Interns incoming! A whole cohort of fresh energy and new faces is about to land, and they're arriving with two things in common: they don't know anybody yet, and they're quietly convinced that one wrong answer will follow them all summer.
Good news: melting that nervousness is the fun part. You just need the right kind of icebreaker! Lean towards activities that run on personality, giving everyone the same starting line, and letting people answer from a device instead of performing for a room. Here are our top activities to make the new interns feel included and excited for the season ahead!
Why intern icebreakers are different 🎓
Zero shared history. No inside jokes, no past projects, no "remember that offsite." Every question has to work for someone on day one of their first job!
The stakes feel enormous. Interns are auditioning for return offers and reading every room. Focus on more inclusive and general activities to let your interns shine!
They're your future teammates. Interns who feel connected come back full-time, and they tell their whole campus exactly what your culture is like. No pressure!
The goal isn't just breaking ice. It's proving, in the first week, that this is a place where people feel togetherness and joy!
Start with questions that run on personality, not tenure ⚡
Would You Rather is the safest opener there is: two options on screen and everyone votes at once from their devices! The vote split does the talking.
The bar for questions: revealing enough to start a conversation, zero work experience required.
- Would you rather earn more or learn more?
- Would you rather have your dream office on a tropical beach or a cozy mountaintop?
- Would you rather always be 10 minutes early or get an extra hour of sleep every night and be 5 minutes late?
- Would you rather relive one perfect day or fast-forward past one terrible week?
- Would you rather be the wisest person in the room or the smartest?
Low-effort, high-impact questions like these get your interns and team talking and getting to know each other!
Social Bingo: get to know the team better! 🎯
If you run one single activity during intern orientation, this is the one!
Build a bingo card with traits your team has:
- is a twin
- is left-handed
- is a morning person
- has never seen Titanic
- can name every teammate's hometown by Friday
Interns hunt for people who match each square, which hands them the thing they need most: a chance to get to know the team!
Nobody has to invent small talk, because the card is the small talk. By the time someone yells 'BINGO!', the team has met itself!
Guessmoji: the lowest-pressure laugh! 🦁
Emoji puzzles appear on screen, and everyone races to decode them from their devices. No spotlight, no speaking required, and the wrong answers are funnier than the right ones!
For interns, theme the puzzles as a company crash course: your product names, your office snacks, the CEO's coffee order. They learn the culture while playing, which beats learning every time!
Company trivia: onboarding disguised as a game 🧠
Answer five questions about your company, climb the live leaderboard, and crown a champion in minutes! The twist for interns: make it stuff they weren't expected to know, then let the answers teach it. Think founding-story details, what the first product looked like, or which office tradition started as an accident.
"Nobody is expected to know these" turns a knowledge test into a treasure hunt, and the leaderboard brings on the competition!
Give your interns a first week they'll tell their campus about! Browse ready-to-play rooms or build your own at crowdparty.app. Sweeten the deal with 15% off your first month!
