enter the room. Tell them that they cannot use the word "I" at all. If someone uses the word "I" when speaking to another person, the person who catches it gets one of the other person's rings or necklaces. The person who has the most rings or necklaces before the meeting begins wins. (Try to give them a prize besides the blow-pops).
• Share a Story – use this game to divide a larger group into several smaller groups. Use a characteristic to divide the group up, such as those wearing shorts, having brown hair, or wearing sneakers. Try to divide cliques so everyone has a chance to meet new people. Once the groups are established, tell them to tell each other specific stories. The stories could include a favorite childhood memory, a funny thing that happened to them recently, something silly that they have said. Do three or four rounds of this before beginning a meeting.

Fun Icebreakers

Young teens are often more shy than their older counterparts. Try these youth group icebreaker games to help them get to know each other better.

• Jelly Bean Traders – give everyone 10 jellybeans. The object is for each person to get 10 of one color by trading the jellybeans with each other.
• Balloon Pop – you'll need one balloon and a small piece of paper for each person in the group. As people arrive, have them write their name on a small piece of paper and roll it up into a small tube. Then they will blow up a balloon, put the small tube of paper into the balloon, and then tie it off. Collect the balloons in a corner of the room away from everyone. Once everyone has arrived, hand out the balloons for everyone to pop. Then find the person with name in the balloon that popped.
• Speed Fellowship – based on speed dating, this is a quick way for everyone to get to know each other. Half of the group will need to be sitting down before the speed fellowship begins. The other half will be standing until someone rings a bell to begin, then each member of this group will sit with a member of the other group for 5 minutes. The object is to ask each other questions to get to know each other better. When the bell rings, each person from the standing group moves to the next person who is sitting down. No line hopping! This ends when everyone has had a chance to meet all of the people individually in the group.

More Icebreakers

There are literally hundreds of youth group icebreaker games that can be found online, and many can be made up on the spot with a little creativity. The following websites have many other games that you can try at your next get-together.

• The Source 4 Youth Ministry
• Group Games
• Sunday School Ideas
• Icebreakers
• Christian Icebreakers