Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

Silent signals is a fun, in-office game where players pass a series of mime gestures down a line, trying to keep the message intact. Think of it like a game of telephone but without speaking—just silent, exaggerated gestures that often get hilariously misunderstood along the way.

It’s a great way to get everyone laughing and focusing on non-verbal communication. Plus, the confusion at the end is always worth the effort!

How to play:

• The first person mimes a gesture to the next person.
• The mime gets passed down the line.
• The last person tries to guess what the original gesture was!

Many people might remember this game from their childhood. Commonly used as an exercise to get kids to enhance their listening skills, this simple yet effective game still works just as well in adulthood!

How to play:

‍Gather everyone on your team and have them line up or sit in a big circle. There is a group leader who whispers a sentence into the first person’s ear. That next person whispers that same (hopefully) sentence into their neighbor's ear, and the game continues as such.

This is a perfect game for large teams, as not much is needed, and it’s more challenging to get the message across perfectly the more people it goes through.

Materials you’ll need: Just your team and space to the lineup, or sit in a circle.

How many people: Small to large teams (8-25+ people)

This easy game is perfect for breaking up an in-person meeting with a quick exercise that encourages listening and concentration, depending on the size of your team, which can be done in a meeting or break room.

How to play:

‍Set up chairs in a circle facing one another so your team members do not face to face. This game is about listening, so get ready to use your ears and not your eyes. Have your employees start counting from one to ten or higher if you’re a big group. Each person goes around in a circle saying a number, but since you are not looking at one another, you have to be patient and listen carefully for your neighbor to speak theirs. If you interrupt them, you start back at zero and start the whole game again.

Materials you’ll need: Just your team and enough chairs and space to have your whole team sit in a circle.

How many people: Small to mid-sized teams (8 to 16 people)

Get ready to sweat, strategize, and laugh together. The Obstacle Course Challenge throws your team into a physical adventure filled with ropes, walls, and adrenaline. But it's not just about conquering obstacles; it's about conquering them together. You'll shout encouragement, lend a hand, and celebrate each victory as a united front. Through the sweat and cheers, you'll find yourselves communicating better, trusting more, and learning that each member's strength boosts the whole team. It's teamwork, it's a workout, and it's a whole lot of unforgettable fun.

Instructions

• Nominate a team leader for organized coordination.
• Familiarize teams with the course layout and safety rules.
• Teammates support each other to conquer physical challenges.
• Offer encouraging words and provide guidance during tough spots.
• End the challenge with a triumphant team cheer to boost morale.

How to play What’s new (in my office)?

If you have a lot of virtual meetings with the same people, it can be a fun idea to throw in some changes now and then. For this game, send out a note prior to the meeting instructing everyone to add one new thing to their normal working space or background. Then, during the meeting, everyone should take turns observing the work space of their colleagues and seeing if they can point out what’s new.

The new item can be anything from a plant on the desk to a silly poster on the wall. Obviously, this game only works well for people who are used to being in virtual events in the same space with their camera on. For that reason, it’s a nice way to mix up daily status meetings or weekly department meetings.

How to play Pass the clap game

Pass applause around the circle! To play, participants should gather in a circle and the leader will start the clap. Other players take turns clapping in a clockwise direction until the leader makes the final clap. There are some other variations, too. For example, the participants can start the clap slowly and then gradually increase the tempo over rounds.

The spelling bee is a great opportunity for the more introverted members of your workforce to display some raw talent.

How to play Spelling bee

A host will need to make a list of words, with increasing difficulty. Try adding in ‘bonus’ rounds where spellers will need to spell the word backwards.

Keep your team moving with healthy hustle challenge! Teams work together on daily wellness goals—whether it’s step counts, hydration, or stretching breaks—and track their progress in a shared spreadsheet. It's a fun way to keep each other accountable and celebrate small wins.

This challenge is a great motivator to stay healthy while working remotely, with a little team spirit and friendly competition sprinkled in.

How to play:

• Set daily wellness goals (e.g., steps, hydration, or workouts).
• Teams track their progress in a shared spreadsheet.
• Celebrate the team with the best overall progress at the end!

Learning how our colleague's minds work enables us to see things from their perspective. Blind Drawing tests your employee’s abilities to interpret the instructions provided by their partner.

Great for: Communication, observation, listening

Duration: 10 minutes

Players: 6+

You’ll need: Pen, paper, reference images

How to play Blind Drawing

Setup: Divide your group into pairs and ask them to sit back to back. Give one player from each pair a reference image and give the other player the pen and paper.

