1. Instruct participants to pair back to back.

2. Count to three and have everyone turn and face their partner.
3. They are to look into each others eyes and stay solemn and serious with no
speaking.
4. If someone smiles or laughs, they sit down.
5. Those who remain standing find a new partner.
6. The activity continues until there is only one person left the winner.

1. The host or leader chooses one person to be Grandma (Grandpa) and face a
wall.
2. The rest of the players start on the opposite side of the room and attempt to
sneak up on Grandma (Grandpa) and tap a shoulder.
3. However, they cannot be caught doing so and Grandma (Grandpa) may turn
around at any time.
4. If a person is caught moving and pointed out, they must return to the start.
5. No one can move while being watched.
6. If a player manages to tap Grandmas (Grandpas) shoulder, he or she takes
their place facing the wall and the game starts over.

You can make this fun adult icebreaker more challenging by scattering
clothing items on the floor between the start and Grandma and add the rule
that one item of clothing must be put on before tapping Grandmas
(Grandpas) shoulder.

Captain Is Calling
A great blood pumping game, Captain Is Calling lasts about 15 minutes. One
leader who is outgoing and loud plays Captain, explains the rules, and
controls the game. Another leader serves as the Jailer. The group forms lines
with individuals standing one behind the other, facing front. The Captain says
the following: You are crew members on a ship and I am your captain.
 Whatever I say to do, you do. If you disobey my orders then you go to jail,
where the jailer will make you do push-ups, jumping jacks, and other
exercises. The captain uses the following commands in any order:

Stern the crew must go backwards.

Bow the crew must come to the front.
Port the crew must go left.
Starboard the crew must go right.
Captains Ball two people get together and dances with one another.
Rowboat three people get together and row a boat.
Octopus four people get together, sit back to back, and kick their legs up.
Starfish six people link arms and swing around in a circle.

Make sure the crew understands these commands before you begin the
game. When an order is given, it must continue until the Captain says.
Captain is calling. When the captain says this, all players must stand at
attention. If a player does not follow a command correctly or are not in a group
for a group command, they are out. The game ends when there are only two
people left.

Zip Zap Zoop

1. Start by having all the teens sit in a circle.

2. One of the teens points to someone next to him or her and says, Zip!
3. The teens point and repeat, Zip! around the circle in one direction.
4. At any time, a teen can say, Zap! Zap! changes direction, with the teens
pointing and saying, Zip! around the circle in the opposite direction.
5. At any point, a person told, Zip! may choose to say, Zoop!
6. If they do so, they point at someone anywhere in the circle who can then
restart the Zip in any whichever direction they choose.

If you wish, you can take those who mess up out of the group and have as a
winner the one teen remaining at the end.
 Secret Identity

1. After the participants are in a circle, have each person secretly write the name
of a famous historical figure, actor (actress), singer, or sports celebrity on a
small piece of paper or a post-it note. It has to be a person that everyone in
the group knows.
2. Provide tape for each person to tape their chosen name on the back of the
person on their left.
3. Everyone circulates the room asking others one yes or no question about the
name on their back.
4. The person who guesses their person with the least number of questions
wins.
5. Guessing continues, with the winners observing, until everyone has guessed
their Secret Identity or you can set a time limit.

Divide the youth group into teams and give each team a packet of spaghetti
and a package of marshmallows. Set a time limit for teams to build a tower
made from their materials. The team that builds the tallest marshmallow and
spaghetti tower wins.

Pea Power

1. Divide your group of teens into teams of 4 to 6 players. The number of teams
depends on the group size.
2. For each team you will need two bowls, one filled with dried peas and one
empty. Make sure the bowls with the peas have the same number for each
team.
3. The goal is for each team to transport the peas from the full bowl to the empty
bowl using only a straw.
4. Place the two bowls on either side of the room.
5. Give each teen a straw.
6. Place empty bowls on one side of the room, and bowls full of dried green peas
on the other side. Make sure there you put an equal number of peas in each
bowl.
7. Give each team member a straw.
8. When you yell, Go! team members are to transport the peas by sucking the
straw so the peas stay fixed to the end.
9. If a person drops a pea, they must pick it up again using the straw.
10. The winning team is the one that transports all their peas first.

Duct Tape Stick-em-up

The goal of this youth group team game is to tape a teammate to the wall or a
tree using duct tape. To win, the person must hang on the wall for one full
minute.

1. Begin by dividing your group into teams of 6 to 8 players.

2. Give each team 3 rolls of heavy duty duct tape and a pair of scissors.
3. Instruct the teams to begin when you yell, Go! and that they will have five
minutes to tape a teammate to the wall or tree.
4. The teammate stands on a chair, so that when the chair is removed, they will
be hanging with their feet not touching the floor.
5. The team who is able to keep their teammate hanging for a full minute wins. If
two teams tie or more teams tie (Very unlikely!) see which person remains the
longest.

Variation:

If there is not suitable place to hang a person with duct tape, try this variation.
The goal is to stick as many paper balls on a chosen teammate as possible.
Give each team two rolls of duct tape, scissors, and colored paper a
different color for each team. Give the teams five minutes to make balls out of
the colored paper and 10 minutes to wrap a person with duct tape, sticky side
out. They are not to cover faces.

When a person from each team is wrapped, have them stand seven to eight
feet away from their team. Explain to the teens that the goal is to stick as
many of their teams colored balls to their wrapped teammate as possible. If
 they stick one of their colored balls on another teams person, that team loses
a point. Allow ten minutes for tossing paper balls. At the end of the time, count
one point for each of a teams own colored paper balls, and take off one point
for another teams color. The team with the most points wins the game.

Supermarket
This relatively simple icebreaker word game takes no preparation and works
for any size group.

1. The first middle school player says, I went to the supermarket to buy an apple
(or anything else you can buy in a supermarket that begins with the letter A).
2. The next player repeats, I went to the supermarket to buy an apple and a
b______. (Use the name of any item that begins with a B.)
3. Continue with each student reciting the items that have already been named
and adding one that begins with the next letter of the alphabet. If a player
cannot think of an item within 5 seconds or misstates the order or an item,
they are out.
4. The winner is the student who successfully reaches the end of the alphabet
or gets the farthest. You may want to play this game more than once.

Chocolate Chomp
This icebreaker game gets everyone involved and active, especially since the
students eat chocolate!

1. Have every one sit in a circle on the floor. In the middle of the circle, place a
plate with a large, unwrapped bar of chocolate, a knife, a fork, and clothing
gloves, a scarf, and a hat.
2. Each student takes turns rolling a dice. If they throw a six, they run to the
middle of the circle, put on the clothes, and eat as much chocolate as they
can before another student rolls a six. The trick is that they can only use the
knife and fork for eating the chocolate which is not very easy to do.
3. The game ends when all the chocolate is eaten. If you wish, you can make
this a team game by providing candy and clothes for each team.
4. The team that finishes their chocolate first wins.

Fun Facts
For this game, you will need colored candies. M & Ms work well. Assign a
different category for each color. You can use the following suggestions, or
choose some of your own:

Red family
Blue hobbies
Green friends
Yellow favorite song or singing group

Pour the colored candies into a large bowl and tell each student to take as
many candies as they want. You may want to set a limit to make sure the bowl
lasts all the way around the group and to control the length of this icebreaker
game. After all the students have taken candy, explain that the number of
candies they choose equals the number of facts they will share about
themselves with rest of the group. They must tell facts corresponding to the
categories assigned each color. For example, if a student chose all blue
candies, they will share only facts about hobbies.