124 Good Icebreaker Questions for Students/Adults

April 18, 2025

icebreaker questions for students

Picture a room full of strangers. They know close to nothing about each other, but they’re all gathered for a common purpose: school, camp, sports, hobbies, volunteering, the list goes on. Now picture yourself in that room with them. How will you strike up a conversation? Oftentimes icebreaker questions are the best way to crack that awkward silence interweaving itself between strangers. Even students who are skilled public speakers and good debaters can find themselves at an impasse because it’s important to strike the right balance: to not ask questions that are either too vague or too personal. If you’re looking for a variety of engaging icebreaker questions for teens or students, you’ve come to the right place. Take a look at the icebreaker questions below to see how you can get to know each other a bit better than before.

What Makes a Good Icebreaker Question?

Good icebreaker questions will help set everyone at ease, so they’re typically light-hearted and easy to answer. That said, what makes a great icebreaker will depend on your context. If students will be quickly announcing their answers to a large group, you might go for questions that are very low-stakes and don’t require much thought. If students will be answering questions in small groups or partners, though, you may be able to choose icebreakers that are deeper and more interesting.

To help you, we’ve organized our list of icebreaker questions into the following categories:

Fun Icebreaker Questions

  • What is the best joke you’ve told?
  • Was there ever a moment in your life when you laughed so much you cried?
  • What is the best joke you’ve heard?
  • Who is the funniest person in your life and why?
  • Who is definitely not the funniest person in your life and why?
  • Do you think that clowns are actually funny? Or scary?
  • What is the funniest thing about yourself?
  • What is your favorite meme?
  • What is the most embarrassing thing you’ve seen your friends do?
  • What is the craziest dare you’ve ever done?
  • What is the silliest memory that you and your best friend share?
  • What is the most recent thing that made you laugh?
  • Where do you think all the baby pigeons are?
  • What haircut would you never get and why?
  • What is the most random superpower you could ever have?
  • How fast can you spell your name backwards?
  • What is your favorite emoji?
  • What emoji do you hate using?
  • What’s your zodiac sign?
  • What song do you think you could sing confidently in front of everyone in this room?
  • What’s the most recent book you read for fun?

Would You Rather Icebreakers

  • On an airplane, are you sitting on an aisle seat or a window seat?
  • Which do you prefer: Burger King or McDonald’s?
  • Would you rather live for three weeks in a submarine or in a cabin in the middle of the woods?
  • Would you have five dogs or five cats?
  • Would you rather live near the ocean or in the mountains?
  • If you had to choose between having a flamingo or a platypus as a pet, which would you choose?
  • Would you have the power to read people’s minds or the power to fly?
  • Would you travel back in time or travel to the future?
  • Which do you prefer: singing or dancing?
  • If you could be on a spaceship with a chinchilla or a flying squirrel, which would you choose?
  • Would you rather write a novel or run a full marathon?
  • Would you rather buy lunch at school or pack it at home?
  • Would you rather wake up early or stay up late?

Hypothetical & Imaginative Icebreaker Questions

  • Which comedian would you want to be stuck in an elevator with?
  • Which famous person would you have a dance battle with?
  • If you could be born again as a very hairy animal, what would you be?
  • If you had to have the body of an animal that lives in the ocean, which one would you have?
  • If you could be born in another time, when would it be?
  • If you could be born in another country, where would it be?
  • If you could be a dinosaur, which one would you be?
  • What would you do if your long-lost twin suddenly showed up at your door?
  • If aliens landed on Earth, what would they look like?
  • If you could live on any other planet, which one would you live on?
  • If you could have an artwork of yours displayed in a museum, what would it be? A sculpture, a painting, a live performance?
  • If you could put up a slogan on a billboard, what would it be?
  • Which animals would you have on your land if you could live on a ranch?

Reflective Icebreakers

  • What is one of the most important things you learned as a teenager?
  • What advice would you give to students who are new to your school?
  • Did you ever have a favorite teacher? Why?
  • How did you navigate online learning or online classes during COVID?
  • If there is one school memory that you could relive again, what would it be?
  • What about adulthood are you most excited about? Most nervous about?
  • What is one thing people would least expect from you?
  • What is one of your favorite hobbies?
  • When you woke up this morning, what was the first thought running across your mind?
  • When you went to bed last night, what was the last thought you had before you fell asleep?
  • What would the theme song of your life be?
  • What do you wish you had more time to do?
  • Where do you see yourself in ten years?
  • What brings you the most joy?
  • What do you define as success?
  • What city in America could you picture living in, aside from the one you’re in right now?
  • If you could live anywhere for one year, where would you go?
  • If there is one thing you could change about your school experience, what would it be?
  • What did you want to be when you were younger, and is it different than what you want to be now?
  • Which public figure is inspiring to you right now?
  • What is your favorite time of the day?

Entertainment & Pop Culture Icebreakers

  • What is the most underrated Disney movie?
  • What’s your favorite Pixar movie?
  • Which Marvel character would you be?
  • If you could sing like any pop star, who would it be?
  • If you were a famous musician touring the world, what would the name of your world tour be?
  • If you could perform at the Super Bowl, what would your opening song be?
  • Which Toy Story character would you be?
  • Which singer would you want to play you in a musical about your life?
  • If your life could be a movie, which actor or actress would you want to star in it alongside you?
  • If your life was a TV show, which one would it be?
  • Which concert would you go to if you could?

Food Icebreaker Questions

  • Have you ever dipped a French fry in a milkshake and eaten it?
  • If you could eat just one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
  • If you had to make a three-course meal with one main ingredient, what would it be?
  • If you could order any dessert at a restaurant, what would you get?
  • What is a dish you’ve tried to make but failed?
  • What’s your go-to breakfast?
  • What is the one food you would never eat again?
  • Have you ever eaten something thinking that it was food, but it wasn’t?
  • If you could come up with your own ice cream flavor, what would it be?

Community & Society Icebreakers

  • What is a pressing issue in your community right now?
  • How do you think you can best contribute to your community right now?
  • What would you change about social media?
  • How can we create a more connected and caring society?
  • What political issue are you most passionate about?
  • If you could volunteer anywhere, where would it be?
  • What is your favorite local restaurant to eat at?

Final Thoughts

Perhaps you’ll find that asking these icebreaker questions can start conversations that you never thought you’d have with someone new. It’s even a good habit to think on your own what icebreaker questions you could ask someone. Sometimes these seemingly random icebreaker questions can plant seeds of thought that grow into argumentative essay topics or persuasive speeches.

Even the funniest responses to icebreaker questions can lead to some of the most meaningful connections. It often just takes one question to make someone less of a stranger.