In these complex, uncertain, and frankly scary times, facilitators are increasingly being asked to help teams think long-term, make sense of the uncertainty, and plan for the unknown. Whether you’re guiding a group through climate resilience strategies, preparing a nonprofit for demographic shifts, or helping a company imagine the impact of AI, future scenario planning can be a powerful tool for navigating future challenges.

This article is a practical introduction to how to run a scenario planning process. We’ll look at what futures thinking actually means (no crystal balls here), how scenario planning works, and why it’s so valuable for facilitators and teams. You’ll also find example use cases, other facilitation methods for working with futures, and a full workshop structure you can adapt to your needs.

For more methods and inspiration, download SessionLab’s Facilitating Futures playbook, created in collaboration with futurist Suzanne Whitby of Futures Fit. It’s packed with 15 practical techniques, facilitation tips, and real-world stories to support your work.

What is futures and foresight?

Futures thinking is a structured approach to imagining what might happen, why it could happen, and what we can do about it. It invites us to explore future conditions and the driving forces shaping tomorrow’s world. 

Foresight is the practice of using specific tools and methods to support that process, such as horizon scanning, market trend analysis, or scenario planning. While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, futures is the broader mindset, and foresight is the toolbox.

Futures work is about discussing possible, plausible futures: spotting early signals of change, considering critical uncertainties, and helping groups navigate complexity with clarity and imagination.

Whenever life becomes more hectic and uncertain, scenario planning becomes more popular.

Kees van der Heijden, author of The Sixth Sense – Accelerating Organizational Learning with Scenarios

What is scenario planning?

Scenario planning is a structured method for developing multiple scenarios. Scenarios, in this context, are plausible versions of the future, designed with the purpose of helping people, and teams, make better decisions in the present.

Instead of aiming for a single forecast, scenario planning helps teams explore a range of different future outcomes, generally based on uncertainties like regulation, interest rates, emerging technologies, climate impact, or cultural shifts. You can think of each scenario as a story, a narrative that reflects different variables and strategic possibilities.

This process is especially useful in strategic planning, innovation, risk management, and operational scenarios. The task of creating plausible narratives together, in teams or multidisciplinary groups, leads to deeper understanding among participants. As is often the case with facilitated workshops, the journey (process) is what really counts, more than the destination (outcome).

How facilitators can benefit from futures work

For a long time, I relied on just two tools when helping groups think about the future: backcasting and guided visualisation.

Guided visualisation is something I’ve used to open the door to imagination and hope. It is about guiding participants into a relaxed state and inviting them to time travel to a future world where things turned out ok (whatever that means for them).

After sharing what those imagined futures have in common, I’ve often used backcasting to encourage participants to define the practical steps to get there. These tools have helped me guide people in accessing both the practical and emotional layers of change.

I’ve used these techniques with everyone from university students to community leaders, mostly in the context of climate change and social justice work. I’ve been struck often by how powerful they can be, and how coherent our visions of the future often are.

The level of technology present in these future scenarios varied, but there was reliably more greenery. Cleaner air, quiet, and birdsong were frequent answers to my question What is the first thing you notice, what tells you that you are in a different world from today’s? These insights told the group something about what people truly value.

For years, these two tools were enough. But after joining the International Association of Facilitators’ SIG (Special Interest Group) on Futures, I’ve been amazed to learn just how many methodologies facilitators can use to help groups navigate rapidly changing environments.

In a world that’s changing rapidly, we need more than goals and plans. We need futures literacy: the capacity to think ahead, imagine alternatives, and act with intention. 

5 ways futures work supports facilitators and their groups

1. Brings clarity to uncertainty
   Futures methods help make sense of key drivers and emerging trends. You won’t predict the future, but you’ll be better equipped to face it.
   
2. Expands imagination and creativity
   We often plan based on what we already know. Futures work invites play, narrative, and curiosity.
   
3. Surfaces assumptions and values
   Scenario planning and speculative tools help people uncover what they believe, fear, or desire, helping to bring hidden perspectives into the open. Ultimately, this can lead to better decision making.
   
4. Supports resilience and readiness
   Exploring multiple scenarios allows teams to stress-test ideas, challenge blind spots, and prepare for unexpected events.
   
5. Strengthens group alignment
   A shared look at the future environment brings people together and supports more purposeful, values-driven strategic thinking.

One thing I notice is that often participants are rebuilding atrophied muscles of deciding what they want. We give up the power to design futures before we even know we’ve done it. Unlearning that habit, and asking hard questions often is frictionful but fruitful!

Ben Mosior, Leadership Development & Strategy Consultant, co-author of the Strategy Tactics Pip Deck

Real-world examples of future scenario planning in action

Facilitators are already using futures thinking in a wide range of contexts, from corporate strategy to environmental justice. Here are three examples from the Facilitating Futures playbook that show what this work can look like in practice.

Lighting the way: immersive futures for strategic change

Corporate foresight and participatory workshops

Suzanne Whitby, foresight facilitator and founder of Futures Fit, was invited to work with a European lighting company ready to move from reactive to proactive strategy. This is how she describes the reason her team was called in: “Their challenge: they were tired of being reactive. Their new generation of leaders were keen to embrace sustainability as a real strategic lever. They wanted to start shaping the future of their industry.”

The team co-created four future scenarios and guided every employee, from engineers to the C-suite, through participatory workshops. “Using the scenarios as provocations, teams explored how they might respond. Conversations were open, critical, and hopeful.”

Insights were harvested and turned into visual posters for all company sites. Leadership used this input to develop strategic pathways.

Real futures thinking isn’t just top-down. It lives in the everyday imagination of the whole organization.

Suzanne Whitby, founder of Futures Fit

Just energy transitions and collective sense-making

Multistakeholder facilitation in Brazil

Christel Scholten, managing director at Reos Partners Brazil, has used scenario processes for over a decade, focusing on justice, systems change, and inclusion.

In one case, her team facilitated a scenario project on Brazil’s just energy transition in 2040. It involved 30–45 participants over several in-person workshops, grounded in systems mapping and collective sense-making.

In Christel’s words: “We often facilitated a collective systems mapping exercise of the current state of the system… They would write these on hexagon sticky notes which we clustered on the wall. The next day these would be used as input to define the key uncertainties.”

Importantly, her team ensured inclusion of diverse perspectives:

Each scenarios process I facilitated involved Indigenous and Black people in the scenario team to integrate the diverse voices of the Brazilian population.

Christel Scholten, managing director at Reos Partners Brazil

Exploring the future of AI in facilitation

Workshop facilitation at a professional gathering

At the annual Facilita conference in Milan, Sara Tremi Proietti and Barbara Bellucci co-led a workshop asking how AI might reshape the future of facilitation.

Using the Futures Wheel method, they guided small groups through reflection, scenario building, and used live AI interaction via WhatsApp prompts they had pre-prepared for participants to use.

I was actually in one of those groups and really enjoyed how the structured approach guided our small group of five facilitators into sharing and discussing different visions of the future. There was room for utopia and dystopia, for airing hopes and fears as well as data-driven realism. Ultimately, those varied perspectives came together into a shortlist of possible directions, as well as initial ideas on how to future-proof our businesses.

Our goal was to guide participants into the future through small-group discussions and hands-on experimentation with AI… to explore potential blind spots in their thinking.

Sara Tremi Proietti, International Association of Facilitators, Italy chapter co-chair

Futures methods to try in your next workshop

You don’t need to be a foresight expert to guide meaningful futures conversations. With the right structure and a few adaptable methods, facilitators can help teams open up their thinking, explore change, and plan for what’s next.

Here are five versatile methods you can start using today, each linked to a different stage of a future scenario planning workshop.

To guide participants through a futures process, it helps to have a clear structure. The Facilitating Futures framework breaks a workshop into six distinct stages: Opening, Mapping, Anticipating, Envisioning, Embodying, and Acting.

This flow mirrors how many groups naturally explore complex issues. You begin by opening the space and shifting into a more expansive mindset. Then, you map the present to understand the forces already in motion. Anticipating helps participants explore what could happen next, while envisioning builds fuller pictures of different possible futures. Embodying brings these futures to life, not just as abstract ideas, but as something participants can feel, design, or express. Finally, in acting, the group returns to the present, identifying strategies and next steps with clarity and purpose.

It’s not a rigid sequence, but it’s a helpful arc for designing workshops that move from imagination to insight to action.

A note of caution: tools alone won’t make you a skilled facilitator of futures conversations. Futures thinking is a well-established discipline with roots in academia, and we strongly recommend getting to know its core concepts and ethics before jumping in. Sharing just a little of that background with your participants can go a long way too; it helps avoid the common traps of drifting into fantasy, fear, or vagueness that lead nowhere. 

Opening: Headlines from the Future

Headlines for the future is playful way to begin. Ask participants to imagine a future event or breakthrough, and then write a newspaper headline about it. This activity sparks creative thinking, surfaces hidden hopes or concerns, and sets a tone of exploration.

Use this early in your session to warm up the group and introduce the idea that multiple futures are possible. I’ve used it in workshops with local citizens to raise motivation around environmental conservation: will future headlines hail our good work, or condemn us for inaction?

Mapping: Future Trends

Once your group is thinking more broadly, it’s time to map the present. This method invites participants to brainstorm the trends shaping their industry or context across categories like technology, behaviour, business, or policy.

After identifying and prioritising trends, participants explore what opportunities or risks they might bring. This step creates a grounded foundation for imagining what could come next.

Anticipating: The Thing from the Future

This speculative game asks participants to imagine an object, service, or artefact from a future world. It’s simple, surprising, and works particularly well to stretch the imagination and loosen assumptions.

You can use this method to expand a group’s sense of possibility before moving into more structured scenario building.

Envisioning: Scenario Planning

The heart of many futures workshops, this method helps participants explore different plausible futures by creating a set of distinct scenarios. Typically, the group starts with two uncertainties (such as “policy: restrictive or supportive” and “tech adoption: fast or slow”) and maps them onto a 2×2 grid.

From there, small groups develop scenario narratives for each future quadrant. What’s happening in this future world? Who is affected? What does it mean for our strategy?

The scenario development process is an excellent tool to expand awareness and prepare for complexity.

Acting: Risks, Opportunities and Resilience

Virtually every futurist I’ve spoken to has offered some version of the following advice: never let a group leave a futures workshop without some action planning. Futures scenario design and all the other futures and foresight activities we’ve been looking it ultimately lead into making changes in the present. Therefore, it’s important to include an action-planning activity at the end, or risk leaving participants with a feeling of futility.

There are many action planning methods you might use, including Backcasting or, for a fun twist, Triz (a Liberating Structure in which you’ll be asking people to brainstorm actions they might take to obtain the opposite outcome to the one they desire).

If the group has identified a scenario they aspire to contribute to realizing, Risks, Opportunites and Resilience is a great method to apply.

In small groups, ask participants to discuss and record:

• Risks: What could go wrong? What might be disrupted, lost, or destabilised?
• Opportunities: What new possibilities might open up? Who could benefit?
• Resilience: How well prepared are we? What capabilities, resources, or relationships would help us respond or adapt?

This method works well at the end of a futures process, as a bridge into strategic planning. It supports balanced, practical conversations that go beyond excitement or fear, focusing instead on preparation and adaptability.

You can find these and many other methods in SessionLab’s Library. Just look for the keyword “Future”. 

Scenario planning: a closer look

Among the many tools in the futures facilitator’s toolkit, scenario planning stands out as one of the most structured and widely used. It has a long history, first formalised at the RAND Corporation in the 1950s and later popularised by Royal Dutch Shell in the 1970s, where it helped the company anticipate and respond to the 1973 oil crisis. Since then, it’s been used by governments, businesses, nonprofits, and communities to build strategic capacity in times of uncertainty.

Rather than trying to predict the future, scenario planning explores what might happen if key uncertainties unfold in different directions. The typical approach involves identifying two critical variables (such as “regulation: tight or loose” and “tech adoption: fast or slow”) and using them to create a 2×2 matrix. Each quadrant becomes a distinct scenario: a plausible world with its own risks, opportunities, and dynamics.

Scenario planning is especially valuable when working with finance teams, corporate strategists, or communities tackling future growth and uncertainty. It’s a method that connects historical data and expert knowledge with structured imagination.

This method invites groups to:

• Engage deeply with uncertainty
  
• Stretch their thinking beyond business-as-usual
  
• See challenges and opportunities in new ways
  
• Uncover shared values and assumptions
  
• Prepare for a range of futures, not just one forecast
  

Scenarios are useful when they meet four criteria: they must be relevant, illuminating current circumstances and concerns, and connected to current thinking; challenging, making important dynamics that are invisible visible and raising questions about current thinking; plausible, logical and fact-based; and clear, accessible, memorable, and distinct from one another.

Adam Kahane, from his book Trasformative Scenario Planning – Working Together to Change the Future.

Once participants have imagined these worlds, they reflect on what each scenario would require. What new capabilities would they need? What strategies would still make sense? Where do their current assumptions hold up—and where might they fail?

Scenario planning can stand alone or form the centrepiece of a longer workshop, as we’ll see below.

From methods to flow: how to design a futures workshop

I often point out that workshops aren’t just an assembly of random methods. The real value lies in the flow: how one activity sets up the next, and how the whole session builds toward reflection, insight, and action.

This is especially true when working with uncertainty. Futures methods are powerful, but only when they’re placed with intention. If you’re wondering how to weave multiple futures tools into a coherent session, and what that might look like, check out this
Futures Workshop Template.

The template guides a group through a complete futures conversation, moving from warm-up to mapping trends, building scenarios, and planning action. It includes methods including Postcards from the Future, Futures Triangle, Scenario Planning, and Backcasting, all timed and sequenced in a practical agenda you can adapt to your own context.

Designing a scenario planning exercise doesn’t need to be overwhelming. With a collaborative approach, clear purpose, and practical tools, you can guide groups toward alignment and actionable outcomes. Using SessionLab can help by providing a simple scaffolding for selecting and arranging methods that supports creativity as well as avoiding having to start from scratch. We’ve recently added many futures-focused tools to the SessionLab method library, so you’ll find plenty to work with, whether you’re running a strategic foresight session, a creative exploration, or something in between.

5 tips for facilitating futures workshops

Futures methods are great, but they don’t run themselves. How you guide the process makes all the difference. Working with uncertainty, multiple perspectives, and long time horizons can surface hope, discomfort, even grief. It can also unlock imagination and bring people into deeper alignment.

Here are a few principles and tips to help you facilitate futures workshops with care and clarity, based on practical experience shared in the Facilitating Futures playbook.

1. Do your research

Doing some research about the group you are going to be working with is due diligence and common sense. Don’t push a timid group of new staffers to embody a utopian future, theatricals and all, in front of their boss.

Conversely, quiet, focused writing on sticky notes might not be the thing for energetic NGO volunteers. Interviews with your clients and, ideally, a few participants, will inform your thinking and enable you to create the right program for that specific group.

2. Stress that this is about action, not prediction

The idea that futures thinking is akin to having a magic ball or doing some sort of astrology is where most of the resistance to this work stems from. Clarify that we work with the future to build capacity in the present, and keep it practical.

Use concrete prompts, sensory language, and examples. Encourage groups to describe what people see, feel, say, or do in a future scenario. This helps shift conversations from abstract ideas to something more embodied and relatable.

3. Leverage diversity of opinions

Challenge the group if their views are too hopeful or too bleak. Futures work is at its most valuable when it skirts speculative fiction yet stays close to possibilities and realities. Full-fledged utopias and dystopias might be useful thought experiments, but for influencing our groups and organizations, it’s more useful to remember that all plausible futures will always be a mix of good and bad. Encourage the group to look at different possible angles.

4. Give it space

Some people readily jump into using their imagination but that is not all people. Rushing into these activities is likely to make your futures flat, unimaginative and yield little that is of use. Ease the group into these activities. The opening activities will help with this, as will some good examples: think of those ahead of time.

Imagination is like a muscle, it needs to be used. While participants found it strange to imagine positive futures by the third month we were reaching over 100 years into the future and found lots to celebrate.
Sophia Cheng, founder of With Many Roots

5. Always include action planning

Even when the focus is long-term, always return to the present. What insights will shape today’s decisions? What small steps can move us toward a better future? The real power of futures work lies not in prediction, but in preparation.

Don’t leave the group hanging and wondering: “so what was that for?” If you don’t have time for a longer closing activity, at least host a round of “What is one thing you’ll do/change as a consequence of this exercise?”

Want to go deeper?

Here are some well-regarded resources on the history and practice of scenario planning:

• Book: Transformative Scenario Planning by Adam Kahane
  An inspiring introduction to how scenario planning can be used for large, whole-system work.
• Book: The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World by Peter Schwarz.
  A business-oriented classic on scenario planning and its strategic use.
• Website: Institute for the Future
  Workshops, training and lots of resources for deep dives into futures and foresight.
• Toolkit: Facilitating Futures
  
  Whether you’re running your first scenario planning workshop or expanding your future practice, having the right tools makes a difference. The Facilitating Futures playbook is designed to support you with practical methods, case studies, and real-world tips to use in any setting.
  
  Download your free copy and start shaping more thoughtful, courageous, and forward-looking conversations.

Leadership activities are a great way of developing the skills and competencies needed to be an effective leader. It’s not easy to learn these skills, especially when so many leaders don’t receive effective training or support. In this article, we’ll explore the leadership activities you should master in order to lead a high-performing team and become a better leader!

Learning the why and how of being a great leader alongside practical techniques and frameworks is one of the easiest ways to become a better leader.

Anyone in a leadership role has both a big influence and responsibility for their team. Some of the aspects they need to pay attention to in order to be a good leader are:

• Setting the climate of a workplace
• Making decisions
• Inspiring team members
• Setting values for their team
• Improving team spirit and cohesion
• Being responsible for their team’s communication and wellbeing
• Developing leadership skills in other team members

There are a number of tools to help you with leadership development. Coaching, peer support circles, and leadership development workshops can all help one to become a better leader.

Leadership activities such as those featured here are also effective at introducing leadership concepts and learning how to solve common leadership challenges. You might run these leadership training activities during a workshop, add them to an ongoing learning program or simply introduce them to managers as needed.

Want more ideas? Check out this collection of leadership training topics to get an understand of want you might focus on when working with your leadership team.

In this guide, we’ve grouped leadership activities by these core competencies, so you can choose the right activity to help yourself or others develop their leadership skills. Let’s dive in!

What are leadership activities?

Leadership activities are exercises designed to help develop leadership skills and enable leaders to be more effective in their roles. They can include activities that help train new leaders and improve core leadership skills like problem-solving, active listening, or effective group management.

You’ll also find that the best leadership development activities give leaders tools and techniques they can use on the job. It’s one thing to know that leaders need to be good listeners, but quite another to be given a framework and toolkit that means you are a great listener who always helps their team feel heard and understood.

The exercises below are not only great to use when training leaders, but they are practical techniques leaders can use with every team member immediately, whatever their leadership style.

What are leadership activities used for?

While managers might approach tasks differently based on their leadership style, there are skills and competencies that all leaders should learn in order to best service their team. Learning how to be a good leader can be difficult, so using exercises and activities to improve leadership skills in a safe, experiential environment can help leaders be more effective in their role.

If you’re running a leadership development program, you might use these activities during the training program. For example, after conducting a self-assessment and deciding how they want to develop as a leader, participants might work on improving their leadership skills with these activities.

Whether you’re running such a program and developing managers internally with workshops or simply want to brush up on your own leadership skills, these exercises are a great place to begin.

A bespoke leadership development workshop (like the one featured in this leadership template!) is also a natural place to include these activities.

In SessionLab, it’s quick and easy to design a leadership workshop fit for your needs. Start by dragging and dropping blocks to design your outline. Add minute-perfect timing and instructions to each activity to refine your agenda.

When you’re ready to share with collaborators or participants, export your workshop agenda in PDF, Word, Powerpoint or invite them directly to the session.

Leadership training activities for building a positive work climate

Leaders are role models to their colleagues and organization. Their leadership styles, principles, and values determine the culture that drives their organization’s behavior.

That is why a competitive, paranoid leader can easily create an organization where team members are similarly competitive and less open to collaboration. While a leader who is open and inclusive will create a climate of openness and inclusiveness. How they behave, and what they consider the norm, also affects which kinds of behaviors are enforced and celebrated and which behaviors are punished.

The following leadership activities can help you in recognising important leadership behaviors that result in a productive workplace. They can also be used by leaders to set the stage for team bonding and a great workplace environment with their team. A must for all leaders!

• Leadership Envelopes
• Your Favourite Manager
• Leadership Pizza
• Playing with Status
• Heard Seen Respected

Leadership Envelopes

Best for: Translating leadership principles into real-world actions
Participants: 6–30
Activity length: 30–90 minutes

Leadership Envelopes is an effective training game that helps groups translate abstract leadership principles into practical on-the-job behaviors. Participants work in groups to come up with real-life applications of different leadership principles.

During Leadership Envelopes, groups conduct multiple rounds of discussion to build upon each others’ ideas, and in the end, evaluate the best ideas to identify the most useful behaviors. This is also a great activity to run with all your team members. Seeing how they consider and respond to different leadership styles can help you focus on the right approach as a leader!

Your Favourite Manager

Best for: Reflecting on effective and ineffective leadership styles
Participants: 6–50
Activity length: 20–45 minutes

In Your Favourite Manager, participants take on three different employee personas and list the behaviors of a positive leader or manager and a negative one from the perspectives of those employees. After some individual reflection, participants compare their lists, first in pairs and then in groups. Finally, they collect the ultimate do’s and don’ts for managers and leaders.

Your Favourite Manager encourages deep reflection on your own leadership style and those of your role models. I’ve been especially inspired by how some of my old bosses approach problem solving while I was a team member working beneath them.

Leadership Pizza

Best for: Self-assessing leadership skills and setting development goals
Participants: 2–20
Activity length: 30+ minutes

Leadership Pizza offers a self-assessment framework for people to first identify the skills, attributes and attitudes they find important for effective leadership, and then assess their own development in these areas. This framework is also a great tool to set individual leadership development goals in a coaching process.

We love activities that allow team members to reflect on different leadership styles and assess their own skills and preferences. The visual format and approachability of Leadership Pizza makes it easy to share and reflect on leadership styles again in the future too!

Playing with Status

Best for: Exploring power dynamics and communication styles
Participants: 6–30
Activity length: 15–30 minutes

The best leadership training activities allow managers to work on their leadership skills while also providing an opportunity to reflect on how their leadership style might affect the people they work with too.

Playing with Status is a role playing game where pairs enact a job interview or coaching session and enact different versions of the conversation based on whether each person has high or low status. By experiencing the effect of status on the relationship, would-be leaders can consider how they interact with other members of their team and create a more positive workplace culture.

Heard Seen Respected

Best for: Practicing empathy and inclusive leadership
Participants: 4+
Activity length: 35–45 minutes

Standing in the shoes of others, practicing empathy and ensuring that everyone on a team is able to be heard is a necessity for great leaders and your team in general. In this activity, participants shift between telling stories where they were not heard, seen or respected and then being listeners who do not pass judgment. 

Remember that leadership training should often start with the fundamentals of respect and empathy. If you can’t respect and empathize with your team members, how can you expect them to do the same for you? Keeping things simple with an activity like Heard Seen Respected can be an especially effective option whether you’re working online or offline. 

Team building leadership activities

Every leader has an integral role in the formation of the teams they work with. Whether you are consciously working on it or not, your attitude and actions as a leader will significantly influence team cohesion, communication and the team spirit of the people you work with.

This comes through in small everyday actions, the way you share responsibilities, the way you empower colleagues, and the way you foster a cooperative work environment as opposed to a competitive one.

Sometimes, it can also be effective to run team building activities with your company that are expressly focused on helping teams come together and bond. Try using the following leadership team building activities with new teams, or groups that need to spend a little time getting to know each other better.

• Marshmallow challenge
• Blind Square Rope Game
• Tower of Power
• Minefield
• Crocodile River
• Human knot
• Who are you? The pirate ship exercise

Marshmallow challenge

Best for: Enhancing collaboration, identifying leaders and iterative problem-solving skills.
Participants: 6–100
Activity length: 45–60 minutes

The Marshmallow Challenge is a team-building activity in which teams compete to build the tallest free-standing structure out of spaghetti sticks, tape, string, and the marshmallow that needs to be on the top. This leadership activity emphasizes group communication, leadership dynamics, collaboration, and innovation and problem-solving.

It’s a wonderful game that allows participants’s natural leadership qualities to shine through, and it helps teams have a lot of fun too!

Blind Square Rope Game

Best for: Developing communication and leadership in uncertain conditions.
Participants: 4–20
Activity length: 40–45 minutes

This activity is a tried and tested game that asks teams to communicate well and solve a problem as a team. Not only is this a fun team building activity, but it’s a great way for potential leaders to step up and help their team win!

Start by tying a length of rope into a circle and then instruct participants they will have 20 minutes to turn it into a square, with fifteen minutes to plan their actions and five minutes to implement. Here’s the catch – no one may touch the rope until you begin, and every team member is blindfolded during implementation. This is an effective leadership game that is great with both small groups and larger teams separated into breakouts.

Tower of Power

Best for: Building coordination, planning, and shared leadership.
Participants: 6–24
Activity length: 20–60 minutes

All leaders need to work closely with other members of their organization in order to succeed. This leadership game encourages groups to work together in order to build a tower with specific (and sometimes tricky!) rules before than reflecting on what worked, what didn’t and what they would do next time.

Tower of Power wonderful activity for leadership training, as it provides an experiential way to explore leadership concepts, all wrapped in a fun game!

Minefield

Best for: Building trust and honing communication under pressure.
Participants: 4+
Activity length: 15–30 minutes

When teams work together well, something magic happens. But what elements constitute a high performing team? As a leader, how can you help ensure those conditions are met? In this leadership game, participants must work together to get every team member across an obstacle while blindfolded.

It’s a simple concept that creates a perfect space for exploring how teams operate and the role leaders have within them. Bring plenty of fun obstacles (squeaky toys are best) and encourage groups to think strategically for best results!

Crocodile River

Best for: Encouraging strategic thinking and team support.
Participants: 10–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

The Crocodile River is a team-building activity in which group members need to support each other in a task to move from one end of a space to another. It requires working together creatively and strategically in order to solve a practical, physical problem. It tends to emphasize group communication, cooperation, leadership and membership, patience and problem-solving.

Human knot

Best for: Illustrating self-organization and collaborative problem-solving.
Participants: 7–20
Activity length: 15–30 minutes

This is a simple game to help team members learn how to work together (better). It can also focus on the group’s understanding of communication, leadership, problem-solving, trust or persistence. Participants stand in a circle, close their eyes and put their hands into the circle to find two other hands to hold. Then they open their eyes and the group has to try to get back into a circle without letting go, though they can change their grip, of course.

Who are you? The pirate ship exercise

Best for: Facilitating reflection on team roles and self-awareness.
Participants: 4+
Activity length: 10+ minutes

Every member of a group occupies a different position in the team. An effective team leader is one who considers their role and is aware of where employees also stand.

This leadership training activity is an effective method of getting a group to consider their roles with the metaphor of a pirate ship. Start by sharing the image and invite each person to consider which person on the deck they most identify with. Is it the captain, or perhaps is it the person repairing damage to the hull? What follows is an effective conversation on roles within a team.

Collaborative leadership activities

Whether you’re leading a small group or working across a massive organization, part of your role of a leader is to help their team work together more effectively. Removing obstacles to effective collaboration and creating frameworks for better teamwork is something you’ll be doing as a leader.

Use the activities below to develop the skills necessary to facilitate better collaboration and working habits between team members.

• Circles of Influence
• Team of Two
• What I Need From You
• Generative Relationships STAR
• Team Canvas

Circles of Influence

Best for: Prioritizing efforts and enhancing team ownership
Participants: 2–40
Length: 30–120 minutes

Effective teamwork is often about identifying where each member of a team can have the most impact and use their skills best. Leaders often need to find ways to identify where to direct their team and consider how different skills and working styles fit together to make a cohesive team. This activity makes it easy to facilitate this process and encourage employees to reflect and be proactive too!

