6 Fun And Engaging Icebreakers For Elementary Small Groups

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The first meeting or session between people of an elementary small group can be awkward, especially if the participants don’t know each other. The best way to relieve this awkwardness is to break the ice and make the interactions fun. For people who don’t know each other well, icebreakers can be a good way to create a rapport for future interactions. 

Icebreakers come in different forms and shapes. Generally, icebreakers are only effective if they are structured to meet the participants’ interests. If you are dealing with an elementary small group, you need icebreakers that children of that age will enjoy. 

Choosing the right icebreakers is critical for the experience. That is why we provide six options that will help your small group.

  1. Questions To Get To Know Each Other

The primary purpose of any icebreakers for elementary small groups is to help the participants know each other better. Asking each other questions to discover personal details can be a good way to break the ice. 

Such questions do not have to be highly personal. The questions will serve the purpose as long as they reveal some personal details about the people involved.

The “get to know you” questions work best if facilitated by the leader of the small group. A simple structure could be asking the participants to introduce themselves and give a fun fact about themselves. 

You can alternatively go for structured questions such as asking about a favorite vacation, plans for the future, and pet peeves.

  1. Two Truths, One Lie

Two Truths and one lie is a classic icebreaker game that helps people develop creative skills while still knowing each other better. The game’s basic rules are that anyone speaking must give two factual statements and one false one, then asks the rest to try and guess which one is true or false. The person who gets the answers right wins the game and gives the next round of statements.

This game can be fun and engaging, especially for people who don’t know much about each other from the beginning. It can also help the small group develop good problem-solving skills by using deduction to identify the true and false statements while still having fun.

  1. Charades

Charades is a fun and competitive guessing icebreaker challenge that can relieve tension in a small elementary group. The game has simple instructions and can be played by people of all ages. 

The simple thought behind the game is that one person acts out a scenario or a word while the others in the team guess it. They win the game if they can guess it within the set time. However, if they fail, the scenario or word goes to the next team to allow them to guess.

One variation of the game could also be having the group act out the scene while one person tries to guess it. This variation can be hilarious as everyone tries to act out one scenario.

  1. Would You Rather

Would You Rather is another classic icebreaker game good for people of all ages. The game asks the participants a series of options where they are expected to choose which option they would instead do. 

In the Would You Rather game, the primary intention is to get explanations for the choices, which are meant to be fun and engaging. 

These explanations reveal a lot about the personality of the people giving them and can help the group to know each other better.

You can use different online tools to get questions for a Would You Rather game. However, check whether the questions are appropriate for the children in your elementary small group before using them.

  1. Deserted Island Game

Hypothetical situations are a fun way to explore critical thinking capabilities and problem-solving skills among the participants of an elementary small group. You can use the Deserted Island Game to develop these skills while having fun and relieving tension in the group. 

In the Deserted Island Game, the participants share a list of three items they will bring with them if they are deserted on an island. Just as with Would You Rather, the fun aspect of this game is the explanations the participants give for the items they carry. 

You can make this game even more interesting by asking the participants to share a list of three items from a specific category. Examples could include movies, books, or songs.

  1. Concentration Song Game

The Concentration Song Game is a unique icebreaker challenge for young people. For this game to work, the facilitator starts by singing one line of the song. The following person in the game should then create a song that has as its first word the last word of the previous song. 

The game might appear technical in the beginning. But once everyone gets the hang of it, it can be a fun way to break the ice.

Final Thoughts

Icebreakers always help groups get to know each other better, especially when a small group meeting is just starting. They also help the participants get alert and attentive before the session begins. You can try out the six options above and find out which ones work best for you and your elementary small group, and have some fun while at it!

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