44 Funny Ice Breakers for Meetings to Spice Up Your Team

All great meetings and workshops start with a good icebreaker. You can’t just put a bunch of people in a room and expect them to be creative. You have to warm them up first. With the power to break down barriers, inspire laughter, and foster a positive atmosphere, quick ice breakers for meetings turn meetings from frigid affairs into hotbeds of collaboration. 

And, your meetings and workshops don’t have to be boring! Don’t hesitate to find this full list of useful and funny ice breakers for meetings that you can use in your next session! And if you need further assistance, meet Arvin—your AI-powered companion. Arvin can help you with brainstorming ideas, providing additional icebreaker suggestions, organizing your meeting agenda, and answering any questions that arise.

What Is an Icebreaker?

An icebreaker is an activity, game, or event that is used to welcome attendees and warm up the conversation among participants in a corporate setting. Icebreaker can be a quick session for participants to get to know each other, form deeper relationships with one another while having fun or reinforcing the team building skills before the next planned activity at your meeting.

It is typically used at the beginning of meetings, workshops, or team-building events to encourage communication, decrease tension, and build rapport among participants. Icebreakers can range from simple introductions to fun and interactive games, all aimed at initiating conversation and creating a sense of community.

Warm Up Ice Breaker Questions for Meetings

Icebreaker questions is one of the ice breakers for meetings that help you get to know each other. They’re not just for team-building exercises; they’re a powerful tool for fostering a sense of community and understanding among colleagues. Here we list some quick questions for meetings for you to break the ice. We provide more options in 251 Icebreaker Questions For Work to Build Connections. See how these simple yet effective questions can transform your workplace dynamics!

Work-Related Icebreaker Questions

• What would you do if allowed to be the boss for a day?
• What is the most memorable thing you bought with your first salary?
• What business jargon would you like to eliminate from the workplace?
• Do you have a particular skill that you think everyone should learn?
• At which milestone would you consider yourself successful?
• What is the most heartfelt praise you’ve ever been given at work?
• What spurs you on to complete tasks?
• How would you describe your job to a five-year-old?
• What change can make your day better today?
• What is your absolute dream job?

Funny Icebreaker Questions for Work

• Do you consider yourself a lemon or a lime? Why?
• What is your DJ name?
• What is your superpower?
• What three things would you do if you were invisible?
• What is the best prank you’ve experienced or planned?
• Tell us a weird fact you happen to know for no reason.
• If you could take one prop from any movie set, what would it be?
• Tell us your favorite joke.
• If your pet could talk, what would they say?
• If your life was captured in the “expectation vs. reality” meme, what would the two pictures be?

Would You Rather Ice Breakers for Meetings

• Would you rather get free plane tickets or free accommodations for the rest of your life?
• Would you rather spend a weekend in a tropical paradise or a snow haven?
• Would you rather speak 10 languages or play 10 instruments?
• Would you rather always be two hours early or 20 minutes late?
• Would you rather sail or van life around the world?
• Would you rather be able to control time or fly?
• Would you rather read the end of every book or always forget the story’s ending?
• Would you rather be a whale or a lion?
• Would you rather have every traffic light turn green or always have the best parking spot?
• Would you rather have slow internet or always forget your passwords?

Are you seeking some funny would you rather questions at your next social event? Look no further in this list of 153 Top-Picked Funny Would You Rather Questions [2024]! 

Thought-Provoking Ice Breakers for Meetings

• Why do we create art?
• What subject do you wish was taught in every school?
• If you could know the answer to any question, what would it be?
• What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
• When do you feel the most courageous?
• What piece of advice would you give to your 16-year-old self?
• When was the last time you tried something for the first time?
• What are the three values you treasure the most in a friendship?
• What is the best piece of feedback you have ever received?
• Where do you find inspiration?

You may also like: 135 Best Thought Provoking Questions to Explore

Best Icebreaker Games for Office Meetings

Salt and Pepper

This game helps teams communicate and work together better. Additionally, it improves one’s capacity to create practical questions to solve problems.