We love that this leadership exercise encourages every team member to take responsibility and action. When looking for leadership qualities in a group and considering who you might want to develop into a future leader, this is also a great place to start!

Team of Two

Best for: Strengthening one-on-one professional relationships
Participants: 2+
Length: 20+ minutes

Whether you’re leading a team of just a few people or hundreds, the reality is that many of your discussions and interactions with the people you will lead will be interpersonal and one-on-one in nature. Developing the skillset you need to solve issues in your team when they arise and finding ways to ensure these conversations are productive is one of the most important things you can do as a leader.

Use Team of Two whether working online or as part of an in-person session to help your working pairs and interpersonal relationships go from strength to strength. By articulating needs and consequences clearly, this leadership exercise helps people communicate efficiently and see the results they need – a must for anyone in a leadership role! 

What I Need From You

Best for: Clarifying interdepartmental needs and responsibilities, conflict resolution
Participants: 10+
Length: 55–70 minutes

One of the most important leadership skills to cultivate is clarity: being clear in what you expect and need from others in your organisation or group is an integral component of high-functioning teams. With What I Need From You, each team member involved in the exchange is given the chance to articulate their core needs to others and respond in a structured way.

This kind of clear, direct action is great at unblocking conversational roadblocks in both large and small groups, and is something all leaders should have in their toolkit.

Generative Relationships STAR

Best for: Assessing and improving team dynamics
Participants: 5+
Length: 20–25 minutes

The relationships between the members of a team can make or break the work you do together. In this leadership training activity, leaders learn how to help a group understand their current working patterns and identify possible changes.

Each participant will individually rate the current performance of the group on the 4 points of the STAR compass tool included. Next, small groups will discuss their choices and find points of alignment and disagreement. Finally, the whole team will discuss the first steps they can take to improve relationships and performance for the group.

Team Canvas

Best for: Aligning team goals, roles, and values
Participants: 2–8
Length: 90–150 minutes

When it comes to enabling true collaboration throughout your organization, it pays to involve your team members in helping shape the way you want to work together. Different leadership styles may call for a different approach to this process, but it’s always helpful to see a complete example of how you might define your team culture and working processes.

In this workshop template, you can see a complete agenda for a team canvas workshop. This will take a team through a process of co-creating and defining everything from your goals, values, assets, and rules. Effective leadership often means tapping into group intelligence and enabling your team to take shared ownership of their success. Team Canvas great way of achieving this!

Inspirational leadership activities

Great leaders inspire others. However, there are many different reasons why someone will find a leader inspirational. Developing the skills to inspire team members and lead with this energy is important, whatever your leadership style.

In order to grasp what facilitates inspiring leadership, try the following exercises. You’ll be surprised at how thinking more deeply about your own role models or what your values can help you in all of your leadership interactions!

• Leadership Advice from your Role Model
• Living Core Values
• Campfire
• Letter from the Future

Leadership Advice from your Role Model

Best for: Reflecting on leadership values and exploring different styles
Participants: 5–30
Activity length: 20–45 minutes

For this leadership activity, everyone in the room is asked to think of a role model they look up to and ask themselves: If a young person would ask these role models for leadership advice and what kind of advice that would be.

Facilitate a group conversation where these pieces of advice are shared and contradicting points are discussed and reconciled. Given diverse enough responses, this structured sharing activity might be a good introduction to the concept of situational leadership or as a simple point of reflection and goal setting.

Living Core Values

Best for: Connecting everyday behaviors with core leadership values
Participants: 2+
Activity length: 30+ minutes

The core values of your organization are a great place to look when you want to inspire your team members. Leaders should be involved in defining and exemplifying their core values and also helping create space for the team to share how they’re living those values. The result is an inspiring leadership exercise that allows a leader to help the group celebrate their wins and also suggest places for improvement.

Start by choosing one of your core values and asking activity participants to share a story of how they have been practicing this core value. After sharing, ask the team to reflect on what inspired them from the story. As with any leadership development game, be the first one to share a story to help guide the discussion. Running this exercise will not only help inspire a team to greater heights but also surface any areas that need improvement – it’s a great method to have in your leadership toolbox!

Campfire

Best for: Sharing leadership lessons through storytelling and building trust
Participants: 8–20
Activity length: 30–45 minutes

Throughout human history, stories have been a consistent source of inspiration. Whatever your leadership style, finding time to share more about your own story and create space for others to share theirs can be massively useful as a leader.

In Campfire, start by creating a selection of 10-20 sticky notes relating to a concept you wish to explore with the group. Put these on the wall and then invite your group to review them and consider stories they might tell related to one of those words. Start the storytelling session yourself and think about how you might inspire and elicit further stories from the rest of the team before passing the torch to the next person around the campfire!

This is a great activity to run during leadership training or when team building. Creating safe spaces for people to share their experiences is a leadership skill you absolutely want to cultivate and practice!

Letter from the Future

Best for: Vision-setting and aligning leadership intentions with future goals
Participants: 6–30
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

Leaders are often called upon to inspire their team members about the future of their product or organization. Employees who are excited about where you’re going are more likely to work together well and be energized to see results. This activity is useful for helping inspire a team, or even just to inspire yourself as a leader and get your vision for the future down on paper!

Begin by asking your team to speculate on what the world will look like in five years. Next, ask them to write a letter from the future detailing what the group has accomplished in that time and how they overcame any challenges.

Share the results to inspire the group for what you might accomplish and also start creating plans for how you’ll create your desired future. You might even find that running this activity solo is effective when thinking about how you want to develop as a team leader!

Leadership activities for personal development

A good leader is one who helps uplift and upskill the members of their team. These leadership activities are designed to help you encourage participants to be more autonomous, take initiative and work on their personal development.

If you’re new to a leadership role or trying on various leadership styles, these can also be great activities to practice on the road to leading a team. Growth and development is a vital aspect of employee happiness and fulfilment – be sure to bring ideas for enabling others to your leadership role.

• Roles in a meeting
• Alignment & Autonomy
• 15% Solutions
• The GROW Coaching Model

Roles in a meeting

Best for: Encouraging ownership during meetings, develop facilitation skills
Participants: 4–30
Activity length: 15–30 minutes

Learning by doing is an important aspect of effective leadership. Sometimes, you have to try something new and approach the task with an open mind while working to the best of your ability. This simple method is a great way of encouraging participants to take an important role during a meeting and also take part in developing and refining those roles.

If you’re running a leadership development program and want to start upskilling participants, this is a great way of delegating some simple leadership roles. Plus, it helps encourage the group to contribute and engage with how a successful meeting is put together too!

Alignment & Autonomy

Best for: Balancing team alignment with individual accountability
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

One of the most impactful things a leader can do is get out of a team’s way and allow them to perform more autonomously. Doing so effectively means people can take ownership of their work, be more invested, and develop their skills too. But how can you do this without creating chaos or misalignment?

In this activity, you first help every team member align on your goals and then reflect on where they can take more ownership and be more autonomous in their work while still contributing to the goals of the team. Not only is this a great way to help your team develop, but it also takes work off your plate as a leader and can enable you to get out of the trenches if necessary.

15% Solutions

Best for: Taking immediate action on what’s within your control
Participants: 2+
Activity length: 20–30 minutes

One of the biggest barriers to personal development is being overwhelmed by what you need to do to achieve your goals. As a leader, you can help your team by enabling them to take the small, important actions that are within their control.

Start by asking participants to reflect on where they have the discretion and freedom to act and how they might make a small step towards a goal without needing outside help. By flipping the conversation to what 15% of a solution looks like, rather than 100%, employees can begin to make changes without fear of being overwhelmed.

The GROW Coaching Model

Best for: Structuring coaching conversations and goal-setting
Participants: 2+
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

The best leaders are often great coaches, helping individual team members achieve their potential and grow. This tried and test method is a wonderful way to help activate the development of everyone from a new start to an established leader.

Begin by teaching your mentee or group the GROW acronym (Goal, Reality, Obstacles/Options, and Will.) and guide them through a process of defining each section and collectively agreeing on how you’ll make progress. This is an effective leadership activity that is great for leadership training and is equally useful when it comes to help any team member grow.

Decision-making leadership activities

An important aspect of leadership development is learning how to make informed and intelligent decisions while also ensuring you listen to your team. A leader who bulldozes their team into a decision without first listening to their expertise is not going to make their team feel valued.

The outcomes of uninformed decisions are often poor or frustrating for those involved too. While leaders are justifiably responsible for making final decisions, it’s integral to find methods to do so in a well-reasoned way.

These leadership activities are useful when it comes to making good decisions while involving your team members in the process and developing a leadership style that creates space for others.

• Dotmocracy
• Impact and Effort Matrix
• Level of influence
• Fishbone Analysis

Dotmocracy

Best for: Prioritizing ideas through group consensus
Participants: 2+
Activity length: 5–30 minutes

When solving problems as a team, it’s common to have various options for moving forward. As a leader, it often falls to you to make the decision for which solution or direction to pursue. But how can you do that while also creating space for the opinions of your team to be heard?

Dotmocracy is a tried and tested facilitation method for making informed decisions with the help of your team. After presenting the available options, give everyone on your team a number of dots to indicate which option they prefer. You’ll want to adjust the number of votes based on the number of options there are to choose from. A good rule of thumb is to have fewer dots than there are options, giving just a few for every team member.

Leaders want to be on hand to break any ties and to facilitate discussion around what is chosen, but when it comes to making decisions with your team, this method is hard to beat.

Impact and Effort Matrix

Best for: Making strategic decisions based on value and effort
Participants: 3–15
Activity length: 30–60 minutes

The hallmark of a good decision making process is transparency. Leaders should know why a decision is made and should be able to clearly explain their thinking to team members. As such, the best decision making activities make the process open and easy to understand.

Start this activity by creating a 2×2 matrix and then place possible options on the matrix based on the expected impact and effort it would take to achieve them. This makes it easy to prioritize and compare possible decisions while also including team members in the process.

An inclusive leadership style means bringing your own knowledge to the table while also listening to the opinions of the team. When running this activity, be sure to combine these aspects to ensure items are placed in the appropriate place on the matrix.

Level of influence

Best for: Exploring personal and team influence on outcomes
Participants: 12–30
Activity length: 30–60 minutes

Making the right decision is often a process of weighing up various factors and prioritizing accordingly. While there are many methods for doing this, being an effective leader often means making this as simple as possible.

We love this decision making activity because it asks the group (and its leader!) some simple questions to narrow down possible options and makes it easy to prioritize too. Start by asking the level of influence a team has to make possible actions happen and ranking them accordingly.

Next, choose those items that you have the most influence on and then prioritize the ones you really want to happen. This simple, two-step process is a great activity for leadership development as it is something any leader can use with ease!

Fishbone Analysis

Best for: Identifying root causes of complex problems
Participants: 6–15
Activity length: 180+ minutes

Making good decisions requires a complete knowledge of the problem at hand. For leaders who may no longer be on the frontlines of their department, it’s important to surface insights from their team and understand the root cause of any problem before making a decision.

In this leadership activity, start by choosing a problem area and adding it to the head of the fish. Next, brainstorm ideas that might cause the problem and add these as categories to the skeleton. Brainstorm on each of these categories and ask why is this happening in order to dive deeper and fully understand the issue at hand before making an informed decision as a group.

Leadership exercises for setting team values

Usually, the values of a leader are mirrored in the organization. If shortcuts are common practice for the leader, then she will see shortcuts made by her team members all across their projects. But if learning and self-improvement are important to the leader, then this will be a good foundation for these values in the whole organization, too.

To be more aware of your own values as a leader and then bring these ideas to your team, try these leadership exercises!

• Explore Your Values
• Your Leadership Coat of Arms
• Team Purpose & Culture

Explore Your Values

Best for: Clarifying personal and team values for aligned leadership
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

Explore your Values is a group exercise for thinking on what your own and your team’s most important values are. It’s done in an intuitive and rapid way to encourage participants to follow their intuitions rather than over-thinking and finding the “correct” values.

It’s a good leadership game to use to initiate reflection and dialogue around personal values and consider how various leadership styles might chime with some values more than others.

Your Leadership Coat of Arms

Best for: Reflecting on leadership identity and strengths
Participants: 1+
Activity length: 25+ minutes

In this leadership development activity, participants are asked to draw their own coat of arms symbolising the most important elements of their leadership philosophy. The coat of arms drawings are then debriefed and discussed together with the group.

Your Leadership Coat of Arms works well with equally well with leadership and participants not in your management team. Creating a visual representation of what you stand for in the form of a coat of arms can help create a memorable asset you can refer to and rally behind in the future.

Team Purpose & Culture

Best for: Defining shared goals and shaping team culture
Participants: 2–10
Activity length: 60–240 minutes

Ensuring all group participants are aligned when it comes to purpose and cultural values is one of the jobs of a leader. Teams and organizations that have a shared and cohesive vision are often happier and more productive and by helping a group arrive at these conclusions, a good leader can help empower everyone to succeed.

Even with multi-discipline teams and organizations with different leadership styles, this method is an effective way of getting everyone on the same page. This is a framework you’ll likely use again and again with different teams throughout your career.

Leadership communication activities

Leaders are usually viewed as the parents of the organization. It is expected from them that they take care of their people and make sure that proper norms and rules are followed. One of the key areas where a leader has a large influence is the style and amount of communication between people.

Active Listening and giving effective feedback are critical skills to have as a leader but are also crucial for your team members. In fact, the issue that leaders rank as one of the biggest barriers to successful leadership is avoiding tough conversations, including giving honest, constructive feedback.

Develop good communication practices with the following leadership games and activities.

• Active Listening
• Trust battery
• Feedback: Start, Stop, Continue
• Reflection: Team

Active Listening

Best for: Practicing deep listening to improve communication and empathy
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

This activity supports participants in reflecting on a question and generating their own solutions using simple principles of active listening and peer coaching. It’s an excellent introduction to active listening but can also be used with groups that are already familiar with this activity. Participants work in groups of three and take turns being “the subject” who will explore a question, “the listener” who is supposed to be totally focused on the subject, and “the observer” who will watch the dynamic between the other two.

Trust battery

Best for: Reflecting on mutual trust within a team
Participants: 3+
Activity length: 15–45 minutes

Every time you work together with someone, your trust battery – the trust you have towards a certain person, or the ‘emotional credit’ that person has in your eyes – either charges or depletes based on things like whether you deliver on what you promise and the social interaction you exhibit. A low trust battery is the core of many personal issues at the workplace.

This self-assessment activity allows you and your team members to reflect on the ‘trust battery’ they individually have towards each person on the team and encourages focus on actions that can charge the depleted trust batteries.  It also works great when promoting virtual leadership and working with online teams!

Feedback: Start, Stop, Continue

Best for: Giving and receiving actionable peer feedback
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

Regular and constructive feedback is one of the most important ingredients for effective teams. Openness creates trust, and trust creates more openness. This is an activity for teams that have worked together for some time and are familiar with giving and receiving feedback. The objective of Start, Stop, Continue is to examine aspects of a situation or develop next steps by polling people on what to start, what to stop and what to continue doing.

For those in charge of online leadership, it’s vital to find ways of having difficult conversations in constructive ways virtually – try this method when working to resolve issues with your distributed team!

Reflection: Team

Best for: Reviewing team dynamics and strengthening collaboration
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

All leaders know the value of structured and considered reflection. Teams that take the time to reflect and improve are those that can grow and by creating an environment of reflection, team leaders and managers can help their group move forward together.

This method is effective for both offline and virtual leadership development. It helps a group progress from individual reflection through to full group discussion in a way that encourages constructive thought and minimizes potential frustration or antagonistic conversation. 

Leadership conflict resolution activities

One of the most important leadership skills you’ll want to develop is the ability to mediate and resolve team conflicts. Even the most connected and effective teams can run into conflict and it will fall to managers and team leaders to help get things back on track.

Even for established leaders, navigating conflict can be difficult! These leadership development activities are designed to help groups manage and resolve conflicts more effectively.

Giving leaders a framework they can trust and use with their team right away is always a good use of time, and we’d recommend teaching these methods to all new leaders!

• What, So What, Now What?
• Conflict Responses
• Bright Blurry Blind

What, So What, Now What?

Best for: Reflecting on experiences to generate insights and actions
Participants: 4+
Activity length: 30–60 minutes

It’s easy to get lost in the woods when it comes to managing conflict. Helping a group see what happened objectively and without judgment is an important leadership skill, and this framework helps make this process easy.

Start by working with the group to collect facts about what happened before moving towards making sense of them. Once everywhere has been heard and given space to process these facts, you can then move towards suggesting practical actions. By following this kind of framework, you can manage a conflict in a pragmatic way that also ensures everyone in a group can contribute.

Conflict Responses

Best for: Exploring personal conflict styles and improving team dynamics
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

All of us can be guilty of handling conflicts in a less than ideal manner. Part of developing as a leader is identifying when something didn’t go well before finding ways to do things better next time.

In this leadership activity, ask the group to provide examples of previous conflicts and then reflect on how they handled them. Next, ask everyone to reflect on how they might change their behavior for a better outcome in the future. As a leader, use this opportunity to lead the way and be honest and vulnerable. It’s your role to provide a model for interaction and its always worthwhile to see how you can do better as a people manager dealing with conflict too!

Bright Blurry Blind

Best for: Identifying strengths, uncertainties, and blind spots in leadership
Participants: 5–100
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

Finding opportunities to reframe conflict as an opportunity to solve problems and create clarity is a very useful leadership quality. Often, conflict is a signifier of a deeper problem and so finding ways to surface and work on these issues as a team is a great way to move forward and bring a group together too.

In this leadership activity, start by asking the group to reflect on the central metaphor of bright to blind issues or topics, based on whether the problem is out in the open or unknown. Next, invite small groups to ideate on what issues facing the team are bright, blurry, or blind and then discuss them as a group. By working together to illuminate what is blurry or blind, you can create a one-team mentality and start resolving problems that can lead to conflict too.

The Art of Effective Feedback Workshop

All leaders will need to give effective feedback in order to help their team develop and do great work. The best leaders also solicit feedback from their direct reports and use this is an opportunity to grow. But how can you teach these feedback skills and help leaders develop this important skill?

Check out our Effective Feedback Workshop template for a complete agenda you can use to develop this leadership skill. You’ll find a ready-to-go workshop with a guide and PowerPoint presentation you can use to help anyone in a leadership role give and receive better feedback.

Workshop design made easy

Designing and running effective workshops and meetings is an important leadership skill; whether it’s staying organized and on time during your daily stand-ups or planning more involved sessions.

With SessionLab, it’s easy to create engaging workshops that create impact while engaging every member of your team. Drag, drop and reorder blocks to build your agenda. When you make changes or update your agenda, your session timing adjusts automatically, saving you time on manual adjustments.

Collaborating with stakeholders or clients? Share your agenda with a single click and collaborate in real-time. No more sending documents back and forth over email.

Explore how you and your team might use SessionLab to design more effective sessions or watch this five minute video to see the planner in action!

Now over to you…

I hope you have found some useful tips for leadership development workshops above. Now we’d love to hear from you!

What are your favorite leadership workshop ideas and training exercises for leadership development? Did you incorporate any of them into your facilitation practice?

Have you tried any of the activities above? Let us know about your experiences in the comments.

But how do you choose the right activity for your team event, and where do you get started when trying to encourage deeper team bonding or alignment?

We’re here to help with this collection of effective team building activities! You’ll find instructions, tips and advice that makes improving team work and engaging your group easy.

What are team building activities? 

Team building is an activity or process designed to build connections between members of a team, create lasting bonds, and enable better teamwork and working practices.

Team building activities are self-contained group exercises and games that help bring your team together and build the collaborative skillset of your group. They are especially effective in a work environment, where collaboration and cohesion is imperative to a team’s success and overall happiness.

Examples of team building activities include team games and learning experiences, away days and retreats, or simply doing things together as a team. Whether it’s an escape room or a deep activity designed to help your team get to know each other more deeply, the key with any of these activities is to bring your team together with purpose in a fun and engaging way.

Team building activities for work

Starting the team building process can be difficult, especially if you’re working with a new team who don’t yet know each other well. The activities in this section are focused on helping teams and employees get to know each other better and start to develop bonds.

Even if your team has been around a while, learning more about one another and building deeper bonds is useful for both team cohesion and group happiness. These are also great activities to use when trying to improve employee engagement and company culture.

Want more? See this collection of corporate team building activities for activities based around the 5 C’s of team building.

3 Question Mingle

Purpose: Breaking the ice, deepening team bonds, networking and movement
Participants: 2-40
Activity length: 30-60 minutes

In 3 Question Mingle, each team member writes three questions on sticky notes and then has a one-minute meeting with another person. They each ask another one question and then trade those post-its. Invite the group to move around the room asking questions in pairs and swapping questions afterwards. 

3 Question Mingle is a great way to help an entire team get to know each other while also inviting the group to ask the questions they really want to ask. By combining structure with self direction, you can get your team building workshop off to the right start! Bonus points for adding those sticky notes to a memory wall for later reflection!

9 Dimensions Team Building Activity

Purpose: Building relationships by evaluating and sharing perspectives on team dynamics
Participants: 3+
Activity length: 20–60 minutes

Building better team relationships and improving group dynamics often means sharing something about ourselves and finding space to discuss and be honest. In this team building exercise, give each team member a set of red, green, yellow and blue dots alongside the 9 dimensions you’ll be looking at. Each participant puts a dot on each dimension based on whether they believe they’re crushing it or need to do more work. 

By sharing some of their 9 dimensions, your team gets to surface things they’re proud of, as well as those that need work. You’ll explore what your group is aligned on in the debriefing section and then move forward together as a team.

Awareness Circle

Purpose: Getting to know each other, improving non-verbal communication
Participants: 5+
Activity length: 10–30 minutes

Getting to know people is easier for some members of a group than it is for others. While extroverts can start chatting to new team members with ease, introverts may find it more difficult to bond with their team and create meaningful team bonds.

In this activity, you’ll encourage a group to get to know each other without speaking and show that everyone in a team has a connection. Another great takeaway from this activity is to take note of the diversity (or lack thereof) in the room and consider this as a point for future team development. 

Break the Ice with The Four Quadrants Activity

Purpose: Breaking the ice with a group, self-reflection, deeper sharing
Participants: 3+
Activity length: 30–120 minutes

Sometimes pictures are better than words when it comes to helping a team get to know one another. Creative games like this one can also be especially effective at helping introverts or distanced teams share with the group.

Start by handing out sheets of paper and inviting each participant to draw a 2×2 grid and pose four questions to the group. Each team member draws their answer in one of the grid squares and once the time limit is up, invite the group to share. If you’re looking for a fun game that encourages creative thinking while being visual and memorable, look no further! 

Just One Lie

Purpose: Encourage sharing and connection in a lighthearted manner
Participants: 5–20
Activity length: 15–30 minutes

Not all team building games need to reinvent the wheel. Particularly with new teams or groups that aren’t used to team building, keeping it simple with a tried and tested method can be your best bet.

Just One Lie is adapted from the well-known icebreaker two truths and a lie, though encourages participants to mingle and share lots of facts about themselves with one another – great for breaking the ice and getting to know one another too!

Life Map

Purpose: Create deeper connections and shared understanding, encourage visual thinking
Participants: 3+
Activity length: 30–60 minutes

Both groups and individuals go through many twists, turns and changes throughout their life. At its best, team building not only helps create better teams but allows time for reflection and deeper sharing between participants.

With Life Map, encourage your group to draw or create a collage of their life story they can then share with the team. This kind of deeper getting to know your exercise can really help bring a team together and allow for meaningful self-reflection too! 

Personal Presentation

Purpose: Build team trust and openness, skills sharing
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–240 minutes

Team building is all about building trust and openness between teammates. Sharing personal experiences and enlarging the social aspects of the group with presentations not only allows everyone to get to know each other but also encourages team development skills too.

For this team building method, ask each participant to prepare a presentation including three things that have shaped who they are as a person. Encourage creative thinking by asking teams to use simple drawings and words to visualize their presentation too.

Passions Tic Tac Toe

Purpose: Break the ice and deepen team understanding in a fun, physical way
Participants: 10+
Activity length: 15–30 minutes

Helping employees get to know each other more deeply and connect beyond the scope of their job roles is a great space to explore with a team building exercise. In this activity, your entire team fills in a 3×3 grid with a passion or core value in each of the boxes. Then, ask your group to mingle and compare passions.

When someone finds a match, they each sign for the other person in that square of the grid. Declare your first winner as the person who gets three passions in a row. This team building exercise works well for remote workers and is a great way for your entire team to get to know each other a little better.

Office Trivia Challenge

Purpose: Test knowledge about the workplace and highlight achievements
Participants: 5–30
Activity length: 30–45 minutes

In Office Trivia, employees are asked to get into small teams and answer questions as a group. You’ll need a set of 15-20+ questions, the majority of which relate to your organization, company culture and little known facts from around the office.

Office Trivia is a fun, low-stakes way of helping your team get to know each other better while also reviewing key company information. Try throwing in some questions about KPIs or company values to bring these things into employee awareness. Mix in some lighthearted questions about your team members and some general knowledge and the result is great for any team building session.

Human Knot

Purpose: Enhance teamwork and communication skills, get the group moving
Participants: 7+
Activity length: 15–30 minutes

Team meetings can sometimes be heavy going, but they don’t need to be. Human Knot is a fun team building game that encourages your group to loosen up while working together to solve a puzzle that involves their bodies!

Start Human Knot by getting your team members into groups of 7-12 people. Ask each group to stand in a circle, close their eyes and then link hands with two other people in the circle. Next, ask each group to work to untangle the human knot they have created without breaking the chain. This is a really fun game that requires clear communication, collaboration and a little flexibility too!

Quick team building activities for getting to know others

Team building doesn’t have to take all day. While running dedicated team workshops like a team canvas workshop can have a profound effect on team dynamics, you can also run team building exercises in as little as 5-10 minutes.

In this section, we’ll share some effective yet quick team building activities you might use to warm-up your group and kick off the team building process. If you’re looking for quick team building activities to easily slot into your meetings and events, this is a great place to start!

Best and Worst

Purpose: Encouraging open sharing and deeper understanding among team members
Participants: 5–10
Activity length: 10–15 minutes

Team building activities are often at their most effective when you ignite the passions of everyone in a group and bring up talking points that enable people to share something of themselves with the team.

Best and Worst asks each participant to ask one question about the best and worst thing they want to learn from the group. For example, “What’s the best recipe you know?” or “What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?” After putting all the questions in a hat and choosing a random pair, invite the group to share their answers and related stories.

Group Order

Purpose: Facilitating networking and recognizing commonalities within the team
Participants: 5+
Activity length: 5–10 minutes

Supporting the get-to-know process at the start of a session or with a new team can be as simple as asking participants to group themselves together based on what they know about each other and inviting them to find out what they don’t.

This activity requires nothing more than getting your group together in a room and asking them to line themselves up in an order based on a criterion such as distance from home to the workplace, birth date in the calendar year or number of different countries visited. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to get people talking and sharing when in pursuit of a common goal.

Happiness Exercise

Purpose: Build positivity, team bonding, share appreciation
Participants: 4–30
Activity length: 10–20 minutes

Good teams know how to appreciate one another and share joyful, happy experiences. When a new team is getting to know each other, using an exercise that encourages the sharing of positive stories and experiences not only allows people to connect but also builds a positive atmosphere in the room.

You might also use this team building activity at work or with a more established team. If your team has been going through a challenging period, it can be transformational to share things that make everyone happy and defuse stress or tension as a team.

Name Juggling

Purpose: Enhancing name recall and energizing the group through interactive play
Participants: 5+
Activity length: 1–15 minutes

Working with new teams means having new names to learn. Team building starts with getting to know everyone, but how can we make this more fun and dynamic than simple introductions?

