By Cyndee Ownbey
The When and What of Icebreaker Games
I love great icebreaker questions and games! Done well, icebreakers invite women to share detailed information about themselves that might not come up in everyday conversation.
When women connect over shared experiences and personal preferences, relationships deepen.
I like to place icebreakers at the beginning of an event or meeting because they help break the ice! It’s easier for women to go deeper later after they’ve had the chance to interact and share on a surface level. For that reason, I typically don’t include many, if any, spiritual questions in my icebreaker games. We should always assume there are women in attendance that are unbelievers and new believers. Asking Bible trivia questions would only highlight what they don’t know. We don’t want to make any of the women in attendance uncomfortable.
Icebreakers for women’s ministry typically fall into four categories:
- Bingo-style – Women search for women in the room that meet specific criteria such as having been on a mission trip, played an instrument in high school, or doesn’t like to drink coffee.
- Single Questions – Ask the group members to share their answers to the same question. For example, “What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?”
- Multiple questions – These often involve asking each person in a group or at a table to complete and share a form with multiple blanks. You could ask women to share a list of their favorite things in specific categories (kitchen tool, local restaurant, TV show, holiday).
- Active – Games such as charades and Four Corners all require active participation. On a smaller scale, get your group up and moving by asking them to stand on one side of the room based on their response. For example, “Stand on this side of the room if you prefer tea and this side if you prefer coffee.”
You can find lots of free icebreaker games online. Here is a sample from Grow Church.
Create Your Own Icebreaker Game
It’s also a lot of fun to create your own icebreaker games. You can weave in questions that connect to the focus of your Bible study or women’s ministry meeting.
Here are a few quick tips if you’re creating your own icebreaker game:
- Determine the purpose. Is it to connect with the topic? Is it a holiday celebration? Are you focused on building relationships?
- Select your format. Are you asking a question or questions? Do you want to create a bingo-style game? Does it require movement? Do you need to make and print out a worksheet?
- Write out the instructions and questions and invite a team member to review them. They might see a question or a task that needs to be changed if it could be a trigger or divisive.
- Gather your supplies.
- Deliver it with enthusiasm!
The delivery of your icebreaker game is just as important as its content! If icebreakers aren’t your thing, delegate the task to a woman that will be able to create an exciting and fun experience for the whole group. Enthusiasm is key!
Icebreakers on Social Media
Icebreakers aren’t just for in-person gatherings either—consider posting a weekly icebreaker question on your ministry’s social media page or group to build community. I recently posted this question in our church’s women’s ministry Facebook group: “What’s the most useless thing you have memorized?” I was laughing out loud at some of the responses. One of our ladies typed out the lyrics for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air intro. Several responded that they, too, knew them by heart!
The Takeaway
Icebreakers are a great tool for helping your women get to know one another better, which leads to deeper spiritual conversations and an openness to sharing their struggles so we can point them back to Christ.
