1.

The One-Word Icebreaker

Keep things simple by having everyone describe their current mood in one word. You can have people explain
their one-word mood descriptor if you want to add more depth to your icebreaker activities, but you can also
just go with the flow and enjoy how cryptic some of the answers can be.

“I feel alpaca.

2. The Team-Win Icebreaker

Tori Holbrook, a Content Coordinator at SnackNation, has an easy icebreaker that will have everyone feeling
good before a meeting.

3. Favorite Knock-Knock Icebreaker

Have everyone tell their favorite knock-knock joke. Cell phone research is absolutely allowed, and laughter is
mandatory.

4. Office Charades Icebreaker

Kick off your meetings by playing a few rounds of charades where the presenters can pick only office-related
things.

If you’re rusty on your charades skills, here’s a quick refresher:

 Pick a “presenter” to start things off.

 Ask the presenter to think of an office item or activity. They can announce the category, but that’s the
last time they can talk.
 Then have the presenter explain the item using only gestures. Any spoken words lead to an immediate
disqualification.
 Laugh a lot. All charades manuals agree the game cannot be played without lots of laughter and yelling.

5. Jenga Icebreaker
Jenga is a block-stacking game probably everyone in the world has played at one point or another. You start out
with a block tower and people take turns removing blocks (and stacking them on top), while trying to keep the
tower standing. The game’s over when the tower crumbles.

Jenga requires strategy and cooperation, plus you can add a powerful communication aspect to the game.
Encourage your team to do something frowned upon during most family game nights: give the other teammates
advice and pointers. (No one is allowed to get annoyed and roll their eyes.)

If your meeting is large, split people into groups and see who can build the tallest tower.

6. Logo Love Icebreaker

Here’s how to play:

 Hand out name tags and pens.

 Have participants write their names and draw logos they love.
 Have everyone share why they chose their logos. Share in a group, or have everyone share thoughts with
their neighbors.
7. Toilet Paper Icebreaker
This idea from Lifehack requires minimal effort and minimal funds. To play, pass a roll of toilet paper around
and have everyone rip off how much they would usually use.

Everyone will probably think you’re crazy.

When the toilet paper makes it all the way around the circle, have everyone count their squares. The number of
squares each person took is the number of fun facts they have to reveal about themselves.

8. Trading Card Icebreaker

 Hand out index cards and markers.

 Tell everyone to draw a self-portrait and write their names, their nicknames (real or imaginary), and a
fun fact.
 Everyone jumps up and trades cards. People can trade as many times as they want, but they have to read
each card they get before they trade.
 After a few minutes, have everyone announce the name on the card they ended up with. People can even
ask questions of the card’s owner if they want.
 Let the conversations flow!

9. The Personality Quiz Icebreaker

Make sure everyone has their smartphones. (We doubt this will be a problem.) Send everyone a link to a
personality quiz you think they would like. Since there are probably over a million quizzes circulating, we know
there will be one to pique your interest.

Everyone can take the quiz and then reveal their results to the group. Have everyone explain why they agree or
disagree with the results.

10. The Boss Q&A Icebreaker

Bring in the head of your department or project and give everyone 15 minutes to ask any questions they have,
no holds barred.

This icebreaker gets everyone thinking about the topic of your meeting. It might even clarify some of the issues
the meeting aims to solve.

11. The Movie Pitch Icebreaker

Split people into groups and have each group come up with a movie they want to make. Everyone should have a
short pitch prepared within 10 minutes. (This film is The Avengers meets My Little Pony.)

Let everyone make their pitch, and then have all meeting attendees vote on which idea deserves “funding.” The
winners won’t immediately move to pre-production, but they might get a healthy snack for their creativity.

12. The Problem-Solution Icebreaker

Give everyone about ten minutes to pick out the biggest problems they see in the office and quickly dream up
solutions. People can volunteer to pitch their ideas. Encourage creative thinking by declaring the room a safe
zone, even if the boss is in the room.
These quick ice breaker ideas will break the thickest of ice, and it might even inspire some projects if someone
pitches an idea that resonates with the room.

