In need of a quick icebreaker to get your group warmed up?
The Great Candy Pass is one of my most popular icebreaker games.
It’s quick and easy to pull together. Just grab a bag of mints, print the questions, and you are ready to go!
Side note: If you’re looking for The Great Christmas Candy Pass click here and if you’re searching for the Great Valentine Candy Pass click here.
The Great Candy Pass
Supplies:
- 1 bowl of wrapped candies for each table (minimum 2 candies per person)
- Printed list of questions
Participants needed: Group of at least 6; multiple groups seated at separate tables works well.
Directions:
If needed ask the group (or groups) to sit or stand in a circle within easy reach.
Say: “Today/tonight we’re going to play The Great Candy Pass. You’re certain to discover new information about the people at your table. Please take 2 pieces of candy and pass the bowl to the next person.”
Note: You could increase this to 3 or 4, but they all need to take the same number.
Once everyone has two (or more) candies in their hand continue with the instructions.
Say: “I’m going to read through a list of questions. If your answer to the question is “yes”, you will need to pass one piece of candy to the person on your right. If your answer to the question is “no”, you won’t pass any of your candy, but you might receive candy from the person on your left. After I finish reading through the questions, you’ll need to count up the number of candies in your hand.” [ Read questions on the next page.]
“Count your candies and if you have the most in your group/table, you are a winner!” [You could ask them to raise their hand and you could see who in the room has the most candy.]
“You’re welcome to enjoy your candy during our meeting or to take it home with you. I hope you learned something new about the people at your table. “
Questions:
1. Have you ever gone for more than three days without taking a shower?
2. Do you make your bed every morning?
3. Do you recycle your grocery bags?
4. Have you ever gotten sick after riding an amusement ride?
5. Have you ever worn something once and then taken it back?
6. Do you hide your own “treats”?
7. Do you get your nails done professionally?
8. Have you ever taken a mission trip?
9. Do you fold your underwear?
10. Do you cook only using recipes?
11. Do you have to have your coffee in the morning?
12. Are you up by 6 AM?
13. Do you ever tell phone solicitors you are not home?
14. Have you ever smuggled snacks or drinks into a movie theater?
15. Do you always put on make-up before leaving the house?
16. Have you ever re-gifted a present you received?
17. Do you shave your legs in the winter?
18. Do you squeeze your toothpaste in the middle?
19. Have you ever double-dipped at a party?
20. Do you think we should stop now and enjoy a piece of candy/mint?
Note: Leaders are reporting Hershey Kisses and other wrapped chocolates do not melt when playing the game.
Winner:
The person with the greatest number of candies wins (bragging rights or a small prize).
You can download a free PDF file of the directions and questions by clicking the link below.
May your women laugh and bond as they play!
Other icebreakers you might enjoy:
Icebreakers & Games
Womenโs Ministry Bingo
Marooned
Christmas Icebreaker Questions
Pass the Package
I would like to use this ice breaker at my women’s retreat. Will it work okay with 150 people? How large do you think the groups should be with that many people?
Wanda, how fun!! Yes, it will work. ๐ I would suggest breaking into groups of 10 or smaller. If they are already sitting together at tables, you could just use those groups.
Thanks so much for responding so quickly.
It says to pass candy to their right if โyesโ but they can receive candy from their right? Is that suppose to say receive candy from their left lol?
Tina, good catch! The printable PDF is correct, but in trying to add clarity to the post I failed to do so! It’s fixed now. ๐
Thanks for getting back to me so soon! Iโm planning to play this game for our ladies fellowship tomorrow โบ๏ธ Appreciate it!
If I read this correctly…Sometimes I will ask a question and you may not have a piece of candy, but your answer yes to the question, you just don’t hand any candy to the next person?
Correct! If your hands are empty you have nothing to pass.
We played this game at an office meeting for our employees and we are about to play again at our Christmas party this year. There are 14 of us and we have 2 men in our group which made it even more hilarious! When they came upon one for “women only” they laughed and, of course, said no! and got to keep their candy! We added a few things like “have you ever milked a cow?” or “have you ever driven a motorcycle?” and a surprising number of our group had actually done these things! Men and women! Very fun game and helped us all get to know each other better. Also, helped to make a meeting lots of fun!
Tracie, I’m so glad your group enjoyed it! ๐ And I love your additional questions – great job!
We just played this at our Secret Sister reveal and everyone had a great time.
Thank you so much for sharing these games.
Michele, I am SO glad your group enjoyed the game! <3
I’ll just copy and paste, but I’m not seeing a link to download the questions. ๐
Sounds like fun! ๐
did you get more questions posted anywhere?
Judith, not yet! I’ll add it to my list! Thanks for the reminder. ๐
Cร n you please email me the Great Candy Pass Icebreaker game?
Emma, there is a link just below the questions that will allow you to download and print the instructions for free. I hope your group enjoys the game!
Can you please email me the candy game.
No problem. Let me know if you did not receive it. ๐
Will u pls email me your candy pass game.
Marty, you can print the instructions by clicking on the red link. I hope your group enjoys it! ๐
Can all the women..say 20-25 stay in one big circle? Or is it best to break off in smaller groups? Then do you have 1 winner from each group?
