12 Fun Youth Ministry Icebreaker Games for Small Churches

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission from purchased products at no additional cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

Break the ice. When you have a youth group, you want there to be a moment where you, your students, and your leaders break the ice. This moment allows the students to let down their guard, be more willing to be open to sharing, and able to connect to the group. Youth ministry icebreakers are an easy yet great way to get to know your students in a silly/non-serious way.

Icebreakers are fantastic because they’re accessible and can be played by everyone. Icebreakers also feed on being in the moment–doing the thing, thinking about something, or acting something out. Icebreakers require little to no brain power, little prep, and no prerequisites, so everyone can enjoy them and be involved.

How to Choose the Right Icebreaker for Your Youth Group

Icebreakers bring an element that sometimes is amiss from big group games. Ice breaker games can happen and be successful with 20 students, and also with 5 students. This allows us as youth pastors to figure out what icebreakers would be great to challenge our students, make them think about different scenarios to choose from, or work together to solve a problem.

Icebreakers are also a great option for youth groups, because most of the icebreakers listed below can be played in just 5 minutes. You, as the leader, can make an ice breaker last 5 minutes or 20 minutes, however much time you have in your programming for games.

Icebreakers are great games to play with your students because they give the students a moment to speak their mind. It gives the students a moment to pick what they feel. It gives a moment for the group to get to know each other and allows a space for each person to be heard.

Icebreakers also create great bonds with students because, in many icebreakers, students discover who else in the room feels the same as them. They can look around and know who else loves history as a subject and who hates math.

12 Fun Youth Ministry Icebreaker Games for Small Churches

1. Would You Rather

• Objective – Students are given two different categories or scenarios, and they have to pick one.
• Group Size – There is no minimum or maximum to play; any number of students works.
• Materials Needed – None
• Time Limit – This game is successful if you give at least 10 minutes for discussion.

How to Play – Would You Rather is an ice breaker involving choice. You give your students two choices, and they have to choose which one they would rather do. You can play where you just ask two different things and immediately go around the circle, and each person chooses. Alternatively, though, there is a version of this game that makes it a little bit more exciting. After you give your students the two options to choose from, allow 5 minutes for students to ask more questions about the options (recommend you use a timer). Some examples of questions students may ask about each option:

• Do I have to choose this forever or just today?
• Do I get to choose when or not I have this thing?
• When does it start?
• Am I choosing it for myself or someone else?
• How big is the house if I choose that option?

Allowing the students to ask deeper questions gets the students to consider the details of the options. The leader running Would You Rather would choose the answers to the questions based on a whim. The students can use the questions to help finalize their choices. After your 5-minute timer ends, go around the circle and let everyone have a chance to share the option they chose.

Why It Works – This game works because it takes the typical Would You Rather to the next level. It isn’t just a simple choice question; it allows students to have fun with the options. This gives the students more information about the options so they can make a better choice. This also allows the students to work together on their questions to get more details from the leader about the choice. This also adds more fun to this game because it allows the students and leaders to be creative with their questions and answers.

2. Rock, Paper, Scissors Cheer

• Objective – Be the last person standing.
• Group Size – Any group size works, but recommended to have at least 10 people.
• Materials Needed – None
• Time Limit – 5-10 minutes, depending on time. Play this game 2-3 times.

How to Play – Everyone knows how to play rock, paper, scissors. This game is an extension of the normal rock, paper, scissors. The extension is that if you win a round of rock, paper, scissors, you continue on in the “game play”. But if you lose, you then become the cheerleader for the person you lost to. Keep playing until there is a winner at the end, and allow the space for all of your students to cheer for the winner. At the end, when two people are left, you will have two people playing and a group of students behind each student, cheering them on.

Why It Works – All of us enjoy a good hype man. We like to be encouraged. We like to be cheered for. This game is just that. You get to see your students cheer each other on. It is also really fun to see the students playing and having their fellow peers cheer them on. Guaranteed there will be a smile from that person, because it feels good to have people cheering you on and have your back. Challenge the students to be the loudest group. Let the students get as loud as they’d like.