• Team Size: 20+
• Duration: 20 minutes
• Cost: Free (or low cost depending on materials)
• Setup: Get sheets of paper, marker, and tape

How to play: Write down pairs such as “salt and pepper,” “pen and paper,” “bread and butter,” “shadow and light,” “Minnie and Mickey Mouse,” etc. in a journal.  Separate the pairs and write each on a separate paper, such as “salt” on one and “pepper” on another.

Tape the paper to each participant’s back without them knowing what’s written on the paper on their back.

Once you say “go,” they must move around and ask questions to help them identify what word is taped to their back. Only “yes” and “no” questions can be used by participants to find out the answer.  Once they find out what’s taped to their back, it would be easy to locate their pair.

Trading Cards

This game is suitable for a new team as it will help team members get to know each other’s past experiences and interests.

• Team Size: 5+
• Duration: 10-15 minutes
• Cost: Free (or low cost depending on materials)
• Setup: Members should create 2-3 cards with their name (nickname), self-portrait, and interests.

How to play: Ask each team member to exchange the cards they have created with other team members. Then ask everyone to take a minute or two to read through the cards and find the team member. You would be required to ask the team member (whose card you have selected) a question.

Word Association

Word association icebreakers are an excellent way to foster creativity and get to know each other better in a fun and meaningful manner.

• Team Size: 10-12
• Duration: 10-15 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Setup: The facilitator writes down a series of words on a sheet of paper or small cards.

How to play: The facilitator reads a word, and each player takes turns saying aloud what word comes to mind when hearing one of the specified words. This can lead down interesting paths, allowing for quick insight into the personalities and interests of the participants in a lighthearted and enjoyable way

Human Knot

Human knot is a great office icebreaker game that’s fun and energizing and can help break the ice between coworkers.

• Team Size: 6+
• Duration: 10-15 minutes
• Cost: Free 
• Setup: Organize everyone in a circle. 

How to play: Have everyone put their right hand into the middle of the circle and grab someone else’s right hand. Next, have everyone reach with their left hand and grab another person’s left hand – make sure no one grabs their own! 

The game’s goal is for all players to untangle themselves without taking their hands off each other as if they were involved in a giant knot! Once untangled, players can celebrate with high fives! Human Knot is an exciting, fast-paced game that will leave your coworkers feeling energized and connected.

Alternative Application

This goofy icebreaker will get your team members thinking creatively.

• Team Size: 5+
• Duration: 5-10 minutes
• Cost: Free 
• Setup: Take a stroll around the office and gather various items, such as a file, a wastepaper basket, a stapler, etc.

How to play: Ask one player to step in front of the other players and present them with one of the items you obtained earlier. The person presented with the item should use body language to describe what alternative use the item has. The other participants must attempt to guess what they are describing. For instance, if you handed them a basket, they may act like they are fishing. Next up is the first correct guesser.

Two-Minute Mingle

This is an excellent bonding game, especially if new staff is added to the team. This fun meeting icebreaker game is an efficient and fun way to get colleagues to interact quickly.

• Team Size: 5+
• Duration: 5-10 minutes
• Cost: Free 
• Setup: N/A

How to play: Players start by forming into pairs and introducing themselves, then after two minutes, the partners move on and find another person to talk to. These new conversations should also last two minutes, as a timer goes off at the end of that time to alert everyone to change partners. 

Bowl of Questions

This is an easy game to get people talking and to help them learn more about each other.

• Team Size: 3+
• Duration: 10-15 minutes
• Cost: Free 
• Setup: Write good conversation starter questions on paper and place them in a bowl.

How to play: Place all the pieces of paper in a container and ask each person to pick one. The team member answers the question they picked from the bowl, allowing for deeper conversations about each other’s backgrounds and interests. After everyone has had their turn, place all the papers back in the bowl and start again with different questions. 

Getting to Know You Ice Breakers for Meetings

Human Bingo

Human Bingo is an icebreaker game that allows players to learn interesting facts about each other. Players will walk around the room and mingle until they complete the entire bingo sheet with the listed facts, for example, someone who can sing well. Player’s name can only appear once on the bingo sheet. 

