What are good February icebreakers for work?

Tie each week to what is on the calendar: Black History Month all month, Groundhog Day on February 2, Lunar New Year, Mardi Gras, Valentine's week, the big game and the Presidents' Day long weekend. Questions like “What book, album or podcast by a Black creator would you recommend?” or “Pancakes or king cake for a team breakfast?” work for any team.

What days are in February 2027 to plan icebreakers around?

Black History Month runs all of February. Groundhog Day is Tuesday, February 2. Lunar New Year is Saturday, February 6 (Seollal in Korea is Sunday, February 7). Mardi Gras is Tuesday, February 9. Valentine's Day and Super Bowl LXI are both Sunday, February 14. Washington's Birthday, often called Presidents' Day, is Monday, February 15.

How do you run a Black History Month icebreaker respectfully?

Ask everyone to learn and recommend, not to explain their identity. Questions about authors, inventors, music and local history let the whole team take part, and nobody is put on the spot. For more, see our Black History Month icebreakers.

How long should a February icebreaker take?

About five minutes: one question, one sentence each, with a pass for anyone who wants it. On calls with more than 15 people, take three volunteers or move answers to the chat.

What is a good team event for February?

Hosted Black History Month trivia, a Valentine's Day kit workshop or a game day party all fit the month. A live host runs the hour on Zoom by default, or on Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request. Hosted games book about 2 weeks ahead, and kit workshops about 3 weeks for US addresses. See our virtual Super Bowl party for game day ideas.

Icebreakers
February

80 February icebreakers for work meetings

Icebreaker questions for every week of February, from Groundhog Day to the Presidents' Day long weekend. Each one takes about five minutes and works for any team.

KraftyLab TeamUpdated Nov 20268 min read

See the questions or have a host run it

Coworkers laughing around a conference table during a February team meeting with snow outside and remote colleagues on a wall screen

The best February icebreakers for work tie each meeting to what is happening that week: Black History Month, Groundhog Day, Lunar New Year, Mardi Gras, Valentine's week, the big game and the long weekend. Below are 80 questions in eight sets, in calendar order, plus a quick-fire set for any day. Ask one at the top of a meeting; it takes about five minutes.

Black History Month icebreaker questions

All month: February 1 to 28

Questions about learning and recommending, open to everyone. Ask the whole room, and never put one coworker on the spot to speak for a community.

1. Which Black author, artist, scientist or leader would you like to learn more about this month?
2. What book, album, film or podcast by a Black creator would you recommend to the team?
3. Who is a figure from Black history whose story inspires you, and why?
4. What is a piece of Black history from your city or hometown that more people should know?
5. What is one thing you learned in a past Black History Month that stayed with you?
6. If you could hear a talk from any Black leader, past or present, who would it be?
7. What is a Black-owned restaurant, shop or brand you love and would recommend?
8. Which invention or discovery by a Black inventor or scientist would you like the team to learn about?

Black History Month grew out of Negro History Week, which historian Carter G. Woodson founded in 1926, and became a month-long observance in 1976. For more questions and activities, see our Black History Month icebreakers.

Want one February event the whole team joins?

A question opens a meeting. For a full hour that remote and office teammates share, a live host runs Black History Month trivia, an appreciation game for Valentine's week or a hot chocolate kit workshop, with nothing for you to prepare. Prices below are live.

Hosted games book about 2 weeks ahead. Kit workshops need about 3 weeks for US addresses, or about 5 weeks with guests in Canada or abroad. Reserve online with a 50% deposit, or send your date and get a full plan within 24 hours.

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Groundhog Day and winter icebreakers

Groundhog Day: Tuesday, February 2, 2027

The first week of February. Light questions about winter, fresh starts and repeating days.

9. Shadow or no shadow: are you hoping for six more weeks of winter or an early spring?
10. If you could relive one day from last year, which day would you pick?
11. If today repeated tomorrow, what is one thing you would do differently?
12. If you could skip straight to one season, which would it be?
13. What is your favorite way to stay cozy in February?
14. Which winter habit would you happily keep all year?
15. If you could repeat one day a hundred times to master a skill, what skill would you pick?
16. What is the best thing about a gray winter morning?
17. What winter food could you eat every day until spring?
18. Are you a stay-in-and-hibernate person or a get-outside-in-the-snow person?
19. What small thing makes a long winter week better for you?
20. If an animal predicted how next quarter goes, which animal would you trust?

Lunar New Year icebreaker questions

Lunar New Year: Saturday, February 6, 2027 (Sunday, February 7 for Seollal in Korea)

Celebrated across China, Korea, Vietnam and many other communities, each with its own customs and names. These questions invite stories without quizzing anyone on their culture.

21. If you celebrate Lunar New Year, what is a tradition or dish you look forward to? If not, what new year tradition do you love?
22. Lunar New Year is a time for fresh starts. What fresh start would you like this year?
23. Many families clean house before the new year. What is one thing you would clear out of your work week?
24. What is your favorite dish to share with a big group?
25. In the Chinese zodiac, 2027 is the Year of the Goat. Do you know the animal for the year you were born?
26. Who is someone you would like to reconnect with this year?
27. What is one wish you have for the team this year?
28. Red stands for good luck in many Lunar New Year customs. What is your lucky color or lucky charm?

Want a quiz round for the week? Try our Lunar New Year trivia, with answers after each round.