13. Speed “Dating” Icebreaker

Have everyone sit near people they don’t work with. Tell everyone to look to their right and announce that
they’ll be spending the next 5 minutes speed networking with the person next to them. The goal: 5
conversations in 5 minutes. Set a timer; every time the buzzer goes off, it’s time for people to find a new
conversational partner.

14. The Shoe Icebreaker

This icebreaker from Chron requires zero prep and very little time to complete, but it’s pretty unforgettable.

Have everyone leave one shoe by the door. Redistribute the shoes so everyone has one shoe that doesn’t belong
to them. Set a timer for five minutes, and tell everyone to find the shoe’s owner and then strike up a 2-minute
conversation, preferably about a subject other than shoes.

15. The Marshmallow Challenge

This challenge from Tom Wujec, a business visualization expert, makes the perfect icebreaker and team-
building hybrid.

Break your meeting attendees into groups of four. Give each group 20 sticks of spaghetti, 1 yard of tape, 1 yard
of string, and one marshmallow. Ask them to build the tallest freestanding structure they can. Sit back and see
what happens.

16. Mindfulness Icebreaker

Meetings can sometimes fail because of what we bring to them, and we’re not talking about notebooks and cell
phones. If meeting attendees feel stress, especially about the meeting itself, then tension will dominate the
agenda.

Reduce stress by opening the meeting with a mindfulness icebreaker. Start with three minutes of silent
contemplation, and then have everyone write down what is stressing them out. When everyone finishes writing,
tell them to rip up their stress. Put all the scraps together in a bowl on the table.

17. Minefield: The Obstacle Icebreaker

This classic classroom activity from TeachThought makes the perfect meeting icebreaker.

Set up “obstacles” around the conference room table. (We recommend something harmless and funny, like
squeaky toys.) Now everyone takes turns navigating the obstacles while blindfolded, guided only by the shouts
and direction of their teammates.

18. The Props Icebreaker

To conduct this inspirational icebreaker, give everyone five minutes to think of a recent situation where one of
their co-workers blew them away with their skills and kindness. (It’s a major plus if the situation involves
someone in the meeting!) Now have everyone tell the stories to the rest of the group.
19. Company History Icebreaker

SignUpGenius’s icebreaker helps employees learn some valuable company history. Make a list of ice breaker
questions, pop them on the projector, and ask employees if they know the answers. (Individual buzzers could be
totally cool if you have any on hand!)

Here are some question ideas:

 Mission statement
 Founding year
 Biggest goal
 Founder’s name
 Number of employees
 Biggest competitor

20. The No Smiling Icebreaker

Govloop has a counter-intuitive icebreaker that actually leads to lots of laughter. Tell everyone they can’t smile
during the first five minutes of the meeting. You’ll be amazed at how humorous some people become when
they’re told not to smile.

Get the camera ready to take some silly pictures.

21. The Instagram Icebreaker

To conduct this idea from William Joseph, just give employees a few minutes to scroll through their Instagram
photos and pick a snapshot they want to share with the group. They can share the photo and explain why they
picked it. This will help some personality shine through, especially if people on your team need to get to know
each other. If you were looking for some team icebreakers – this would be the one.

22. The Friendly Debate Icebreaker

Use this student-centric icebreaker idea from the Cult of Pedagogy in your next meeting.

Start out by posing a harmless question that prompts people to choose a side. Here are some examples:

 Which food is better: pizza or tacos?

 Would you rather go on a hike or to a movie?
 What skill is more valuable: creativity or logic?
 Which is worse: being bored or being too busy?

Have everyone physically divide into sides—pro pizza to the right; pro taco to the left. Let all the like-minded
people discuss the virtues of their position for awhile, and then have a representative try to sell the other side of
the room.

This will give everyone a chance to see things from different perspectives. It will open everyone’s minds for a
productive meeting.
23. The Employee-Driven Icebreaker
This icebreaker takes the cake on ease. Have each meeting attendee bring their favorite icebreaker. This
“icebreaker” can be a joke, a quote, a phrase, an activity—anything at all. This icebreaker works because it
removes the “Why are you making me do this?” factor. Everything employees do will be self-inflicted.

24. Electric Fence Icebreaker

This icebreaker from Toggl gets employees up and moving as they build an imaginary electric fence and try to
cross it without getting “electrocuted.” Make the fence by tying some string between two chairs. They can cross
the fence however they like as long as they don’t go under it.

