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Ice Breaker Ideas for Teens

Ice breakers are games that are usually used at the beginning of shared experiences---classes, retreat, youth trips or orientations---to encourage interaction. As it says on the website Icebreakers for Groups, "Often, when individuals must get along to accomplish an objective, the awkwardness of strangers can get in the way of a pretty outcome. Ice breakers were invented to help this situation!"

Autograph Bingo
- This icebreaker works best with groups of 30 or more teens. Make a bingo card---five down and five across---for each person in the group, including adult leaders. Instead of numbers, fill in the squares with different types of people that might be in the room. For example, you might fill squares with criteria such as someone born in another country, someone born before 1985 (to encourage teens to interact with the adult leaders), someone who saw a current popular movie, an only child, someone who got their driver's license within the last month, an honor roll student, a band member, a cheerleader and a freshman. Instruct participants to find a person who fits the criteria in each box and have him sign that box. Each person can sign only one box on each bingo card. The winner is the first teen to collect five signatures in a straight line, similar to bingo. If you have enough time and a large enough group, play until someone finds people to sign all of the squares on his card.
Famous Couples
- This icebreaker works with groups of six or more, in even numbers. (Ask an adult leader to join in or sit out to make the group even, if needed.) Make a list of famous couples from movies, television, cartoons, history and local personalities. Each couple should have an obvious link that everyone in the group will recognize. If you use the icebreaker before a lesson, use couples related to the lesson. For example, if you are in a history class, the pairs could include Antony and Cleopatra, and if you are in a music class, the pairs could include Simon and Garfunkel. Put one name on each of two index cards. Tape one index card to the back of each participant. When the game begins, everyone must guess who is on their back by asking only yes and no questions to the people around them. Once a teen discovers who is on her index card, she must find the other half of her couple.
Fun Facts
- This icebreaker works with any size group, but if you have more than 20 teens, it is easier to divide them into smaller groups. Pass around a bag of candy and allow teens to take as many as they would like without eating any. After everyone has their candy, tell them they must share one fun fact about themselves with the group for each piece of candy.

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