To spice up the game, we can get the person to perform the tasks that they have signed on the bingo sheet. This activity is sure to create alot of fun and laughter.

Superlative Game

The Superlative Game is a simple icebreaker game for participants to get to know the generic information of everyone. The facilitator will get the participants to line up in ascending order for various different categories e.g. height, birthday month, name in alphabetical order etc. In order to do that, your colleagues must go around the room to find the birthday of everyone. It is very easy to learn and play, and it doesn’t require a lot of time for participants to know one another! 

Beach Ball

In this icebreaker, you will need a Sharpie marker and an inflatable beach ball. Using the Sharpie marker, each participant will write a question on the beach ball. Participants will then sit in a circle and toss the ball across. When the person catches the ball, they will have to read the question closest to their left thumb aloud and answer it. Once they are done, toss the ball to another person.

Deeper Level Ice Breakers for Meetings

Good Old Days

In this icebreaker, all participants are required to bring an item that is of sentimental value and remind them of their younger days or childhood. Participants will each show their items and share why it is sentimental to them. This icebreaker activity is an interesting and fun game with maximum interaction among participants, allowing them to gain a deeper knowledge of each other.

Guess Who

Guess Who is an icebreaker game that not only allows you get to know your colleagues at a deeper level, but also promises maximum laughter. Each participant will write down a fact about themselves, the sillier the better and then drop it into the mystery box anonymously. Each participant will randomly pick the fact and allocate to the colleague that they think fit best. After all participants are assigned their facts, the facilitator will do a revelation to match all the facts to their rightful owner! This is a great icebreaker to learn tidbits and trivia about your team that may not come up in typical workplace conversations.

Uniquely Us

Uniquely Us is a great icebreaker game for teams to see the common in their peers than they might initially realize. Participants will be split into groups of 5-6 pax each. Each group will be given two pieces of paper with a pen. 

On the first paper, teams will have to create a list of many common traits or qualities that members of the group have in common. Afterwhich, use the second piece of paper and get participants to fit the listed traits or qualities to one person in the group. Assign at least two unique qualities and strengths to each person. Lastly, get a spokesperson from each team to share the qualities to the rest of teams in the room. 

This icebreaker not only identifies strengths of team members, but also helps to build empathy skills within teams.

Burning Bridges

This icebreaker game is suitable for a group size of less than 50 pax. Split the group into distinct teams, each team cannot be bigger than 10 pax. Give teams 5 minutes to list out as many questions they would like to ask the opposing teams. The facilitator will start by revealing a “punishment” e.g. collective planking for 1 mins. Teams will ask each other questions, one team after another. If a team chooses not to answer, they will have to perform the given “punishment”. This icebreaker allows teams to know each other on a deeper level in a fun and amusing way. 

Telepathy Challenges

This icebreaker is great to test your team’s synergy and emphasises on the importance of communication and as such, the difficulty when communication is absent in accomplishing a task.  Tell your attendees to form a line, with the facilitator setting the criteria (e.g. from the youngest to the oldest, from shortest to tallest, years working in the company, etc.). While this might seem easy, the challenge is to form this line without any verbal or bodily communication! Watch as your team will struggle and perhaps succeed in this challenge! Nonetheless, the phrase “communication is key” will be extremely prevalent through this challenge! 

Funny Ice Breakers for Meetings

Straight Face Game

Create a list of work-appropriate jokes and pair everyone into groups of two. The goal for each person is to get their partner to laugh while the partner tries their hardest to keep a straight face.

The person who can get their partner to “break,” the most wins.

No Smiling Please

When everyone arrives, announce to the group that nobody can smile for the first five to 10 minutes of the meeting.

This goes against common convention for a meeting and gets people to do something a little different. Attendees might be surprised at how difficult it is not to smile — which will be sure to create some fun situations.

