Getting the women at your retreat or conference to try new things and break free from their friend circle (cliques) can be a challenge.
We can fuss and encourage our women to sit with someone new and spend some time alone with God from the front of the room, but often those requests fall on deaf ears.
Sometimes a different approach is just what’s needed. This retreat icebreaker is just that.
Specifically created for retreats and conferences, this icebreaker game invites your women to engage with each other and God.
This bingo-style card encourages women to complete a variety of activities including:
- Wear your name tag
- Sing out loud
- Thank someone
- Make a new friend
- Share during group time
- Journal
- Smile
- Give someone a hug
We minimize any discomfort by allowing women to choose which activities they complete, only requiring participants to turn in a card with five in a row.
You’ll want to have a prize ready for all who participate. Consider using a Door Prize Basket, a retreat-themed favor, or purchase a stack of Bible Promise books (affiliate link).
Some of your women will easily complete these tasks, while others may struggle a bit. Encourage them throughout your time together to complete their Knit Together card. Congratulate every woman who completes a card.
Be sure you select a point person and a turn in location, such as your welcome table, in advance.
You may want to ask women with a “bingo” to bring their card to the back of the room at the start of a worship session or before heading out to a workshop or a meal.
Knit Together Retreat Icebreaker
Group size: 8+
Time Needed: The length of your multi-day retreat or conference (some will complete it quickly, others will need most of your retreat or conference time)
Supplies: Pen/pencil; 1 copy of the Knit Together bingo card for each attendee; small prize for each completed card.
Instructions:
Print out Knit Together bingo cards to distribute to your attendees during your first retreat or conference session.
Click the link below to open the free printable Knit Together cards.
Retreat Icebreaker Knit Together
Say: As we gather together this weekend for our retreat (conference), we are praying that your “hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3 ESV).
We know God will provide many opportunities for us to love one another and experience God during our time together. We’ve created a challenge to spur on those connections. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to complete one row on the Knit Together card.
Some of the activity options will knit your heart together with the other women in our group. Other options aim to knit your heart to God’s. You choose which activities you’d like to complete.
Once you complete one row on your Knit Together card, please turn it in to _____________ at _____________. Participants that turn in their card will be given a small reward.
Notes:
Some of your women will need regular reminders to complete and turn in their cards.
If you have a time of reflection or sharing, you may want to ask your women to share how God used these cards to knit them together during the retreat or conference.
I pray this icebreaker game will help your women connect to each other and to God during your event!
You may also want to read:
The Ultimate Women’s Ministry Event Planning Resource
Icebreakers & Games Master List
10 Things Icebreakers Should Not Do
Why Women’s Ministry Events Need Great Icebreakers
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