Whether you run a classroom or workspace, teaching or working with new people can be a little awkward at first. Don’t worry. There are plenty of fun, easy ways to bond with your new group. We’ve outlined a few simple games that can help you break the ice.

1

Group Bingo

  1. Mingle with a get-to-know-you game of bingo. Create a bingo board with different traits or attributes listed in each square, like "Born in January" or "Has a pet cat," and give each person a copy of it. Then, have everyone chat with each other and try to find people that have the traits listed on their bingo cards. When a player finds someone who has one of the included traits, they write that player's name down in that square. Whoever gets bingo first wins!
    • To encourage more conversations, only use a person’s name once on your bingo card.
    • Prompts that you could include on the premade bingo card might be “has lived in another country,” “born in January,” “has a pet cat,” or “plays soccer.”
  2. Advertisement
3

Jenga Questions

  1. Transform a game of Jenga into a fun icebreaker. Write a get-to-know-you question on each of the wooden blocks. Then, set up your Jenga tower as normal. Invite each member of your group to carefully remove a block and answer the question that’s written on it. Continue cycling through your group members until the tower falls down.[1]
    • Questions like “What’s the best present you ever got?” “What’s your favorite time of year?” and “How do you like to spend your alone time?” are all great icebreaker questions.
    • “What are 2 things you’re good at?” “What’s something you can’t live without?” or “What are you looking forward to?” are other excellent questions.
  2. Advertisement
6

String Game

  1. Share fun facts based on a length of string. Cut out several different lengths of string, and let the group members each pick one. Then, invite each person to wrap the string around their finger. Each group member must volunteer a fun fact about themselves for every loop that the single piece of string creates around their finger.[4]
    • You can play a sillier version of this icebreaker by using toilet paper instead of string. People grab as much toilet paper as they normally would use from a roll. Then, each person shares a fun fact about themselves for every square they pulled off.
9

A Great Wind Blows

  1. Get to know your group in this fun variation of musical chairs. Invite everyone to sit in a circle of chairs. Make a general statement using the phrase “A great wind blows for everyone who…” Invite anyone who identifies with the statement to stand up and seat themselves in a different chair. For every round that someone stands up, remove a chair from the circle—if someone can’t find a chair, then they’re out of the game.[7]
    • You might say, “A great wind blows for everyone who likes spicy food” or “A great wind blows for everyone who speaks another language.”
  2. Advertisement

About This Article

Kathy Slattengren, M.Ed.
Co-authored by:
Parent Educator & Coach
This article was co-authored by Kathy Slattengren, M.Ed. and by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman. Kathy Slattengren is a Parent Educator and Coach and the Founder of Priceless Parenting. With over two decades of experience, Kathy specializes in helping parents build strong, loving relationships with their children. She has helped thousands of parents around the world through Priceless Parenting's online classes, presentations, coaching, and books. Kathy holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Psychology from The University of Minnesota and a Masters degree in Education and Instructional Design from The University of Washington. Kathy is a member of the National Parenting Education Network, the US Alliance to End the Hitting of Children, the International Society for Technology in Education, and a founding member of Parent Learning Link. Priceless Parenting has been featured on ABC News, Komo News, King 5 News, National PTA, Parent Map, and Inspire Me Today. This article has been viewed 31,054 times.
33 votes - 86%
Co-authors: 9
Updated: June 9, 2022
Views: 31,054
Advertisement