Here are several games that can practically used!
1. Two Truths and a Tale
For this great get to know you game, each person must make three statements about themselves, one of which isn’t true.
Example: I have two brothers, I was born in Australia, I have a motorcycle.
This works best when you give the group some time to think of their statements, and write them down if they need. Once one person makes their statements, the rest of the group must guess, or vote on, which statement is the tale. You could play as a team, or individually. It could work well to get each group member to write down their own answers and see who gets the most correct.
Materials Needed: None
2. The Laughing Game
The objective of this game is to get everyone to laugh while you can not laugh yourself. Have everyone sit in a circle facing each other. When it is someone’s turn, they have to say or act something out to get everyone else to laugh. If you laugh then you are out until the next round. Last person to not laugh wins the game. This game is as fun as you make it, so if you do not have a youth group that is very outgoing, then this game will be a lot of fun.
Materials Needed: None
3. Circle Untangle
This is an all time classic icebreaker game! Everyone stands in a big circle and then grabs onto two different peoples hands (not the people standing on either side of them). Once everyone is holding onto two other peoples hands then the aim is to work together to untangle the circle. Depending on how many people you have this can take a long time or can be completed very quickly.
Materials Needed: Relatively large space, hands.
4. Rock Paper Scissors Transformation
This game is a fantastic group mixer ice breaker activity. Player must wander around the room and battle each other in Rock, Paper, Scissors. The winner evolves to the next stage and the loser stays as they are. The first player to win as a human wins the game. Feel free to add in additional stages of transformation if you’d like to make it hard – just be creative. You can also make it so the loser of a rock paper scissors match will devolve into the lower stage of transformation – this will make the game more challenging.
The stages are:
- Egg – person holds both hands on top of their head so they look like an egg.
- Chicken – make chicken sounds and flap your wings.
- Dinosaur – act like a dinosaur (roar).
- Gorilla – act like a monkey.
- Human – wave and act like a human (say I’m a human).
Materials Needed: Relatively large space
5. Name Bingo
You’ll need to create a name bingo sheet, so basically a 4 x 4 or 5 x 5 grid of personal statements. IE. “has long hair” or “has more than 5 siblings” or “has travelled overseas” etc
Hand these people bingo sheets out to each person and give them a pen, and then send them off to mingle and find people that fit in the gaps. Each player can only use another person once on their sheet.
So the game can either finish when someone collects a name for the entire grid.
Alternatively, the game can continue and bingo can be played after everyone has completed their grids. So a leader would start reading out the names of the youth group kids and then they would need to cross off a name when it has been called – if they get 4 in a row – they win!
Materials Needed:
- You need at least 12 (Write your name twice) or 24 (Write you name once)
- You need to print out Bingo Sheet below and have pens
6. Secret Identity
Have everyone secretly write down the name of a person on a small piece of paper or a “post-it” note. It has to be a person that everyone in the room would know about – a famous historical figure, an actor or sports celebrity, a politician, etc. Then have them tape the name on the back of the person on their left.
Everyone goes around and asks people yes or no questions about who is on their back. They can only ask each person one question. The person who can do it in the least number of questions wins.
Materials Needed: You need paper, sticky tape, and pens
7. Mix And Meet (the M&Ms Game)
Get each person to grab some M&M’s. Tell them not to eat them. Assign a different meaning to each colour:
- Blue = family
- Green = school
- Yellow = friends
- Red = hobbies
- Brown = music/movies
However many M&Ms they have in their hands, that is how many facts they have to tell. For example, if they have three blue, they would have to say three facts about their family.
Materials Needed: Enough M&M’s