Description: Have group members take five minutes to find the following items in their wallets or purses: Something that …

• You’ve had a long time.
• You’re proud of.
• Reveals a lot about you.
• Reminds you of a fun time.
• Concerns or worries you.

Have each person share the first item. Encourage people to expand on their item and why it fits the topic prompt. For example, if they have an item that reminds them of a fun time, have them share the memory. Go around again sharing the second item and so on until you have gone through each prompt.

Ideal group size: Up to 15 people.

Ideal age group: 18yrs +

Great for: Newly formed groups.

Tips: It can be hard to tell how long this icebreaker will take. Some people will expand on their answers, others will not. If the activity is taking too long, you can stop the sharing portion and pick up the icebreaker again during the next week’s meeting.

If people do not have purses or wallets to look through, ask them to find pictures on their phones that might fit the prompts. Or ask them to recall what is in their wallets or purses if they do not have them physically.

Description: Bring a newspaper or magazine and have the group members tear out pictures, articles or anything they think communicates something about themselves. Each person should share his or her choice and the reason for it with the group.

You could use this activity as the basis for a journal collage that people bring to the small group each week.

Ideal group size: Up to 10 people.

Ideal age group: Middle school to adult.

Great for: Launching a creative project.

Tips: This activity works particularly well with girls, but use your judgment as to whether it would work well with your group. This is an icebreaker where people often underestimate the amount of time required, but also the impact.

Description: Give each person a 3×5 card. Pick a topic and ask them to write down questions about that topic that anyone in the group could answer. For example, if you choose “friendship” as a topic, they can write down questions like “What do you value most in a friend?” or “Who was your best friend growing up and why?”

Pile all the cards face down in the middle of the group and let people draw one. Some topic ideas include jobs, life goals, funny stories, hobbies, family, fears, dating issues, significant relationships and relationship with God. Go around the room until everyone has had a chance to draw and answer a question.

Ideal group size: Up to 10 people.

Ideal age group: Upper high school and older.

Great for: Newly formed groups.

Tips: If there are similar questions written on more than one of the 3×5 cards, have the group come up with a new question on the spot for the person drawing the second one (or third, etc.). This will keep people engaged in the game and give everyone something to do.

Description: Buy a large bag of Starburst (or some other lolly) and give each person the same amount (try 10). Start by stating something you’ve never done that you think everyone else has done.

For example, you might say, “I’ve never had a birthday party,” or some other true statement about yourself that you think everyone else has surely done. Then everyone who has had a birthday party pays you one Starburst. You pay everyone who has not had a party.

Keep playing until everyone has a turn or until someone runs out of Starburst. Obviously, the idea is to end up with the most.

Ideal group size: Up to 10 people.

Ideal age group: Early high school and older.

Great for: Newly formed groups.

Tips: Like the M&M’s challenge, people will like this icebreaker because it involves food. Bring more for people to eat during the study too. Plan on this icebreaker taking 20-30 minutes, depending on your group size. You can shorten it by not waiting until someone runs out to stop.

(Feel free to mix up the lollies, but since pieces are passing back and forth, people will probably prefer something wrapped.)

Description: Give your group members pens and paper. Ask them to draw a line representing the movement of their lives between high times and low ones.

Invite people to think back as far as they can and mark significant moments along the line they have drawn. Ask them to consider the high points and low points, moments of inspiration, moments of despair, leveling-off times, and where they are now.

The charts will probably be a mixture of straight, slanted, jagged and curved lines. At the different points of their lines, have people either draw something or write a phrase to represent that season of their life. Ask people to make at least three different points on their chart to represent significant moments in their lives.

After everyone has drawn their lines, have people share what they’ve drawn and what it means with the group.

Ideal group size: Up to 10 people.

Ideal age group: Upper high school and older.

Great for: Groups that know each other but want to go deeper.

Tips: This one may take longer than many other activities. It might be good to have people draw their charts beforehand to bring with them. If people are willing to share honestly, this can be a great activity to help your group bond. Ask your group to share only one to three points on their graphs to save time, or have people share their whole graphs in smaller groups.

Description: Each person in the small group receives a piece of paper and a pen. Everyone writes a funny or unusual sentence at the top of their paper. Then, each person hands their piece of paper to the person on their left. Now everyone will have a new piece of paper. Each person draws out a picture of the sentence. They fold the paper so only the picture is seen. The paper gets passed to the left again. This next person will write out a sentence that describes the picture and fold the paper so only the sentence is seen. The game alternates between people drawing and writing out what they see as they continue passing each paper to the left.

