Check out our handy guide to the 10 best ice breaker games for large groups. These ideas work with groups of anywhere from 10 to 100+ people.
In this chapter we'll take you through the best icebreaker games you can run with large groups.
Organizations and businesses tend to work in large teams. However, it's no easy feat getting a large group of people who don't know each other to open up and relax - which is where group icebreakers can help out a great deal.
Below is a list of 10 thoughtfully chosen large group icebreaker game options that are suitable for breaking the ice in large groups. They have a focus on being light-hearted, fun and simple.
If your team is working remotely at the moment then you should check out our guide on virtual team building activities and fun games for remote teams. In there you'll find 100 good ice breaker games, ice breaker ideas, and other activities for small teams, big groups, and any company or team of any group size. They also come with instructions that you can try with your newly remote team.
We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
1) QuizBreaker
Objective: To get teammates realizing what they have in common with each other
Participants: 10 to 500 people
Duration: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Materials: None
The goal of this virtual icebreaker game is to help large groups get to know each other better whilst having a bit of fun.
Instructions
Grab a free trial of QuizBreaker
Add your team as one big group or split them into smaller teams
Schedule your first to quiz to be sent out (via email) and then check out the leaderboard after all it's done!
Click here to try out QuizBreaker with your team.
2) TriviaNerd
Objective: To help teams to work together and answer simple and complex problems
Participants: Up to 200 players
Duration: 15 to 20 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Materials: Access to TriviaNerd.com's multiplayer account
Trivia challenges are fun and engaging ways to get the team together, making them some of the best icebreakers for large groups. You also get to learn some interesting facts along the way while enjoying a moment of team bonding.
They're easy to do and relatively simple to operate as a game master. And while you can always pick up trivia questions online, using a tool to help you out should save you a lot of time and energy.
That's why TriviaNerd is such a great tool for trivia games, so we highly recommend using it for your team building activities and ice breakers.
Instructions
Login to your TriviaNerd account and go to your multiplayer trivia room. Share the invite code or QR code to your team mates.
Choose a trivia game to play together.
Go through the trivia games together. You can do as many as you want.
1.You can use TriviaNerd to control the time limit to your questions.
- Give out prizes or awards if you'd like.
3) Pass The Buck
Objective: To get group members to find out valuable information about each other
Participants: 20 to 500 people
Duration: 5 to 8 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Materials: None
We love this team building game because it encourages everyone to share valuable information about themselves.
Instructions
Ask participants to take a $1 bill out of their pocket/purse and hold it in the air (those who don’t have a $1 bill should hold any other denomination in the air).
Ask them to find someone near them who is holding the same amount of money and partner up with that person.
Partner one shares a piece of information that they believe is of value, with partner two.
Partner two decides whether the information is of value. If it is, they give them the money. If they don’t, they can keep the money or ask for more information until they think it is of value.
It then becomes partner one’s turn to decide if partner two’s information is worth value.
4) Repeat Performance
Objective: To get team members involved and engaged in your speech
Participants: 60 to 500 people
Duration: 3 to 5 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Materials: None
We like this ice breaker activity because essentially it kills two birds with one stone. It's a good idea because you get to give a motivating and inspiring speech to your employees, whilst also introducing a fun and exciting ice breaker to weekly team meetings.
Personally, we find the idea of giving a speech whilst breaking the ice novel and exciting because research has found time and time again, that a good speech improves employees empowerment and motivation - which is why this is a great icebreaker and why we put it so high up our list.
Instructions
Before starting the game, you should decide on two specific words or phrases that you would like participants to walk away from the speech remembering.
Explain to your employees that you would like them to participate in your speech and that they will do this by shouting out certain words when you point with your right hand and certain words when you point with your left hand (e.g., choose the words “yes” or “no” and ask icebreaker questions periodically throughout the speech for the audience to respond to).
Before starting, do a practice round in which you point your left or right hand and get them to give answers.
5) Simon Sez
Objective: To get team members finding out their similarities and differences based on their birthing order
Participants: 10 to 200 people
Duration: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Medium to High
Materials: None
This is a well known activity that we used to play as kids. We love it because it gets attention, creates energy and gains the participation of everyone.
We recommend using this in a speech at the start of the meeting, or as a break during a lengthy, and sometimes boring, meeting.
Instructions
Get your teams to stand up and get ready to play Simon Sez.
Explain the simple rules: When you say “Simon sez” followed by an order, the group should obey the order; when you give an order saying “Simon sez”, they should not follow the order.
Give the orders. After each order, tell people who were correct in following the orders to remain standing, and people who were wrong to sit down.
When finished, announce that the people still standing are the winners.
This is the Simon Sez order:
Simon sez lift your right hand into the air
Simon sez lift your left hand into the air
Put your right hand down
Simon sez put your left hand down
Simon sez point upward with your right hand
Simon sez point downward with your left hand
Simon sez point both hands toward yourself
Point both hands towards your neighbors
Simon sez stop point and sit down
Simon sez stand up
6) Air Balloons
Objective: To work in teams to keep a balloon in the air for as long as possible
Participants: 20 or more
Duration: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Materials: Balloons & stop watches
We like the balloon game because it’s fun, quick and easy.