To play: The player with the pen and paper must attempt to draw the reference image by listening to the instructions provided by their partner. The drawer cannot speak or communicate in any way—they must do their best with the instructions they’re given. When the time runs out, ask each team to present their drawing. The team whose drawing most resembles the reference image wins.

How to play Question mix and mingle

For this game, every participant creates 3 thoughtful questions that will help them get to know the other people better. Write each question down on a separate post-it note. Have everyone start to mingle and ask and answer questions in pairs. After asking a question and hearing the answer, the person should hand over the question they just asked. This means that in each meeting, participants will swap one question each. This event is great for groups up to 50 or 60 people.

How to play Sell me this pen

One of the most popular sales training activities and a simple workplace competition, in this game you simply hand each person a pen and have them take a turn selling it to the larger group. What is the sales pitch? What are the questions and objections? Who has the best selling points? After the activity, have a discussion about what stuck out to everyone - what worked and what didn’t. Not only does this force people to get more comfortable with public speaking, but everyone can learn some new tricks, too.

How to play 10 things I do well

Another version of simply sharing information about yourself, ask people to come up with a list of ten things they do well. It’s a good idea to have a pen and paper at each place setting in advance so that people can brainstorm. Have everyone stand up and share their list with the group. This is actually a really powerful way to understand group dynamics and who is best for what, which is important for collaboration in the workplace. Plus, it’s a sort of forced reminder for individuals about what they are good at, which is a confidence builder.

Popular in interview settings and among new teams, Pass the ball is an effective ice-breaker that both unites and energizes employees. It couldn’t be simpler to play either.

How to play Pass the ball

Standing in a circle, one person starts by throwing a ball to a colleague and asks them a question as they do so.

The catcher answers, then repeats the process with another teammate. This continues for as long as you wish to play. Potential questions include:

• “What’s your fondest childhood memory?”
• “Where did you grow up?”
• “What was the last movie you watched at the cinema?”
• “If you could have a superpower, what would it be?”
• “Would you rather have legs for arms or arms for legs?”
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To keep people entertained and inject more energy into proceedings, try to pass the ball and ask/answer questions as quickly as possible. You could also set rules (e.g. “if you drop the ball you have to do a dare” or “only open-ended questions allowed”) to add another level of fun to the game.

Setting clear goals involves defining your objectives with precision, making them more achievable. The SMART criteria are a useful framework for goal-setting:

• Specific: Clearly define what you want to accomplish.
• Measurable: Establish concrete criteria for measuring your progress. This might involve quantifiable metrics or milestones.
• Achievable: Ensure that your goals are realistic and attainable.
• Relevant: Align your goals with your overall objectives and values
• Time-Bound: Set a timeframe for achieving your goal.

Instead of a wishy-washy goal like "be better at work," let's get as specific as a project deadline. Say something like "we will increase project efficiency by 20% in the next three months by focusing on XYZ "

SMART Activity:

Introduction (15 minutes):

• Explain SMART goals and its components in simple terms.
• Stress the importance of clear and realistic goal-setting.

Examples and Discussion (20 minutes):

• Provide examples of SMART and non-SMART goals.
• Engage in a discussion on why goals meet or fail to meet SMART criteria.

Breakout Session (30 minutes):

• Divide participants into small groups.
• Assign each group a broad goal (e.g., "improve productivity," "enhance communication").
• Instruct groups to break down the goal into specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound components.

Group Presentations (20 minutes):

• Each group presents their SMART goals.
• Encourage constructive feedback and group discussion.

Reflection and Adjustment (15 minutes):

• Facilitate a reflection session.
• Participants share insights and challenges.
• Discuss adjustments to make current goals SMART.

Individual Goal Setting (20 minutes):

• Participants set a personal or professional SMART goal.
• Provide guidance and support as needed.

Routine coffee breaks in brick and mortar offices provide the foundation for the development of employee relationships. Without this frequent interaction, remote teams can struggle to discuss topics outside of work.

How to play Virtual coffee breaks

That’s where virtual coffee breaks come in. Now, you can establish routine online coffee breaks for your employees, allowing them to unwind and socialise with their colleagues while sipping on their favourite hot beverage. You can use any kind of video chat software to do this such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, or Microsoft Teams.

How to play Who did it?

