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Icebreakers & Games for Youth Groups

Icebreakers and games can help youth groups overcome anxiety and shyness, as well as build trust among members. Whether you are planning a social gathering or special event for a group of young people, creating a few games and icebreakers will help them get to know one another. With a few supplies, some ideas and a creative imagination you can plan games to keep them busy for hours.

Icebreaker Bingo
- Make bingo cards with an experience or description in each square. For example, use phrases such as, "has eyeglasses," "wears a red shirt," "has a brother and a sister" and "has visited the Grand Canyon." Give each player a bingo card and tell him or her to mingle around the party area while trying to get bingo by finding five in a row. The players must write down the name of the person who fits the information in each square. When a player says, "Bingo," the host verifies the win by making sure all five players fit and agree with the experience or description.
Water Drinking Relay
- Divide the players into two teams, each with an even number of players. Give each player a drinking straw and a bottle of water (all the same size). When you say, "Race," the first player on each team must drink his or her bottle of water. After the first player finishes, the next player can drink. The first team to finish all their bottles of water wins.
Get In Order
- Group members can learn more about each other while playing this icebreaker game. Tell everyone you'll call out a category, such as birthday, age, hair length or shoe size. One you call it out, everyone must arrange themselves in ascending order (from lowest to highest) as fast as possible. For example, if you say birthday, everyone must arrange themselves in order according to their birthdays. If you say, "hair length," they must stand in order based on the length of their hair, from the shortest cut to the longest. For added fun, time each round and challenge them to try and beat their best time.
Circle Changes
- Have everyone stand in a circle and select one player to leave the room. Make a change to the circle, such as asking two players to switch places, having one player turn his shirt backwards or getting two players to exchange shirts. Afterward, bring the absent player back into the room and give her two chances to guess what the changes are. If she guesses correctly, she earns a small prize. Either way, she selects the next player who must leave the room.

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