In this get to know you game, start by having everyone stand in a circle and introduce themselves by name. Introduce a ball and have people state someone’s name before throwing the ball to that person. That person thanks the person who passed the ball by name before then passing the ball on to someone else. Once people get comfortable, spice things up by introducing more balls and trying to keep them in the air!

Open Fist

Purpose: Building cohesion and improving group communication
Participants: 3+
Activity length: 5–10 minutes

Finding you have things in common with other team members is one of the cornerstones of effective teamwork and communication. While conversation games or other team building activities might ask for an in-depth approach, Open Fist helps teams bond with a simple, effective activity.

Sharing little known facts about ourselves can help teams be more cohesive and by limiting the number of shared facts to the amount of fingers on a hand, this quick team building activity can fit into an agenda with ease.

Cross the Circle

Purpose: Encourage sharing, building team connections
Participants: 10–25
Activity length: 5–10 minutes

Finding common ground and shared experiences across a diverse group is what team building is all about. In this playful team building activity, participants are encouraged to cross the circle in response to questions posed by a person in the middle.

For example, “Cross through the circle if you have worked here more than 5 years.” or “Cross through the circle if you can play an instrument.” After each stage, a new person gets to pose a question and your team gets to know one another and their commonalities in a simple, effective way.

Sync Claps

Purpose: Encourage presence and focus, energize the group
Participants: 10–40
Activity length: 5–10 minutes

This fast-paced exercise is fun but gently challenging game that helps create focus and presence in a group. Get started by getting your team into a circle and ask them to move a clap around the room quickly by having two members clap at the same time.

By asking your group to synchronize and move quickly, sync claps is a fun way to energize the room and help your group feel more connected.

Fun team building activities

In an increasingly stressful environment of deadlines and meetings, it’s worth remembering the value of joy, play and simply have fun as a team.

Injecting fun and laughter into your team building event is effective on many levels. We often recommend starting a session with one of these activities, as they can help set a more relaxed and personable tone in an instant.

We’ve also found that some of the more memorable moments of our sessions have come out of these kinds of activities. It’s lovely to have something funny to reference in future meetings too!

Bringing team members out of their shells and loosening them up with a funny game can also help prevent existing hierarchies or team structures from affecting the team building session. 

You can also use these funny team building activities to kick off your session, or when the energy levels drop and you need to get your team re-engaged for the team workshop ahead. Let’s take a look.

Bang

Purpose: Energizing the group, encouraging quick thinking and name recall.
Participants: 10–40
Activity length: 5–30 minutes

Having fun and energizing your team is a great way to kick off your team building event. Bang is a simple and effective game that encourages quick reactions and fun – perfect for both new and established teams to play together! 

Start by electing a sheriff and having the rest of the group stand in a circle around them. The sheriff spins around and points at one person in the circle and says “bang!” That person then crouches as quickly as possible. The two people on either side of the person crouching must quickly point at each other and shout the other’s name. Whoever does not react quickly enough is eliminated. Try using this one at the beginning of a team building event to really loosen up the group!

Build-a-Shake

Purpose: Lighten the mood, encourage creativity and collaboration
Participants: 4+
Activity length: 5–10 minutes

Creating a secret handshake was something many of us did as kids. This team building activity taps into that same sense of creativity and also encourages team members to get to know each other while sharing and building on their handshake in pairs. By moving between pairs and teaching others the steps of your handshake, this also helps create group closeness and cohesion. We love team building activities or office games that encourage people to bring a little of themselves to the table and Build-a-Shake is a great example of that!  

Count Up

Purpose: Enhances group focus and non-verbal communication
Participants: 10–40
Activity length: 5–30 minutes

Simple tasks that require team focus, cohesion, and awareness are great for any group working on team building. In Count Up, a team has to come together and count up to twenty with their eyes closed and without any other communication. People cannot say more than one number at a time, and if two people speak at the same time, the group must start over. 

Though it seems simple, this team building exercise can really demonstrate the power of effective teamwork and is a great opener for a team building workshop. 

Follow the Leader

Purpose: Encourages observation, build group cohesion, laughter!
Participants: 2+
Activity length: 5–20 minutes

When performing online team building, simple activities are often the best strategy in ensuring participation and removing frustration. Follow the Leader is a great team building energiser suitable for online and offline teams.

In virtual settings, put Zoom into gallery view and invite people to perform an action in the frame of their screen that other participants have to follow. Being a little silly is encouraged and this team building exercise often results in laughter and energy as a result! 

Portrait Gallery

Purpose: Team bonding, collaboration, communication and creativity
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 30–60 minutes

Creative team building activities are great for breaking the ice or energising a team via play. In Portrait Gallery, you and your team will collaboratively create portraits of everyone in the group and have a fun, electric set of portraits to display afterward.

Start by splitting your group into two teams. Team B will draw portraits of Team A, though every 10-15 seconds, they’ll pass their current drawing to the next person to continue. By the end of this team building game, you’ll have a set of eclectic portraits for everyone in the group and have broken the ice significantly too! 

Snowball

Purpose: Knowledge sharing and movement, energizing the group and encouraging playfulness
Participants: 8–50
Activity length: 20–40 minutes

Fun team building games are a great way to start any group development process, and they’re even better if they energize the team too! Snowball is a great activity for getting people out of their seats and moving around while also breaking the ice. 

Start by asking a question relevant to your group and ask each participant to write an answer on a piece of paper. Once that’s done, invite everyone to crumple their paper and come to the centre of the room to have a snowball fight! After a few minutes, ask everyone to keep a snowball and find the person who wrote the answer. Not only does this team building exercise invite energy into the room, but it encourages people to get to know each other too.

Celebrity Party

Purpose: Creative thinking and problem solving, levity and networking
Participants: 5–20
Activity length: 30–60 minutes

You’ve likely played the game where you stick the name of a random celebrity on your head while then asking questions to help you guess who it is. (Or at least seen a film where someone else does it!) It’s simple, but it absolutely works when you want to break the ice or just generate some laughter and conversation.

This classic team building game is a great way to warm up large groups, encouraging mingling and have fun too. Ask participants to be creative, keep it light and not to give hints and you have all the makings of an effective team building exercise.

Non-verbal improv

Purpose: Improve group communication skills, build connection with fun, memorable moments
Participants: 5+
Activity length: 10–20 minutes

Whether you’re working with remote teams or co-located groups, having fun when you get together should never be undervalued. We love simple games that are also ways to begin conversations about how we’d like to work together more effectively.

This improv game is easy to touch and is a great way to build team connections while raising some smiles. Start by preparing some actions on post-it notes, such as drinking a glass of water or eating pasta. Next, invite participants to mime the action without speaking. Include more difficult and amusing scenarios to challenge the group and create some funny opportunities for team connection!

Rock, Paper, Scissors (Tournament)

Purpose: Build excitement and camaraderie, break the ice in an active, engaging way
Participants: 4+
Activity length: 5–10 minutes

Encouraging team members to play and have fun is an often overlooked aspect of building better teams. Play is an inherently human activity, and by doing this as a team, we can start to see ourselves as more than just a group of people who work together.

In this version of Rock, Paper, Scissors, large groups pair off until only two players remain for a final showdown. We love that losing players become fans of the winners and cheer them on. This is a quick and easy team game that can build excitement and get the group ready for deeper team building activities to come!

The Viking

Purpose: Energize the team with physical movement and encourage playfulness
Participants: 10–40
Activity length: 5–30 minutes

Fun team building activities often ask the group to let go of their inhibitions and find space to be playful and silly. This game from Hyper Island encourages the group to perform some loud, exuberant moves to emulate our favourite historical raiders – the Vikings.

You might use this activity during a longer workshop or meeting to energize a group and create a memorable moment with your team. For bonus points, have a group photographer capture those moments and put them on a history wall for reflection later!

Wink Murder

Purpose: Create focus, sharpen observation skills and have fun
Participants: 6+
Activity length: 5–15 minutes

We love team building exercises that include space for friendly competition and laughter. Wink murder is a variation on a classic party game that asks every team member to try and catch the wink assassin, whose job it is to eliminate the other players by winking at them without being caught.

We especially like the fact this game makes team members to use creative thinking while playing. Run multiple rounds with extra rules such as adding an accomplice to spice things up and have even more fun!

Team building activities for small groups

Team work doesn’t always come naturally, and effective team collaboration needs attention, reflection and work in order to happen. It’s not enough to just assume your team members will be able to work together efficiently: all teams can benefit from a strategic and well-thought approach to how they communicate and collaborate.

Whether you’re having a team away day or using methods expressly designed to improve collaboration and communication in small groups, you’ll find inspiration in the activities here!

These team building games are helpful whether you’re trying to solve miscommunication or collaboration issues, or just want to strengthen your company culture or communication skills in small groups.

Conflict Responses

Purpose: Reflect on past conflicts as a team and develop effective conflict-handling guidelines
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

It’s important to remember that every team is made up of individuals and sometimes, conflicts or disagreements can arise. While its regular working practice to disagree, our responses to conflict and how we deal with them when they arise are in our control and can be improved.

In this exercise, reflect on previous conflicts as a team and collectively create a set of guidelines to use in the future. Resolving issues effectively is a massive part of team collaboration, and by including all team members in this process you can get more meaningful results too.

Heard, Seen, Respected

Purpose: Building empathy and team connections
Participants: 4+
Activity length: 35–45 minutes

Team empathy is a vital ingredient of good team work though whatever the size of your organization, it can sometimes be difficult to walk in the shoes of others and see things from other perspectives.

Heard, Seen, Respected is a team building activity designed to help participants practice deeper empathy for colleagues and build the kinds of bonds and working practices that can improve team collaboration. By inviting participants to notice patterns in the stories shared and find common takeaways, it’s a great way to get everyone involved on the same page and improve communication skills too.

Myers-Briggs Team Reflection

Purpose: Reflect on team dynamics, improve collaboration and mutual understanding.
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

One potential obstacle to effective team collaboration is when members of the group don’t fully understand one another. Team building activities for work that encourage participants to not only try and understand their colleagues but themselves can be especially helpful when helping a team be more cohesive.

In this activity, invite your group to first take a version of the Myers-Briggs personality test. Start by asking each team member to reflect on their own personality type before then moving towards small group discussion. 

When using this activity, it’s important to correctly frame the usage of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) framework: This can be a useful framework to understand different communication preferences between people, but team members should not be labeled or put into boxes based on their self-reported preferences. 

Strength Building exercise

Purpose: Celebrating team strengths, boost confidence and create a positive team environment.
Participants: 4+
Activity length: 15+ minutes

Exercises for team building come in many varieties. In this activity, the emphasis is on the team championing one another and increasing confidence, self esteem and mutual trust.

Start by asking team members to share an event where they accomplished something that made them feel good about themselves. The rest of the team chimes in to suggest two to three strengths they must have exhibited in order to achieve the accomplishment. Team collaboration often means helping others on the team achieve their best, and this activity helps the group uplift one another meaningfully and effectively.

Strength Envelopes

Purpose: Share positive feedback, enhancing group morale and mutual appreciation.
Participants: 5–40
Activity length: 40–60 minutes

All members of a team have unique strengths, capabilities and working preferences. When working as a group, you can improve engagement and group workflow by having each participant utilize their strengths and do work that interests them the most.

With this team building activity, ask participants to write their name on an envelope and invite other members of their team to spend a few minutes writing down strength statements for that person. Place these in the envelope and pass them along so at the end of the session, each person has a set full of strengths they can use as the basis for reflection. 

Team of Two

Purpose: Strengthen one-on-one working relationships, clarify expectations and preferred collaboration styles
Participants: 2+
Activity length: 20+ minutes

Whether you work in a small startup or a multinational organisation, the reality is that a large part of your working day will be spent working in pairs and interacting on a one-to-one basis. Whether in-person, over email or on video chat, finding ways to work together more effectively is vital for effective teams.

Try this team building exercise to help empower your groups toward more effective communication skills and have more meaningful interpersonal relationships at work. As a member of a remote team, I’ve found this method to be personally useful time and time again.

What I Need From You (WINFY)

Purpose: Improve collaboration and team communication
Participants: 10+
Activity length: 55–70 minutes

Some of the best team building activities focus on helping your group improve their teamwork skills and communicate and collaborate better as a team. A sometimes overlooked part of working as a team is clearly articulating what you need from other people and knowing how to ask for it.

What I Need From You is a team building method designed to help team members better articulate their core needs and be transparent with the group. This leads to a more cohesive team that works together with integrity and understanding.

Physical team building activities

Teams often come together to solve big problems as a group. Whether in the form of large projects or daily collaboration, improving this skill is something all teams should do – in or out of a conference room!

Improving team work and problem solving skills with a physical game that asks for communication, collaboration and creative thinking is a wonderful way to bring everyone together.

By engaging team members in this way, they not only have fun, but they learn how to work together more effectively and reflect on how they can take that learning back to their day work.

In this section, we’ll look at team building exercises you can use to encourage creative thinking, build problem solving skills and teamwork in an experiential, physical way!

Blind Square – Rope Game

Purpose: Building communication skills, trust and collaboration
Participants: 4–20
Activity length: 40–45 minutes

Nothing energizes a team workshop like a seemingly simple problem that also gets everyone moving and engaged. In this team problem solving game, start by tying a length of rope into a circle and invite the participants to plan how to make the rope into a perfect square while blindfolded.

After planning time, team members is blindfolded and has ten minutes to form a perfect square. By debriefing afterwards, your group will find communication, planning and attention to detail are all important aspects of creative problem solving – all while having fun too!

Crocodile River

Purpose: Team collaboration and problem-solving
Participants: 10–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

We love team building activities that challenge the group to work together in inventive ways and also help energize a workshop setting. Crocodile River is a team problem solving exercise that challenges team members to support one another physically as they look to move across a wide outdoor space and reach the finish line together.

By changing the setting and inviting problem solving and strategic thinking to solve a challenge, your group not only stretches their problem solving muscles but also works on team communication, leadership and cooperation. As with any more abstract team building game, be sure to debrief afterward for best results!

Egg Drop

Purpose: Encourage creativity and teamwork with gentle competition included too!
Participants: 5+
Activity length: 10–20 minutes

Classic team building games like Egg Drop offer tried and tested ways to encourage teams to solve problems together while improving the way they communicate. This game often generates a bunch of laughter and creative thinking too – how can we save this poor egg!

In this team problem solving activity, invite small groups to build a freestanding structure that can support the dropping of an egg from seven feet. Include some caveats and challenges to make it more difficult and encourage an even greater degree of team collaboration. Just make sure you bring a mop for afterwards!

Helium Stick

Purpose: Improving coordination and communication as teams work together to lower a lightweight stick to the ground.
Participants: 5+
Activity length: 5+ minutes

Bringing team members together with problem solving activities that also encourages play can perform multiple functions. Not only do you encourage teamwork and the building of various team skills but you can have fun and promote laughter too.

Helium Stick is an example of a simple team building game that does double duty by encouraging fun, physical activity while introducing and exploring some core team building concepts. Ask the group to lower a long pole to the ground while keeping all of their fingers in contact with the pole at all times – more difficult than it first appears!

Lego Challenge

Purpose: Improve team communication cooperation and explore the impact of assumptions on group dynamics
Participants: 10–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

Creating something is often the purpose of bringing your team members together. Tap into the engaging process of co-creation and collaboration with this team building game using LEGO.

Building on the concept of LEGO Serious Play, this exercise is a great way of encouraging play, out-of-the-box thinking and creative approaches to existing problems. Additionally, each team member has a secret assignment which increases the challenge and encourages finding inventive ways to cooperate effectively and achieve both personal and team goals. 

Marshmallow Challenge with Debriefing 

Purpose: Promote innovation and teamwork while exploring roles within the team.
Participants: 6–100
Activity length: 45–60 minutes

Real-life challenges are often time-sensitive and need to be considered thoughtfully and pragmatically. Team building activities for work are especially effective when they help create this same sense of urgency while encouraging team work.

In just eighteen minutes, groups must build the tallest free-standing structure out of materials including: spaghetti, tape, string, and one marshmallow, placing this last item on top. In this version of the team building game, there’s a debriefing section which encourages reflection on the roles of everyone in the team. 

Spider Web

Purpose: Build group trust and problem solving skills in a fun outdoor setting.
Participants: 6–20
Activity length: 15–30 minutes

Getting outside and doing fun, physical activity can be a great way to bond teams and mix up a normal working routine. In this team problem solving game, participants are asked to work to make holes in a grid of string and rope that can safely and effectively accommodate everyone in the group getting through at once. Team members are not allowed to touch the string or rope and with diverse groups, the difficulty this presents makes for an interesting problem solving challenge for teams to solve. 

Stress Balls

Purpose: Energize the group and explore the importance of good team communication experientially
Participants: 5+
Activity length: 10–15 minutes

At one point or another, most teams will be asked to perform effectively under pressure, whether that’s generated by internal or external stressors. By using team building games that help participants work together and communicate effectively even under difficult circumstances you can prepare your team members for almost anything!

Stress Balls is a fun game to help start exploring team resilience and problem solving under pressure, and it’s easy to run with large groups too! Start by simply passing a single ball around the room before adding more complex rules to help team members learn a valuable lesson about communication and teamwork!

Scavenger Hunt

Purpose: Encourage cooperation, problem solving and creative thinking in groups
Participants: 5–50
Activity length: 30–45 minutes

Activities that encourage groups to use teamwork and communication to achieve their goals are great ways to build team spirit. A classic scavenger hunt is a wonderful way to bring large groups together and have fun doing something a bit different!

Be sure to use office trivia, inside jokes or aspects of your company culture to inform this fun team building activity. You’ll find it much more effective if it’s tailored to your group. Bonus points if you can mix in activities that speak to the various departments or skillsets in the group during your scavenger hunt!

In the virtual-friendly version below, you’ll also find rules to help you run this activity with a remote team.

Team bonding activities

Mutual trust is a vital ingredient for any group of people working together, though it doesn’t always emerge organically. Taking the opportunity to build team bonds and create trust creates benefits for team connection, happiness and your company culture too!

While many of the fun team building activities above will bring your team together in some way, these methods are designed to expressly create better team bonds and build trust.

When working on improving team trust, we recommend being open about the goals of the exercise and encouraging the group to be honest. Being intentional during these activities can really help bring the group together!

Trust Battery

Purpose: Self-reflection, honest discussions and trust building
Participants: 4+
Activity length: 20–40 minutes

Great teamwork isn’t just about bringing a group of people together into the same space. Without honesty, openness, and trust, your team can’t collaborate effectively and can lead to frustration or frazzled relationships.

Trust Battery is a team building activity designed to help all members of your group reflect on their trust levels and rebuild those batteries with lower levels. By encouraging all members of a team to meaningfully reflect, you can enable better team collaboration and help your team feel closer and more cohesive too.

Telling Our Stories

Purpose: Encourage sharing of personal experiences, deepening connections and understanding within the group
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

Everyone has a story to tell, though without a framework or guiding principles, surfacing those stories in a way that makes everyone feel safe and head can be tricky – especially for new teams. Team building activities that combine self reflection, sharing and structure are great for helping people to get to know each other deeply and build better bonds.

In Telling Our Stories, invite participants to reflect on childhood, young adulthood and today while answering questions on colored post-it notes. By sharing from the full gamut of our experiences, your team can get to know one another meaningfully and create trust too. 

Better Connections

Purpose: Improve team cohesion and create space for meaningful conversations
Participants: 2–100
Activity length: 20–30 minutes

Great teamwork and collaboration is all about building stronger relationships and connections and this often means taking the time to see each other as more than just our job title. Once we get a fuller picture of who we are outside the office, everyone can feel more seen and understood. This is one of the cornerstones of team bonding and trust!

Encourage people who know each other the least to pair up and create space for meaningful reflection too – your team culture will thank you for it! It’s also a great way to improve communication skills and break down silos.

Feedback: Current Strongest Impression

Purpose: Build trust and openness by creating space for honest, open feedback
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

Giving and receiving feedback is a great team building activity that sees benefits long after your session. When we find ways to be more open with one another and say what we really think, the results can be transformative for any group.

This activity is a great one to bring to any event where you want to improve team bonding, as it creates a safe and simple way to start practicing more honest feedback. The next time you think about how to improve the way your team works together, think about whether you have a good feedback culture. The trust that good, open feedback can create is a fundamental part of any high performing team!

Trust

Purpose: Develop mutual trust and strengthen team bonds
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 40+ minutes

When a team doesn’t trust one another, the atmosphere and culture of a team suffers. Creating space to align and create a shared understanding of what trust means to your team is a great way to build team bonds and improve the way you all work together.

Start this activity by bringing together a set of trust cards containing characteristics, behaviours, attitudes, habits, values, and beliefs associated with trust in the workplace. Next, ask participants to create their own trust cards and move towards creating three core trust cards for your team.

By co-creating the output together, this team building activity is great for ensuring buy-in and creating long-lasting trust.

Translated Rant

Purpose: Improve active listening skills and promote understanding while also creating space for levity
Participants: 4+
Activity length: 10–30 minutes

Team building workshops are a great place to give your team room to have fun, vent and be honest with one another. Creating space for honesty while also building communication skills is the goal of this fun team building activity!

Split your group into pairs and have one person rant about a pet peeve for 60 seconds. Next, have the other person translate this rant while focusing on what the person really cares about. This kind of deep listening activity is fundamental to creating team trust, and sharing some of our annoyances in the group is great for building bonds too!

Team building activities for purpose and alignment

Even the best teams can have differences of opinion and approach. While different viewpoints and perspectives are useful in many situations, it’s also vital that everyone is aligned on team purpose and vision.

Aligning on how the team will work together is an important part of helping the team be happy, productive and pulling in the same direction.

In this section, we’ll look at team work activities to help improve team alignment and get everyone working towards the same purpose. Let’s get started!

Alignment & Autonomy

Purpose: Improve team alignment and encourage individual action and ownership
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

Activities that help improve each member of your team work more effectively and feel empowered to operate autonomously can be great for improving employee happiness and productivity. If we feel aligned on the core purpose and goals of our team while also being given the space to work in the way that is right for us, we can boost employee engagement and job satisfaction too! 

In Alignment & Autonomy, invite participants to reflect on times when they felt aligned and autonomous versus non-aligned and non-autonomous. By sharing, reflecting, and then ideating on solutions, your whole group can move forward together.

Engineering Your Team OS

Purpose: Reflect on group dynamics and improve collaborative processes
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

When seeking to improve teamwork, it can be useful to think of your team as a system with complex, interlocking parts which may need a gradual refresh and redesign. This kind of abstraction can help prevent discussions from becoming too personal or difficult and ensure that your team alignment efforts are a success.

In this activity, your team designs an ideal working system by making aspirational statements and then methodically chooses a single statement to work towards ahead of the next meeting. By making positive changes incrementally, your team can achieve alignment and better working practices in a meaningful and sustainable manner. 

Generative Relationships STAR

Purpose: Assess team dynamics and explore opportunities for improvement
Participants: 5+
Activity length: 20–25 minutes

Better working relationships start with shared reflection and the discovery and discussion of existing working patterns. This team alignment activity invites participants to assess their team along four vertices: Separateness, Tuning, Action and Reason and jointly shape next steps and future actions.

By including the whole team in the alignment process from start to finish, you can get meaningful buy-in and see real results! We love using this on an online whiteboard too. It can be a great way to help remote workers consider their inter-personal relationships!

Team Canvas Session

Purpose: Aligns team members on shared goals, roles, and values, enhancing team cohesion and clarity
Participants: 2–8
Activity length: 90–150 minutes

Team alignment isn’t always straightforward. The more large, complex or multi-discipline your team is, the trickier it can be to help the group mesh and understand their roles and responsibilities to the team and each other.

In Team Canvas Session, you and your team create a shared visual resource for understanding and articulating your goals, values and roles of your team. It can be used for general alignment, for onboarding new team members and even for defining the structure and purpose of a brand new team – simply recreate or download the team canvas and get started today!

Team Self Assessment

Purpose: Create an open dialogue on team dynamics and encourage a culture of continuous improvement
Participants: 2–10
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

All groups need to go through a period of reflection and self-assessment in order to grow. But without structure or a guiding framework, these discussions can become bogged down or unproductive. With this reflective team building activity, you can enable a thoughtful and thorough team self-assessment along six guiding dimensions.

Start with individual reflection before bringing everyone back together to debrief and see what you’re aligned on and what needs more work. By then narrowing these down to the most important elements, you can align and enable better co-working practices quickly and efficiently!

Letter from the Future

Purpose: Create momentum for future action, team visioning and strategic planning
Participants: 6–30
Activity length: 60–120 minutes

Without a cohesive shared vision, teams can become unproductive or harbor frustration on team direction. By spending time with visioning activities, you can help everyone push in the same direction while still utilizing their unique talents.

In Letter from the Future, invite your team to imagine all the changes that might impact them in the next 5 years and write a letter back from that point. Ask your team to cover what’s been accomplished in those five years, and what kind of challenges and obstacles were overcome to make this happen. Remember to remind teams that good letters have a beginning, middle, and end and that they should read clearly – this will help during the sharing and debriefing section of this method!

Team Purpose & Culture

Purpose: Guide teams in defining their core purpose and cultural values, creating alignment
Participants: 2–10
Activity length: 60–240 minutes

Defining your team’s purpose and culture is an integral part of team building. By clearly articulating why your team exists and how you will all work together to fulfill that purpose, you can align and bring focus to all the work you do. This team values and vision activity aims to create a shared visual resource that your team can refer to in the future.

It also uses wisdom from other successful organizations to help enable meaningful conversation and move from individual purpose statements to a single one for the whole team. If you’re looking for a complete process that can guide your team values and vision efforts, this method from Hyper Island is worth a try!

Checkout and recap activities for your team building workshop

The process of team building and enabling a group to work together more effectively can be involved and exhaustive.

As with any group process or workshop, taking the time to reflect, recap and check out can ensure the lasting impact of what was covered in the session.

You’ll often find that finding time to close team building activities creates space for further employee engagement and reflection. Getting team members involved in choosing the next activity or coming up with a theme for the next round of office trivia!

In this section, we’ll take a look at some great team building activities for closing a session and for recapping the main learning points. Let’s dive in!

Check-in / Check-out

Purpose: Allow team members to express their current state or reflections, creating presence and connection within the group.
Participants: 2–40
Activity length: 5–30 minutes

Ensuring everyone in a group is present, focused and committed to the work of a session is a vital ingredient in making a team building session a success. With this workshop method from Hyper Island, you can not only start and end your session the right way, but you can help everyone in your group be seen, heard and understood by the rest of the team.

This is especially useful with a remote team, where ensuring clear connection between team members who don’t share a physical office is especially important.

This activity also helps encourage reflection and brings the workshop to an effective close – be sure to give it a try!

Bus Trip

Purpose: Encourage team members to share positive feedback, promoting appreciation and strengthening team relationships.
Participants: 10–30
Activity length: 20–45 minutes

The trip back from a team building event is a great place to share feedback and appreciate one another. Don’t have a bus? No worries! Create a few rows of chairs and simulate the experience for this reflective closing activity.

Once you’ve gotten the chairs of the bus set-up, ask participants to speak the person next to them and share: what they like about the other person, what they appreciate and what about the other person makes them happy. Speak for just 45 seconds each and then ask the group to switch seats.

One Breath Feedback

Purpose: Close a team session with concision and focus, encouraging effective communication
Participants: 2–20
Activity length: 5–15 minutes

In particularly large teams, it can be tempting to forgo the closing activity or individual feedback steps just because it will take so long and it can be hard to maintain energy and interest.

One Breath Feedback solves this problem by giving each participant the space of a single breath to check out and reflect on the session. By ensuring that everyone has room to speak and be heard while also placing a time limit on the reflection, you can cap off a team building workshop effectively and intelligently.