This game is helpful for learning about what your colleagues do outside of work. To begin with, everyone should get a piece of paper and pen, and write down one interesting thing they’ve done. Then, all the notes are placed in a container, and a facilitator pulls them out one at a time and reads them alive. Everyone else in the room should guess who the individual was who completed that activity. For example, if one prompt is “skydiving”, then everyone would guess who among them was most likely to have done that. The more creative people get, the better!

Comic craze is a creative and collaborative activity where teams build a comic strip together. Each person draws a panel, passing it along to the next person to continue the story. It’s a fun way to let imaginations run wild and see how a simple idea can evolve into something hilarious.

This game is ideal for encouraging creativity and team bonding, with lots of room for unexpected twists in the storyline.

How to play:

• Provide each team with blank comic strip panels.
• The first person draws a panel, then passes it along for the next person to continue.
• Once complete, the team presents their comic strip for some laughs!

How to play Budget balance

For all the math geeks out there! Give each participant a word problem describing an individual’s income and spending habits, such as regular bills and discretionary spending. Does the imaginary individual have a balanced budget? Or perhaps they have a serious spending problem. Who can figure it out first? This is a fun little math competition that can be done independently. Make sure to provide calculators.

Extreme rock, paper, scissors takes the traditional playground game to a new level. This time, Instead of battling it out in pairs, your employees will attempt to overthrow the competition in teams.

Great for: Energization

Duration: 10 minutes

You’ll need: Plastic hula hoops (approx. 15)

How to play:

• Lay the hoops in a line on the ground and leave a gap of 50cm between each one.
• Divide your group into two teams and position them at either end of the line of hoops.
• When you shout “Go!” one player from each team starts hopping through the hoops towards the opposition.
• When they meet in the middle, they play rock, paper, scissors.
• The loser exits the hoop and jogs back to their team. Meanwhile, the winner continues hopping forward towards the opposition and a player from the other team steps in to replace their fallen comrade.
• When the two players meet, they play rock, paper, scissors again.
• Play continues until a player reaches the opposing team’s starting hoop. The first team to land in their opponent's starting hoop wins.

A challenge that appears simple on the surface, which involves food and is great for teambuilding? Sign us up for that!

The spaghetti and marshmallow challenge uses common items for an experiment in creativity and communication.

Whether used for a team offsite, workshop warm-up, or an onboarding icebreaker, this game reveals how your group thinks, collaborates, and adapts under pressure, one spaghetti strand at a time.

What you’ll need:

The setup for this activity is simple. You won’t need a full-on kitchen, but you will need some level tables. Each team should have:

• 20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti
• 1 yard (or meter) of masking tape
• 1 yard (or meter) of string
• 1 marshmallow (full-sized, not mini!)
• Scissors
• Measuring tape or ruler
• An adjustable timer on display

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Divide participants into teams of 4–5 people and give each group the same set of supplies. Clear a flat workspace for each team, as the towers must end up freestanding (no walls, chairs, or extra support) and hold the marshmallow at its peak for at least five seconds.

Before starting, check that every team understands that the materials are limited. Once the spaghetti breaks or the tape runs out, that’s it (sorry, no refunds or exchanges!).

How to play (step-by-step instructions)

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to start this teambuilding challenge:

Step 1: Brief your teams

Invite your teams into the construction site (aka the office or cafeteria) and explain the challenge clearly. Their task is to build the tallest freestanding tower possible that can hold a marshmallow on top. They’ll also be working against the clock, and the amount of time is up to you. We find that 18 minutes works best, as 15 feels too short, and 20 is a bit too long. In those 18 minutes, teams need to plan, build and test their structure. The marshmallow must be placed at the top of the tower and remain intact at the end of the countdown.

Step 2: Give out your materials

Hand out the same materials to every team (no favoritism and no extras) once they start. Encourage groups to check their supplies carefully and to delegate their roles in the group. They might get the best results if one person cuts, tapes, or tests. The key to this is collaboration right from the start, so make sure each person has a role before the building begins.

Step 3: Start the clock

Give them the countdown, then let’s get to building! The moment the countdown begins, you’ll see some teams get stuck straight into building, while others will plan more carefully. Both are fascinating to watch. Remind everyone that the marshmallow is a bit heavier than it looks, so they might want to test their structure as they go, instead of going into panic mode at the final minute.

Step 4: Check stability

When time runs out, tell each team to keep their hands off, and have them all step back. Each tower must stand on its own for at least five seconds while supporting the marshmallow. Any tower that collapses or leans on outside support is disqualified (no exceptions!).