3. Quick Draw

• Objective – Draw the prompt the leader gives you with a partner.
• Group Size – This ice breaker works with a small group or a larger group. The game is played by students getting into pairs. If you have a smaller group (2-3) show up, just have them do the activity all together.
• Materials Needed – Paper and pens (2 different pen colors)
• Time Limit – 10-15 minutes

How to Play – This game is all about drawing, but with a partner. Put your students in pairs. The leader will pass out the paper and pens to the pairs of students. Give the partners two different colors of pens, so when you look at the final drawing, you can see the different colors for each partner and what they drew. The leader will give the students a prompt, and they will have to work as a pair to take turns drawing the prompt. The partners will only be able to draw one line at a time. After the students have finished their prompt, let the students “show and tell” their drawing–explaining the details to the others in the room.

Some examples for prompts:

• Mickey Mouse eating an ice cream cone
• A house with a tree on the roof
• SpongeBob with Mickey ears on
• Your youth pastor riding a bike
• A castle with a princess

Variation – There are different ways to elevate this game.

• Partners have to stay silent while they are drawing.
• One partner is excused from the room while the is drawing. This would mean they have to look at the picture and continue to draw based on what their partner has done.
• The leader gets the papers from the partners and explains their drawing. Make it fun!

Why It Works – This ice breaker allows the students to have fun, but also try to draw the prompt. This game works best when the drawings aren’t great, but you or your leaders make it into a fun bit or silly joke. For example: “I think that’s a tree, but really it looks just like Andrew’s hair!” Allow the students to be praised for what they draw and encourage them in what they drew together as a pair. This ice breaker is great for the students who love to draw and now get the opportunity to “show off” their drawing abilities.

4. Answer Correctly

• Objective – You are trying to guess the correct answer.
• Group Size – Small groups and larger groups work with this ice breaker
• Materials Needed – None
• Time Limit – 10 minutes

How to Play – This ice breaker is all about getting to know people: you, your leaders, or your students. This ice breaker is played where the leader asks a question and the students try to guess the correct answer. Allow several students to guess the correct answer, and after you have gotten several guesses, reveal the correct answer. Praise the student who got the answer correctly. This is a fun way for your students to get to know you. If time allows, let a student take a turn asking the questions while the other students guess their right answer.

Some examples of questions:

• What is my favorite color?
• What is my favorite season?
• Do I like Starbucks or Dunkin’ better?
• What is my favorite candy?
• What is my favorite Disney movie?
• What is my favorite Bible story?

Variation – Allow the students to come up with some questions.

Why It Works – This ice breaker is such an easy way for your students to get to know you. We are so busy that we might not have the time to have a one-on-one conversation with our students. When we do, most of the time we are the ones asking the questions.

5. Describe the Movie Badly

• Objective – To get the students to guess the correct movie.
• Group Size – Any size
• Materials Needed – None
• Time Limit – 10 minutes

How to Play – The leader will choose some movies (recommended that you pick movies you know the students will know). Tell the students that you will give 3 clues, and after the 3 clues are given, they can guess. Use only general clues. Don’t use names. After the group of students has guessed, reveal whether somebody got it right or not. If they get it right, move on to the next movie; if they get it wrong, give them more clues.

Some examples of movies and starting clues:

• Lion King: A character in this movie has a lot of pride, a character runs away, there is some confusion about what a star is.
• Little Mermaid: There’s a character that collects things but is still not satisfied, going to the surface is frowned upon, and silence is a character’s main role.
• Up: The main character is not afraid of heights, we get a glimpse into the mind of a dog, and birds like chocolate.
• Superman: A character doesn’t feel like they can be themselves at work, flying is a main source of transportation, and the main character doesn’t have to go to the doctor to get an X-ray.
• Shrek: Two friends go on an adventure to save a two-faced person, fairytale creatures are a problem, and the main character likes onions.

Why It Works – This is a fun ice breaker to see how insightful your students are. There are going to be students for whom it clicks right away. On the other hand, you’ll have some students who still don’t get it even after 10 clues! This ice breaker is actually a great reminder about our preaching or lessons. When we are talking about something to our students, there will be students who will get it right away, and others who won’t. This ice breaker gives us the awareness that, as youth pastors, we still have to encourage both types of students.