What is the purpose of team building? 

The main purpose of any team-building activity is on improving some aspects of how a team works together while bringing everyone together in a shared experience.

This might include working on communication, collaboration, alignment, team values, motivation, and anything else that can enable a group to work together more effectively. It might also include resolving conflicts, sharing skills, or simply bringing your group together in a shared experience.

Broadly speaking, any team building effort should be designed to help bring team members closer or find ways to first define and then move towards your shared goals as a group.

As Forbes notes, team building is “most important investment you can make for your people.” On this point, it’s worth noting that team building doesn’t just happen during the activity and so being purposeful your choice of exercise is important.

The best team building activities hold space for building connections in a way that spills over into day-to-day work and creates lasting bonds. It’s not enough to throw your team into an escape room or scavenger hunt without first thinking about why or how this will benefit your team!

Team building workshop templates

Building better teams often starts with designing an effective group process. Whether this takes the form of a workshop or meeting, you’ll want a balance of activities, ice breakers and reflective methods in order to help your group align and grow together.    

In this next section, we’ll take a look at some example processes with a complete workshop template you can use to get started. Let’s take a look.

Team development day for a new team

Helping new teams to bond and find a shared purpose and value system is often best achieved with a well designed group process. Try the team development day template when working with a brand new team or one which has seen large growth and is in need of development.

Here, you’ll find a complete one-day group process full of team building activities that can take a group from getting to know each other all the way through to defining their needs and making commitments. 

Emotional Culture Workshop

Good teams are empathetic and in touch with their emotions. Using the emotional culture deck, this workshop can be run in under 3 hours and helps your team define and improve working relationships and the emotional culture of your team.

Taking the time to articulate and define these items ensures that everyone in your group is seen, understood and valued, and that you have a shared language for moving forward.

Team Dynamics Workshop

Cohesive teams that work well together are those with an understanding about what makes a team and how it functions.

Support your team building activities with this half-day workshop template and guide your group through a process of understanding and building on the dynamics of working together. 

Team building sessions made easy

Designing an effective team building workshop means creating a balanced agenda of activities and group discussions while also keeping everything on time.

With SessionLab, you drag, drop and reorder blocks to build your agenda in minutes.

Your session timing adjusts automatically as you make changes and when you’re done, you can share a beautiful printout with your colleagues and participants.

Explore how teams use SessionLab to collaboratively design effective workshops and meetings or watch this five minute video to see the planner in action!

Over to you

Enabling better teamwork and building stronger, more cohesive teams isn’t easy. Whether you’re running a team building day, team workshop, or simply adding some team building activities to your meetings, we hope that some of the methods above can help you and your group come together and do better work. 

Looking for a quick team building activity you can add to any session? Explore our collection of 5-minute team building activities for a set of quick and simple activities you can bring to any meeting.

Got a team workshop to plan? Check out our complete guide to workshop planning to make the process a breeze. Want to start creating your agenda quickly? Use a meeting or workshop template to save time designing or get inspiration.

Which of these team building activities is your favourite? Is there anything missing from the list above? Let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear about how we can all improve our team building efforts.

In this post, we’ll share a collection of tried and tested icebreakers you can use to engage and energize groups of any size.

Whether you just want to have fun, encourage team building or level-up your meetings and workshops, there’s an icebreaker here for you.

Icebreakers are short activities designed to get a group warmed up and engaged at the beginning of a workshop or meeting.

Typically, an icebreaker will aim to do one (or more) of these three things:

• get the group actively participating in the session, whether responding to questions, holding small group discussions or playing a fun game.
• help relax the group and encourage them to be present in the meeting, creating a safe stage for collaboration ahead.
• create the right atmosphere for the rest of the meeting, by either seeding the topic of the session, recalling prior learning or warming up creative muscles.

It’s well known that icebreakers have a mixed reputation. When door poorly, icebreakers can frustrate participants and set off a session on the wrong foot. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

The best team icebreakers can help build genuine connections, set the stage for a productive meeting and ensure participants are fully warmed up and ready to collaborate.

In this collection, you’ll find a curated collection of facilitator-tested icebreakers separated by category, so you can easily find the right activity for your use-case.

10 effective icebreaker questions 

Need a zero-prep icebreaker you can bring to your team? These ten icebreaker questions are some of our favourite tried-and-tested methods for kicking off a meeting and getting people warmed up in just a few minutes.

For best results, start by asking the question of the group, give them 30-60 seconds to think and then either ask for a volunteer or answer yourself to help the group get more comfortable.

For some groups, it can also be effective to break into pairs or small groups after asking your icebreaker question. This can put people at ease and give everyone chance to speak and be heard too.

1. Which of your mentors had the biggest effect on you growing up and why?
2. If you had $1000 to spend on an office party, what would you do? 
3. What’s a topic you could give a TED talk on without preparation?
4. What was your first job and what did you learn from it?
5. What’s been taking up the most space in your brain recently? 
6. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
7. What book are you reading right now? What TV show are you watching right now
8. What one word would you use to describe your mood today?
9. What are you most looking forward to? 
10. What band or artist will you always get you singing or dancing? 

See our collection of over 200 icebreaker questions for more easy to implement icebreakers ranging from funny to thought-provoking.

Icebreakers for meetings

Using an icebreaker at the start of a team meeting is a great way to encourage group members to be present and get things started on the right foot. Effective opening activities energize the group, helping them ‘arrive’ mentally and leave behind whatever task or thought they were previously working on.

They can also help clarify the objectives of the meeting and position the group for what’s coming next. While many of the icebreakers in this collection work well for any gathering, we’ve found these ones especially effective for meetings.

• What are you bringing to the meeting?
• Rock Paper Scissors Tournament
• Weather Check-in
• Have you ever? (Stand up if)
• 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique
• Conversation Questions
• Diversity Welcome
• Celebrate the wins in your team

What are you bringing to the meeting?

What are you bringing to the meeting is a simple framing icebreaker that can work wonders to help participants mentally arrive in a session and share how they’re feeling at the outset.

In this mindful icebreaker, ask people to take a few moments to “check-in” with themselves and write down their worries, energy levels, and whatever else is on their mind on a piece of paper. After everyone is done, ask them to put these worries and feelings to one side for the duration of the meeting. This process will help everyone articulate their feelings, let go of their worries and have better focus in the session.

Rock Paper Scissors Tournament

Rock Paper Scissors Tournament is fun a warm-up to help even the largest groups get swiftly energized. This game uses traditional Rock Paper Scissors rules but with a twist: the people who lose become fans who cheer for the players still in the game.

Start a Rock Paper Scissors Tournament by asking everyone in the room to get into pairs and play a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors. (Go best of 3 quick if you’re working with a small group or have extra time.) The loser will became a fan of the winner and cheer them on as you match winners to continue playing. Keep going until you have only two players remaining for a final round with everyone else cheering on!

Weather Check-in

When time is short, Weather Check-in is a fast and fun way of understanding group sentiment and giving space for everyone to share how they’re feeling.

Start the Weather Check-in icebreaker by asking each member of the group to share how they are feeling & what’s going on for them right now in the language of weather. For example, “I’m feeling like it’s mostly sunny skies with rain clouds looming” or “I feel like I’m in the eye of a tornado!”

I’ve found the Weather Check-in game especially useful when working with remote teams, for whom a metaphor can feel like a safe way to share in a group setting.

​Have you ever? (Stand up if)

Have you ever? (also known as Stand up if) is an effective icebreaker to help the group start to see connections and share something about themselves in a low-pressure way.

Start by asking a “Have you ever…?” question to the group. For example, “Have you ever gone horse riding?” or “Have you ever facilitated a workshop?” Participants will stand up if they can answer yes to the statement. You can then choose to either ask another prepared question as facilitator or invite one of those people who answered yes to come up with another question.

We recommend encouraging movement where possible, even in an online setting, though note that with some groups and environment you may wish them to answer without standing. A simple wave or affirmative “Whoop!” can also work depending on your team!

5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique

The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique is a mindful icebreaker that can allow groups to be more present in the session and leave stress behind.

To practice this technique, the facilitator starts by explaining the process of doing a roll call of everything that you’re seeing, touching, smelling, and hearing right at this moment. By asking participants to engage all their senses and take a breath, you can help bring them back to the present moment and rule over anxiety and stress.

Using the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique as an icebreaker presents an opportunity to center, but also to discuss well being and stress with your team in a simple and effective manner.

Conversation Questions

This collection of 25 conversation questions is a great starting point for helping a group get to know each other or open a meeting dynamically.

Small groups might wish to mingle and ask these conversation questions one on one, while you might invite larger groups to answer questions by raising their hand to answer. The great thing about these questions is that you can tailor them to your group and use as many as you have time for. Even adding a single question for folks to answer in chat at the start of a virtual meeting can have a profound effect on team cohesion over time.

See more in these full blog post of over 200 icebreaker questions.

Diversity Welcome

The Diversity Welcome icebreaker is a great way to create and kick off a session while promoting diversity and creating an inclusive environment for your participants. Start by naming a possible trait of someone who may be present and saying they are welcome. For example, “If you love dogs, you are welcome here! If you prefer cats, you are welcome here!”

Slowly move into deeper territory by naming traits and concepts that resonate with your audience. With established groups, invite participants to share their own welcome, focusing on helping everyone in the room feel safe and welcome.

Celebrate the wins in your team

Celebrate the wins in your team is a fast, easy icebreaker that will have everyone feeling good at the start of a meeting. Start by asking participants to think of a recent achievement, personal or professional, big or small. Then, go around a circle and ask each person to highlight the achievement that they’d like to celebrate with the team.

Ask everyone to share in the celebration, either with applause, kudos or chat emojis and then move onto the next person in the group. Celebrating wins as a team is a great mood boosting icebreaker. By lifting each other up, the energy in the room tends to build and people in the group tend to feel seen and values as a result.

5-minute icebreakers

When you have a tightly packed agenda, it’s useful to have some quick icebreakers you can use to warm up the group in a pinch. These activities are simple to explain, fast to run, and work great in large or small groups. They also can double as after-lunch energizers to encourage team members to engage in what’s next!

Here are some of our favorite games you can use to break the ice in a group in ten minutes or less! Prefer something that requires even less set-up? Check out our collection of icebreaker questions for a set of effective conversation starters.

• One Word at a Time
• Count Up
• Apple, Orange and Banana!
• Stress Balls
• Object Meditation
• Name Game
• Rain Icebreaker
• Line Up

One Word at a Time

One Word at a Time (or the One Word Method) is one of my favorite icebreakers – it’s simple, effective and can easily be tailored to any group. In this activity, groups must work together to create a sentence by contributing one word each while going round the circle. Start by giving a general topic or a guiding word to continue the sentence in a way that makes sense and is likely to result in a complete sentence.

For example, if you are running a training session on how to manage time, you might begin with the word “time” or “clocks.” The sentence that emerges will respond to that prompt and will help the group begin to turn their minds to the session at hand.

I’ve found this to be a fun and energizing icebreaker that works well with students and coworkers alike. Try speeding up or challenging the group to tell a story for added fun!

Count Up

Count Up is a deceptively simple yet engaging icebreaker that challenges teams to count sequentially from 1 to a set number—but with a catch. Participants must say the numbers one at a time, in random order, without speaking over each other or establishing a pattern. If two people speak at the same time, the group starts over.

This activity requires patience, awareness, and teamwork, making it a great way to build focus and connection in a fun, low-pressure way. It’s perfect for energizing a group while subtly reinforcing the importance of active listening and collaboration.

Apple, Orange and Banana!

Apple, Orange and Bannana is a great game that encourages the group to get synchronized and fully arrive in a space. It’s a favourite icebreaker to use when kicking off an after-lunch meeting where participants need a jolt of physical energy.

Start the Apple, Orange and Banana icebreaker by asking your group to stand in a circle with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front. Explain that when you shout either apple, orange or banana they must perform the associated action: moving forward, backward or spinning around. When the group is comfortable, mix it up by saying two or even three words in sequence!

Stress Balls

Stress Balls is a fast-paced icebreaker that helps highlight the importance of communication and teamwork while also encouraging lots of fun.

Begin this icebreaker by simply asking participants to stand in a circle and pass a ball to their left. Debrief and ask how the task went before asking participants to try again while moving the ball faster. Introduce further complexity until the game becomes a mess! While the result of Stress Balls is chaotic fun, it also offers a very teachable lesson about how teams can communicate in order to achieve great results.

Object Meditation

Object Meditation is a calming and mindful way to open a meeting and encourage everyone to be present.

First, have everyone choose an object that is close to them and invite them to close their eyes. Next, ask the group to notice how they feel and to consider any feelings that aren’t serving them right now. Invite them to transfer these feelings into the object they are holding for the duration of the meeting and then come back to the room.

Combined with a quick debrief, Object Meditation is a great way to gently break the ice with your group. Check out the full method below for a script you can follow too!

Name Game

Name Game is an effective icebreaker to use at the start of a course, workshop or meeting where people don’t know each other’s names.

Start the Name Game by having the group sit in a circle where they can see everyone else clearly. Pick someone at random to say their name out loud.. The next person continues, but after saying their own name, they repeat the first person’s name. This continues with each person repeating one more name. Reassure people towards the end that it’s ok if they get stuck & encourage the others to jump in to help if anyone is lost.

Rain icebreaker

The Rain icebreaker is a simple, zero-prep way to help everyone to be present and engaged at the start of your meeting. By getting everyone in the room participating in the same goal, this icebreaker can quickly help everyone “arrive” in the session.

Start the Rain icebreaker by having everyone in the front of the room rub their hands together vigorously. Row by row, get more people to join in until you reach the back of the room. Next, have the first row switch to clicking their fingers and proceed through the room in the same way. Go back and forth between clicking and rubbing in order to replicate the sound of rain and then invite the group to stop and enjoy a break in the shower.

Line Up

Line-Up is a quick icebreaker game where players have to form an orderly line without any discussion or verbal cues. Start by asking people to form a line based upon a predetermined criteria (like height, length of company tenure or color of each person’s eyes etc.). and ask the group to get themselves in order without speaking.

With a more familiar group, try adding more complication to the Line Up activity to encourage your team to think more deeply. For example, line up according to the distance to where you born. The Line Up icebreaker is an effective way to develop team collaboration and non-verbal communication. I especially enjoy using it when kicking of a training session with lots of talking later!

Fun icebreakers

The best icebreakers have the power to strengthen coworker bonds, stimulate better brainstorming sessions, and create an atmosphere of inclusivity.

Fun icebreakers like those listed below can also serve as a welcomed break from regular work activities that leaves teams feeling more connected and at ease.

For more fun and engaging ways to spend time together as a team, check out our post on workshop ideas you can run with your team.

• Portrait Gallery
• Celebrity Party
• Minefield
• Crazy Handshake
• The Movie Pitch Icebreaker
• Bang
• Sound Ball

Portrait Gallery

Portrait Gallery is a fun, creative icebreaker activity where each member of the group must create a quick portrait of another member.

Start by splitting the group into team A and team B, with each team facing the other. Let the group know that team A will be subjects while team B will be artists. Hand team B some drawing materials and then give them 15 seconds to begin drawing a portrait of the person in front of them. After 15 seconds, shout “rotate” and have each person on team B move one space to the left. The new artist then continues drawing the portrait of the new person in front of them.

The outcome of Portrait Gallery is a wonderfully varied (and probably quite mess!y) set of images that can be put up in the meeting room once you’re done!

​What is my name (celebrity party)

What is my name is a well known icebreaker that begins wit everyone receiving the name of a well-known celebrity or public figure which they must attach to their back or forehead without looking.

Have players mingle and ask each other yes/no questions to find out who they are. For best results, have players ask only one question of one person before moving onto the next one, ensuring people mix and spread the good fun around!

Minefield

The Minefield icebreaker is a fun physical game that can help build trust and more effective group communication. Start Minefield by setting up harmless obstacles on the floor of the meeting room you’re in. Use things like squeaky toys, bubble wrap, books, cushions and other soft objects you don’t mind getting stepped. Everyone in the group then takes turns to move through the course while blindfolded, guided by their teammates.

Minefield often results in lots of laughter but also lots of teachable moments in relation to clear communication and listening skills. Once the last person has made it through the minefield follow with a debrief and ask the group to consider what they’ve learned from the game.

Crazy Handshake

The Crazy Handshake icebreaker is a lighthearted and memorable game where pairs must create a new, fun handshake before teaching that handshake to other people.

Start by having pairs introduce themselves and creating a handshake. After a minute or so, split the pair up and have them partner with someone else. The newly formed pair then teaches each other the original handshakes and together creates a new one. Repeat a third time and ask the group to share each of their previous handshakes before creating a final handshake and bringing everyone back together. Close by asking volunteers to share all the handshakes they’ve learned and to reflect on the process.

The Movie Pitch Icebreaker

The Movie Pitch Icebreaker is a fun, fast-paced activity where small groups create and pitch an original movie idea based on a random or chosen theme. Teams come up with a title, a brief plot, and even cast imaginary actors, then present their pitch to the group as if selling it to a studio.

The Movie Pitch icebreaker sparks creativity, encourages teamwork, and adds a dose of humor, especially if you ask teams to create a movie based on the topic of the session or even the subject of meetings!

Bang!

Bang is a fast-paced icebreaker where you have to have quick reactions or you’ll be eliminated. Start by having everyone stand in a circle with one person in the middle as the ‘sheriff’. They must surprise other players by pointing to them. These people must quickly crouch and those on either side of them have to quickly ‘draw’ their weapons. If you are too slow, you switch places & become the sheriff.

Bang is a wonderful way to increase group energy before starting a meeting in earnest. If you’re working with an especially large group, note that it’s better to play in parallel before finishing with a final showdown!

Sound Ball

Sound Ball is simple icebreaker activity that energizes participants while also highlighting the power of spontaneity and teamwork. Start by asking your participants to stand in a circle and throw an imaginary ball to each other with increasing pace. When throwing the first ball, the person starting should make a special sound that has to be repeated by the catcher upon receiving the ball.

Once the ball is being thrown around at a fairly brisk pace, you can introduce another imaginary ball and start throwing it. When the group gets proficient at it, you can have three or four balls in play, often going in different directions. The result is often silly, but it has some teachable moments too.

Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty is a simple, zero-prep way to kick-off a meeting with smiles and laughter. In this fun icebreaker, separate your group into teams of kittens and puppies. Puppies must try to make the kittens laugh or crack a smile by simply saying, “Hello Kitty” in an amusing manner. Any kittens who smile or laugh join the puppies until their is only one kitten left standing!

Hello Kitty is at its most effective when you encourage the group to be creative and try varied and original ways of making others smile and laugh. Be sure to give kudos to the funniest participants or those who manage to keep a straight face!

Virtual icebreakers

Virtual icebreakers are short games that are especially effective in an online environment such as Zoom. While most of the icebreakers in this collection can be easily adapted to run with a virtual team, the activities below are those we’ve found work especially well in this format. They’re easy to run, teach and scale well too.

For more remote-friendly icebreakers, check out our complete collection of icebreakers for virtual meetings.

• Take a Picture of Your Shoes
• Chat Waterfall
• Emoji Check-In
• Remote Change 3 Things

Take a Picture of Your Shoes

Take a Picture of Your Shoes is a quirky and low-pressure way to spark connection among virtual teammates. Everyone takes a photo of the shoes they’re currently wearing (or not wearing!) and shares it with the group. Once the photos are shared, either by screen share, chat, or uploading to a whiteboard, participants can explain their choice or share a related story.

Take a Picture of Your Shoes invites an opportunity for humor into online meetings while offering a light glimpse into each other’s lives. You’ll be surprised at the kind of stories that can come out, and I particularly like the grounding and humanizing effect this remote icebreaker can have.

Chat Waterfall

Chat Waterfall is a high-energy virtual icebreaker that gets everyone participating at once. The facilitator poses a question like “What’s your favorite snack?” or “What’s one word to describe your week?” and asks everyone to type their answer in the chat but not to hit send yet. After a moment, the group sends their answers all at once, creating a “waterfall” of responses.

It’s a fun and visually engaging way to get everyone involved instantly, especially in larger groups. Chat Waterfall adds a burst of energy to virtual meetings and creates a shared moment of surprise and laughter.

Emoji Check-In

Emoji Check-In is a quick and playful way to start a virtual meeting by encouraging participants to share how they’re feeling—using only emojis. Everyone posts their chosen emoji(s) in the Zoom chat or uses reaction buttons to express their current mood, energy level, or mindset.

This icebreaker creates space for emotional expression without putting anyone on the spot. It’s fast, lighthearted, and adds a bit of fun to check-ins. It’s especially useful for easing into more serious discussions with remote teams.

Remote Change 3 Things

Remote Change 3 Things is a playful and engaging virtual icebreaker that tests how observant your teammates really are. One participant turns off their camera and secretly changes three small things about their appearance or background: think switching glasses, removing a hat, or moving a plant. When they return on camera, the rest of the group guesses what’s different.

This activity sparks laughter and encourages attention to detail while breaking up the routine of virtual meetings. It’s especially effective as a warm-up for creative sessions or as a quick way to reconnect and re-energize a remote team.

Icebreakers to get to know each other

Whenever you bring a group of people together for a meeting, project, or event, it’s helpful to get to know each other at the outset. This can help establish trust and set the stage for further connection and collaborative work.

They can also help the facilitator or leader of the session to get familiar with everyone, get a read on the energy in the room and discover what may need to be adjusted in their workshop agenda.

• Two truths and One Lie
• Diversity Bingo
• Unique and Shared
• Jenga Questions
• Quotes
• Speed Dating Icebreaker
• Break the ice with the help of your key
• Whose Story is it?
• Find Your Pair
• Show and Tell

​Two Truths and One Lie

Two Truths and One Lie is a classic icebreaker game that can still be effective in the hands of a skilled facilitator.

The best way to start is with a demonstration from the person leading the session. The facilitator will share three statements about themselves: two of which are true, and one which is a lie. Next, participants try to guess which is the lie by asking questions and then finally voting on which statement is false.

After the demo, we recommend breaking people into small groups of 3-4 people to play this icebreaker. This allows everyone to have a voice and to actually form connections, rather than simply shouting over one another or falling into a passive role.

Diversity Bingo

Diversity Bingo is a great icebreaker that helps participants to learn about one another and share what differentiates them as people along the way.

First, create a 3×3 bingo card containing a grid of squares with a statement or question in each square. Example statements include: speaks more than one language, has lived in multiple countries or has ran a marathon. Once every player has received a bingo card, they mingle and find other participants who can say yes to one of these statements.

For best results, include statements that likely to resonate with your team or the workshop topic alongside personal statements. When everyone has reached bingo or you’re almost out of time, ask everyone to can share something they’ve learned and which squares were easy or hard to fill.

Unique and Shared

Unique and Shared is a powerful icebreaker to use with breakout groups, especially at the start of a longer project or training program. Start by creating groups of 4-5 people, and ask them to discover what they have in common, along with interesting characteristics that are unique to each person in the group.

The Unique and Shared icebreaker promotes unity as it helps people to realize that they have more common ground with their peers than expected and celebrate those things as a group. It also creates space for folks to share unique qualities in a safe container. This activity also works great with remote teams in breakout rooms – in such cases, have each group report back to help bring the whole team back into coherence.

​Jenga questions

Jenga Questions is a fresh spin on a classic game that can help spark meaningful conversations and encourage a little friendly competition. Start by collecting a set of numbered questions and adding a number or sticker to the blocks in a Jenga set.

When a participant selects a block, they read the question out loud & answer before placing the piece on the top of the tower. This can ignite exciting conversations about like favorite downtime activities or go-to-karaoke song to more in-depth stuff, like career and self-development goals.

Traditional games with a unique spin can often generate curiosity and engagement in a groups setting. Jenga Questions can also be adapted to training and team building environments with ease, so its useful to have a set in your toolkit.

Quotes

Quotes is a fast-paced icebreaker activity allows participants to get acquainted with while exploring something inspiring.

Prepare a set of inspirational quotes prior to the session equal to the number of participants on individual slips of paper. Put the pile in the center of the room. Each participant picks up one quote, then picks a partner and begins to discuss what the quote says to them, if it is meaningful, and how.

After just minute or so, give a signal for participants to switch partner and continue their discussions. This can continue for 4-5 rounds for around 15 minutes. Choose quotes that relate to your meeting topic or company culture for an icebreaker that sets the stage for the session ahead.

Speed Dating Icebreaker

The goal of the Speed Dating icebreaker is to have a succession of very rapid conversations in an extremely short amount of time with as many people as possible.

Have people sit in pairs, ideally with colleagues that they don’t directly work with on a day-to-day basis. Determine the time limit (say 3 minutes for each conversation) and set a timer. When it starts, each pair has to start speed networking & find out as much professional information about the other as possible.

While it’s natural for group members to want to spend time with people they know, encouraging your team to mix is an important step to improving team cohesion.

Break the ice with the help of your key

Break the ice with the help of your key is an icebreaker that aims to create memorable moments and group connection with the aid of a physical object.

Start by explaining to the group that they will get to know each other through their keys. One by one, each person will present all the keys they have on their keychain and tell a few sentences about the area the key represents. This might include the city or neighbourhood they live in, the activity it represents (bike or locker key) or the person they received it from.

Be sure to start the circle yourself so the participants get the feeling of how it should be done. Bonus points if you can demonstrate openness and vulnerability for your group to follow!

Whose story is it?

Start the Whose Story is it icebreaker game by writing your funniest or weirdest story on a small piece of paper. It has to be a true one, no fiction! Then fold the paper up and drop it into a bowl or other container.

The facilitator or the person leading the program randomly reads every story and group members guess who the writer is. This is a great way to get to know each other and find out new things, even if you’ve worked together for a long time.

​Find your pair

Prepare word pairs, like salt and pepper, milk and honey, sail and wind, etc on separate pieces of paper. Tape one to each person’s back. People then have to walk around and ask closed questions (with a yes or no answer) to find out what their phrase is. Once they find out, they have to find their pair & by continuing to ask questions (these can be open or closed) they have to learn 3 new things about the other.

​Show and Tell

Show and Tell is a wonderful opportunity for teams to share personal objects with the group and use the power of metaphors to connect deeply with others. Start by asking employees to bring an artifact for Show and Tell that, from their perspective, is representative of the topic at hand or which represents what they bring to the group. 

During the session, ask each person to present their object in turn and explain why they chose it and what it means to them. Ask the rest of the team to pay close attention and listen for similarities, dif­ferences, and emotional descriptions. After everyone has shared, invite the group to reflect on what everyone has shared and celebrate to close the Show and Tell effectively.

Team icebreakers for deeper connections

Icebreaker games are not only useful at the beginning of meetings or getting to know new people. They are also a great way to support team building, by creating a positive atmosphere, helping people relax and break down barriers.

Team icebreakers such as those below are great for enhancing team bonding and empowering everyone in the group to move forward together. They can be particularly effective at a team retreat or dedicated group gathering. Let’s take a look!

See more in this post on the best team building activities.

• Coat of Arms
• Break the Ice with The Four Quadrants Activity
• Team Jigsaw Puzzle Game
• Back to Back Drawing
• Scavenger Hunt
• Electric Fence Icebreaker
• Trading Card Icebreaker
• Low Tech Social Networking

Coat of Arms

This Coat of Arms icebreaker is a great way for players to introduce themselves to others and share deeply with others in a visual and creative way.

Start by letting participants know they’ll be creating a personal coat of arms with five sections ranging from what you do at work, all the way through to a core personal value. The group then spends 10 minutes drawing their coat of arms before pairing up with the person in the group they know the least. In pairs, participants then present the coat of arms of the other person, helping everyone in the room learn about each other more deeply.

This is a longer, more involved icebreaker, but it’s a great way to open a training program or deeper team building session.