Animals Sound

In the Animal Sounds icebreaker, each pair will be given a unique animal and its sound. Players will have to go around the room blindfolded, making only the animal sound to find its pair. This is an interactive and fun icebreaker game that allows players to listen effectively.

Ultimate Ninja

In the Ultimate Ninja icebreaker, the objective is to be the last ninja standing. To remain in the game, players must not let anyone hit their hand. Players have two “lives” each, both their hands will act as the “lives”. Each player will take turns to play. On their turn, the player can either attack another player by hitting their hand or defend by jumping or taking a big step in any direction. This is a fun and engaging ice breaker that tests the alertness and agility of the players. 

Frostbite

The group size of this icebreaker activity is best kept within 6 pax. Appoint a leader and the rest of the members will be blindfolded. The leader has frostbite and can’t move, the team members have snow blindness and can’t see. The objective of the team is to pitch a tent by listening to their leader’s directions. 

Splat

This heart-racing icebreaker activity is a test of one’s reflexes, alertness and above all, awareness. Splat is a game that can be easily conducted and suitable for any lighthearted setting! Gathering in a circle, with a “shooter” in the centre, he/she will aim at anyone in the circle. The one who has been aimed has to duck down, while those beside him / her have to point a “handgun”and shout “SPLAT!”. Whoever reacts the faster wins! If you’re not alert and bend down in time if you’re aimed, you’re out of the game too! 

Dog and Bone

Dog and Bone is a game that requires eager participation aka running to the centre to grab the beanbag (or some item). Labelling your team members by numbers, craft a story that subtly incorporates the different numbers. Once those numbers are subtly called out as the storytelling goes on, the members allocated to those numbers will have to battle it out with the members allocated to those numbers from the opposing team! The first person who can get the item and bring back to the baseline wins for that round! 

Musical Chairs

This icebreaker game is easy to conduct and can be especially thrilling  for the competitive ones! Like musical chairs, there should be one less chair placed than the number of participants taking part in the game! However, instead of walking around the chairs and sitting on the nearest one when the music stops,  here’s the twist! Participants are to dance to the Macarena song with the correct moves instead of walking! Failure to do so will result in immediate disqualification! This is bound to put the participants’ hand and eye coordination to the test and allow for bountiful fun! 

Red Light, Green Light

Everyone likely knows this game from one playground or another — but if you don’t, the goal is for a player to get from one side of the room to the other without moving on the “red light.”

Have your attendees line up on one wall and station yourself on the other. When you say “green light” everyone is free to move, but as soon as you say “red light” everyone has to stand still — and if they move at all, they’re out. The first person to reach the other wall wins!

Backward Name Game

At the start of the meeting, give everyone a slip of paper and have them write their name backward.

Collect the papers in a bowl, and one by one, have individuals grab a name from the bowl and try to figure out whose name it is in front of the group. You can encourage engagement from the rest of the group, which leads to a playful team-building exercise.

Virtual Activity Ice Breakers for Meetings

Two Truths and One Lie

As the most popular meeting icebreaker activity, you may use more creativity and have fun with this game. Two Truths and a Lie is a classic game that tests one’s ability to detect deception in another’s stories. It’s a great game for large or small groups alike, easily adapted to fit the size of any gathering. All you need are some friends and some creative storytelling talents.

• Team size: 4+
• Duration: 15-20 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Setup: N/A

How to play: Ask each employee to give three unique statements about themselves, two of which must be valid and one lie. Then, the other players must determine which one is a lie!

For example, a team member could remark, “Here are three things you should know about me:

1. I own a dog.
2. I speak Spanish.
3. I have visited the Caribbean Island before.

Which of the three is a lie? 

This icebreaker is a great way to get to know one another while having fun with the other team members.

Take a Picture of…

Before engaging in an online brainstorming session, use this game to inspire creativity among your team. Alternatively, make this a weekly virtual meeting icebreaker activity by selecting a different subject before your meetings.

• Team Size: 4+
• Duration: 15-20 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Setup: Choose a category such as your room, your pet, something on your desk, your socks or shoes, or the view from your window.