Step 5: Measure and celebrate your noodle champions

Use your measuring tape to see whose tower stands tallest. Take a moment to consider your chosen winner, and once you’ve decided, start saying what you like about the non-winning towers. Every team should get a little shoutout for their designs, even if they are super wonky! This is a light-hearted teambuilding challenge, so keep it light with cheers for losers and team photos. Those crooked towers are often the most memorable.

Facilitator tip:

Encourage participants to iterate quickly and test early. The most successful teams usually build, break, and rebuild rather than overanalyzing. As the facilitator, resist giving design advice, as the discovery process is where the real teamwork happens.

Debrief: What did teams learn?

The challenge is playful on the surface, but there’s a whole lot of teambuilding happening in a short amount of time. Watching towers rise and collapse in real time sets the gears in motion for communication and being able to adapt when faced with uncertainty.

• Prototype beats perfection: The most successful teams are the ones that try new ideas and test them early, not those who spend 15 minutes planning and 3 minutes building. Early prototypes bring flaws to the surface and teach teams that feedback and iteration matter more than rigid plans.

• Communication makes or breaks the build: With the clock ticking, good communication becomes a team’s strongest tool. Actively listening to each other and sharing decision-making can turn chaos into collaboration. Those who communicate most often have the greatest output.

• Leadership and flexibility: Strong leaders will emerge naturally, but the best leaders are able to delegate, encourage and adapt, without trying to control everything. Every failed tower is a reminder that shared ownership leads to better outcomes than one-person command.

• Embracing and iterating on failure: Try as we might to stop it, every first attempt is likely to tumble. That’s the whole point. Your teams will learn quickly that recovery and rebuilding are as valuable in games as they are in your office projects. 

FAQs

How long does the challenge take?

The session usually lasts around 25 to 30 minutes, including the setup, build and short debrief at the end. It’s perfect as a warm-up activity or energizer during a workshop or offsite.

Can the challenge be done virtually?

With the right preparation, yes, the challenge can be done remotely. Each member can build their own mini tower at home while joining a shared video call. Materials can be mailed in advance or substituted with what people have on hand.

‍What’s the ideal team size?

Generally, groups of four to five work best. Smaller teams communicate faster, while larger ones can quickly become tangled in too many ideas.

How to play Recall quiz (at the end of an event)

How about a little icebreaker to wrap things up? Most icebreakers are at the beginning, but with longer events, we suggest interspersing them throughout - including the end. Have everyone go around the room and share their biggest takeaway from the day. Or, have a list of quiz-style questions that you ask everyone and see who can remember the most answers. Recall is an important part of memory, so this is a great time to reiterate the concepts that you really want people to take away.

How to play:

Create bingo cards with different safety-related actions or reminders in each square (e.g., "wore safety goggles," "reported a hazard"). Distribute these cards to employees and encourage them to mark off squares as they observe these actions throughout the day. The first person to get a bingo wins a small prize.

Safety bingo blitz makes safety awareness engaging. It's like regular bingo but with a twist that reinforces good safety practices. Everyone loves a good game of bingo, and it's a great way to keep everyone alert and involved in maintaining a safe work environment.

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How to play Nature Collage

Want to do a creative Field Day activity? Try making nature collages. You’ll need glue, thin wooden boards (or pieces of card), and access to somewhere like a local park, forest, or beach – anywhere with an abundance of natural materials lying around, such as twigs, leaves, grass, and flowers.

Next, split into teams and spend 15 minutes gathering your items. From there, you can work together to design an attractive layout with them before sticking everything down onto the wooden boards (or cardboard, if you’re using lightweight items, like leaves). By the end of the activity, you should have a set of attractive natural collages to put on display at home or in the office.

Is bad weather at risk of spoiling your Field Day?

Don’t worry. You can take the fun inside and turn this activity into a tissue paper collage instead. For this version, you’ll need lots of colored tissue paper, large pieces of thick cardboard to act as the “canvas,” glue, paintbrushes, and scissors. After dividing into your teams, work together to cut out tissue paper shapes and then glue them to the card to create tissue paper masterpieces!

How to play:

Create a set of cards with safety-related images or terms and their corresponding definitions or explanations. Lay the cards face down and have employees take turns flipping two cards to find matches. The player with the most matches wins.

A safety memory match game is a fun and engaging way to reinforce safety concepts and terminology. It improves memory and recall while adding a playful element to learning. A simple game that can be enjoyed by everyone, making it a great addition to training sessions.