Break the Ice with The Four Quadrants Activity

The Four Quadrants Activity is a creative team icebreaker where participants share four things about themselves in a series of simple drawings. It’s a highly adaptable exercise that can help folks get to know each other as a team.

Begin by asking people draw up a 2×2 grid on a piece of paper (or virtual whiteboard) and ask them four questions. Participants will then draw their answer in each of those four quadrants. Sample questions include things like: what do I bring to the group? What do I need from the group? What is your hobby? What is your vision for this group?

Afterwards, ask participants to present their drawings and discuss their creations and watch the group connections flow!

Team Jigsaw Puzzle Game

The Team Jigsaw Puzzle is a great way to get larger teams working together collaboratively while breaking the ice. Start by separating 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 jigsaw sets beforehand! things up. This means that each group must figure out how to ask other teams to share the pieces they need and work collaboratively on their goals. When working with groups of people who may typically work in silos, the Team Jigsaw Puzzle is an effective way to shake things up and start conversations that might not happen otherwise.

Back to Back Drawing

Back to Back Drawing is a great game for developing communication skills in a fun and memorable way.

Start by asking pairs to sit back to back. One person receives a picture of an existing image or scene. Next, they describe the image to the other person using only verbal directions. The other person then has to draw the object with the instructions they’ve been given and see how it compares to the original.

Back to Back Drawing can be easily adapted to encourage fun – using complex or well-known images – or you can also choose to focus on a specific topic by sharing images related to your team or product.

Scavenger Hunt

The Scavenger Hunt icebreaker is a great opportunity to mix people into teams who don’t typically work together and bring them together in a shared goal.

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. For best results, create a mix of easy and difficult to find items and use a time limit to encourage the group to think critically and collaboratively

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.

Electric Fence Icebreaker

The Electric Fence icebreaker is an energizing icebreaker that requires players to collectively build and cross an imaginary electric fence with a few key objects. The group has to try and cross over the fence without getting “electrocuted” but here’s the catch – all team members must be touching at least one another teammate at all times.

You can use a variety of objects to represent your fence, though you’ll always need to have a string or rope that can be tied between two “fence posts”: chairs are a great choice for your fence posts! Try bringing the Electric Fence icebreaker activity to team building events where you want to encourage quick thinking, problem-solving and negotiation skills.

​Trading Card Icebreaker

The Trading Card Icebreaker is an effective way to creatively break the ice and let your team share their personalities with the group.

Start by handing out materials and giving each person 5–10 minutes to create a personal “trading card”— including a quick self-portrait, a nickname for their “player,” and one thing about themselves that people in the room aren’t likely to know.

The Trading Card activity lets people self-define and share their personality outside of their day-to-day work. This approach means people get to connect more meaningfully and authentically while also creating cards that serve as mementos of the session.

Low Tech Social Networking

Low-tech Social Network is one of our favourite icebreakers to use when working with large, multi-discipline groups where connections might not be immediately obvious.

The objective of Low-tech Social Network is to introduce event participants to each other by co-creating a large visual network of their connections. Begin by having all participants create an avatar on a piece of card with a self portrait and name.

Once their avatar is ready, each person will “upload” themselves by sticking their card to the wall. Finally, each participants will find the people they know and draw lines to make the connections known, labelling how they know that person too.

Icebreakers for small groups

While many of the icebreakers above can be adapted for any group size, these activities are especially effective when working with groups of less than 15 people.

These icebreakers are great for using the smaller group size to create opportunities for team bonding and deeper sharing between team members. You’ll find them particularly useful when creating working groups, during training sessions or when building cohesion between teams who collaborate regularly.

• Interview icebreaker
• Magic Box
• Paper Telephone
• Human knot
• Your Amazing Future (Because of that…)
• Life map
• LEGO Metaphors

Interview icebreaker

The Interview Icebreaker is a playful way to get team members talking at the start of a session while also introducing the topic of the workshop or meeting.

Start by getting people into pairs. One person begins by being a reporter and then other will be the interviewee. For three minutes, the reporter will interview the other person on a chosen subject and attempt to get as much information as they can before switching roles. Encourage the group to really get into their roles and provide some example questions to guide the group toward the topic of the day.

Magic Box

The Magic Box icebreaker encourages players to think creatively and share with the group in response to an object they pull from a box.

Start Magic Box by assembling a box of interesting and varied objects. Having objects of different sizes and texts is best, though even a collection of photos will do. Next, invite participants to choose an object without overthinking it and then explain who they are, why they chose the object and what they think the connection between the object and the workshop is.

Paper Telephone

Paper Telephone is a fun icebreaker that encourages creativity and laughter by combining two classic games: telephone and pictionary. Start by handing out a stack of small papers and pens, and invite each team member to write a sentence on the first piece of paper. Players then pass their stack to the next person who must read the sentence and then create a visual representation of that sentence on the next piece of paper in the stack.

Play proceeds around the circle, with players needing to transform back and forth between words and images. Often, by the time you get your original stack back, the sentence has gone on a weird and wonderful transformation!

Human Knot

Human Knot is a fun, physical icebreaker that is best played in groups of 7-16 people. It’s a great way to break the ice while also creating energy and a sense of fun.

Start Human Knot getting the group to stand in a circle and ask them to close their eyes. Next, everyone reaches out and links one hand with someone across the circle. Then they link the other hand with another person in the circle. Then, ask everyone to open their eyes and try to untangle the knot they’ve made without breaking the chain!

When running Human Knot with small groups, it can often be interesting to ask folks to reflect on what happened and how it illustrates core group dynamics or how they work together more generally.

Your Amazing Future (Because of that…)

Your Amazing Future is a powerful icebreaker for helping people think about setting goals, connect to the future and get energized.

Start by pairing up members of your group and designating one as the speaker and the other as the listener. Next, each person imagines it’s one week from now and the speaker tells the listener what happened during the current session, saying what they got from it and what made it so great.

After 45 seconds, groups then imagine its 10 years in the future and the speaker shares what they’ve done in that time. Have the listener respond by enthusiastically saying “And because of that” in response to what the speaker says. After a completed round, swap roles and go again so that everyone has the chance to think about future.

Life Map

Life Map is a reflective icebreaker that helps create connections and deepen group understanding in a way that can be both creative and surprising. Begin by inviting team members to draw their life as a map, using common symbols and signs you might find on a map. Stop signs, deer crossings, mountainous areas…the choice of how to illustrate your life story is yours!

After everyone has completed their life map, give them 5-minutes to share with the rest of the group. Using Life Map as a small group icebreaker allows people to be vulnerable in a safe, approachable and creative way.

LEGO Metaphors

LEGO Metaphors is a playful icebreaker that can provide an opportunity for creative thinking and deep sharing in a group. Start by giving each participant a set of LEGO bricks (identical sets to everyone – a few items, around 5-10 bricks per person will suffice). Everyone builds something that relates to the topic of the meeting or to a framing question such as “How would you like to work together today?”

Afterwards, everyone gets 30 seconds to explain what their LEGO metaphor means and how it relates to the framing question. Where possible, encourage folks to tell small stories with their designs and collect the LEGO metaphors together for later discussion or reflection.

Icebreakers for large groups

Breaking the ice in a big group can feel a little awkward at first, but the right activities can turn a room full of strangers into a lively, connected team in no time. Large group icebreakers are a great way to get people talking, boost participation, and create a positive, energetic vibe for your meeting, workshop, or event.

These activities are designed to be inclusive, fast-paced, and interactive—ensuring that everyone feels involved and ready to collaborate. Whether you’re kicking off a corporate gathering or a team retreat, these icebreakers will help build rapport and bring energy to the room.

• Group Map
• Get to know you better
• Passions Tic Tac Toe
• Lifeboat Debate
• Near and Far
• Just the Facts

Group Map

Group Map is fun, active icebreaker that gets people moving while also learning a little about one another. It’s especially effective when working with new groups who come from different regions or locations.

Start by asking the group to imagine the space they’re in as a map of the world. Next, participants place themselves on the map on the spot they best feels represents the country according to where they grew up.

With large groups, you might ask folks to simply shout where they’re from and rearrange as needed. In smaller groups or with more time, it can be gratifying for folks to share a value they learned while in that place, and why that is important for them.

Get to know you better

Get to know you better is an effective large group icebreaker that helps avoid awkward silences and encourages networking in a genuinely helpful way.

At the beginning of your session, give each person a badge with the following three statements:

1. My name is..
2. I can answer a question about…
3. I have a question about…

Next, have people walk around & mingle while discussing what’s on their badges. It’s a great way to enhance engagement & help people set goals and hold themselves accountable during the session.

Passions Tic Tac Toe

The goal of the Passions Tic Tac Toe icebreaker is to help the participants to get to know each other at the beginning of an event or to help identify their values during the later part of a training session.

Create a 3 x 3 grid for each participant and have them fill in each block with a different personal passion randomly. After the individual work, have everyone walk around the room and compare notes. When they find the same passion listed in both grids, ask them to sign for each other in the appropriate square. The winner is the participant who manages to have other people’s signatures on three lines (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal). You can continue the game to have as many winners as you like.

Lifeboat Debate

Lifeboat Debate is a high-energy icebreaker that challenges participants to think critically, communicate persuasively, and make collective decisions under pressure.

Start by breaking participants into smaller groups and then give them the scenario: a lifeboat is sinking, and only a limited number of people can stay on board. Each participant takes on the role of a different character—such as a doctor, artist, scientist, or athlete—and must argue why they should be saved. The group then debates and decides who stays and who must leave the lifeboat.

Lifeboat Debate often sparks lively discussions while encouraging teamwork, quick thinking, and strategic reasoning. It’s a great way to get a large group engaged right away, prompting both fun and meaningful conversations.

Near and Far

Near and Far is a simple yet meaningful icebreaker that helps teams discover shared experiences and unique backgrounds. Participants take turns sharing something they have in common with the group (“Near”) and something that makes them different (“Far”). For example, one person might say, “Near: I love coffee. Far: I’ve lived in five different countries.”

This activity encourages open conversation, strengthens connections, and highlights the diversity within a team. It’s a great way to break down barriers in large groups while fostering curiosity and mutual understanding.

Just the facts

Just the facts is an engaging icebreaker that encourages participants to quickly recall and share factual information on a specific topic. Begin by selecting a relevant subject—such as “Effective Presentation Techniques” for a training session or trivia about your city for a casual gathering. Seated in a circle, participants take turns stating a fact related to the chosen topic, aiming to keep the flow rapid and avoid repetitions.

If someone introduces an opinion, repeats a fact, or states something questionable, others can challenge by saying, “Just the facts!”

Just the facts not only energizes the group but also reinforces knowledge on the subject matter, sharpens quick-thinking abilities, and sets a collaborative tone for the session ahead.

Icebreaker games to improve teamwork

In this section, we’ve collected icebreaker activities that are expressly collaborative in nature and which encourage puzzle solving and team work in an experiential way. They’re great to throw into an event or workshop when you want to get people interacting and build team bonds by stealth.

If you’re looking for some shorter activities that help improve teamwork and collaboration, check out our post on 5-minute team building activities.

• Marshmallow Challenge with Debriefing
• Egg Drop
• Helium Stick
• Blind Square Rope Game
• The Desert Island
• Strength Building Exercise
• Ultimate Tic Tac Toe

The Marshmallow Challenge

The Marshmallow Challenge, teams must build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. To complete the marshmallow challenge, the marshmallow needs to remain on top without falling off!

The Marshmallow Challenge was first developed by Tom Wujec and had been run thousands of times all over the world. It’s an engaging group activity that gets people working together in a practical and memorable way very quickly.

Egg drop

In Egg drop, teams must work together to build a structure that will support a free-falling egg dropped from a predetermined height (e.g. 7 feet) without the egg breaking.

Start by handing out material, including everything from straws and popsicle sticks to masking tape and cotton balls. Next, give each group 10 minutes to build a structure that will keep the egg safe before it’s fall. Have a round of (safely) dropping the eggs and invite the team to discuss their takeaways from working together on this short group project.

Helium Stick

Helium Stick is a seemingly simple game that requires the team to work together while aiming to lower a stick to the ground while staying synchronized.

First, line up people in two rows facing each other. Introduce the Helium Stick and ask participants to hold their index fingers out. Lay the stick on their fingers & before letting go, have everyone adjust their position so the stick is horizontal and everyone is touching it. The goal is to lower the stick to the ground in a way that no one lets go of it at any time.

Pinching, grabbing, or holding on properly to the Stick is not allowed. If the group makes a mistake, they start from the beginning. Helium Stick is a fun problem solving icebreaker that we’d recommend for any team building workshop!

Blind square – The perfect square

The Blind Square Rope Game is a hands-on activity that challenges teams to rely on strong communication and collaboration. Participants are tasked with forming a perfect square using a looped rope—while blindfolded or with their eyes closed. Since no one can see the shape, the team must depend on verbal instructions, active listening, and strategic coordination to succeed.

This exercise highlights the importance of clear communication, trust, and leadership within a team. It’s especially effective for breaking down communication barriers and encouraging participants to work together under challenging conditions.

Desert Island

The Desert Island activity is a classic team-building exercise that puts problem-solving and negotiation skills to the test. Participants imagine they’re stranded on a desert island and must choose a limited number of items (from a provided list) to survive. The twist? They have to make these decisions as a group, which requires discussion, persuasion, and compromise.

Desert Island can often spark lively debates as team members prioritize needs, defend their choices, and learn to find common ground. It’s a fun way to explore different perspectives, practice critical thinking, and improve group decision-making under pressure.

Strength-Building Exercise

The Strength-Building Exercise is a powerful icebreaker that encourages team members to recognize and celebrate each other’s strengths. Participants take turns sharing positive qualities or skills they’ve observed in their colleagues, highlighting specific examples to make the feedback meaningful.

This activity fosters a culture of appreciation, boosts team morale, and helps individuals feel valued for their contributions. It’s a simple yet powerful way to strengthen team dynamics and build confidence.

Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe

Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe takes the classic game to a whole new level with added complexity and strategy. Instead of one grid, there’s a larger 3×3 grid made up of nine smaller tic-tac-toe boards. Players must win individual boards to claim spots on the larger grid, with each move influencing where the next player can go.

This activity requires strategic planning, adaptability, and teamwork when played in groups. It’s perfect for energizing a team, sharpening problem-solving skills, and encouraging friendly competition.

Tips for running effective icebreakers

So you’ve selected an icebreaker game from the list above or checked out our list of icebreaker questions. How do you avoid frustrating or patronizing participants and ensure it feels like a good use of time? Here are some tips for running and selecting the right icebreaker.

• Let people know why you’re running the icebreaker
• Have the current player select the next
• Clearly explain the rules and timeframe
• Set an example and go first
• Choose an appropriate icebreaker for your session length and goal

Let people know why you’re running the icebreaker

Adult learners work best when they know why they’re doing something, especially if it’s not implicitly clear. Even a simple statement such as “Let’s do a quick ice reaker to leave behind this morning’s work and reset before focusing on the topic of this meeting” can help your group buy-in to the session.

This is even easier if you’re running an icebreaker that connects explicitly to the topic of the session, for example, if you’re asking people to share what they know about giving feedback, you can state that this will help you ensure the feedback training is tailored to your groups needs.

Have the current player select the next

This is a simple facilitation tip that I’ve found effective when ensuring icebreakers are quick and effective. In many icebreakers, its quite common for people to each contribute to a game or question one-by-one.

Rather than having people look to you as facilitator and create unnecessary downtime, trying having each person end their “turn” by selecting who goes next. This helps keeps things moving and actively gets people talking to each other too! This tip is especially effective when running a virtual meeting where keep things moving can help ensure the meeting stays on track.

Clearly explain the rules and timeframe

Clearly setting expectations for the icebreaker can help ensure it runs smoothly. Tell the group what you are going to do and give them a sense of how long it should take so that folks can tailor their responses accordingly.

Ensuring everyone understands the rules at the outset can also ensure that the icebreakers runs without interruption and that folks can focus on the activity at hand, rather than worrying about whether you’ll get to important agenda items.

Set an example and go first

Giving people a practical example of how to respond to an icebreaker can help everyone feel at ease and ensure group understanding. As a leader, demonstrating vulnerability and openness can also encourage others to do the same, leading to a more positive and fun atmosphere. As facilitator, try going first or giving an appropriate example to help kick things off effectively.

Choose an appropriate icebreaker for your session length and goal

If your meeting is just an hour long, spending half of it in on an icebreaker is not an effective use of time. Use short icebreakers in such settings and opt for longer ones when running longer workshops, all-day events or training programs.

The best icebreakers also tend to relate to the goal of the session. For example, if you’re running an ideation workshop, using icebreakers that encourage creative thinking will help get folks in the right mindset.

From icebreaker to completed agenda

Now you’ve discovered the perfect icebreaker, it’s time to create the rest of your workshop or meeting!

With SessionLab, you drag, drop and reorder blocks to create your agenda in a snap. Your session timing adjusts automatically as you make changes and when you’re done, you can share a beautiful printout with your colleagues and participants.

Explore how facilitators use SessionLab to build effective workshops and meetings or watch this five minute video to get started!

Now over to you!

Your meetings and workshops don’t have to be ineffective or unengaging. We hope you have found some useful tips for practical and fun icebreakers you can use in your next session!

What are your favorite icebreaker activities? Have you tried any of the methods above? How did you find them? Let us know about your experiences in the comments.

Want to see even more great icebreaker ideas? Our collection of icebreaker questions contains heaps of conversation starters you can bring to your next session.

If you’re running online meetings, these effective virtual icebreakers are a great place to find your next opening activity.

Want to go further and explore how to design engaging workshops? Check out our guide to planning an effective workshop to start building more effective sessions with better outcomes!

A well-placed reflection exercise can help a group start a meeting with intention, process insights mid-session, and close with a sense of clarity and purpose. Whether you’re facilitating a brainstorming session, a team retrospective, or a strategic planning discussion, reflection activities create space for deeper thinking, alignment, and engagement.

This post explores a range of simple yet powerful meeting reflection activities, from quick check-ins to structured debriefs. No matter your team size or format—virtual, hybrid, or in-person—you’ll find reflection techniques that encourage thoughtful participation and help your team get the most out of every meeting.

What are meeting reflections?

Typically, a meeting reflection is a simple question that participants reflect on in silence before then sharing their answer with the group.

Meeting reflections are intentional moments of pause and inquiry that help participants ground in the moment and then share something with the group.

Some team meeting reflections go further, by incorporating physical action or visual elements designed to improve engagement or accomplish a specific purpose such as making a decision or sharing levels of aggreement.

Meeting reflections are most often used at three points during a meeting:

• to open a meeting and help people share how they are feeling, check existing knowledge on the subject of meeting or align on expectations for the session.
• to close a meeting by asking participants about lessons learned, celebrating wins or to reflect on steps they’ll take after the meeting.
• during a meeting to gauge energy levels, check alignment and understanding or make a decision.

These moments of reflection can take different forms depending on the meeting’s purpose and structure. Typically, you’ll ask participants to reflect on something that relates to the topic of the meeting or which allows them to reflect on how they’re feeling and allow them to be more present and engaged in the session.

Whether it’s a quick one-word check-in, a structured debrief, or an open-ended discussion, reflection activities support engagement, enhance group dynamics, and make meetings more purposeful.

In the sections below, you’ll find a combination of simple meeting reflections and more involved reflection activities too. Let’s explore.

Why are meeting reflections important?

Without any moments of reflection, meetings can feel like a blur of conversations and decisions, leaving participants unsure of what really mattered or what comes next.

Reflection activities help counteract this by slowing things down just enough for clarity, alignment, and connection to emerge.

Here’s why they matter:

• They help ground everyone in the meeting. A good meeting reflection is an invitation to put aside what came before or will come after the meeting and be present in the moment. I often use a meeting reflection at the outset as a means to help participants truly land in the session and prepare to contribute.
• They help facilitators tailor their approach and service the needs of the group. A good meeting reflection will give the facilitator insights that will allow them to tailor the agenda to the needs to the group. Participants low on energy? Maybe you move up that energizer. Already have a positive atmosphere in the room, perhaps you can use that to your advantage.
• They set the stage for productive discussions. A good meeting reflection creates a framework for effective discussions. Participants are given a question and then asked to reflect deeply before then sharing in a structured manner. Practicing this skill ensures team members
• They strengthen learning and retention. Pausing to process discussions helps teams internalize key ideas and apply them effectively. Whether used during or at the close of a meeting, a reflection can help ensure lessons learned during the session are retained.
• They create alignment and shared understanding. Reflecting together reduces the risk of miscommunication and ensures everyone is on the same page. It also gives the group an opportunity to address misunderstandings and discuss any sticking points. In this way, a good reflection helps team members with overcoming challenges too!
• They improve decision-making. By allowing space for deeper thinking, reflections help teams make more thoughtful, considered choices. They often provide space to understand the “why” of a decision or opinion, thus informing the process.
• They support team connection and can help build personal relationships. Inviting people to share thoughts, feelings, or feedback fosters a sense of inclusion and psychological safety. Reflecting on a topic together can also help build these kinds of team bonds that carry through to the next meeting.

Incorporating reflection doesn’t have to take up much time, but it can significantly enhance the quality of a meeting. Whether used to open, close, or punctuate discussions, reflection activities help transform meetings from routine obligations into meaningful and productive conversations.

Simple meeting reflections

In this post, you’ll find a collection of reflective meeting activities you can use to open, close or reflect during the meeting. These are facilitator tested, proven activities that you can follow to great effect.

But what if you’re looking for the absolute simplest way to get your meeting participants to reflect? Sometimes, a single good question is all you need.

For best results, it’s worth considering the group you’re working with and the flow of the rest of the meeting. For example, if you’re running a project kickoff, it can be helpful to prime people for goal-oriented work by asking them what they would like to get from this meeting.

On the other hand, if you’re running a general team meeting, asking people to share how they’re feeling may be the best shout for ensuring the meeting is a success.

These are my personal favourite meeting reflection questions that are as simple to use as just asking the group to respond to the question.

Simple reflections to start a meeting:

1. Could you describe how you’re feeling today in just one word?
2. What do you need in order to participate fully in this meeting?
3. What do you want to leave this meeting with?
4. What are your hopes for this meeting?
5. At the end of this meeting, how will we know it was a success?
6. How do we fail this meeting? (Obviously then ensure you think about how to avoid that from happening with the group!)

Simple reflections to close a meeting:

1. How do you feel at this point in the meeting?
2. What’s something that hasn’t been said yet but is important?
3. What’s something we should remember as we move forward?
4. Do you need anything to help you contribute to this meeting?
5. How are your energy levels?
6. Are we ready to move on or is there something more to be said?

Simple reflections to use during a meeting:

1. How do you feel as we bring this meeting to a close?
2. What was the biggest lesson you learned during this meeting?
3. What is your main takeaway from this meeting?
4. What are you going to do after this meeting?
5. What feedback do you have for this meeting?
6. What do you want more of and less of in the next meeting?

Reflection activities for opening a meeting

Kicking off a meeting with reflection activities can set a thoughtful tone and encourage participants to engage more deeply with the topics at hand. These opening exercises provide a valuable opportunity for team members to pause, consider their thoughts and experiences, and share insights that can enrich the meeting’s discussions.

These are some of our favourite workplace meeting reflections that give team members an opportunity to check-in and reflect at the start of a meeting.

Check-in / Check-out

The Check-in / Check-out method provides a simple, effective framework for bookending sessions, ensuring participant engagement from start to finish. This technique creates a symbolic and collaborative opening or closing process, inviting every team member to be present, seen, and heard.

To implement Check-in / Check-out, gather the group in a circle, either standing or sitting. For a check-in, each person shares something representing their current state – a feeling, a reflection from yesterday, or a response to a playful prompt like “What animal represents your mood today?”

During check-out, participants might share a key takeaway or their feelings as the session ends. Go around the circle, allowing each person to speak once, uninterrupted.

Check-in / Check-out sets the stage for focused and committed group work. As a closing activity, it offers a crucial moment of reflection and symbolic closure often missed in busy work environments.

I EXPECT

The “I EXPECT” method offers an effective way to uncover and align participant expectations at the start of a workshop or training session. By creating a visual map of collective expectations, this technique helps set the tone for the session and allows facilitators to address any misalignments early on.

To implement “I EXPECT,” divide a flipchart into four quadrants labeled: “The Training,” “The Trainer,” “From Yourself,” and “Other Participants.” Invite participants to share their expectations for each category, either verbally in a group discussion or by writing on sticky notes and posting them in the relevant quadrants.

The “I EXPECT” method encourages participants to reflect on their own role in the learning process, and creates a sense of shared responsibility for the workshop’s success. It also helps the trainer to ensure expectations or additional needs are surfaced and met.

Who are you? The pirate ship exercise

The “Who are you? The pirate ship exercise” uses a vivid metaphor to help participants reflect on their roles, attitudes, and feelings about a topic, project, or within the organization. This activity creates a safe space for people to express themselves metaphorically, often revealing insights that might not surface in regular conversation.

To conduct the pirate ship exercise, show participants an image of a pirate ship with various characters in different positions and situations. Ask each person to choose which character best represents how they feel in relation to the topic at hand. Participants then share their choice and briefly explain why.

For groups who may find sharing personal reflections hard, I find the pirate ship offers an easy way for them to express their perspectives and contribute in a fun yet still useful manner.

The Feeling Wheel

The Feeling Wheel exercise, based on Robert Plutchik’s Feeling Wheel, helps participants identify and articulate their emotions at the start of the meeting and create shared understanding in a group.

Start The Feeling Wheel by setting a safe, reflective tone, emphasizing that all emotions are valid and important. Participants examine the Feeling Wheel, using a sticker or post-it to mark the emotion that best describes their current state. If comfortable, each person shares their chosen emotion, exploring why they feel that way and considering related feelings on the wheel.

The Feeling Wheel exercise offers versatility in application. It can explore hypothetical scenarios (“How might we feel when…?”) or serve as part of a daily emotional check-in. Starting meetings with this exercise can help surface and reduce underlying tension and build empathy within teams. Knowing where people are at helps us understand their behaviour and by checking in with our feelings, we can be more self aware and in control too.

Paired walk

The Paired walk activity transforms team dynamics by inviting participants to step outside, pair up, and engage in meaningful conversation while walking together. This technique creates a relaxed atmosphere, free from the distractions of devices or meeting rooms, often leading to more open and honest conversations.

To conduct a Paired walk, participants pair up, ideally with someone they don’t know well. The facilitator allocates a specific amount of time (usually 15-20 minutes) for the walk and talk, suggesting a topic for discussion such as personal experiences, team challenges, or ideas related to the session’s theme.

Paired walks offer versatility in application, serving as an energizer, a trust-building exercise, or a precursor to addressing challenging topics. Often, the change in scenery and action of walking can help shake things loose and help folks reflect in ways that might not be able to in a regular meeting room.

Yoga icebreaker and reflection

Incorporating movement and mindfulness into meetings can rejuvenate participants and enhance focus. The Yoga Icebreaker and Reflection activity combines gentle yoga stretches with reflective prompts, creating a refreshing start to any session.

Begin by guiding the group through simple breathing exercises to center attention. Progress to easy stretches, such as neck rolls and shoulder shrugs, which can be performed seated or standing.

As the group moves through each pose, introduce a reflective question related to the meeting’s theme or simply ask the group to set an intention for the rest of the day, encouraging participants to ponder silently. This blend of physical movement and introspection not only relaxes the body but also primes the mind for engaged and thoughtful participation.

Object Meditation

Object Meditation is a mindfulness exercise designed to help participants become present and aware and move past any distractions at the start of a meeting or workshop.

Start the Object Meditation by asking participants to select a small object from their immediate surroundings—such as a pen, mug, or book—and hold it in their hands. Guided by the facilitator, they close their eyes (or soften their gaze) and take a moment to check in with their thoughts and emotional feelings, observing these without judgment.

Attention is then directed to the chosen object, noting its texture, weight, and other sensory details. Participants are encouraged to visualize transferring any unhelpful thoughts or feelings into the object, allowing them to release what doesn’t serve them in the present moment.