25. Things-in-Common Icebreaker

This FairyGodBoss icebreaker helps teammates get to know each other on a deeper level by discovering what
they have in common.

Split people into groups and tell them to find out how many things they have in common. The group who
discovers the most things in common wins, so it pays to be persistent and thoughtful. (Physical features and
clothing colors do not count!)

Each group will announce what they have in common to the rest of the group. Have everyone else raise their
hand if they also have the thing in common.

26. The Inspirational Speaker Icebreaker

Put meeting attendees out of the spotlight and invite an inspirational speaker to break the ice before your
meeting. Pick someone with expertise in what your company does or what you’re meeting is about.

Ask the presenter to make the talk super quick so there’s plenty of time for Q&A.
1. Find 10 Things in Common: In this icebreaker, you find ten things that you have in common with the other
participants in your group. You start by telling them that simple cop-outs such as body parts are not allowed.
Find out how to lead this fun icebreaker.
2. Meet and Greet Meeting Ice Breakers: Looking for simple, fun ways to have your meeting participants
become comfortable greeting each other? Here are two to try that require a bit of advance preparation, but
they're fun—and the advanced preparation really isn't too bad—given the success of your results.
3. The Best One-Word Ice Breaker: This is becoming a new favorite icebreaker. After using it for a couple of
years, it works well in every meeting, training, and team building session on any topic. In a team building
session on the topic of conflict resolution, participants were asked to start out the session by saying what
they think of when they think of conflict. In a second example, in a session on culture, the participants were
asked to describe their current culture in one word. Why not try it out? It's definitely fun for participants.
4. The Five of Anything Ice Breaker: You can use any number for this fun icebreaker that quickly allows
participants to share interests. Make the interests germane to your session or let your participants learn more
about each other. This icebreaker is easily customized to your meeting's needs. Participants feel safe
answering this icebreaker activity because it is not intrusive.
5. Fun and Funny Ice Breakers: Want to laugh with participants as you break the ice at the beginning of a
training class, team building session, or a meeting? These icebreakers are fun and funny, and while they
may not introduce the topic of the meeting, they have their own place in the world of warming people up to
hold discussions in meetings.
6. Speed Meeting Ice Breaker: Have you ever attended a speed dating session? They were quite the rage for a
while. This icebreaker was modeled on the concept of speed dating. It lets you meet a large number of
meeting participants in just a short amount of time. It's fun and gets your participants moving physically
around the room for an added warm-up advantage. Check it out.
7. Your Favorites—An Ice Breaker: From pets to food to flowers, everyone has favorites. That's what makes
this icebreaker so much fun. Participants can't get it wrong. It embarrasses no one and the participants don't
have to disclose deep, dark secrets. It's fun to hear the answers from your colleagues when they list their
favorites. The key is to keep it light so that participants are comfortable sharing. Stay away from topics such
as religion and politics to succeed every time using this icebreaker. See how.
8. Energizing Questions: Need an icebreaker that encourages reflection and sharing? These thoughtful
questions warm up your meeting while allowing participants to share something -important to them. Here
are many examples of questions you might like to use. They're easy to customize for your meetings. They
are easy to choose from depending on the mood you'd like to foster in your meeting, training, or team
building session.
9. Three Shining Work Moments Ice Breaker: Originally developed to lead a session on team building with
police officers—think of unsmiling, expressionless cop faces—to understand the importance of this type of
activity that was scheduled right before the cocktail hour, this icebreaker/team building activity worked so
well, that it has been used over and over with different groups. This icebreaker enables participants to reflect
on their years of work or education and pick three moments to share with their small group of
teammates. These are the shining moments that people remember when the stars and sun seemed to align
and they produced their best work, their finest moments, and their career successes. You won't hear a pin
drop while participants think of the three moments to share. Here's how to lead this meeting.
10. Your Personal Best: A Magical Team Building Activity: In this icebreaker, you ask the participants to think
back over their careers and identify a moment when everything that is great about themselves was operating
in high gear. They're asked to share that moment with a small group. The secret is that it is probably the first
thought that came to their mind when they heard the instructions. You'll never find any participant who
doesn't have a moment to share. See more of this icebreaker that allows people to share their personal best.