The icebreaker ends when each person receives their original paper. Let everyone share their original sentence and the final sentence or picture.

Ideal group size: 5 to 10 people.

Ideal age group: Early high school and older.

Great for: Any group.

Tips: This is a popular icebreaker. It usually produces lots of laughs as everyone shares their papers at the end of the activity. Plan on this game taking 15-20 minutes.

Description: This game requires your group to line up in any type of determined order without speaking to one another. For example, ask your group to line up in order of their birthdays, starting with the earliest in the year. Or have them line up in descending birth order, from oldest to youngest. The prompt could be anything, as long as there is something they can order themselves by. The game is engaging because they have to figure out how to line up correctly without talking.

Ideal group size: Up to 12 people.

Ideal age group: High school and older.

Great for: Newly formed groups.

Tips: This game gives insight into how people operate. You will learn how the people in your group solve problems, who takes a leadership role and who does not, and how different personalities respond to the game. This icebreaker can be used to launch a study about leadership or how to respond to obstacles— or topics like that. It can also be used to help your group discover how they behave as a group and how they can grow as a group. It’s a great self-awareness tool.

Description: Set up chairs in a wide circle. Count the number of people at your group and ensure you have one chair less than the total of people. The game is played by having one person stand in the middle of the circle of chairs. This person states something true about themselves. The statement always starts with “I have never,” and then the person states something they have never done. For example, if the person in the middle says, “I have never been to Hawaii,” everyone in a chair who has been to Hawaii must get up and find another seat at least two seats from their own. The person who ends up without a seat must then go in the middle.

Ideal group size: 10 or more people.

Ideal age group: Early high school +

Great for: Newly formed groups.

Tips: Try this icebreaker during warm weather and place chairs outside so there is more room to run. This icebreaker works best in a large, open space. This game is great for helping people get to know one another. Encourage group members to share their names before sharing their statements.

Description: Break up your small group into two teams. Give a topic for the charades game (movies, sports, celebrities, books, etc.). Each person writes four to five charade ideas that relate to the topic on slips of paper. The teams take turns having someone from each team act out as many charades as they can from the slips of paper within a set time limit. The team that has the most correct answers wins the game.

Ideal group size: 10 or more people.

Ideal age group: Early high school and older.

Great for: Any group.

Tips: Have someone volunteer to be the timer each time someone acts out the charades. Plan on this game taking 15-20 minutes.

Description: Ask each group member to give you one interesting or unusual fact about themselves before the group meets. Try to discover information that sets each person apart from the others, such as “I have a tugboat named after me,” “I once wrecked the same quarter panel of my car four times,” or “I have a twin.”

Then make a sheet with one fact from each person and a blank space to enter someone’s name beside this fact. Give everyone in the group a sheet and have them find out whose name goes in each blank.

When they find the right person, they must also learn one other fact about that person. This does not need to be written on the paper, it just encourages conversation. At the end, introduce everyone in the group in the order on the list. Give the person who found all the answers first a prize.

Ideal group size: 6 + people.

Ideal age group: High school and older.

Great for: Newly formed groups.

Tips: This icebreaker will work best with people who do not yet know one another well. Plan on this icebreaker taking 20 minutes. Consider turning on music so people cannot hear each other’s answers.

Description: You will need a Jenga game. Cut out small pieces of paper that fit the length of each Jenga block and tape them to each Jenga piece. Then have each group member take a few blocks and write a question on each slip of paper. These questions can vary between light-hearted and deep, but let each person decide what question they want to use. (Examples: How many siblings do you have? If you could see any singer in concert, who would you see? What is your middle name?) Assemble the Jenga game.

Split your small group into two teams and have each person take a turn removing pieces from the Jenga game. Each time a block is moved, the person must answer the question on the slip of paper. Continue playing until one team wins the game.

Ideal group size: 6 + people.

Ideal age group: High school and older.

Great for: Newly formed groups.

Tips: This game is fun with more people. This activity should take 15-20 minutes. Prompt your group to listen when each person answers the question on their block; otherwise, the game may get loud as people strategise together. It is fun to see the types of questions people write.