This icebreaker is guaranteed to get everyone up, involved and having a good time whether they are kids or adults.
Instructions
Separate your team into different teams. Ideally, each team should have no more than 3-5 people per team, but you can have as many teams as you’d like.
Give each team an inflated balloon.
Nominate 1 player from each team to be a timekeeper - their job is to record the time that the team kept the balloon in the air without touching it.
Everyone has 3 minutes to try and keep the balloon in the air for as long as possible - the balloon must be kept in the air for as long as possible, without being touched or without touching the ground. Each time the balloon is touched, or touches the ground, the stop watch must be set back to zero.
The winning team are the one that keep the balloon in the air for as long as they can.
7) Blanket Game
Objective: To get team members familiar with each other in a fun way
Participants: 10 to 50 people
Duration: 5 to 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Materials: One very large blanket
We love it because it's simple, yet effective. The blanket game is perfect for teams who don’t know each other very well just yet.
This icebreaker places a massive emphasis on helping everyone to get to know each other just that little better…
And, it introduces a bit of friendly competition!
Instructions
Split the group into teams of 5 to 10 people.
Get a volunteer to help you stand at the front and hold a blanket up.
One by one, members of team one sit behind the blanket, so that team two members can’t see then.
On the count of three, drop the blanket.
The first player to correctly identify the name of the player behind the blanket wins the round, earning on point for their team.
Repeat until the time runs out.
8) Frozen T-Shirt Race
Participants: 15 to 50 people
Duration: 10 to 15 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Materials: Water, freezer, large t-shirts (enough for each player)
This is perhaps the most immature ice breaker game we have… and the most weather dependent (make sure you do it on a hot day, you don’t want your team all getting sick with a cold!)
This icebreaker is a great activity to promote team communication and spot a natural born group leader or problem-solver within any team. It's the perfect icebreaker too for teams who want something to break the rhythm of virtual meetings, day-to-day operations, and so on.
This icebreaker can work for smaller groups as well.
Instructions
Before the icebreaker, freeze the t-shirts overnight:
Place each t-shirt in water, and then wring it out.
Fold the t-shirt neatly into a square, so that it fits inside a freezer bag.
Once the shirt is folded flat, press it to squeeze out the remaining water and then seal the bag and lay it flatly in the freezer.
Separate the players into teams (no more than 4 or 5 players on one team).
The goal is for each team to use whatever they can to thaw a t-shirt enough to wear it.
Whichever team gets their t-shirt on first wins.
9) Line Up Game
Objective: Getting everyone to work together as a team to arrange themselves in a line based on a quality that is not apparently obvious
Participants: 10 to 20 people
Duration: 5 to 20 minutes
Difficulty: Hard
Materials: None
We love line up because it places an emphasis on people's qualities and their uniqueness; with research finding that diversity and uniqueness in teams actually increases team performance.
We also love the lineup game because it helps pinpoint natural leaders and team players.
Instructions
Give your team a quality (e.g., birthdays) which they will have to form a line, in order, according to (e.g., January 1st is the furthest to the left, and December 31st is the furthest to the right).
When the group believes that the line up is correct, they will start at one end and call out their birthdays.
If the line up is correct, then the game is won. If the line up is incorrect, then do it again with another characteristic (e.g., shoe size).
10) Scavenger Hunt
Objective: To work in teams to collect objects from around the office
Participants: 15 to 40 people
Duration: 10 to 15 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Materials: A list of objects that can be found in the office
If you’re able to set aside at least a few hours for employee orientation, then it’s highly recommended that you try out this fun icebreaker.
We love scavenger hunt because it is a great and effective way to introduce a new person into the workplace and get a feel for their new job. Not only does it encourage collaboration and interaction, it’s also an activity that all personality types can enjoy
Instructions
Break everyone into small groups of four or five.
Give each group a short list of things to find within the office (e.g., a hole punch, tea bags, a pink pen…).
Set the clock for 5 minutes and instruct the teams to find as many of the things of the list as possible.
The winning team is the team who has the most stuff from the list collected.
Tip: in order to spice things up a little further, you should add a small incentive for the winning team.
11) Marshmellow Toss
Objective: Teammates have to catch as many marshmallows in their mouth as possible
Participants: 10 or more
Duration: 5 to 10 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Materials: Marshmallows & masking tape
We love this game because it creates a friendly and light-hearted atmosphere.
It produces a bit of competition, and encourages everyone to work on their hand eye coordination!
Disclaimer: Safety comes first. Be aware of choking hazards!
Instructions
Seperate the team into pairs.
Use masking tape to set the distance between the two teams.
Line each pair up so that one player is behind one marked line and the other player is directly across from them behind the other marked line.
Teams should toss a marshmallow fairly accurately for one line to the other.
The winning team is the team who catches the most marshmallows in their mouth in the two minute time period. Pairs can either alternate who throws, or one person can be the designated ‘thrower’ and the other the designated ‘catcher’.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion
We hope you've liked our list of the best ice breaker activities for large groups.
Try these out and let me know how you go.