Icebreaker game suggestions by Lewis Simonds, member and youth leader at St Frideswide’s Church in Water Eaton, Milton Keynes

 

Icebreakers are a great way to start youth sessions, both online and face to face.  It warms everyone up, starts to build relationships, and brings much welcomed fun.  Icebreaker games which have a specific connection to the topic of the youth session can help give it more value too.

I wanted to share and recommend some examples of icebreaker games that would likely work across all age groups, but were designed specifically to lead our young people easily into the topic being explored.  Some are more tailored to face to face work but some will work well online too. I hope some of these ideas might also be useful for you in your context with your groups.

 

Topic to link to: Wrong/Sin

Option 1 Hunted: Guests to tuck a “tail” (piece of fabric) into back of shirt. One person without a tail is the hunter who hunts the others to pull their tails out. Once tail is removed, they join the hunter until all are caught

Option 2 Shrinking Island: An island is made with a rope circle, or large piece of fabric. When the whistle is blown (after a random length of time) anyone not standing on the island is out. After each round, shrink the island so it is harder to stay on the island. Last one on the island wins.

Learning point: In both games there is an inevitability that the players will get caught, no matter how hard they try. We will fall into sin, no matter how hard we try. Therefore, we need Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins.

 

Topic to link to: Hearing God’s voice

Option 1 – One guest wears headphones with music playing (loud enough to stop background noise). Another guest tries to share a verbal phrase with the headphone wearer.

Option 2 – Guests sit in a line, all facing one direction. The guest at the front is given a secret instruction to draw something (e.g. a house). They quickly draw it in 20 seconds, and then show it to the next person in the line, who must copy it in 20 seconds, but without knowing what it should be. This continues down the line until the final person. The original drawing and final drawings are compared.

Learning point: Hearing a message clearly can be hard if we have lots of distractions, or not seeing the full picture. Take time to dwell in the Bible and hear God’s full message.

 

Topic to link to: Church

Play a game of matching up: singular / pair / plurals (E.g. Dog / Dogs / Pack)

Conclude with Christian / Christians / Church

Learning point: The church is not the building but the Christians who are part of it

 

Topic to link to: Sin/wrong

A game which is good for Zoom sessions. Give each guest a secret mission they should attempt to complete during the session. For example:
– Compliment someone’s hair
– Get a family member to get you something
– Make up a word and use it without anyone asking what it means
– Say the following words ‘werewolf’ & ‘zombie’ & ‘vampire’
– Wish someone a “Merry Christmas”
– Forget Jesus’ name and ask the group what he was called
– Tell the group you thought it was Monday (or any wrong day of the week)
– Call one of the leaders “mum” or “dad”

Learning point: A light link to question whether all wrongs are bad?

 

Topic to link to: Creation/ how did we get here?

Build a Lego sculpture, or stack cards. Question the young people, “If you saw this, would you think “someone designed that and made it” or “that naturally fell together by the forces of nature”?

Learning point: This universe is so complex and perfect it must have a designer. That points us towards God

 

Topic to link to: The Bible

A fun game of Bible dingbats

Questions: https://algoagemeenskapskerk.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/bybelse-brainteasers.pdf

Answers: https://algoagemeenskapskerk.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/bybelse-brainteasers-antwoorde.pdf

Learning point: The Bible can be a bit of a mystery and requires some thinking – like these Dingbats do!

 

Topic to link to: Family

A fun game of Family Fortunes to play in small groups or small “families”

Link to online game here

Learning point: We know our families well, but will still have challenges with them