I particularly enjoy Object Meditation in a virtual environment: inviting team members to show the object to the camera can help bring the group closer, despite the presence of the screen.

Reflection activities for closing a meeting

As your meeting draws to a close, it’s essential to wrap things up in a way that reinforces key takeaways and sets the stage for future action. This is where reflection activities come in – they provide a structured, engaging way to consolidate learning, gather feedback, and ensure everyone leaves on the same page.

In my experience, closing meetings in this way has a compounding effect too. Participants get used to thinking about what they’ve learned and what next steps will be at the close of a session and they bring this practice to future meetings too.

One Breath Feedback

One Breath Feedback solves the problem of closing reflections running over by keeping contributions short, sharp, and to the point. Participants take turns sharing their feedback in a single breath—usually around 20-25 seconds.

The process is simple: sit in a circle (or small groups), explain the rules— participants share their feedback or closing reflections in the space of a single breath—then go around the group and share. The time limit forces participants to be concise and intentional, while the quick-fire nature keeps energy high and engagement strong. It’s a great way to wrap up a session on a high note, ensuring everyone’s voice is heard without dragging things out or losing momentum.

Thankfulness Tree

The Thankfulness Tree is a powerful way to close a session with positivity and meaningful reflection. Start by create an image or shape of a tree on a wall or whiteboard. Instruct participants to trace around their hand on a sheet of paper and cut it out, then write down something they’re grateful for or a key insight from the session on a paper leaf and attach it to the tree.

As the tree fills up, it becomes a visual representation of shared learning and appreciation. This method not only encourages personal reflection but also creates a visual representation of the session’s impact. (Remember to take photos!) Thankfulness Tree works well for both in-person and virtual settings, where participants can submit their responses digitally to form a collaborative Miro board.

I Used to Think… But Now I Think…

I Used to Think… But Now I Think… is a highly effective reflection framework that helps participants reflect on how their understanding has evolved during a session.

Participants simply complete the sentence:

• “I used to think…” (a belief or assumption they held before the session)
• “But now I think…” (how their perspective has changed)

Give team members are few minutes to reflect silently before sharing with the group, either collecting the responses on a flip chart or sharing in a circle.

I Used to Think… But Now I Think… highlights the power of learning and transformation by making growth tangible. Sharing reflections in small groups or as a whole can spark insightful discussions and reinforce key takeaways. For facilitators, it also provides valuable feedback on the session’s impact.

Letter to Myself

Letter to Myself helps participants turn insights into action by writing an inspiring letter of key takeaways to their future selves.

At the end of a session, participants reflect on what they’ve learned and how they want to apply it in the future. They then write a letter detailing their goals, commitments, or words of encouragement to their future selves. Facilitators can mail the letters later or participants can set a digital reminder to revisit them.

Letter to Myself creates a tangible link between learning and future action, ensuring that insights aren’t just inspiring in the moment, but actually lead to real-world change. If your group gets into a habit, these letters can also form the backbone of continuous improvement too!

Start, Stop, Continue

“Start, Stop, Continue” is a straightforward and effective method for teams to reflect on current practices and identify actionable steps for improvement.

In this activity, participants individually consider a specific situation, process, or behavior and brainstorm on post-it notes under three headings:

• Start: New initiatives or behaviors that could enhance performance or outcomes.
• Stop: Current practices that are hindering progress or are no longer beneficial.
• Continue: Existing actions that are effective and should be maintained.

After individual reflection, participants share their insights with the group by sticking their post-its on a shared whiteboard. After some clustering and discussion, the group may then choose to vote on actions to take. Start, Stop, Continue is incredibly flexible: I’ve used it with groups and for solo reflection too. It can be used as both an opening activity to set intentions or a closing exercise to identify areas of learning and plan future actions.

Next steps (after this meeting I will..)

Next steps is a simple but effective meeting reflection activity that encourages participants to share the actions they’ll take following the meeting. Here’s the rub: one of those actions is work focused, while the other is something nice they’ll do for themselves.

Start this activity by getting the group into a circle. Next, raise your right hand and say “After this meeting I will…” completing the sentence with an action step you’ll take after the meeting. Then, raise your left and say “but before that I will…” and complete the sentence with something you’ll do for yourself, such as taking a break or making a nice drink. Finish by giving a high-five to the person next to you, who will continue the activity.

Next steps is a fast, easy-to-run reflection exercise that invites participants to reflect on what they need to do as individuals, as well as which action items to tackle next.

Meeting reflection activities for during a meeting

In this section, we’ll explore some deeper reflective activities that are primarily used at the mid-point of a meeting to help a group reflect and explore a subject more deeply.

A notable exception being the Quick Reviews activity, which is a great method for getting a temperature check at any point during a meeting.

These activities are great to use when you want to explore a problem space and find moments for thoughtful reflection on bigger topics as a group. These can provide some inspiration for how you might approach deeper reflection and provide an effective framework for that reflection.

W³ – What, So What, Now What?

The W³ – What, So What, Now What? method is a powerful tool for aligning perspectives and moving teams forward. This structured reflection process helps groups make sense of complex experiences together, reducing misunderstandings that can derail progress.

Participants begin by focusing on What happened, collecting objective observations. Next, they explore So What those observations mean, identifying patterns and drawing conclusions. Finally, they determine Now What actions logically follow. This progression ensures all voices are heard while distilling insights and shaping new directions.

What, So What, Now What? is a great method to use when managing conflict or trying to unstick groups that have become blocked on a tough problem. If you’re facilitating a group/topic that has the potential to become heated or messy, this is a wonderful framework for moving from reflection to productive action.

Team Self-Assessment

Team Self-Assessment is a structured process for groups to evaluate their shared habits, dynamics and ways of working. This method encourages open, honest reflection on six key dimensions of team performance, uncovering both strengths and growth areas.

The process begins with individual reflection on each dimension, with team members completing statements like “As a team, we…” The group then shares and clusters insights, creating a collective map of team perceptions. Through dot voting and discussion, priority areas for celebration or improvement are identified.

Team Self-Assessment makes implicit team dynamics explicit, creating a safe space for constructive dialogue. Newly formed groups can use this method to start strong, while established teams can leverage it to elevate their performance. The final output of the assessment is a collaborative document of decisions made and team best practices which the group will refer to in the future.

Gap Analysis

Gap Analysis is a simple reflection exercise that helps groups visualize the distance between their current reality and future goals. This method makes it easier to identify and tackle obstacles, bridging the divide between present circumstances and desired outcomes.

To conduct a Gap Analysis, the group first describes their desired future state on one flipchart. They then capture their present situation on another. With these two points clearly defined, participants brainstorm the gaps between them. This visual approach clarifies necessary changes and sparks creative problem-solving.

Gap Analysis transforms vague aspirations into actionable plans by breaking down the journey from present to future into manageable steps. The method is particularly effective for project planning, strategic visioning, or any situation requiring a shift from “what is” to “what could be.”

Quick Reviews in 2 minutes

Quick Reviews in 2 minutes is a collection of short, engaging meeting reflections that help capture group sentiment without disrupting session flow. These micro-reflection techniques help participants process learning and reconnect with the group in a time-efficient manner.

The method includes five lightning-fast techniques such as telling a brief story about the last activity, visualizing magic moments with a short meditation, or giving rapid-fire positive feedback. Each approach takes just 2 minutes, allowing facilitators to quickly gauge participants’ experiences or boost energy levels.

Quick Reviews in 2 minutes is particularly useful when wrapping up workshop segments, transitioning between activities, or when you want to clarify where the group is at before potentially changing things up. Quick Reviews shine in situations where time is limited but reflection and sharing remain crucial.

The 5 Whys

The 5 Whys technique is a deceptively simple method for uncovering the root cause of problems. Originally developed by Toyota, this approach helps teams peel back layers of an issue to reveal its core.

To implement The 5 Whys, start by clearly stating the problem. Then, ask “Why?” five times in succession, using each answer as the basis for the next question. This process of continual questioning pushes participants beyond surface-level explanations, often revealing surprising root causes.

The 5 Whys can be applied to a wide range of issues, from technical problems to interpersonal conflicts and personal development. By encouraging deeper reflection and moving beyond our kneejerk thoughts, The 5 Whys is an easy to get groups to deepen their understanding.

In some cases, it can be helpful to provide some direction or examples for continued reflection. If participants get stuck, invite them to think of the reason behind their first answer or give an example. In my experience, if people get stuck or think they’re done on first try, it can also be helpful to ask them to think of “Why is this important?” on both an organizational and personal level.

The Blind Side

The Blind Side is a reflective activity designed to help teams identify and address unknown factors that may impact their success.

In this exercise, a facilitator prepares a visual with four quadrants labeled: “Know/Know,” “Know/Don’t Know,” “Don’t Know/Know,” and “Don’t Know/Don’t Know.” Participants collaboratively populate each section with relevant information, starting with what they are aware they know and progressing to areas where they are unaware of their lack of knowledge.

This structured approach encourages open dialogue, highlights hidden assumptions, and can help create a culture of continuous learning and inter-team sharing.

By the end of the session, the team gains a comprehensive understanding of their knowledge landscape, identifying both strengths and gaps. This awareness is crucial for anticipating challenges, leveraging untapped resources, and enhancing overall team performance.

Final thoughts on meeting reflections

Meetings shouldn’t feel like a whirlwind of unstructured discussions that leave participants frazzled or uncertain about the next steps.

By integrating reflection activities, you create opportunities for deeper engagement, shared learning, and meaningful takeaways. Whether it’s a quick check-in to set the tone, a mid-meeting pause for alignment, or a closing exercise to capture insights, these meeting reflections help ensure that gatherings are not just productive, but also valuable experiences for everyone involved.

The best part? Reflection doesn’t have to take up much time—it just needs to be intentional. By choosing the right activity for your team and context, you can help the group be present, hold more productive discussions and encourage more meaningful engagement too.

So the next time you plan a meeting, ask yourself: How can a moment of reflection help us get more out of this conversation? Chances are, the answer will lead to more thoughtful discussions and improved collaboration.

More resources:

• See this collection of tried-and-tested meeting agenda templates to help improve the structure and outcomes of your future meetings.
• Reflective activities are a great foundation for workshops and training sessions too. See our guide on how to plan a workshop or our step-by-step process for creating a training session for tips on how to incorporate them into a learning flow.
• Looking for a simple meeting icebreaker for your next online meeting? See our collection of icebreakers for virtual meetings to instantly engage your remote team.
  

From quick physical icebreakers to student discussion starters, this list of activities will help you create a classroom where students feel welcome, encouraged, and ready to participate.

Why use icebreakers in the classroom?

The first moments of any lesson, lecture or workshop can have a profound effect on how people participate later. In my experience working with kids in a creative writing workshop, the way I began the lesson and the activities I started with could either get students excited and engaged or conversely, create resistance I would spend the rest of the session having to work with.

Icebreakers like those we’ve collected here are a great way to help students mentally arrive in the lesson and get ready to learn. Student icebreaker games are an example of turning passive classrooms into a space for active learning which, as noted by Engageli, can improve participation and even test scores.

As a facilitator, I’ve also found these activities effective for getting a read on the energy in a room and tailoring my material or approach based on how people are feeling. Whether you’re using icebreakers that explicitly ask students to check-in or simply get folks talking, these can provide a wealth of information you can use when it comes to delivering the rest of your lesson.

In ongoing programs, these kinds of activities also have a positive effect on class dynamics. For example, fun icebreakers can help students let loose and make new friends at the beginning of a learning program and build bonds that will help them in class.

It’s worth noting that this works for people of all ages – connections with our peers is important to our sense of wellbeing and ability to engage, whether we’re talking about kids, middle school students or adult learners. Take the time to build those connections early and people will be well positioned to learn effectively.

If you’re curious to learn more, check out our guide on the role of facilitation in teaching.

Best icebreakers for students

You’ll find the icebreaker games below sorted into various sub-categories so you can find the right one based on your needs. Whether you just want fun icebreakers to get all the students in your class energized or you’re looking for something more thoughtful that will help you with classroom management, you’ll find something you can add to your next lesson with ease.

I’ve included a section of activities that work especially well with older students, though it’s my belief that almost any activity can work with classes of any age if they are tailored to the group and delivered thoughtfully by the teacher or facilitator.

For example, many of the icebreakers here provide opportunities to reflect that might be great for middle school students or college classes but you may wish to sidestep when working with younger learners. As with many elements of pedagogy, your own judgement and approach are as important as the methodology being used. Use the activities here as a guide, and let me know how you get on in the comments!

Physical icebreakers for students

Physical icebreakers are an excellent way to energize students, promote interaction, and create a positive learning environment. These activities are particularly useful at the beginning of a new school year, when introducing new students to a group, or before starting a collaborative project with the entire class.

By engaging students in light physical activities, you can help them feel more comfortable with their peers, reduce anxiety, and increase their willingness to participate in class discussions too.

Line-Up

Best for: Promoting non-verbal communication and teamwork, energizing groups
Time: 5-30 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: 10-40

Line-Up is a simple yet powerful activity that challenges participants to organize themselves in a line according to specific criteria – all without speaking a word. This exercise is a fantastic way to break the ice with a large group and get participants to engage with other students in a fun and approachable way.

The facilitator gives the group a task, such as lining up by height from tallest to shortest. The catch is that participants must complete this task without uttering a sound. Participants use gestures, facial expressions, and creative problem-solving to achieve their goal. As they master the basics, the facilitator can increase the challenge with more complex criteria like eye color, date of birth, or even distance from birthplace.

Simpler versions of Line-Up work well to warm up a new group or younger students, while more challenging variations push older students out of their comfort zones. For an extra twist, blindfolding participants takes the activity to a whole new level, requiring even more trust and teamwork.

Build-a-Shake

Best for: Building group closeness, fostering creativity, and introducing participants in a fun way
Time: 5-10 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: 4+

Build-a-Shake is a dynamic, fun activity that gets participants collaborating to create unique handshakes. Start by having two students pair up and create a two-step handshake. They practice it, then find new partners among the other students in the class and teach each other their handshakes. This process repeats, with participants continually meeting new people and expanding their handshakes. By the end, each pair has a six-step handshake to perform for the entire group.

Build-a-Shake not only helps participants get to know each other but also promotes teamwork, creativity, and non-verbal communication. As participants collaborate to create and remember increasingly complex handshakes, they naturally build rapport and break down social barriers. The final performances and voting for the most creative handshake add a touch of friendly competition and celebration to the experience.

Sound Ball

Best for: Energizing groups, increasing spontaneity and teamwork
Time: 10-30 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: 5-50

Sound Ball is an easy, energizing activity that gets participants moving, thinking on their feet, and working together in a playful way. The exercise teaches valuable lessons about teamwork and spontaneity while serving as a fun, energizing icebreaker.

Students stand in a circle and throw imaginary balls to each other, making unique sounds as they do. The first student to catch the ball must repeat the sound before making a new one and throwing the ball to someone else. As the game progresses, multiple imaginary balls are introduced, increasing the challenge and energy level.

By engaging participants in a fun, physical challenge that also exercises their creativity and listening skills, Sound Ball creates a positive atmosphere that carries through to subsequent activities.

Near and Far

Best for: Building connections, discussing group dynamics, energizing groups
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: 10-50

Near and Far is a playful activity that demonstrates how individual choices impact the whole system. It’s perfect for warming up a classroom, sparking discussions about how we relate to one another, and exploring network-building in a fun, physical way.

Students stand in a large circle and secretly choose two people – one to stay close to (their “near” person) and one to stay away from (their “far” person). When the activity starts, everyone moves around trying to stay near their chosen person while keeping away from their “far” person. The result is a constantly shifting, chaotic dance as people react to others’ movements.

Near and Far naturally creates interesting patterns and dynamics, providing rich material for discussion. With younger students, it can be useful to frame the activity as a game so that folks don’t take it personally if other students pick them to be the “far” person. In any case, be sure to debrief this game to explore themes like assumptions about others, and how small changes can have big impacts in complex systems.

The Group Map

Best for: Getting to know participants, exploring diversity, building connections
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: Large open space
Participants: 5-15

The Group Map is a dynamic icebreaker that gets participants moving, sharing, and connecting through their geographical backgrounds. The activity helps groups discover shared experiences and unique perspectives, making it perfect for kicking off sessions with diverse groups, whether they’re from different regions within a country or from around the world.

Facilitators create an imaginary map in the room, designating North and other key directions. Students walk around the room and position themselves on this “map” based on where they grew up. Once everyone has found their spot, participants share a value or characteristic they gained from their hometown, along with a brief explanation of why it’s important to them.

The Group Map adapts for different contexts by changing the geographical scope (e.g., town, country, continent, or world) or the reflection question. It’s a great way to help participants get to know each other, finding common ground while also appreciating their differences.

Sync Claps

Best for: Generating focus and alignment in groups, improving non-verbal communication
Time: 5-30 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: 10-40

Sync Claps is a dynamic circle exercise that challenges participants to work together in synchronization. The activity serves as an excellent tool for warming up a group and helping them truly arrive in the lesson.

Start by having participants stand in a circle. One person starts by turning to their neighbor and clapping in sync with them. This clap then “travels” around the circle, with each pair trying to clap in perfect unison. As the group gets more comfortable, they try to speed up the clap while maintaining synchronization. For an added challenge, facilitators can introduce a “double clap” that changes the direction of the clap’s movement.

So long as you have room, Sync claps can work with a class of almost any size, and it can be a lovely moment to see a clap travel all the way around a circle of your peers before returning to you. I’d absolute recommend it!

Student icebreakers for checking-in

As educators, we know that creating a positive and engaging classroom environment is crucial for effective learning. One powerful tool in our toolbox is the use of check-in activities where students write or reflect on their current state before sharing with the group at the start of a lesson or after a break.

These quick, interactive activities serve multiple purposes: they help students transition into a learning mindset, help create connection points among classmates, and provide teachers with valuable insights into their students’ emotional states and readiness to learn.

Weather Check-In

Best for: Opening activities, self-awareness exercises, team building
Time: 5-10 minutes
Materials: None

The Weather Check-In is a creative and engaging icebreaker that quickly gauges the emotional temperature of a classroom.

Here’s how it works: Ask each student to share how they’re feeling using weather imagery. For example, one might say, “I feel like I’m in the eye of a tornado, with things swirling around me though I’m calm,” while another might share, “I feel like I’m walking through a sunny field with spring petals drifting down all around me.” This metaphorical approach allows students to articulate complex emotions in a relatable and often poetic way. To switch things up, you might encourage students to draw a visual representation of the weather that they’re feeling.

The Weather Check-In also serves as a great tool for building empathy and understanding among classmates. For an added layer of reflection, teachers can revisit the activity at the end of a session to see how the classroom “climate” has changed.

Object Meditation

Best for: Opening activities, self-awareness exercises, emotional check-ins
Time: 5-10 minutes
Materials: Small objects (one per participant)

Object Meditation is a mindfulness technique that helps participants become present, aware, and emotionally balanced at the start of a session. This icebreaker exercise uses everyday objects as anchors for reflection and emotional regulation.

Here’s how it works: Ask each participant to choose a small object from their surroundings – it could be a pen, a mug, or even a piece of fruit. Guide them through a brief meditation, focusing their attention on the object while prompting them to check in with their physical, mental, and emotional states. Invite them to “transfer” any distracting thoughts or unwanted feelings into the object, leaving them free to engage fully in the upcoming session.

I particularly like using this activity with older kids who may be more able to discuss their feelings and be more engaged with mindfulness as a concept. In any case, it’s a valuable tool for self-awareness and emotional intelligence that the whole class carry beyond the session too.

Rollercoaster Check-In

Best for: Opening activities, self-awareness exercises, team building
Time: 5-60 minutes
Materials: Flipchart/whiteboard, markers

The Rollercoaster Check-In is a playful and visual method that creates a shared picture of a classes’ emotional landscape.

Start this icebreaker by drawing a wavy line across a flipchart or whiteboard that resembles a basic rollercoaster with loops, steep sections, and shallow parts. Then, invite participants to place themselves on different points of the rollercoaster, explaining their current emotional state. One student might put themselves at the top of a loop, feeling excited and energized, while another might be at the bottom of a dip, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

By using the metaphor of a rollercoaster, the Rollercoaster Check-In supports participants to think carefully about their feelings, often leading to more nuanced and honest sharing. It can really cultivate a sense of togetherness and help students who might have difficulty sharing their feelings join in.

Forced Analogy

Best for: Creative thinking, team building, gaining new perspectives
Time: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Random objects or descriptions of objects

Forced Analogy is an improv technique that challenges participants to draw unexpected connections between random objects and the topic at hand, sparking creativity and bringing forth new perspectives.

First, have everyone find or imagine a random object. You can do this by asking participants to quickly grab something nearby (“Find something blue in 5 seconds, go!”) or by providing a list of random items. Then, pose a question like “How is your object like you/the lesson/the class?” Participants then share their analogies, explaining how their item relates to the topic.

By pushing people to make unexpected connections, Forced Analogy can help students think creatively and express themselves in a safe, fun way.

Emoji Check-In

Best for: Quick emotional assessments, digital engagement, non-verbal communication
Time: 2-10 minutes
Materials: Digital platform with emoji reactions or printed emoji cards

The Emoji Check-In is a modern twist on the classic mood meter that speaks students’ language. This quick, visual activity allows participants to express their current emotional state using the language of emojis.

Here’s how it works: At the start of a class or session, ask students to choose an emoji that best represents how they’re feeling at that moment. If teaching online, most video conferencing platforms have built-in reaction features to use. For in-person classes, consider printing out a set of emoji cards for students to hold up or ask them to draw the emoji of their choice.

Once everyone has selected their emoji, invite volunteers to share why they chose that particular one. This opens up opportunities for deeper discussions about emotions and experiences while also helping you get a read on how everyone in the group is doing.

Rose, Thorn, Bud

Best for: Reflection, sharing experiences, creating positive action
Time: 5-15 minutes
Materials: None (optional: paper and pens for writing)

Rose, Thorn, Bud is a versatile icebreaker that encourages reflection, gratitude, and forward-thinking all in one go. This activity provides an effective and memorable way to check in with students that covers the good, the bad, and what they’re looking forward to.

Ask each student to share three things about their day, week, or a specific project:

• A Rose: Something positive or successful
• A Thorn: A challenge or difficulty they’ve faced
• A Bud: An area of opportunity or something they’re looking forward to

For example, a student might say, “My rose is acing my math test, my thorn is struggling with a group project, and my bud is looking forward to the upcoming school play auditions.”

By using the Rose, Thorn, Bud framework, teachers create a structured way for students to process their experiences, celebrate successes, address challenges, and look to the future. In my experience, this kind of thinking can really stick and as such, it can help learners share how they’re feeling and approach challenges productively throughout a course.

Classroom speaking activities to help break the ice

Classroom speaking icebreakers are an effective way to create a lively, interactive learning environment. These activities not only help students overcome their initial shyness but also foster a sense of community and encourage active participation.

In this section, we’ll explore a variety of engaging activities designed to improve student confidence and get everyone talking. From quick warm-ups to more in-depth exercises, these icebreakers will help create a positive atmosphere where every student feels comfortable expressing themselves.

I’ll often use this kind of icebreaker as a warm-up for some of the techniques from our collection of active learning strategies. They’re a great way to get students used to the idea of speaking up and set the stage for open conversations.

One Word Method

Best for: Stimulating creativity, building group bonding, warming up participants
Time: 2-10 minutes
Materials: None

One Word Method is an easy-to-run activity where participants collaboratively create a sentence, with each person contributing just one word at a time. I’ve found it especially effective with younger kids, who tend to ask if we can play again and again.

To run the One Word Method, choose a topic or prompt focus on. One student (or the teacher) starts by saying a single word related to that topic. The next person adds another word, building on the previous one. This continues around the group, with each participant adding one word at a time until a full sentence is formed. For example, if the topic is “What to eat,” the sentence might unfold like this: “My / stomach / wants / food / but / not / any / food / it / wants / chocolate.”

The One Word Method encourages quick thinking, active listening, and often results in unexpected and humorous outcomes. If you have a massive class, demonstrate before breaking students into small groups and challenge them to create a grammatically correct sentence relating to the topic of your lesson.

Whose Story Is It?

Best for: Team bonding, creative storytelling, fostering personal connections
Time: 15-30 minutes
Materials: Paper, pens, hat or container for collecting stories

Whose Story Is It? is a fun and engaging icebreaker that encourages storytelling while helping the whole class learn surprising facts about each other.

Start Whose Story Is It? by having each student anonymously write a short, true story or fact about themselves on a piece of paper. The facilitator collects and reads out the stories one by one. The group then takes turns guessing which person each story belongs to. Once a few guesses have been made, the real storyteller reveals themselves and shares more details about their experience.

This is a great activity for the first week back from holiday or when bringing a new class together – you can even simplify this activity by using different themes, such as having students write down their favourite movie and why.

Common and Unique

Best for: Team bonding, fostering connections, celebrating diversity
Time: 20-30 minutes
Materials: Paper and pens for each group

Common and Unique is an engaging icebreaker that encourages your class to discover shared experiences while celebrating their individual uniqueness.

To implement Common and Unique, divide the class into groups of 4-5 students. Give each group two sheets of paper and pens. In the first round, groups compile a list of things they all have in common, digging deeper than surface-level observations. After about 5 minutes, have a spokesperson from each group share their list. For the second round, groups identify at least two unique characteristics for each member – things that apply to only one person in the group. Groups can then share these unique elements, either by having each person reveal one of their own or by turning it into a guessing game.

By balancing unity and individuality, Common and Unique is a great way to help students make new friends while creating a classroom atmosphere where students feel both part of a whole and valued for their unique qualities.

Happiness Exercise

Best for: Team bonding, icebreaking, fostering positive connections
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: None

The Happiness Exercise is a delightful icebreaker that applies the principles of Appreciative Inquiry to create positivity and build interpersonal relationships.

Start by asking participants to share stories about times when they were happy, as well as moments when they made someone else happy. The key is for students to listen attentively to the first person speaking before they also share.

The Happiness Exercise has a simple and universal appeal. Students often find that choosing which happy experience to share is the hardest part – a wonderful problem to have! The Happiness Exercise not only helps break the ice with a positive atmosphere, but it also reinforces the idea that making others happy is a great way to boost one’s own happiness.

Diversity Bingo

Best for: Icebreaking, team bonding, celebrating diversity
Time: 15-30 minutes
Materials: Bingo cards with diverse statements, pens

Diversity Bingo is a lively icebreaker that encourages students to mingle, share a few things about themselves, and discover the rich diversity within the group.

Start by creating a bingo card filled with diverse statements or questions that apply to various members of your class. Hand out the cards and instruct participants to mingle, introducing themselves and finding others who match the statements on their card. When they find a match, that person signs the corresponding square. To encourage more interaction, limit the number of squares any one person can sign per card.

Diversity Bingo is highly flexible – teachers can tailor the bingo card statements to align with class objectives or focus on specific themes. Diversity Bingo not only helps students learn about each other but also celebrates the diversity within the group, creating a more inclusive classroom environment and creating bonds that can persist through the school year ahead.

Count Up

Best for: Generating calm and focused collective energy, team bonding, improving group awareness
Time: 5-30 minutes
Materials: None

Count Up is a deceptively simple activity that challenges participants to count up to a specific number as a group, with each person saying one number at a time – but if two people speak simultaneously, even for a split second, the count starts over from one.

Count Up requires a group to concentrate and be aware of others and as such, it can help create a sense of collective calm that is great if you want to bring the classroom down a notch after a high energy lesson or break. The shared focus of this activity can be incredibly powerful, creating a unified team energy that lingers long after the exercise ends.

While Count Up is excellent for in-person sessions, it can also be adapted for online environments. In virtual settings, keep cameras on but instruct participants to only unmute when speaking their number. This adds an extra visual element to help with timing but maintains the core challenge of the exercise.

