When inviting new neighbors into your home for the first time, it’s always a bit awkward and you need a way to break the ice. Hold a party and invite other neighbors as well and give them something to do when they first arrive. This will make your conversation with them so much easier and will put them at ease too. Try these ice-breaking games to help put you all at ease. Meet neighbor gives you a few tips:
- Fill a jar with candy and place it near the front entrance so that they have to go past it. Have each guest write their name on a piece of paper, with the number of pieces they think are in the jar. The one with the closest number to the actual number wins the candy.
- Place a number of items in paper bags or boxes and let each guest feel inside and guess what the contents are. You could use items such as plastic toys, jelly candies, rubber balls, sandpaper, marbles and anything else you can think of.
- Ask everyone in attendance to supply baby pictures of themselves and then try to match up which photo belongs to whom.
- As each guest arrives, give them a small card and the name tag of another person at the party. The idea is to circulate and ask questions about the person on the name tag, jot down the clues you’ve collected. At the end of the activity each person will use their notes to introduce the person on their name tag.
- Use a dictionary and use an unfamiliar word and ask each guest to write down what they think the word means. Everyone then takes turns to read out their definition. The closest one to the correct meaning is the winner.
- Ask each guest to write down three things about themselves. Two will be the truth but the third one is a lie. Each person reads their own statements and it is up to the guests to figure out which one is a lie.
- Gather in a circle and have everyone take off their shoes, tie them together and place them in the middle of the circle. One at a time each guest comes forward and picks up a pair of shoes and makes statements about the owner of the shoes based on the condition or the characteristics of the shoes. The owner of the shoes then stands up and either acknowledges that the information is correct or refutes it. They then pick up the next pair of shoes.
- Play a variety of songs and ask the guests to identify the title, artist and date it was from. You could total up the number of correct answers and the person with the highest number wins a prize.
- Pick a selection of dates or years and give each person a chance to tell everyone what they were doing at the time.
There are many different games you can use as ice-breakers and it’s a great way to meet your new neighbors while you’re all having fun.