How to play: Ask each team member to take a photo of the set topic and share it. Allow five minutes for everyone to snap a picture and upload it, and then an additional three minutes for story sharing.

Show and Tell

This time-tested communication game can help team members improve their public speaking abilities.

• Team Size: 4-10
• Duration: 15-20 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Setup: Ask each team member to bring an item or anything that fits a theme to the meeting before it starts. Something like “your most valued asset” or “something that makes you smile” may be the theme.

How to play: Depending on the number of individuals in your team, invite each member to speak for roughly 1-2 minutes on their object or thing. They can discuss how they got it, why they value it, where they store it, and other details.

For a successful game, you should plan, so everyone knows what is expected of them, what topic will be presented, and by whom. Doing this helps give structure while allowing creativity to flow throughout the activity.

Caption This

Everyone enjoys a funny social media image or a bizarre meme. With this fun meeting icebreaker, you may test your team’s creativity while making them laugh.

• Team Size: 4+
• Duration: 10 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Setup: Download 3-5 goofy or exciting images from the internet.

How to play: Start screen sharing and show each image one at a time. Give your team a minute to choose a fitting caption for each picture. After everyone has finished writing their captions, go back to the beginning and listen to the ideas. As you go through them, have the players vote for their favorite—the one who wrote the hilarious wins.

The Desert Island Game

Many of us have played this kind of game before: what survival necessities would you select if you were stuck on a desert island?

• Team Size: 4+
• Duration: 15-20 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Setup: Write down a list of eight random items, such as a bag of fruit and vegetables, a knife, a fishing net, a bucket, a lighter, sticky tape, a canvas bag, and a bedsheet.

How to play: The game’s rules are straightforward. Imagine that your team will board a one-way ferry for a desert island and are only allowed to bring three things. Give your team a list of eight items you have already prepared and ask them to select the top three. Participants must work together to choose the objects that will keep them alive and explain why.

This or That

Large groups may break up into small groups and have the chance to communicate immediately with each other by playing this question game. They can get to know one another’s tastes and share a few of their favorites.

• Team Size: 5-10
• Duration: 10-15 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Setup: Prepare a list of this or that prompts, such as “Pepperoni or Cheese Pizza?”, “Dog or Cats?”, “Breakfast or Dinner?”, “Coffee or Smoothie?” etc.  

How to play: Ask team members to choose a partner. The team member asks the partner any of the this or that questions prepared. Alternatively, the first person picks someone to ask a “This or That” question, and that person chooses another team member to pass the question to.

Virtual Scavenger Hunt

One of the finest online team meeting icebreaker games to start a fun day with your remote team is a virtual scavenger hunt. Who doesn’t enjoy an activity that is interesting and thrilling, after all?

• Team Size: 4+
• Duration: 5-10 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Setup: Prepare a list of household items that everyone can grab quickly.

How to play: Request that everyone remain seated until you call out a household item. Team members dash out in a hurry to get the item and point it toward the camera. For example: Grab a book with a blue cover. Grab a round-shaped item. The team member that first brings the item to the camera receives a point. The winner is determined by the one who gets the most points.

Draw Something

Draw Something Icebreaker is an entertaining game that encourages interaction between players. It is ideally played with four to six people, although variations can be enjoyed with more depending on the size of the group. 

• Team Size: 4-6
• Duration: 10 – 15 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Setup: Ask each participant to get a phone and join the game room on the website.

How to play: Players pick a word when it’s their turn and try to draw a picture of the word, while others make a guess on what the word is. Most points go to the first guesser of the round.  After this draw-and-guess game, the one with the most points wins!

Draw something provides hours of entertainment that can be done quickly, so gather your teammates together online and play it at your next meeting!

Build A Storyline

Story-telling is a great way to develop creativity and bond with team members.

• Team Size: 4+
• Duration: 10-15 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Setup: Get your team to create a virtual circle via a video chat before starting the exercise.