Everyone is a Liar (Two Truths and One Lie)

Best for: Learning names, sharing personal information, breaking the ice
Time: 10-15 minutes
Materials: None

“Everyone is a Liar,” also known as “Two Truths and One Lie,” is a fun and engaging way to help students get to know each other while encouraging active listening and curiosity. In this activity, each participant comes up with three statements about themselves—two that are true and one that is a lie. The challenge for the rest of the group is to figure out which statement is false.

Two truths and a lie usually begins with the facilitator demonstrating how it works by sharing their own three statements. The group can ask follow-up questions to gather more details before voting on which one they believe is the lie. Once revealed, the process continues with each participant taking a turn, either in small groups or as a whole class.

Try using this activity during the first week of term to help facilitate the process of students getting to know one another and seed the potential for deeper connections. A wonderful alternative that you use to inject moments of levity throughout lessons is Just One Lie, where participants mingle and then later introduce one another and facts they’ve learned about them at various intervals during the session.

High energy student icebreakers

Are your students struggling to engage with each other or the lesson material after lunch? High-energy icebreaker activities are the perfect solution to kickstart your students’ enthusiasm and create a dynamic learning environment.

These interactive activities not only help break down social barriers but also boost participation, encourage teamwork, and set a positive tone for the rest of your lesson. I’ve found they can be particularly effective as a preamble to collaborative projects where you want everyone to participant and to build excitement for what’s coming next.

A word of warning: high-energy can be noisy and loud, so make sure you are in a space where you are not disturbing other classrooms or just other people, and that you have a clear way to bring silence back (such as clapping or ringing a bell).

Giants, Wizards, Elves

Best for: Energizing large groups, breaking the ice, encouraging physical activity
Time: 15-30 minutes
Materials: None (just open space)

Giants, Wizards, Elves is a fast-paced icebreaker that gets students moving and laughing. This lively game combines elements of rock-paper-scissors with a dash of tag, creating an engaging activity that boosts energy levels and team spirit too.

To play Giants, Wizards, Elves, split your group into two teams and designate a center line and two safety zones. Teams huddle to choose one of three characters – Giants (hands up high), Wizards (fingers wiggling), or Elves (hands on ears). On the count of three, teams face off and act out their chosen character. Giants beat Elves, Elves beat Wizards, and Wizards beat Giants.

The winning team chases the losing team, trying to tag as many people from the other group as possible before they reach their safety zone. Tagged players join the winning team, and the game continues until one team absorbs the other.

Giants, Wizards, Elves excels at getting students out of their seats and interacting with each other. The game encourages quick thinking, teamwork, and a bit of strategy too.

Human Machine

Best for: Energizing groups, promoting collaboration, breaking the ice
Time: 5-30 minutes
Materials: None (just open space)

Human Machine is a fast-paced, physical activity that transforms your group into a living, breathing “machine,” engaging everyone and preparing them for the next challenge.

To create a Human Machine, gather your students in a large circle and explain that they’ll be building a human machine together. One by one, participants step into the circle, each adding a unique repeating sound and movement. For example, the first person might say “whoop whoop whoop” while flapping their arm. The next person connects to them physically, adding their own sound and motion. This process continues until everyone is part of the machine, creating a symphony of sounds and movements working in unison.

Human Machine excels at getting students out of their comfort zones in a fun, low-pressure way. The silliness factor is quite high, but it’s a great Trojan horse for introducing a collaborative mindset to learners.

Snowball

Best for: Energizing groups, promoting teambuilding, sharing information playfully
Time: 20-40 minutes
Materials: Paper, pens

Snowball is a playful activity that creates a lively, active atmosphere by asking participants to throw paper snowballs and respond to what’s written on them.

To play Snowball, give each student a sheet of paper and have them write answers to five questions about themselves (without their names). Once everyone is finished writing, have everyone crumple their papers into “snowballs” and engage in a playful snowball fight. Only lead this with groups you can trust with keeping it civil!

After the fun, each person picks up a snowball, un-crumples it, and tries to find its owner by asking questions based on the written answers. Once pairs are formed, participants introduce their new “snowball buddy” to the group, sharing what they learned.

Snowball is an incredibly flexible game. You can also ask participants to write questions on their snowballs and have the person who receives it to provide an answer. This is a great way to debrief learnings from a lesson or check knowledge levels among your class.

Excited

Best for: Energizing groups, exploring motivation, team building
Time: 3-5 minutes
Materials: Letter cards spelling “EXCITED”

Excited is a quick, high-energy activity that not only energizes your group but also helps them explore what makes a task motivating and how it feels to work together successfully.

To run the Excited exercise, select seven volunteers to stand in a line facing the group. Give each person a letter card that, when arranged correctly, spells “EXCITED.” The rest of the group then calls out directions to rearrange the letter holders until they spell the word correctly. Once solved, lead a round of applause for the entire group.

The brief, unexpected nature of the task, combined with the intellectual challenge and playful chaos, makes Excited a highly engaging game. I’d recommend following with a quick debrief to explore how it felt to participate and what lead to eventual success. The resulting discussion can help students consider how to apply these motivational elements to everyday activities and how they might be more involved in their own learning too.

Zip Zap Zop

Best for: Energizing groups, improving listening skills, building team cohesion
Time: 5-10 minutes
Materials: None

Zip Zap Zop is a fast-paced improv game that sharpens listening skills while injecting a burst of energy into any setting.

To play Zip Zap Zop, have your students stand in a circle. One person starts by making eye contact with someone else, clapping their hands, and saying “Zip!” That person then makes eye contact with a new person, claps, and says “Zap!” The third person continues the pattern with “Zop!” The game continues with this “Zip, Zap, Zop” pattern, requiring players to stay alert and respond quickly.

Zip Zap Zop encourages students to be present in the moment, a skill that’s invaluable for learning. For an extra challenge, try the “Pyramid” variation of Zip Zap Zop: start with one round of Zip-Zap-Zop, then two rounds, then three, before working your way back down. This version adds a mental challenge that’s perfect for older students or those who need an extra brain boost.

Follow the Follower

Best for: Energizing groups, building team connection, encouraging creativity
Time: 5-20 minutes
Materials: None (just open space or Zoom for virtual sessions)

Follow the Follower (also known as Mirrors) is a versatile exercise that works brilliantly for both in-person and virtual sessions.

To play, one person starts as the leader, making simple movements that everyone else copies. After about 15 seconds, they pass the leadership to someone else by calling out their name. The new leader acknowledges with a “Thank you [previous leader’s name]” and takes over. As this activity progresses, it often evolves into a “follow the follower” scenario, where no single person is clearly leading – and that’s where the real fun begins.

Follow the Follower is effective for warming up a group, transitioning between topics, or injecting some energy into a long session. For virtual sessions of Follow the Follower, ensure everyone is in gallery view on Zoom and encourage them to creatively use the screen space available for best results. You can even add music by sharing your computer sound for a virtual dance party.

Icebreaker activities for older students

In my experience, every group has different needs, expectations and levels of comfort. The best activities are often those that find the right balance between satisfying those norms while gently introducing something new or unexpected to this mix. Stretching the comfort zone, in other words, without tipping anyone into “panic” mode.

While all of the activities in this blog post can work well with older groups, the methods below are especially good with older students and participants who often have the ability to think more critically and who may wish to express themselves more deeply during an icebreaker.

Powerpoint Karaoke

Best for: Improving communication skills, building confidence, and team bonding
Time: 45-60 minutes
Materials: Pre-prepared slide decks, projector or screen sharing software

Powerpoint Karaoke challenges participants to think on their feet and present with confidence. Volunteers take turns presenting slide decks they’ve never seen before to a live audience. The slides are typically random and unrelated, forcing presenters to improvise and create coherent narratives on the spot. This exercise builds presentation skills while encouraging quick thinking, creativity, and the ability to handle unexpected situations with grace.

To run Powerpoint Karaoke, facilitators need several slide decks with 8-10 random slides each. Volunteers present one at a time, with the audience voting on the best performance at the end. The combination of humor, challenge, and supportive atmosphere makes Powerpoint Karaoke an excellent icebreaker or team-building activity for older students or professionals.

For ongoing courses, I like having slides which vaguely correspond to learning material from the previous of forthcoming session, creating a nice through-line between sessions. While you can spend as long as you like on this game, you can also ask just a few of students to go at a time and make this a fast icebreaker if you wish.

Non-verbal improv

Best for: Energizing groups, improving non-verbal communication skills, encouraging creativity
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: List of phrases or prompts (optional)

Non-verbal improv challenges participants to communicate ideas without using words. Participants are divided into pairs or small groups. One person is given a phrase or concept to act out, while the others try to guess what it is. The catch? No speaking allowed! Players must rely entirely on gestures, facial expressions, and body language to convey their message.

Non-verbal improv gets students moving and laughing while encouraging creative thinking and problem-solving. The activity is particularly effective for breaking the ice in new groups or as a warm-up before diving into more serious topics about communication or as a preamble to deeper collaborative projects. It practically guarantees student presence and by debriefing in small groups or as a whole class, it’s a great opportunity for considered discussions on how we communicate.

Yes, and Picnic

Best for: Improving active listening, building on ideas, and fostering collaboration
Time: 15-20 minutes
Materials: None

The Yes, and Picnic activity encourages participants to actively listen and build on each other’s ideas. Students sit in pairs and engage in four short conversations planning an imaginary event, like a picnic or road trip. Each round introduces a new way of responding:

1. “No…” (shutting down ideas)
2. “Yes, but…” (acknowledging, then contradicting)
3. “Yes, and…” (accepting and building)
4. “Yes, what I like about that is… and…” (appreciating specifics and expanding)

As pairs progress through the rounds, they experience firsthand how different response styles impact collaboration and creativity. The final round drives home the power of active listening and enthusiastic co-creation.

Yes, and Picnic works well both in-person and online, making it a versatile tool for improving communication skills and helping students think about the way they collaborate and relate to one another.

Just the facts

Best for: Breaking the ice, energizing groups, encouraging quick thinking
Time: 10-15 minutes
Materials: None

Just the facts is a fast-paced, engaging icebreaker that challenges participants to think on their feet and stick to the facts – no opinions allowed. Start by having students sit in a circle before introducing a topic relevant to the class or training session. Going around the circle, each person must quickly state a fact about the topic. The catch? No repeating facts, and no opinions or unproven theories.

Just the facts becomes increasingly challenging as obvious facts are used up. If someone says something that might not be a fact, other participants can challenge by calling out “Just the facts!” The group then votes on whether it’s truly a fact or not. Each time the group allows a non-fact, they lose a point. The game ends when the group loses as many points as there are participants.

Just the facts energizes the room while encouraging critical thinking and helping participants focus on concrete information – it’s a great way to set the tone for future engagement and to gauge levels of knowledge in the room too.

The Feeling Wheel

Best for: Improving emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and team building
Time: 5-15 minutes
Materials: Feeling Wheel image, stickers or post-it notes

The Feeling Wheel helps participants develop a richer emotional vocabulary. Using Robert Plutchik’s Feeling Wheel, participants identify and articulate their emotions with greater precision, leading to improved self-awareness and better understanding of others.

The facilitator introduces the activity, emphasizing that all emotions are valid and important. Participants examine the Feeling Wheel and use a sticker or post-it to mark the emotion that best describes their current state. If comfortable, each person shares their chosen emotion and explains why they feel that way. They can also explore related emotions on the wheel and consider the “root emotion” at the center.

The Feeling Wheel helps individuals check in with themselves while fostering empathy and connection within the group. Facilitators can adapt the Feeling Wheel for various scenarios, such as exploring hypothetical situations or tracking emotions over time. The Feeling Wheel serves as an engaging and insightful tool for breaking the ice, building team cohesion, or encouraging emotional reflection in any group setting.

3 Question Mingle

Best for: Encouraging introductions, fostering curiosity, building connections
Time: 30-60 minutes
Materials: Post-it notes, pens

3 Question Mingle is a fun and interactive icebreaker that gets students talking, connecting, and learning about each other in a natural way. Instead of answering generic questions, participants create their own, making the activity a great way for students to ask what is important to them.

Each participant starts by writing down three open-ended questions they’d love to ask someone new—these could be about interests, experiences, or fun hypotheticals. With questions in hand, they begin mingling, pairing up for quick one-on-one conversations where they ask a question and listen to the response. After each exchange, they swap questions, meaning each person now has a new question to ask in their next conversation.

This simple format keeps interactions dynamic while encouraging deeper engagement. By the end, participants will have met multiple people, discovered interesting insights, and built a sense of connection—all without the awkwardness of forced introductions.

Final thoughts on student icebreakers

The start of any learning journey can fundamentally shape how we engage with the material and take ownership of our learning. But it’s not always easy to get every student to be present and arrive in the session ready to learn.

Using these icebreaker activities to warm-up your group and encourage participation can make the difference between a lesson being a joy or a struggle to teach. Choose an activity that helps set-up the lesson ahead and gets your students talking productively around your topic and you can ensure learnings stick and that they effectively leave behind what came before.

Want to go further? Check out these resources to help improve your practice and deliver better learning experiences.

• An ideal learning experience often begins with a well-structured agenda. Check out our posts on how to design a training session plan or how to plan a workshop for tips and best practices on agenda design.
• Looking for more inspiring activities? Our collection of the best icebreaker games has even more facilitated tested techniques you can bring to your classroom.
• If you’re leading virtual classes, this bespoke list of virtual icebreakers can help you find something that will work in that setting.

We hope these activities provide an easy-to-implement boost to your lesson planning. Is there something missing? Do you have an effective student icebreaker that you’d like to add? Let us know in the comments below, or join the discussion in our friendly community!

In this guide, we’ll explore experiential learning techniques you can use to improve student engagement and improve knowledge retention too. Whether you’re a trainer, teacher or facilitator, you’ll find proven activities to improve the participant experience.

What is active learning?

Active learning is an educational approach that seeks to engage participants directly in the learning process. Rather than learning passively, like listening to a lecture, learners actively engage in their own learning, often through group discussions, games, role-play and more practical experiential activities.

As Charles Bonwell and James Eison noted in their 1991 report, active learning is all about getting learners to think about their own learning and do something other than simply listen and take in information.

I like to think of it this way: if passive learning is all about listening and watching others do things in order to learn, active learning is about learning by doing, critically reflecting on the learning process and discussing your thoughts with others.

This shift from passive to active engagement is crucial for creating more memorable learning experiences that are also easier for learners to retain.

Thinking about active learning in the context of the ICAP framework developed by Michelene Chi is also helpful for understanding the distinction. The ICAP framework categorizes learning activities based on the follow kinds of cognitive engagement:

• Interactive: Collaborative engagement with peers, leading to co-construction of knowledge.
• Constructive: Learners generate new ideas or understanding beyond the given information.
• Active: Direct manipulation or use of instructional materials.
• Passive: Receiving information without overt engagement.

According to Chi, deeper learning occurs as engagement moves from passive to active, constructive, and interactive modes. You’ll find the active learning activities below align with these kinds of engagement and are great for adding these elements to your lessons, training sessions and workshops.

Curious about the crossover between teaching, facilitation and active learning? Check out this guide on thinking of the teacher as a facilitator.

For more insight on learning theory, our collection of instructional design principles will help inform your design process.

Active learning strategies to encourage discussion

Keeping learners engaged and getting them to actively participate in discussions can be a challenge – especially if you’re dealing with a quiet group or a complex topic. The good news? The right techniques can transform passive learners into active participants simply by getting them to reflect and speak up.

These five active learning methods are designed to spark conversation, encourage deeper thinking, and get everyone involved. Whether you’re leading a classroom discussion, corporate training, or a workshop, these methods will help drive engagement and improve learning outcomes—without awkward silences!

See our post on how to improve your training skills for more insight into how to effectively set the stage for group discussions.

Think, Pair, Share (1-2-4-All)

Best for: getting all learners involved, sparking new ideas, creating a safe container for discussion
Time: 10-15 minutes
Materials: none

Think, Pair, Share (also known as 1-2-4-All) is a surefire way every participant has a chance to contribute while also creating space for deeper reflection on a given topic.

Here’s how it works: first, everyone reflects on a prompt or question individually. Then, they pair up to discuss their thoughts. Next, pairs join other pairs to form groups of four, sharing and refining ideas. Finally, the whole group comes together to present and discuss key insights.

Think, Pair, Share is a versatile and effective active learning exercise. By first encouraging reflection and pair discussion, it creates space for critical thinking and ideation. It also gives quieter participants space to think before jumping in, and by the time ideas reach the whole group, they’ve already been built upon and refined.

Appreciative Interviews

Best for: celebrating successes, learning from real experiences, boosting morale
Time: 30-60 minutes
Materials: interview guides, notepads or digital devices for note-taking

Appreciative Interviews is an uplifting active learning activity, where participants pair up and share stories of success related to a topic or goal. Instead of analyzing problems, people reflect on their own experiences and share what went well, why it worked, and how to replicate it. For groups of students or trainees, its a great format for thinking about the process of learning: for example, ask students to consider a time they did well on an assignment or project and explore what helped that happen.

This technique naturally lifts the energy of a room and reinforces the best parts of learning and collaboration. It’s perfect for starting a session on a positive note or helping encourage students to recognize their own strengths and capacity to learn.

Fishbowl

Best for: deep conversations, structured debates, active listening
Time: 45-60 minutes
Materials: chairs arranged in inner and outer circles (or virtual equivalent)

Fishbowl is a structured and engaging method to help large groups hold engaging discussions without falling into chaos. A small group sits in the “inner circle” to discuss a topic while everyone else observes. After a set time, observers rotate in, bringing fresh perspectives while others step back to listen.

A Fishbowl setup works wonders for difficult discussions or topics where active listening and reflection is key. It’s perfect for teachers leading student discussions or trainers facilitating team dialogues—it helps students learn to really listen and deepen their understanding before jumping in with their thoughts.

The 500-Year-Gap Conversation (Time Traveler)

Best for: creative thinking, communication skills, historical empathy
Time: 15-30 minutes
Materials: none

In The 500-Year-Gap Conversation, one person plays a modern-day individual, and the other plays someone from 500 years ago. The modern person describes a current object, concept, or technology, while the time traveler asks questions and tries to understand it from their historical perspective.

This active learning game is as hilarious as it is insightful. It forces participants to break down complex ideas into simple, relatable terms while also practicing empathy. It’s an effective precursor to deeper group work where it’s easy for folks to assume understanding of course material or prior knowledge. Whether you use it to discuss tech, societal norms, or even teaching methods, it’s guaranteed to spark some big “aha” moments (and a lot of laughs).

Troika Consulting

Best for: peer coaching, problem-solving, tapping into collective wisdom
Time: 25-35 minutes
Materials: none

If you’ve ever wished you could pick your colleagues’ brains for advice without a formal meeting, this activity is for you. In Troika Consulting, participants take turns sharing a real challenge they’re facing while two others act as consultants, offering advice and asking clarifying questions. Then, everyone switches roles so that each person gets a chance to be both consultant and client.

Troika Consulting is a goldmine for collaborative learning and student engagement. All the students involved will be able to give and receive advice, thinking about their own understanding of a subject as well as repackaging and presenting learning to other students. In a training scenario, it can be effective to centre discussion around the key points of the training session so that there are solid takeaways that can inform the rest of your session.

Active learning activities to encourage critical thinking

Critical thinking is an essential skill for learners of all ages. It helps participants analyze information, challenge assumptions, and make well-reasoned decisions—key abilities for solving complex problems and navigating new ideas.

The following active learning activities engage learners in structured thinking, creative exploration, and reflective discussions to strengthen their critical thinking skills. Incorporating active learning strategies like this into your lesson is also a great way of checking learner understanding and to shore up knowledge gaps before you continue.

Empathy Map

Best for: perspective-taking, understanding different viewpoints, developing emotional intelligence
Time: 20-40 minutes
Materials: Large sheets of paper, sticky notes, or a digital whiteboard

The Empathy Map is a visual tool that helps learners step into the shoes of another person and understand them more deeply, whether it’s a customer, historical figure, or fictional character.

To run this activity, learners create a four-section map exploring what their subject thinks, feels, says, and does. They then analyze patterns and discuss insights about motivations, challenges, and biases. This structured reflection helps participants think more deeply about human behavior and personal experiences, making it an excellent tool for problem-solving, design thinking, and storytelling. While it’s not an active learning method that will work for every subject, I’ve found so many uses for an Empathy Map that it deserves inclusion here.

Interactive Lecture: Summarize

Best for: reinforcing learning, active listening, improving retention
Time: 5-15 minutes (integrated into a lecture or session)
Materials: None, or note-taking tools for written summaries

The Interactive Lecture: Summarize method ensures that learners actively engage with content instead of passively absorbing it. It’s a clever solution for when you can’t avoid a lecture format but want to incorporate active learning approaches and ensure learners pay attention and start to metabolize key learnings.

Throughout the lecture, pause at key moments and ask learners to summarize the most important takeaways—either by writing them down, discussing them in pairs, or sharing with the group. This process forces participants to process information, identify main points, and articulate their understanding, reinforcing learning in a simple yet effective way.

The Six Thinking Hats

Best for: structured thinking, decision-making, problem-solving
Time: 30-60 minutes
Materials: Six colored hats or visual markers for each thinking role

The Six Thinking Hats method, developed by Edward de Bono, helps learners analyze a situation from multiple perspectives by assigning different thinking roles. When faced with complex problems, we often fall into one mode of thinking—whether it’s focusing on risks, emotions, or pure logic. A Six Thinking Hats discussion is a great way to enable dynamic student thinking and practice skills that can be used inside and outside the session.

Participants work through a problem while “wearing” different hats, each representing a distinct mode of thinking: logic, emotion, creativity, caution, benefits, and process. By switching perspectives, learners develop a more holistic approach to problem-solving, improving both critical thinking and group collaboration.

Flip It

Best for: challenging assumptions, lateral thinking, brainstorming solutions
Time: 20-40 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper or digital brainstorming tools

Flip It is a simple but powerful technique that helps learners reverse their assumptions and uncover fresh insights. It helps students break out of conventional thinking patterns and gain an instant sense of how a change in perspective can impact how they feel about a problem or situation.

Instead of asking “How can we solve this problem?”, participants flip the question: “How can we make this problem worse?” Once they’ve generated a list of ways to fail spectacularly, they then brainstorm the opposite—practical ways to prevent those failures. This reversal technique sparks creativity, exposes hidden assumptions, and strengthens critical thinking skills in an engaging way.

The Journalistic Six

Best for: breaking down complex topics, structuring research, strengthening questioning skills
Time: 20-45 minutes
Materials: Worksheet or digital document for note-taking

Journalistic Six method helps learners analyze topics methodically by answering six key questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. It’s a highly flexible method that can serve as the backbone of work, whether learners go solo or are part of a class discussion.

Students learn to apply these questions to a topic, issue, or case study, identifying gaps in their understanding and constructing a well-rounded analysis. This structured questioning approach helps learners develop curiosity, clarity, and deeper comprehension, making it a valuable tool for research, discussions, and problem-solving exercises.

Active learning icebreakers and warm-ups

Starting a learning session with an engaging activity can set the tone for deeper participation and student engagaement – whether you’re working with kids or adults in a training session.

Icebreakers and warm-ups help learners feel comfortable, encourage interaction, and activate the brain for active learning. These methods are designed to spark curiosity, build connections, and get participants thinking from the start of your session.

Find more games suitable for active learning in this collection of the best training games, including experiential activities, icebreakers and more.

Group Contract for Trust, Creativity & High Performance

Best for: Setting group norms, creating psychological safety, encouraging collaboration
Time: 45-60 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers

This Group Contract guides groups through co-creating a contract that outlines their values, communication norms, and ways of working together. Establishing a shared foundation for learning in this way is one of the most effective ways to ensure active participation

Facilitators prompt participants with questions like, “What do we need to feel comfortable taking risks in this session?” or “How do we want to handle disagreements?” By crafting this agreement together, learners take ownership of the learning process, leading to a more engaged and high-performing group dynamic.

For groups that come together multiple times, such as in a class or course, a Group Contract can be effectively referred to, ritualized and championed by group members too.

Quotations

Best for: Sparking reflection, discussion, and personal connection to learning topics
Time: 15-14 minutes
Materials: Pre-selected quotations, index cards, or a digital board

In Quotations, participants choose a quote from a pre-collected selection that resonates with them, then share why it speaks to them.

Start by sourcing a set of inspirational and interesting quotes relating to the topic of your training session or lesson and place them in the centre of the room. Each participant picks up one quote, then picks a partner and discusses what the quote says to them, if it is meaningful, and how.

Quotations is a simple yet profound exercise encourages deep thinking and self-expression, making it a great way to introduce new topics or connect abstract concepts to personal experiences. It also helps quieter participants ease into conversation, setting a thoughtful and reflective tone for the lesson.

Quick-Change Artists

Best for: Observation skills, adaptability, teamwork
Time: 20-45 minutes
Materials: Flip-chart paper, markers, playing cards

This interactive exercise helps participants reflect on adaptability and resilience by exploring what makes people flexible or resistant to change. First, participants identify role models who handle change well and those who struggle with it, noting key traits. They then discuss these insights in pairs, collaborate in small groups to create a list of adaptability strategies, and share their findings in a gallery walk.

By analyzing real-world behaviors and discussing practical strategies, learners gain a deeper understanding of how to embrace change and develop resilience in their own lives.

Quick-Change Artists

Best for: Observation skills, adaptability, teamwork
Time: 20-45 minutes
Materials: Flip-chart paper, markers, playing cards

Quick-Change Artists is an interactive training exercise helps participants reflect on adaptability and resilience by exploring what makes people flexible or resistant to change. First, participants identify role models who handle change well and those who struggle with it, noting key traits. They then discuss these insights in pairs, collaborate in small groups to create a list of adaptability strategies, and share their findings in a gallery walk.

By analyzing real-world behaviors and discussing practical strategies, learners gain a deeper understanding of how to embrace change and develop resilience in their own lives.

Get to Know You Better

Best for: Team bonding, personal storytelling, creating connections
Time: 1-15 minutes
Materials: Name badges or sticky labels

Get to Know You Better is designed to help participants quickly get acquainted and initiate meaningful conversations, making it ideal for large groups. At the start of the session, each participant receives a badge featuring three prompts:

1. My name is…
2. I have a question about…
3. I can answer a question about…

Participants fill in their responses and then mingle, discussing their questions and answers with as many others as possible within the allotted time. This structured approach not only involves students in actively starting conversations but also encourages knowledge sharing and collaborative learning.

For virtual lessons or webinars, these prompts can be shared in the chat, and participants can be paired in breakout rooms for brief discussions, rotating partners to maximize interactions.

Draw a Tree

Best for: Enhancing mindfulness, promoting awareness, encouraging perspective shifts
Time: 1-10 minutes
Materials: Index cards or paper, pencils or pens

“Draw a Tree” is a brief yet impactful exercise that raises awareness about our habitual perceptions and the elements we often overlook. Participants are given 45 seconds to draw a tree, either realistically or abstractly. Following the drawing, a debriefing session highlights how many participants omitted the roots in their illustrations, prompting reflection on the unseen yet vital components in various contexts.

This activity serves as a metaphor for recognizing the importance of underlying systems and factors that, while not immediately visible, are crucial. It encourages participants to consider how overlooking these elements can lead to incomplete understanding and emphasizes the value of holistic awareness.

Active learning strategies for creating engagement

Keeping learners engaged is one of the biggest challenges in any learning environment. While every method in this collection engages with experiential learning and creates engagement on some level, the active learning techniques below are especially good at helping sustain attention, encourage participation, and make learning more interactive.

For a deeper understanding of how to create engaging flows with experiential activities, see this template for creating an experiential session you can edit to your needs.