6. Letter Words

• Objective – Come up with a word from the letters given.
• Group Size – Any size group will work. If you have a larger group, put students into two teams. Have one representative from each team come up at a time. If a smaller group, put the students in pairs and have the students work this ice breaker in pairs.
• Materials Needed – None
• Time Limit – 10 minutes

How to Play – This ice breaker can be played by anyone: leaders, students, or even parents. This ice breaker feeds off of spontaneity. Have two students come up, and the leader will count down 3, 2, 1. At the same time, the two students will say a letter of the alphabet. The leader will establish and tell the students which side is the start of the word and which is the end of the word. For example, the leftmost student’s letter starts the word, and the letter of the rightmost student ends it. The two students will say their letters, and the two of them will compete to come up with a word that fits the criteria: starting with one letter and ending with the other. The student who gets the word first gets a point. Play until everyone gets a point, a team gets to 5 points, or the time is up.

Variation – You can add these two elements to the game if needed:

• Add a timer: This is how long they have to think of a word. This element keeps the game moving. If neither student can come up with a word with the two letters, have them play rock, paper, scissors for the point.
• Add the element of where they try to beat you (the youth pastor) to come up with a word. Play the students vs you or the students vs the leaders. This also adds fun because, let’s be honest, they love it when they can beat us.
• If you feel like your students are having a hard time coming up with letters or you see that they are picking the same letters, you can put letters in a hat and pick out two letters. That way, they don’t have to come up with the letters. You can even add that the students pick the letters out of the hat.
• Give the students the first and last letter of the words they have to come up with, but they have to try to come up with the most words that fit that criteria. The team or pair with the most words (that are actual words, not made up) wins that round!

Why It Works – This ice breaker is a great way to keep the students on their toes. This ice breaker is unique enough that even if you played it every single time at your youth group, it would be different each time. It also allows creativity and insight as to what words they come up with. This ice breaker is great because, as you can see above, there are a lot of fun elements to this ice breaker that you can add.

7. Cut the Line

• Objective – Students will make a choice.
• Group Size – Any size
• Materials Needed – None
• Time Limit – 5-10 minutes

How to Play – This icebreaker is another version of Would You Rather. The icebreaker starts with everyone standing in the middle of the room in a single file line facing the front. The leader will give two options to choose from. Any players who choose the first option move to the left. Any who choose the second option move to the right. Make sure the students understand they have to make a choice. They can’t just stay in the middle. After each round, have the students reset to the middle before you give the next options.

Some examples of options are:

• Cats or dogs
• Waffles or pancakes
• Math or history
• Beach or mountains
• Night owl or morning person
• Introvert or extrovert
• Swim with either sharks or alligators

Variation – An element you can add is to have the students offer options to choose from.

Why It Works – This ice breaker is a great way to get to know your students. You can ask anything. If you want to know something about your students, ask! Let this ice breaker be the tool to get to know your students in a quick and easy way. Have your leaders play this ice breaker too so your students can get to know them as well.

8. Stand Up If

• Objective – Students will stand if the prompt applies to them.
• Group Size – Any size
• Materials Needed – None
• Time Limit – 5-10 minutes

How to Play – The leader will give a prompt to the group. The students will start sitting down, either on the floor or in chairs, and if the leader says a prompt that applies or that they agree with, they will stand up. The leader will have the students reset by sitting after each prompt/question.

Some examples of prompts:

• If you are the oldest sibling, stand up.
• If you are the younger sibling, stand up.
• If you like chocolate ice cream over vanilla, stand up.
• If you prefer Nike over Adidas, stand up.

Variation – You can add the element that each prompt gets a point. Every time you stand up for a prompt, you get a point. The student who has the most points at the end wins!

Why It Works – This is a great icebreaker to get to know your students, and the standing and sitting makes it interactive.

9. One Word Story

• Objective – Create a story as a group.
• Group Size – Any size
• Materials Needed – None
• Time Limit – 5-10 minutes

How to Play – Have your students sit in a circle. This ice breaker is used to create a story as a group. The leader will start the story. The story is created by each person adding one word at a time. Go around the circle several times, and then at the end have a student retell the story.

Variation – Give the students a theme that the story has to be about. You can also require that certain words have to be incorporated into the story at some point. For example: incredible, grandma, suspicious, and hairy.

