Beginning a new year can be challenging.  You probably have new teens that don’t know each other very well.  Other teens may be shy and nervous.  To help get your group in the SPIRIT, here are some icebreakers and group activities to help engage, connect, and motivate your teen group.

Ice-Breaker Activity: M&M Tell-About-Yourself Game

Fill a bowl with M&Ms or Skittles.  Invite teens to take some.  Then break the news to them that they have to tell one thing about themselves for each piece of candy they have. Assign specific questions or topics to each color.  For instance:
Red: What is your favorite movie?  Quote a line from it.
Green: If you could have any superpower for one day, what would it be?  Why? What would you do?
Brown: Where is some place you would like to travel and why?
Orange: What are you proud of about yourself?  What is an accomplishment of which you are most proud?
Blue: Whom do you admire most?

from Icebreakers for Teen Groups by Chris Tures and Therese Sherlock

Energizing Ice-Breaker Activity: Seat-Shifting

This activity gets your teens moving and laughing once they’ve begun to learn each others' names.  Arrange chairs in a circle facing inward, one for each teen.  Everyone sits down.  The group leader makes a statement such as “If you are wearing white socks, move 3 seats to the left.”  Since not all of the teens will be wearing white socks, some will move and others will not.  This will lead to hilarious pile-ups and vacancies in seats bringing teens together spatially and humorously.

Other possible statements –
If you have a hat on, move two seats to the (left or right)
If you like the Yankees (or some other sports team), move…
If you have a driver’s license…
If you have more than one sibling…
If you can speak Spanish…
If you play soccer (or baseball or basketball)…
If you have a logo on your clothing…

from Icebreakers for Teen Groups by Chris Tures and Therese Sherlock