MindSpin

Best for: Generating new ideas, rapid thinking, stimulating discussion
Time: 15-30 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers, or a digital whiteboard

MindSpin is a fast-paced brainstorming activity where participants take turns adding ideas to a topic within a time limit. The goal is to keep the momentum going—whether building on previous thoughts, introducing new perspectives, or making surprising connections. Learners are invited to slam ideas down or make noises when they’re passing notes along

By limiting time and encouraging free association, this activity helps learners break out of self-censorship or analysis paralysis while also encouraging them to quickly reflect and iterate on the ideas of others.

Open Questions – Role Play

Best for: Enhancing communication skills, active listening, and observational abilities
Time: 5-10 minutes
Materials: Flipchart or presentation slide displaying Kipling’s six open questions

This engaging activity leverages an excerpt from Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “The Elephant’s Child,” to practice the use of open-ended questions, thereby improving participants’ communication and listening skills. The exercise emphasizes the six fundamental open questions: What, Why, When, How, Where, and Who.

How it works:

1. Setup: Arrange participants in a horseshoe seating formation. Display Kipling’s six open questions prominently on a flipchart or screen.
2. Volunteer Selection: Invite one participant to step out of the room temporarily.
3. Group Decision: While the volunteer is absent, the remaining group members agree on a specific piece of information they wish to learn about the volunteer (e.g., their favorite hobby or recent travel destination).
4. Questioning Process: The volunteer returns and makes an arbitrary statement. Group members then take turns asking open-ended questions based on the volunteer’s last response, aiming to uncover the predetermined information.

This method encourages participants to formulate thoughtful, open-ended questions and enhances their ability to listen actively and observe responses carefully.

LEGO Metaphors

Best for: Creative thinking, storytelling, exploring abstract concepts
Time: 10-30 minutes
Materials: LEGO bricks

In LEGO Metaphors, participants use LEGO bricks to build models that represent a concept, idea, or experience. The physical act of building encourages deeper thinking, while the metaphorical explanations provide insight into how individuals perceive a topic.

This method is particularly useful for reflective discussions, strategic planning, or visualizing abstract concepts. It’s a great way to tap into creative problem-solving while keeping the session dynamic and interactive. If you don’t have LEGO, you can use whatever materials you have to hand, what’s important is that learners create a physical representation of their idea, challenge or topic.

Mind Map

Best for: Organizing ideas, visual learning, making connections
Time: 20-40 minutes
Materials: Large paper, whiteboard, or digital mind-mapping tools

A classic active learning strategy, the Mind Map technique asks learners to visually organize information in a structured way that makes sense to them. Participants start with a central idea and branch out related concepts, linking thoughts and subtopics together.

Mind mapping helps learners see relationships between ideas, structure their thinking, and retain information better. It’s particularly useful for breaking down complex subjects, brainstorming solutions, or summarizing learning content. It’s common to ask sub-groups to take ownership of a particular section of the Mind Map and do further research or present on the topic afterwards.

Fun with Snowballs

Best for: Energizing groups, anonymous input sharing, content review
Time: 15 minutes
Materials: Paper, pens, open space

“Fun with Snowballs” is an interactive way to encourage anonymous sharing, discussion, and engagement while adding an element of movement and fun. This activity is particularly useful for gathering feedback, setting session expectations, or reviewing key concepts in an energizing, low-pressure way.

Participants begin by writing their response to a prompt on a piece of paper—this could be a reflection, a question, or an idea related to the session. Once done, they crumple their papers into “snowballs” and, on cue, toss them around the room in a playful flurry. After a few moments, each participant picks up a random snowball, unfolds it, and responds, answering the question or discussing the idea with the group.

This method removes the fear of judgment, encourages honest input, and keeps energy levels high. It’s a simple yet effective way to ensure that everyone’s voice is included—even those who might be hesitant to speak up. A cautionary note: only use this method with groups you can trust to keep it civil! Young kids and adults enjoy it, with teenagers it can get rowdy!

The Sketch Game

Best for: Visual learning, creativity, non-verbal communication
Time: 20-30 minutes
Materials: Paper, pens, or digital drawing tools

The Sketch Game invites participants to draw their understanding of a topic—whether it’s a process, a concept, or a key takeaway from a discussion. Not everyone processes information in the same way, and visual learners thrive when given the chance to express ideas through images.

By removing the pressure of words and focusing on visual representation, learners engage more deeply with the material and develop new ways of expressing their understanding. It’s especially useful to encourage students to think about differences and help broaden their perspectives.

Bad Idea Brainstorm

Best for: Breaking mental blocks, challenging assumptions, unlocking creativity
Time: 15-30 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers, or digital brainstorming tools

In the Bad Idea Brainstorm, participants deliberately generate the worst, most impractical, or ridiculous ideas related to a challenge. Once the bad ideas are on the table, they analyze them—often uncovering hidden insights or unexpected solutions.

This approach is a fantastic way to encourage risk-taking, challenge limiting beliefs, and inject humor into brainstorming sessions. Plus, it reduces the fear of being wrong, making it easier for participants to share bold ideas.

Mixed-Up Sentences

Best for: Critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: Pre-prepared sentence fragments, printed or on a digital board

In Mixed-Up Sentences, participants receive scrambled pieces of a sentence or statement, which they must reassemble into the correct order. The process stimulates logical reasoning and collaboration, making it an excellent warm-up or review activity.

This technique works particularly well in language learning or concept reinforcement settings where material needs to be presented, but you want to encourage some active participation too. It helps students learn and reflect actively, often with an added element of light competition with other groups.

Active learning strategies for reflection

Reflection is a key part of any active learning process—it allows participants to process their experiences, consolidate their understanding, and apply insights moving forward. The following reflection strategies help learners pause, think critically, and articulate their evolving perspectives, making learning more meaningful and impactful.

Personal SWOB Assessment

Best for: Self-reflection, personal development, structured analysis
Time: 60-120 minutes
Materials: Personal SWOB worksheet (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Barriers)

The Personal SWOB Assessment invites participants to reflect on their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Barriers related to a specific topic, skill, or goal. By breaking down their experiences into these four categories, learners can gain clarity on their progress and identify areas for improvement.

This method is particularly effective at helping individuals take ownership of their learning journey. It can be used at the beginning of a session to establish personal goals or at the end to assess development.

Best Summary

Best for: Synthesizing learning, critical thinking, identifying key takeaways
Time: 30-60 minutes
Materials: Paper or digital notes

The Best Summary method challenges participants to distill what they’ve learned into the most concise and meaningful takeaway. Whether in pairs, small groups, or individually, learners craft a single sentence or paragraph that captures the essence of the session.

This forces participants to prioritize information, think critically, and reflect on what truly mattered most—making it an excellent way to close a session or reinforce key concepts. By having students share and then choose the best summaries as an entire class, you can help ensure students understand core concepts and cement the most important learning points.

Letter to Myself

Best for: Personal reflection, goal-setting, long-term learning retention
Time: 20-30 minutes
Materials: Paper and envelopes (or a digital document for emailed letters)

In Letter to Myself activity, participants write a letter to themselves, capturing key insights from the session, personal commitments, or questions they want to revisit later. These letters can be sealed and opened at a later date, reinforcing the learning over time.

By engaging in self-dialogue, participants create a sense of accountability while also deepening their personal connection to the material. Letter to Myself also helps provide students with clear next steps or actions, making it very practical. This method works well at the end of a training program, workshop, or learning series to encourage continued growth.

I Used to Think… But Now I Think…

Best for: Tracking learning shifts, challenging assumptions, metacognition
Time: 10-20 minutes
Materials: Paper or digital worksheet

I Used to Think… But Now I Think… is a reflection exercise that prompts participants to compare their initial thoughts on a topic to their current understanding.

Students write down their response by completing the sentences:

• “I used to think…” (a belief or assumption they held before the session)
• “But now I think…” (how their perspective has changed)

This method helps highlight learning progress, challenge misconceptions, and make abstract growth more tangible. Seeing how far you’ve come and how you’ve grown as a result of the training session or learning can be an effective way to close discussions and encourage deeper thinking.

Artful Closer

Best for: Creative reflection, emotional processing, session closure
Time: 20-30 minutes
Materials: Art supplies (paper, markers, paints)

The Artful Closer method invites participants to create a drawing or visual representation of their learning journey, using colors, shapes, or metaphors to convey emotions and insights.

Artful Closer allows learners to engage their creativity and process their experiences on a deeper level. It’s especially useful for closing workshops with an emotional or personal touch, helping participants cement their takeaways in a way that feels personal and meaningful.

Response Cards

Best for: Group reflection, anonymous sharing, collective learning
Time: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Index cards or digital response tool

The Response Cards method allows participants to write down reflections, insights, or questions anonymously, which can then be collected and shared with the group.

After writing on these cards, learners then break up into teams where they’ll review the response cards and select the best and most unique response.

Response Cards encourages honest reflection, reduces pressure on quieter participants, and creates a collaborative pool of insights. It’s a great way to encourage student engagement and close a session at the same time.

Active learning techniques for helping students give presentations

Whatever your learning approach, there often comes a time where you want learners to present information back to the group. The presentation formats below are a great way of incorporating active learning strategies into those parts of the session that might sometimes feel flat and unengaging.

Giving a presentation can help participants think deeply about what they’ve learned and demonstrate that understanding to the group and have a bunch of benefits for teachers and trainers as well. They allow you to see where students need extra help, correct misunderstandings and celebrate what the whole class has learned.

Learn more about how this might fit into your course design and learning approach in this post on applying instructional design models.

Pecha Kucha

Best for: Reporting, presentations, sharing ideas, idea generation, issue analysis
Time: 180 minutes
Materials: One or more laptops, projector (beamer), digital camera (optional)

Pecha Kucha, also known as 20×20, is a dynamic presentation format where presenters show 20 images, each for 20 seconds, resulting in a total presentation time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds. This concise structure encourages presenters to focus on the essence of their message, making it both informative and engaging.

In a group setting, students can collaborate to create a series of visual images that tell their story succinctly. This method is particularly useful for large classes eager to share their ideas quickly and effectively, ensuring that presentations are both comprehensive and time-efficient.

Cover Story

Best for: Visioning, creative thinking, summarizing key concepts
Time: 30-90 minutes
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers, or a digital whiteboard

The Cover Story method challenges participants to create a magazine cover that highlights their achievements or explores a particular topic in depth.

By designing elements such as headlines, images, and feature stories, participants can sum up key information and choose what to highlight in a visually engaging way. Cover Story is also great container for a group presentation, providing a framework that enables learners to apply knowledge, demonstrate understanding and then talk the group through each element.

Whiteboard Rotation

Best for: Group discussions, peer learning, capturing diverse insights
Time: 10-30 minutes
Materials: Whiteboards, flipcharts, or digital collaboration tools

Whiteboard Rotation transforms passive presentations into active, peer-driven discussions. Participants rotate between different topic stations, adding ideas, building on others’ thoughts, and engaging in structured dialogue. After a few rounds of board enrichment, the final whiteboards are then presented back to the group.

Whiteboard Rotation ensures everyone in the group is able to participate and provides a dynamic backdrop for collaborative learning. In a physical setting, take photographs of the whiteboards at the end and share with your learners. In a virtual setting, simply keep the whiteboards up and encourage students to come back, reflect further and add any different perspectives as they come up!

Six Words

Best for: Distilling key messages, reflection, engaging discussions
Time: 10-30 minutes
Materials: Paper or digital notes

The Six Words method challenges participants to capture the essence of a topic, presentation, or key takeaway in just six words. This constraint fosters clarity, creativity, and deep thinking, making it an excellent way to reinforce learning and encourage concise expression.

In situations where you want trainees or learners to present something to the group but you’re short on time, Six Words is a great option. It’s particularly effective for closing sessions, prompting meaningful reflection and ensuring that participants distill their thoughts into an impactful and memorable core message.

Final thoughts on active learning

Each of these active learning methods brings energy, engagement, and collaboration to your sessions.

Whether you’re leading a classroom, a training workshop, or a professional learning group, using discussion-driven techniques like these deepens understanding and boosts retention—all while making learning more fun.

As for next steps, check out these resources to see how you might deploy these strategies and bring them to your next lesson or training session.

• The ADDIE model of instructional design is probably the best-known workcycle for creating learning programs and training sessions from the ground up. Discover how to use it and use our ADDIE model template to help structure your next learning project.
• Explore how to create an engaging training session agenda in this practical guide that will help you improve engagement and create more effective learning materials.
• Learn how Vlerick Business School uses SessionLab to deliver courses and training programs that deeply engage with active learning principles.

Is there anything missing from this list? Do you have any thoughts on active learning you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below, or join our friendly community to continue the conversation!

In this post, we’ll share some proven virtual icebreaker games used by real facilitators and help you find the right method for your virtual team. Whether you need a short activity to kick off a conference call or to help onboard new team members without making things awkward, we have you covered!

When teams start their meetings and workshops effectively, the outcomes and overall enjoyment of a session follows suite. An effective virtual icebreaker not only helps a team warm-up and arrive in the session, but it also helps build alignment and set the tone for the team meeting ahead. But how can you choose the right one for your remote team? What do you need to look for when choosing a virtual icebreaker ?

Read on to discover what makes an effective icebreaker for virtual teams and how to run them effectively. We’ll also share instructions and tips for 25 ready-to-use activities you can employ in your next video call or online meeting!

What is a virtual icebreaker? 

Virtual icebreakers are activities or games that are designed to help break down barriers and kick-off virtual workshops or events in a productive, welcoming manner. They are great for building relationships, warming up groups and establishing connections among remote teams.

The purpose of a virtual icebreaker can vary depending on the session you’re running, but generally, the goal is to create a comfortable and engaging atmosphere which prepares your virtual team for the work of the session ahead.

Virtual icebreakers can range from simple, short activities that invite participants to check-in with the group or share their progress, to more complex games that require teamwork and collaboration.

Sometimes, the purpose of a virtual icebreaker can be as simple as getting people talking or to learn one another’s names before dropping into breakout rooms. Whatever the format, the goal is always to help your team be present in the meeting and begin making connections.

Short virtual icebreakers

Short virtual icebreakers are activities that are designed to take only a few minutes, but still provide an opportunity for groups to connect and engage with each other at the start of a meeting. Here are a few examples you can add to your session with ease:

Remote: Change 3 things

This Change 3 things icebreaker is designed to perk up remote teams, ask them to pay attention and also have some fun too!

Start by getting the whole team on camera and ask everyone to observe other team members closely. Next, ask everyone to turn off their camera and change three things in 30 seconds. They might change something about their appearance, perhaps with a hat or costume change, or move something in the background! When everyone is done, get them back on camera and ask other team members to spot the differences and guess what has changed.

Take a Picture of Your Shoes

Take a Picture of Your Shoes is a quick and simple way to get meeting attendees quickly warmed up by simply asking them to take a picture of their shoes and share it with the group. Set a time limit and encourage creativity – wacky shoes or fun photographs are absolutely encouraged.

If you have time, ask for a few people to share a story behind their shoes or even get people in breakouts to discuss in small groups. You can even modify this activity to have your group vote on the best pair of shoes or story! We love the fact this icebreaker is incredibly simple but always invites fun and creativity into the meeting.

Rollercoaster Check-in

Rollercoaster Check-in is an interactive, visual method for kicking off any remote meeting.

Start this virtual icebreaker by inviting your team to an online whiteboard and draw a line resembling the ups and downs of a rollercoaster. Next invite each member of your group to place a picture or a post-it on the rollercoaster to represent where they are and how they’re feeling.

You might then ask people to share why they put themselves where they did, or simply use this as an opportunity to gauge overall energy in the room. I find it particularly effective to return to the rollercoaster at the end of a session and to ask people how their position might have changed.

Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament

In this online version of Rock, Paper, Scissors, randomly select a pair to face off in your video call and play a round. The winner stays in the game while the loser turns off their camera and becomes a cheerleader for another player. Keep playing until you have only one player remaining!

This fun virtual icebreaker is best played in gallery mode on Zoom so all participants can see each other and while it can sometimes descend into chaos, it is guaranteed to get people involved and generate laughter too.

Chat Waterfall

Chat Waterfall is an effective virtual icebreaker that enables you to get contributions from everyone in a large group with ease.

First, invite people to open up the chat in your video conferencing app. Next, ask an icebreaker question, but instruct people not to send their answer until you say so. Give a few moments and then have everyone press enter at the same time. The result is a wonderful cascade of answers you can then choose to highlight as a facilitator. Add a follow-up if you can or sum up the results as a segue for your next activity.

Chat Waterfall is an incredibly flexible icebreaker activity: whether you want to use it to start an in-depth discussion or just get people virtually communicating quickly.

One Word Method

One Word Method is one of my favourite activities for virtual team building. The game works by having one person start a sentence with by saying a single word. The next person then jumps in to add the next word to the sentence and play continues with each person in the room contributing a single word until the sentence is complete.

Sentences can end up being random, funny or nonsensical, but for an added challenge, set a theme for the group to follow and see if the group can collectively create a sentence that makes sense!

I particularly like setting a theme that matches the purpose of the workshop and using this to segue in a discussion, but it can also be fun to just see what strange places virtual teams go with this!

Virtual icebreaker questions

Sometimes, some simple virtual icebreaker questions are all you need to kick off a session effectively. Whether it’s about what’s on their bucket list, whether they’re a dog person or cat person, or simply what fictional character they most identify with, these kinds of questions are tried and tested.

For best results, pair these questions with Chat Waterfall, call on people to speak or break people into smaller groups to talk among themselves. Dropping a question into a group without structure or clear rules of engagement can be met with an awkward silence. I prefer to use these kinds of ice breaker questions in breakout rooms or in smaller groups and to tailor the specific questions to fit the team I’m working with.

Draw Your Mood

Draw Your Mood is a fun and creative icebreaker that helps remote teams express how they’re feeling—without using words. Participants are asked to quickly sketch an image, shape, or doodle that represents their current mood. After a few minutes of drawing, everyone shares their creations in the virtual meeting, explaining their artwork if they’d like.

This activity works well on video calls because it adds a visual, personal touch that sparks authentic conversations. Plus, it’s a lighthearted way to check in with your team’s emotional well-being.

The Feeling Wheel

The Feeling Wheel is a reflective icebreaker designed to help remote teams identify and share their emotions with greater clarity. The facilitator displays the Feeling Wheel—a tool that categorizes emotions into core feelings and more nuanced variations. Participants take a moment to reflect, then choose a word from the wheel that best describes how they’re feeling and share it with the group.

This activity fosters emotional intelligence, promotes open communication, and helps team members connect on a deeper level—even in virtual settings. It’s an excellent tool for remote teams to check in beyond the surface, creating a culture of empathy and psychological safety.

Virtual ice breakers for new team members

Virtual icebreakers can be particularly helpful for new team members who may feel isolated or disconnected in a virtual setting. Here are a few virtual icebreaker ideas that are ideal for welcoming new team members into the fold and to supplement your onboarding efforts.

The Desert Island

The Desert Island is an effective virtual icebreaker that allows your team to demonstrate their problem solving and collaboration skills. This icebreaker poses that age-old question of what we would do if stuck on a desert island while asking your team to think about what they would need to survive.

Start by sharing a list of items, some obvious and some less so. Ask each participant to choose 1-3 items they would take with them in order to survive on a desert island. In smaller groups, ask each person to select items, though with teams of over 10 people, it can be great to separate into breakouts and deliberate which items to bring as a team. The Desert Island is great for offering a framework for conversation with no single correct answer and which allows creative, individual responses.

Break the Ice with The Four Quadrants Activity

In the Four Quadrants activity fun game, each team member is given space for drawing the answers to four questions you’ll ask. You can run this using a virtual whiteboard or by asking participants to draw on paper and share their completed image with the whole team.

Start by sharing four questions with the team: for example, What do I bring to the group? What do I need from the group? What is your hobby? What is your vision for this group? Give each person 5-10 minutes to draw their answers and then bring the group back together to share what they’ve drawn. This activity encourages connection and is a great way to introduce something tangible and visual into a remote working environment.

Who are you? The pirate ship exercise

In Who are You, break the ice in a virtual meeting by inviting participants to imagine themselves as members of a pirate crew! Start by sharing the image of the crew of a pirate ship and ask each person to choose who they most identify with. Then ask everyone to share, either in the chat, verbally on in breakout groups.

This exercise can be as quick or as deep as you need and I love that it is easy for everyone to participate while also encouraging some critical thinking. Why do I feel more like the lookout than the Captain? Such games can prime team members work in the rest of the session and give rise to more ideas too!

9 Dimensions Team Building Activity

For teams looking for a more in-depth activity, the 9 Dimensions icebreaker activity is a great way to share strengths, weaknesses and preferred ways of working with the group.

Start by posting the 9 dimensions (Adventure, Career / Profession, Community Service, Creative Outlets, My Environment, Family & Friends, Health & Fitness, Personal Growth, Spirituality) in your virtual whiteboard or Google Doc for the team to copy. Next, ask everyone to add a coloured dot to each dimension based on whether they’re crushing it or have room to improve.

Finally, invite everyone to share one dimension for each coloured dot if they’re comfortable and have a short debrief on what everyone learned. By sharing and being vulnerable in this way, teams can learn a bit more about their colleagues and start to strengthen their relationships as a result.

Snapshot of my Life

The Snapshot of my Life icebreaker uses photographs to help bridge communication barriers and build connections in your remote team. Start by inviting your team to break the virtual ice by sharing a photograph from their life with the group. For new team members, this method can be a memorable way of getting to know their virtual colleagues!

You can modify this exercise by encouraging anonymous posting and having the group guess who each photo belongs to, or ask the group to share around a particular theme. With groups where trust is high, ask each team member to share one of the most recent photographs on their phone and tell a story about it.

Guess the Desk

A companion method to the above, Guess the Desk asks that participants take a photograph of their workspace and anonymously post it to the group. Next, have the group guess which desk belongs to whom and then invite the desk owner to talk a little bit about their workspace.

This activity can be great during an onboarding call or first meeting, as it naturally flows into conversations about how to work effectively and tech set-up, which can help position new members of the team for success. It can also serve to truly humanize everyone in the virtual team and kickstart team bonding you can follow up with later in the session. Who doesn’t like seeing the cute knickknacks, mementos or cool tools their colleagues are using!

Questions Only

Questions Only is a fast-paced icebreaker where participants can only speak in questions. In a virtual setting, two people start a dialogue (either on-camera or via chat), but the rule is they can only respond with questions. If someone makes a statement or hesitates too long, they’re “out,” and the next person jumps in.

Questions Only energizes remote meetings, sparks laughter, and sharpens quick-thinking skills. It’s perfect for shaking off video call fatigue and adding a dose of fun to your virtual sessions.

Whose Story Is It?

Whose Story Is It? is a storytelling game that’s perfect for virtual meetings where you want folks to get to know each other better. Participants submit short, interesting facts or stories about themselves in advance. During the session, the host reads each story aloud, and the team guesses whose story it is using polls, chat, or verbal guesses.

This activity is a fun way to learn surprising things about your colleagues, strengthen connections, and create memorable moments—all while keeping remote teams engaged and laughing together.

Object Meditation

Object Meditation is a simple yet effective virtual icebreaker designed to help remote teams pause, focus, and center themselves before diving into a meeting. Each participant selects a small object from their workspace—like a pen, mug, or plant—and spends a minute observing it closely, noticing details they might normally overlook. Afterward, team members briefly share what they observed.

Object Meditation helps reduce stress, improve focus, and bring participants into the present moment. It’s especially useful for grounding remote teams who may be juggling multiple tabs—both literally and mentally.

Virtual icebreakers to get people moving 

Virtual meetings often involve sitting in front of a computer screen for extended periods of time, which can be physically and mentally draining. Virtual icebreakers that involve movement can help to energize team members and improve their focus, productivity and general mental wellbeing. Even a quick stretch can do wonders for engagement!

Here are a few examples of virtual icebreakers to get people moving:

Stand up if

Combining movement and questions can be an effective way to warm-up both the body and the mind. In this virtual icebreaker activity, start by making a statement to the group such as, Have you ever climbed a mountain? If this statement is true, you must stand from your chair. Nominate the next person to make a statement and continue until everyone has had a chance to make a statement.

After a few statements, I like to invite the group to include a stretch or other optional movement when speaking, which other team members must then try to follow. Be sure to invite groups to be creative with their statements and perhaps take over towards the end to use statements which then apply to the session at hand.

Shake down

One of the quickest icebreakers I’ve ever run, Shake down is as simple and effective as they come and it has the bonus of encouraging physical activity among your virtual team! Begin by asking the group to stand if they’re able and then shake each of their limbs eight times in turn. After shaking both arms and legs, then repeat the cycle for four shakes, two shakes, then a final shake with a ninja kick or big cheer.

This game is proof that icebreakers do not need to be complicated in order to be fun, and I love that it can often shake a group awake and get them involved off the bat. It’s especially good for meetings in the after-lunch slump!

Follow the Follower

Encouraging movement and a little silliness can be one of the best ways to kick off a session where you need everyone to be present and willing to engage. Follow the Follower is a game that can be played virtually just as well as it can by people in the same location.

Start by designating one person as the leader and ask them to lead the group in a movement – yoga poses, terrible dance moves, whatever they like! After 10-15 seconds, the leader designates someone to take over, who chooses a new movement that everyone has to follow. Include music if you like but for best results, include a quick debrief at the end to give everyone a chance to reflect on what it was like to follow and indulge in a little bit of chaos!

Touch Blue

Modelling the characteristic simplicity and fun we want to see in our virtual icebreakers games, Touch Blue invites the group to find an object in their physical space matching a prompt and then bring it quickly back to the video call and show the camera. The last person to bring back an object gets to select the next one.

By using prompts like “touch something blue” or “touch something hot or noisy,” you can invite participants to be creative while sharing something from their lives. In some groups, you might ask groups to use their whole house and retrieve things from their kitchens or bathrooms. In any case, try to have space for folks to share stories about their favourite items and connect during the game!

Looking Around

This quick virtual game does double duty by encouraging participants to both do a little stretching while also learning a valuable lesson about the danger of previous associations.

Begin by asking your group to stand-up and let them know you’ll be giving them instructions for where to look. Lead them through a round of randomly saying directions while they follow your instructions. Next, make a change and let them know that down now means up and up means down while left and right remain the same. Lead another around and bask in the laughter and mistakes the group makes while warming up! If you’re feeling brave, add further wrinkles by inserting other instructions such as reverse, repeating the reverse of the previous action, or double, repeating the next action twice.

Rockstar Stretch

Rockstar Stretch is a fun, high-energy icebreaker designed to get remote teams moving and re-energized during virtual meetings. Participants stand up (or stay seated if preferred) and perform exaggerated “rockstar” poses—think air guitar strums, power stances, or dramatic microphone gestures—while adding stretches to loosen up. The facilitator can guide the stretches or encourage participants to lead with their own rockstar moves.

Rockstar Stretch is perfect for breaking up long virtual sessions, shaking off screen fatigue, and injecting a burst of positivity. It’s simple, lighthearted, and guaranteed to spark laughter while helping everyone feel refreshed and ready to focus.

Icebreakers for Zoom breakouts

Some virtual games are most effective when used in small, self contained groups where it might be easier to be vulnerable or simply quicker to share and discuss. Other times, breakouts might be necessary just because of the sheer size of your group!

While most of the games in this article can be used effectively in breakout groups, the virtual activities below are those that especially benefit from the format, whether you’re using Zoom or other video conferencing tools.

Check out our collection of the best games to play on Zoom for more.

Unique Thing in Common

Finding we have things in common with our colleagues is a gift. In this virtual ice breaker for Zoom, get people into pairs and invite them to find the most interesting or unexpected thing they have in common. This can work effectively with people who know each other well or people meeting for the first time, but be sure to highlight the need for a unique or unexpected thing in common.

If you have time, encourage returning groups to share their facts, though let them know in advance of going into breakouts. Some of the facts that can come up may want to stay between those people in the breakout!