Sue, honestly it doesn’t matter. Their focus will be on the women immediately on either side. You could do one big group, two groups, or even 3 groups and then you can have one winner from each group.
Do you generally end up with one “winner” for each group?
Yes, usually.
We played this at one of our scrapbooking get togethers. We had a fun, relaxing time . Then my mom & sisters played it when we took a short girls only mini vacation .
We will play again this coming week at our annual scrapbook retreat .
Valerie, I’m so glad you all enjoyed it! ๐ Thank you for your comment.
thank you for this. We’ll give it a try on my small group tomorrow. this sounds fun!
I hope your group enjoyed the game!:)
Hello, Cyndee! Last night was our first summer study–we do a four week study, with lots of fun, a skit, fellowship and Bible study (in contrast to our during-the-year more in-depth Bible study). We needed a game, so I went online to my favorite resource for icebreakers and games, and decided to try “The Great Candy Pass.” I admit I had a few doubts about how it would work for a group of nearly 40 women. The women were sitting at three long tables, so we made three groups, and had people sit on both sides of the table to form a circle. My ladies LOVED it. I could hardly read those silly questions because they were so loud. I had extra candy for a few that ended up with no candy :-). Thanks for this resource. Now we’ll do it again sometime when you come up with more crazy questions! Thanks for all the time you put into this website. It’s a great resource!
Oh, Debby! Your comments made my day! <3 You are such a dear! I love, love, love that your women had a great time with it! I've been meaning to add a new icebreaker game, perhaps it's time to create another version of this one! ๐
We played this today at our Women’s lunch. It was a big hit. Several women commented on how much fun they had. Boy, did the candy ever get passed around on the underwear question! Thanks for sharing this.
Catherine, I love it! So glad your group enjoyed it! ๐
Does each group have to have at least 6 in the candy pass game? We have tables with small groups of ladies at them but sometimes there are only four or five.
Lisa, it should work just fine. You could combine your smaller tables for the game as well. Hope your ladies enjoy it!
We just did The Great Candy Pass at our ladies brunch (about 65 people). I got a mixture of candy…..some typical hard candies/mints thrown in with some more desirable chocolate candies. It was fun to hear the ladies take the candy from each other especially when it was a more desirable chocolate. The ladies loved it. Thank you for all your wonderful ideas!
Corrie – what a great idea to mix the candy! So glad your women enjoyed the game! <3
My women’s fellowship played the bingo game and we had so much fun.
That’s great, Carla! So glad they enjoyed it! ๐
Played this at our ladies’ meeting. It was a blast
Francine – thrilled your group loved it! ๐ Thanks for sharing your experience!
we played this tonight at a womens get together and had a blast with it. thank you so much for all the great ideas!
Susan Reed
womens ministry coordinator
Susan – so glad your group had a blast with it! ๐
We played this game at our women’s mini retreat and the ladies really enjoyed it. I’m going to play this at the superbowl party Before the game begins. LiLi
Hi! Thanks a lot for sharing this. I will be using this later in our small group for women here in Dubai ๐ GOD bless you!
Zerrah, I hope they enjoy it! ๐ It blows my mind that God has used this site to reach women in Dubai!! ๐ God bless you too!
So you start out by asking one person a question, and whatever the answer is you move to the next one until one person has all the candy? Or all the questions are asked?
Michelle, forgive the delay in my reply. I try to go off-line over the weekend and sometimes forget to pick things back up that came in then.
Actually you ask everyone the same question at the same time. It will be chaotic, but it’s supposed to be! HTH!
So you ask the first person a question, and whatever the answer is, you just ask the second person the next question and so on until only one person has all the candy or all the questions are asked?
So if the answer is no-they don’t anything? And what if they don’t have any to pass and it’s a yes?
Marla – yes- you are right. If their answer is a no, they don’t do anything – unless someone is passing candy into their hands. If they have nothing to pass it’s not a big deal. Chances are they will have something to pass by the next question or two. Hope you all have fun with it!
Just a bit confused. In a group does everyone individually answer the questions or does the answer get answered by the entire group?
Each person who can answer the question with a “yes” passes their candy. The candy should start piling up at several spots around the circle. I would love to hear if you try it!
this is a great idea! We will be at a ladies beach retreat and I was looking for some fun things to do. Thank you for sharing:-)
You are so very welcome! I hope your women have fun with it! May God bless your time of retreat!!
This icebreaker sounds great! I think I’m going to attempt to use this but I am wondering what does the person on the end who has no one to their right do with the candy?
Jasmine, we’ve always sat in circle when we’ve played it, however you could put a bowl at the end of the line and they could add/take from the bowl. Hope that helps!
I’ll be using this one Saturday at our Women’s meeting. Thanks
Michelle, that’s great!! I hope it’s a hit with your women! ๐
Thanks, Will use this Saturday for Ladies Breakfast meeting. Never too early for candy ๐ Loving the resources on your page
Thanks so much! Hope your ladies enjoy it! ๐
Hey Cindy! I love your blog! Going to use this idea this coming Sunday! thanks!ยจ
Alicia
Alicia – you are such a dear!! Thank you! ๐ I hope they love it!