Hobbies And Interests
Kids
Icebreaker games for kids encourage teamwork and help children overcome feelings of shyness. Games also define group roles and help children recognize their strengths. The Matching Game provides an opportunity for children to work in pairs or small groups. Give each child an index card with a color or shape. Cards for older children can be labeled with objects such as peanut butter and jelly or socks and shoes. If the kids are music fans, make cards featuring band members or duets. Each child is responsible for finding the child or children who fit into their group based on the cards. This is a fun way to get children into pairs or small groups without anyone feeling left out.
Teens
Loosen things up at a party or event for teenagers by using an icebreaker game to promote mingling and cooperation. When issuing invitations before the event, ask everyone to bring a pair of individual, unwrapped socks. Ask them to refrain from talking about their socks until the game begins. Start the game by asking everyone to toss their socks into a basket. Mix them up and pass them back in mismatched pairs, so that each teen has two unmatched socks. The goal of the game is for each teenager to choose which of the socks each he or she would like in a pair, then find the matching sock and convince the person holding it to exchange socks. Not only does this engage everyone in searching for their match, it encourages them to use skills of persuasion to walk away with the pair they like best.
Adults
Adults can feel awkward in social situations, especially when unfamiliar with their surroundings. At an event with a wide mix of friends and family, conversation could prove challenging. When focused on a common goal such as winning a game, however, it's easier for people to relax. A fun adult icebreaker game is Personal History Bingo. Create bingo cards filled with squares describing experiences such as skinny dipping, parenting more than one child, having an out-of-state wedding and attending cooking school. Have your guests use Bingo markers to mark off the squares on their cards as each experience is called out. As in regular Bingo, the winner is the first person to fill any row across, down or diagonally.
Workplace
Icebreaker games in the office are especially important, because people often feel guarded and restricted in a professional environment. Though you want people to maintain professional behavior, there are times when relaxing expectations is appropriate. Icebreakers stimulate conversation during office parties and team-building exercises. Pick-a-Penny is a game during which co-workers can learn about each other. Participants choose from a collection of pennies and share a story about their life from the corresponding year on the penny. Organize the selection of pennies in advance, based on the age range of employees. Another office-appropriate icebreaker game asks co-workers to complete open-ended sentences such as "I am best at..." or "A team works best when..." or other phrases suited to your work environment. For instance, the phrase "Safety is important because..." might prove ideal for employees in a factory environment.