Mardi Gras and Pancake Day icebreakers

Mardi Gras and Pancake Day: Tuesday, February 9, 2027

Parades, masks, king cake and pancakes. Good for a Tuesday stand-up or a team breakfast.

29. Pancakes or king cake: which would you pick for a team breakfast?
30. If our team had a parade float, what would be on it?
31. What is the best parade or festival you have ever been to?
32. Purple, green or gold: which color matches your mood today?
33. What is your favorite pancake topping?
34. If the team marched in a parade, what song would we march to?
35. What is a food from New Orleans or Louisiana you love or want to try?
36. Would you rather design a mask or a parade float?

For a full Mardi Gras hour, a host can run a virtual Mardi Gras party with games or a mask decorating kit. Or keep it short with our Mardi Gras trivia.

Valentine's week icebreakers about friendship and thanks

Valentine's Day: Sunday, February 14, 2027

Kept to friendship, thanks and treats. No questions about dates or partners.

37. Which teammate would you nominate for a shout-out this week, and for what?
38. What is the best piece of advice a colleague ever gave you?
39. What is your favorite candy to share?
40. What is a small kindness at work you still remember?
41. What do you appreciate most about this team?
42. Did you swap paper valentines at school? What were they like?
43. What do you love about your job that might surprise people?
44. Which coworker, past or present, would you most like to have lunch with this month?
45. What is your favorite way to say thanks?
46. What song always puts you in a good mood?
47. If you could send a thank-you note to anyone in history, who would get it?
48. What is one thing you love about February?

Want a game instead? Our Valentine's Day would you rather questions are all work-safe. For a party, a virtual Valentine's Day party ships chocolate or candle kits to every guest.

Big game week icebreakers (no football fans required)

Super Bowl LXI: Sunday, February 14, 2027

Questions about snacks, ads, halftime and team spirit, so people who never watch football can play too.

49. Are you watching for the game, the commercials, the halftime show or the snacks?
50. What is your must-have game day snack?
51. Which commercial from any year do you still remember?
52. If our team had a halftime show, who would perform?
53. If your job came with a touchdown dance, what would it look like?
54. What is a sport you love to watch that isn't football?
55. What was this team's best play of the quarter?
56. Wings, nachos or a veggie tray: which is the game day MVP?
57. Who on this team would be the coach, the captain and the mascot?
58. What is the best sporting event you have ever seen live?
59. If you could change one rule in any sport, what would it be?
60. What would your walk-out song be?

Planning a Friday game day? A virtual Super Bowl party for work brings a live host and games that football fans and everyone else can play, and our Super Bowl trivia works for a quick round.

Presidents' Day and short-month icebreakers

Washington's Birthday (Presidents' Day): Monday, February 15, 2027

The long weekend and the shortest month. Questions about time off, goals and history, with no politics.

61. What would you do with a three-day weekend in February?
62. February is the shortest month. What would you do with one extra day?
63. Which person from history would you want as a mentor for a week?
64. If the office built a monument, who or what would it honor?
65. What is one goal you want to finish before March?
66. What is the best trip you have taken over a long weekend?
67. Are you a plan-every-minute or a plan-nothing long weekend person?
68. What is one thing you started in January that you are still doing?

Quick-fire February icebreakers for any meeting

Any day in February

One-word answers for a stand-up, a chat thread or a big call where there is no time to go around.

69. Snow day or sunny day?
70. Hot cocoa with marshmallows or without?
71. Sunny, cloudy or snowy: what is the forecast for your February?
72. Mittens or gloves?
73. Rate your week from one to five snowflakes.
74. Soup or chili?
75. Snow fort or snowman?
76. Best movie for a cold night?
77. What is on your desk that makes you smile?
78. What is the next thing on your calendar you are looking forward to?
79. Early bird or night owl in winter?
80. One emoji for your week?

How to use February icebreakers at work

Share the deck below on a call, or read from the lists above. Pick a week's set, or tap All for a random question.

Black History MonthWhich Black author, artist, scientist or leader would you like to learn more about this month?

1 of 80

One question per meeting. Pick the set for that week and ask one question at the top. It takes about five minutes for ten people.
Go around once, with a pass. One sentence each, and anyone can say pass. On a big call, ask three volunteers instead of everyone.
Rotate who asks. Hand the question to a different teammate each week so the manager is not always the host.
Close the month with something bigger. A team event in February gives the questions a payoff: trivia, a kit workshop or a game day party.

In the office, hybrid, on video or in chat

In the office: ask the question as people sit down, before laptops open, and keep it to one sentence each.
Hybrid: start with a remote person so the people on the screen are not always last.
On a video call: share the deck above, put the question in the chat too, and let people answer out loud or in writing.
In chat: post one question each Monday of February in a team channel and reply in a thread.

A manager with a coffee mug asking an icebreaker question to a small circle of coworkers in a winter break area, two raising hands

Keep a month of themed questions comfortable

Every question on this page follows these rules. Use them for any you add.

Not everyone celebrates every day in February. Each set works whether someone celebrates or not.
For Black History Month, ask everyone to share and recommend. Never ask a Black coworker to explain or speak for anyone.
Lunar New Year customs differ across communities. Invite stories, and don't quiz anyone on their own culture.
Nobody has to like football. The big game questions are about snacks, ads and team spirit.
Valentine's questions stay on friendship and thanks, never dates or partners.
Keep Presidents' Day about the long weekend and history, not politics.