How to play: To play each participant in the group collaboratively creates a story, sentence by sentence. The story’s introductory statement is unfinished by the first participant. For instance, “It was the darkest hour of the night when one young man decided to venture outside into the unknown …”

The following person continues from where they left off and adds a completed phrase while completing the others, and so on. By working together, everyone ends up with a thorough plot framework.

Invariably, this leads to creative storylines and expanded personal insights. So why not give the “Build a Storyline” game a try today – you won’t be disappointed!

Name That Place

This game is a fun and interactive virtual icebreaker that can help groups learn more about geography! 

• Team Size: 4-10
• Duration: 10-15 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Setup: Google Maps

How to play: Open Google Maps and select a location. Ask team members to identify the location from whence the photograph was taken. The person with the highest number of correct guesses wins the game.

Guess the Childhood Photo

This game is a great way to get team members to laugh and have fun.  It encourages bonding among team members.

• Team Size: 4+
• Duration: 20 minutes
• Cost: Free
• Setup: Ask everyone to send a childhood photo to the group leader.

How to play: Randomly arrange all photos into one slideshow. Share the screen and the guessing begins! The rest of the group can take turns guessing which childhood photo belongs to whom. 

This is an easy and enjoyable way to enjoy each other’s company while learning something new about one another!

Ice Breaker Games for Team Building

The Four Quadrants Activity

The Four Quadrants is a fun and creative team icebreaker than can be adapted for any situation. It is super easy to prep for and set up – you only need large sheets of paper (flip charts or similar) and markers. Have people draw up a 2×2 grid and ask them four questions. They should draw the answers in each quadrant.

Questions can cover topics like current challenges, stressors, defining moments, moments of pride, fears, desired outcome for the current gathering etc. Afterwards they can show each other their drawings and discuss their creations. The exercise is fun, colorful and visual and can be modified to work with any group and/or topic just by changing the questions.

Team Jigsaw Puzzle Game

Separate people into teams. Give each a very different jigsaw puzzle (with equal difficulty & number of pieces). Each group has the same amount of time to complete the puzzle.

The secret twist is to switch up a few pieces with the other groups beforehand! Fun icebreakers can help keep a team on their toes and encourage creative thinking – try ice breakers for meetings that include an edge of competitiveness and fun to really liven things up.

The goal is to finish before the others – so they must figure out collectively how to convince other teams to give up pieces they need. This can be through barter, merging or changing teams, donating minutes, etc.

This is a longer game, but one that is worth doing, since it encourages teamwork on several levels – internally and externally too.

Back to Back Drawing

Two people should sit facing away from each other. One receives a picture of an object or phrase. Without saying directly what they see, they should describe it to their pair without using words that clearly give it away. Their pair has to draw a specific picture.

The game requires two people to sit facing away from each other, where one team member is given a picture of an object or word. Without specifying directly what it is, the other person must describe the image without using words that clearly give away the image. This is a great team building game to develop verbal communication and is a fun alternative to more traditional icebreaker games.

Scavenger Hunt

Many people have great memories from a childhood scavenger hunt. Recreating this experience to let our the inner child and work as a team is one of our favourite icebreaker games for adults too! Start by creating a list of items that need to be gathered and then split your group into small teams to try and find them all to kick off your scavenger hunt.

Working with a remote or hybrid team? Try the virtual scavenger hunt below! Be sure to put in items that require a wide range of skills and thinking and diverse personalities to be completed successfully. A scavenger hunt is also a great opportunity to mix people into teams who don’t typically work together and bring them together with ice breaker games.

Conclusion

What are your favorite ice breakers for meetings? Have you tried any of the activity above? Icebreakers are just one component of a great workshop or meeting. You’ll also need a reliable way to gather insights, streamline discussions, and assist with information. That’s where Arvin comes in! As your AI-powered assistant, Arvin is here to help facilitate conversations, provide relevant data, and enhance collaboration throughout your meeting. Whether you need quick answers, brainstorming support, or organization tips, Arvin ensures your workshop runs smoothly and effectively. Let’s make your meeting a success together!

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