Are you a nursery teacher or a schoolteacher, or do you work as a camp leader? Then icebreaker games are a must for you. Children make new friends more often and more easily than adults, but they still need guidance so that getting to know each other goes well and everyone takes away what they should: finding out what a person is really like and what their qualities are, and choosing their own friend.
Table of contents
How to get children involved in an icebreaker game
Some children are shy and generally find it hard to join in a game. Others make friends without any game at all and like being the centre of attention. You need to take both types into account and know how to work with them. How?
Motivation is key
To avoid a lack of interest, you need to motivate the children. Sometimes the game itself is the motivation; at other times a costume, a symbolic object or the right atmosphere will do. Think about what might capture the interest of children their age, and getting to know them better will help with this. Chat with them, find out which films are popular with their generation and who their role models are, and then put the answers to use.
💡 Tip: Children love the theme of spells and magic, so Harry Potter, for example, makes a great theme.
Find something that unites them
To prevent rivalry and fear of ridicule, find something that all the children have in common. It could be one team that they all belong to and should fight for together, their school class, their school or nursery, and so on. The children should understand that there is no need to work out who is better and who is worse, but rather to make the most of everyone’s strengths. One can do this, another can do that, and together we can achieve a lot!
Learn how to deal with children
Because working with children is not easy, it will take a lot of patience and the right approach. If children struggle with something, shouting at them will not work. Well, it will, but you might regret the consequences, and they can also affect their lives for longer than you can imagine. Be honest and approachable, but keep your authority: if you become too friendly with the children, they will see you as a friend they can get away with anything with. Keep your distance, but at the same time stay on the same wavelength.
7 icebreaker games for children
Let’s put it into practice. Here are 7 ideas for icebreaker games for preschool children as well as younger and older school-age children. You can play them indoors or outdoors, with larger or smaller groups. Some work well as the very first activity, while others are best saved for later as an extra game that reveals a little more.
1) The Web
You can adapt it to names, favourite colours or the town we live in. In this game, children can get to know each other or learn a bit more about one another, depending on what you choose.
Age: 4+ years
You will need: A ball of yarn
How to play:
The children sit in a circle and one of them is given the ball of yarn. They say their name (or something else you have suggested), keep hold of a piece of the yarn and throw the ball across the circle to start creating a web. The next child does the same, and so on until the last child. This is how the “web” is created. You can then continue by repeating the information from the end back to the beginning so that everyone remembers it better.
2) Coloured Dots
This game needs a little preparation, but you can also improvise and use the colours of the T-shirts the children are wearing instead of dots.
Age: 3+ years
You will need: Coloured dots and sticky tape, or sticky dots
How to play:
Stick coloured dots on the children’s foreheads so that they form small groups: 5 blue, 5 green, 5 yellow and so on. The children in each group then say their names and try to remember them. After the introductions, the groups join together into one, sit down, and each child says who is in their team. “My name is Ondra, and in my green team there are Zuzka, Maruška, Honzík and Michal.” This checks how well the children have got to know each other, and everyone repeats the names once more for better results.
3) Guess Who’s Missing
For this game, the children need to have already got to know each other, so it simply tests how well they remember names and faces. So play “Guess Who’s Missing” towards the end of the icebreaker sessions.
Age: 3+ years
You will need: A blanket
How to play:
The children sit in a circle with their eyes closed (tell them to rest their heads on their knees or on the floor so they don’t cheat). You take one of them out, stand them in the middle and cover them with a blanket. The others open their eyes and guess who has disappeared. You can also hide more than one child.
4) What Do We Have in Common
The children need to be able to write for this game. It is not a classic icebreaker game with names, but rather about getting to know each other in more detail: hobbies, siblings and parents’ jobs. They can learn interesting things about each other, make friends based on shared interests and learn to work as a team.
Age: 9+ years
You will need: Paper and a pencil
How to play:
Divide the children into teams, for example by T-shirt colour, into boys and girls, or however you decide. Each group gets a sheet of paper and a pencil, and their task is to find out what everyone in the group has in common. The bigger the group, the harder it is. Set a time limit (5 to 10 minutes) and then let the children read out what they have found. The group with the most things in common wins.
5) The Interview
Again, this one is for older children who can already write. They are sure to enjoy this game because they get to do detective work, and guessing and hunting for information is right up their street. It is even suitable for adults.
Age: 9+ years
You will need: Paper and a pencil for everyone
How to play:
Divide the children into pairs and give each of them paper and a pencil. The paper should list the information that one person needs to find out about the other, for example their name, number of siblings, favourite colour, film and so on. Each pair has a conversation in which they ask each other for the set information and write it down. When everyone has finished, they hand in their papers and the leader starts reading out the information about each person. The other children guess who it might be. This way, they learn something new about their friends. Also suitable for a group that already knows each other.
6) Toilet Paper
Toilet paper is a prop that is sure to grab the children’s attention and be a hit. Bring one roll with you and let the children use it to get to know each other. How?
Age: 4+ years
You will need: A roll of toilet paper
How to play:
The children sit in a circle and pass the toilet paper around, and each of them tears off as many squares as they like. Once the round is over and everyone has their pieces, each child must share as many facts about themselves as the number of squares they tore off.
7) Step Forward
The last game also works best as an extra activity, as it simply builds on what the players already know about each other. So it is also suitable for those who already know each other: if you have time left at the end of the session, you can play “Step Forward”.
Age: 3+ years
You will need: Nothing
How to play:
The children stand in a circle or a line and the adult says “Step forward if you…”, finishing the sentence with “like the colour blue”, “have a pet at home”, “are older than 10” and so on. This way, the children learn even more about each other, and they can also ask the questions themselves if they feel like it. The advantage is that the game can be played at any age.
Adapt everything
Every group of children is different, so pay attention to the atmosphere in the group and adapt the activities to its needs. After the introductions, try team games that teach the players to get along and support each other. Be careful not to encourage rivalry between the children unintentionally through your instructions: letting children pick team members can make one of them feel unpopular.
The important thing is that the children enjoy the game and have a good time with their new friends.
TIP: Read 5 tips on how to keep children entertained during the summer holidays.