Why It Works – This is always a fun ice breaker to see where the story starts and ends.

10. Line Up

• Objective – Students line up in order of the prompt.
• Group Size – Any size
• Materials Needed – None
• Time Limit – 5-10 minutes

How to Play – This icebreaker is designed to challenge the students to line up in order of the prompt. The leader will give a prompt and then give the students 30 seconds to get in a line in order.

Prompt ideas:

• Line up shortest to tallest
• Line up oldest to youngest
• Line up by birthday month (Jan. – Dec.)
• Line up by how long you have been attending this youth group
• Line up by name in alphabetical order (A-Z)
• Line up by length of arm (shortest to longest)

Variation – Students have to stay silent during the ice breaker and have to get in order without talking.

Why It Works – This icebreaker works on communication. It will also show you, within a few minutes, who the leaders of your group are. This ice breaker is guaranteed to push 1 or 2 students to take the lead and start moving people around.

11. Count Together

• Objective – Count together as a group to 21.
• Group Size – This ice breaker works best with a minimum of 4 people.
• Materials Needed – None
• Time Limit – 5-10 minutes

How to Play – This ice breaker is all about counting. The group will sit in a circle. Working together, the group will need to count to 21. The main rule, though, is that only one number can be said at a time. The element that makes this fun is that since anyone can say the next number at any time, there can be a time when two people might say the same number at the same time. If that happens, you have to start over. This ice breaker really works with timing and working together as a group.

Variation – You can change the number the students have to count to. If you are realizing that 21 is too hard, make the number 10. You can also let the students pick the number.

Why It Works – This ice breaker is guaranteed to create laughter when two people say a number at the same time. It’s oddly suspenseful as the group discovers how challenging it is to do such a seemingly simple task! It’s fun to watch your group work through this ice breaker. Celebrate the group in a big way when they get to the number.

12. Name Game

• Objective – Get to know the names of the students in your youth group.
• Group Size – Any size works, a minimum of 2 people.
• Materials Needed – None
• Time Limit – 5-10 minutes

How to Play – Have your students stand in a circle. To play this ice breaker, you need to give your students time to think of their “name” for the game. Their name for the game is a word or something that they like that starts with the same letter as their name, and then their name. For example: Shy Sara, Bubbly Brooke, Moose Mike, Travel Travis. The students will state their “name,” and then the next person in line will say the names of the people in front of them, and then add their name at the end. Challenge your students to see if they can say all of the names of the people in the circle in order of the circle.

Variation – If you want to make this ice breaker a little harder, you can change their “name” to be: adjective, animal, then their name all starting with the same LETTER of their first name. For example: Bubbly Baboon Brooke.

Why It Works – This ice breaker is a great way to get to know your students’ names. We all know that when someone says your name, that can be the reason you stay or leave.

Tips for Leading Icebreaker Games Successfully

• Set clear rules and a time limit.
• Always explain instructions in simple steps.
• Keep things lighthearted and encouraging.
• Be mindful of age range, personalities, and group dynamics.

For more youth ministry game ideas, you can explore this helpful resource.

Why Icebreakers Matter in Youth Ministry

Icebreakers are such an easy, but great way to connect your group. Whether it’s playing rock, paper, scissors, drawing, counting, or saying your name, all of those icebreakers bring different elements to who your students are in the room. They can give insight into what type of students are represented in your ministry. Knowing who is in the room is so important in programming, games, and events for your students.

If you get feedback from your students that they prefer waffles over pancakes, make waffles at the next breakfast event rather than pancakes. Use icebreakers to your advantage. Be the example. Play the icebreakers too with your students, so they can get to know you as well.

Most, if not all, of the icebreakers listed require zero equipment. Icebreakers feed on experience, feed on conversation, feed on being spontaneous in the moment. Needing equipment is not a barrier when it comes to icebreakers.

As a youth pastor, you want to invite your students into moments that seem effortless to get to know them. These icebreakers can be fun, but that’s not the main point. The main point is to be united as a group, get to know the people in your group, and THEN have fun.

Read More:

5 Fun Thanksgiving Youth Ministry Games For Small Churches

10 Great Indoor Youth Group Games For Small Churches

Build Relationships Within Your Youth Group – Small Church Ministry