Icebreakers to ease the nerves when meeting someone for the first time.
Many are designed for new employees and first-time meetings, but even when it’s not your first time, many companies use them before meetings to reduce tension and help everyone relax.
Here are some icebreakers that are enjoyable and can be done even with small groups.
We’ve included plenty of ideas—from ones that use items you can prepare quickly to ones that require no materials at all.
May these help melt away everyone’s nerves and get you ready to focus on work!
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Icebreakers for Small Groups (1–10)
Name demon
Let me introduce an icebreaker called “Name Tag.” Choose one person to be “it” (the tagger).
Everyone else forms a circle, extends both hands forward with palms up, and the tagger stands in the center.
Decide who will start; that person calls out the name of someone other than the tagger.
The person whose name is called must quickly call the next person’s name before the tagger can touch them, and the play continues like this.
If the tagger is faster and manages to touch someone, or if someone instinctively pulls their hands back, they’re out and become the next tagger.
It’s great for learning names and the light movement helps ease tension.
Birthday chain
Do you know the icebreaker called “Birthday Chain”? Without speaking, participants tell others their birthdays.
How do they do that without talking? They use their fingers to show the numbers for their birth month and day.
Then, still without speaking, everyone lines up in order from January 1 to December 31.
After lining up, they speak to confirm the correct order, and if someone’s birth month is in the group, everyone sings Happy Birthday together! In a small group, people will likely remember each other’s birthdays and grow closer.
GOOD & NEW
This is an icebreaker called “GOOD & NEW” that helps everyone get into a very positive mindset.
Participants share something good that happened recently to themselves or around them, or a new insight they discovered.
Hearing uplifting news about others—not just about ourselves—warms the heart and lets us share in their happiness.
With that feeling, meetings that follow and the rest of the day’s work can proceed more positively and smoothly.
To avoid rambling, set a time limit—such as 30 seconds or 1 minute—for each person’s sharing.
NG word game
When someone tells you there are words you mustn’t say, it makes you want to say them even more, right? Let’s play a cat-and-mouse game with words called the “NG Word Game.” You draw a card with a word on it from a pile and stick it on your forehead.
Everyone else can see your card, but you can’t see your own.
Once everyone has drawn, you start chatting—but if you say the word on your own card, or any of the words on everyone else’s foreheads, you’re out.
It’s a bit nerve-wracking while you play, but you feel relieved when it’s over (lol).
Introducing someone else
It’s an icebreaker called “introducing others” instead of self-introductions.
Pair up and set a time, then interview each other.
Age, height, favorite foods, favorite animals—anything is fine—so learn about the other person and capture their characteristics.
Then you introduce the person by highlighting their strengths, quirks, and recommended points—that’s the idea behind this other-introduction.
People who aren’t good at self-introductions will probably enjoy it, and it might leave a stronger impression than a regular self-introduction.
Finding commonalities
It’s common that conversations flow more easily with someone you’ve just met when you share things like favorite movies or hometowns.
This icebreaker is about finding and sharing those kinds of commonalities.
Not only does it get the conversation going, but as you draw each other out, you’ll naturally warm up to one another—and it will likely leave a lasting impression.
And who knows, this icebreaker might be the start of a long-lasting friendship.
Even if you don’t have big things in common, small similarities—like elements of your clothing—work just fine too.
Who am I?
On each participant’s back, there is a note saying who they are.
You can’t see your own back, so you don’t know who you are.
Show your back to everyone and ask simple questions to find out who you are.
Ask questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no.” Not just for yourself—everyone should ask each other questions to figure out who they are.
Once you know, raise your hand and introduce yourself by saying, “I am ___!”