Party Icebreaker Game - The Dance Tag

by Chris
(Los Angeles, CA, USA)

(Photo from Star Wars)
A group of people stand in a circle and one person is designated to be "it". That person leaves the circle (turns around, goes to another room, etc.) while the rest of the group decides who among them will be the "leader".

When the leader has been selected, s/he starts to do a dance move (claps hands, sprinkler, frame the face, waves, hula -- doesn't need to be an actual dance move, just an action the others can imitate and repeat for an extended period of time).

Everyone else in the circle copies the leader's dance move and throughout the game, the leader changes the dance move and everyone else does the same. The group calls the “it” person back.

The person who is “it” stands in the center of the circle and attempts to identify who the leader is (the person who is the leader will be the first one to change up the dance move).

The “it” person gets three guesses, if s/he is correct, “they” join the circle and the leader becomes “it” and the process continues.

If “they” are unable to guess the correct person, they rejoin the group and a new it person is voted on/selected.

*IMPORTANT NOTE* Make sure the people in the circle don't stare down the leader and make sure the dance moves are relatively silent (both of these are dead giveaways).

What's in Your Wallet?

by Danelle
(Kansas City, MO, US)

(Photo from mroach)
A good ice-breaker game is for everyone to take out their wallets or purses. Each person is required to fish out three things.

1. The first thing is the oldest item in the wallet.


2. The second thing is the item in which the owner is the most proud.


3. The third is an item that says the most about the owner.

Each person takes a turn presenting their items. This game is very simple, but it can be quite entertaining and a quick way to get to know others. Some items that come out for the oldest thing are library cards, shopper cards, old credit cards, school ids, or pictures.

Items that people are the most proud are pictures of children, college ids, or things associated with their occupation. Then, the one that tells the most about the person is usually varied. Even when people pull out the very same items from their wallet or purse, the reasons supplied are always very different.

This is how everyone gets to know each other!

We are all unique people and everyday items carry different significance to everyone. It is a great way to get to know a group on a higher level.

Variations of the game can be:

• A group of mothers of younger children could use their diaper bags.


• Students groups could use their backpacks.

The best part about this icebreaker is that it does not require any extra items or preparation. Most people carry a wallet or a purse, and if they do not, they can just talk about why they don't or something like that.

Not carrying a wallet or a purse says something about a person that others may not know.

All in all, it is a way for everyone to say something about themselves that is personal in nature and not difficult to implement.

Two Icebreaker Games for Parties - Highs and Lows and Two Possible Facts

(Photo from SUARTS)
Personally my favorite ice breaker game is called highs and lows. The way this game is played is relatively simple. You go around the room in any fashion one wishes and each person says the best event that occurred over the past week or day for them, and also the worst event that occurred.

I enjoy this game because it’s a fun way to learn some interesting information about people. It offers the opportunity to learn about a person’s likes and dislikes and also offers the opportunity to hear about things that you might be interested in doing or avoiding yourself.

Another of my favorite ice breaker games involves each individual stating two possible facts, one true and one false. Based on assumption and each individuals deductive reasoning skills, it is up to the listeners to determine which fact is true and which one is false.

The game actually gets pretty entertaining. For example, this was played in one of my university courses, my first fact was that I love to read (true) and my second was that I attended the university on a basketball scholarship (false).

I am five foot eight inches tall and my university has division one athletic programs, I thought that everyone would have guessed that I was not a basketball star; however, what ended up happening was quite the contrary. Everyone in the class assumed that I was trying to trick them into picking the more obvious fact.

Both of these games are very fun and offer great ways to learn more about each person individually. My last ice breaker game idea is called the human knot. This game involves everyone tying their hands to each other and then working together as a group to untie them.

Although the idea may be quite laughable, the end result is usually a bunch of people laughing and enjoying each other’s company. However, unless you enjoy being tied to a group of people for an allotted amount of time, I would not recommend this game over the previously aforementioned.

Who's Who - The Perfect Icebreaker for Large Parties

by Turtle
(California. USA)

(Photo from mark sebastian)
My game is called who’s who. It works in a way of having everyone at the table or whatever setting you’re in.

write 5 things about themselves that they think no one else might know. The everyone throws them in a bag and mixes em up. These are then distributed amongst the players, it is unlikely you will get your own unless the group is real small.

But ask everyone to review them and if they got theirs try again. You might come up with a better method of distributing to determine the best way of no repeats but it’s not a huge deal.

Anyway, someone reads the description and everyone votes on who they think that person is. It is usually wrong and it is cool to learn something about everyone where they can explain their little tidbit and feel proud of themselves for doing something accomplished that they might get to brag about.

It is a fun game that takes about 20-30 minutes but allow more time if the group size is much bigger. There should be name tags on people to help familiarize yourself with each other before you start reading the 5 things that you pull.

So everyone can get a sense of everyone’s ability to speak, their confidence and what they look like. It is good to make judgments based on appearance because then those judgments can be shattered when the game is started to be played.

It should be as fun and clean or as dirty as you want it to be or as is acceptable if it is noted that you don’t want people talking about personal conquests it should be noted because some people are weird and would say something like that without even being asked not to. So be safe and have fun.