# Christmas Cracker

Pairs pull traditional holiday crackers, don optional paper crowns, read their jokes aloud, and answer a prompt about seasonal gifts across two rotations.

**Time:** 15 minutes. UWT suggested 15 minutes to allow cracker pulling, two five-minute conversation rounds, and a two-minute wrap-up.
**People:** 4 to 24. Pairs rotating across two rounds

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Exchange basic introductions and lighthearted conversation using cracker novelties as prompts.
**Use it when:** Use at the start of an end-of-year workshop or seasonal gathering where participants benefit from a fast, low-stakes warm-up.
**Skip it when:** Skip when participants do not celebrate seasonal holidays, when sudden snapping noises cause distress, or when group members prefer a work-focused opening.

## Materials and tools

- One traditional holiday cracker per participant (plus extras for facilitators and duds)
- One visible countdown timer
- Trash bin for paper wrappers and discarded snaps
- Digital Cracker Jokes and Prompts sheet displayed or shared in chat

## Before participants arrive

1. Before starting, announce that the icebreaker involves seasonal holiday themes and snapping crackers, and invite anyone who prefers to opt out or avoid loud pops to speak with the facilitator privately or use the digital prompt sheet instead.
2. Place one cracker at each seat or distribute them as people arrive.
3. Display the prompt options from the Digital Cracker Jokes and Prompts sheet clearly on screen or flip chart.

## Say this to open

Welcome. We will begin with a short festive icebreaker. Everyone has a cracker. If anyone prefers to avoid sudden snapping sounds or holiday items, you can gently tear yours open, use our digital riddle sheet, or observe without pulling. In a moment, you will pair up, pull your crackers together, put on your crown if you wish, read your joke, and answer one quick gift question.

## How to run it

### 1. Pair up and pull crackers (3 minutes)

Deliver the opening script. Ask participants to form pairs. If someone lacks a partner, form one group of three or invite the facilitator to pair. Each pair pulls their crackers. Participants collect their paper hat, novelty item, and joke slip. Wearing the paper hat is entirely optional.

### 2. First conversation round (5 minutes)

In their initial pairs, partners introduce themselves with their name and team role. Each person reads their cracker joke aloud. Partners each answer one posted gift prompt, taking roughly two minutes per speaker. Ring a chime halfway through so partners swap speaking turns.

### 3. Second conversation round (5 minutes)

Participants find a new partner they have not spoken to yet. Because crackers are already opened, partners introduce themselves, share their joke or novelty item, and answer a gift prompt. Signal time halfway through so both partners speak.

### 4. Whole-room wrap-up (2 minutes)

Reconvene the full room. Ask two or three volunteers to share the funniest joke they heard or an interesting gift answer. Collect discarded cracker wrappers in the trash bin.


## Debrief questions

- What was the most groaner-worthy joke or riddle in the room?
- Did anyone hear a gift story that revealed an unexpected interest or hobby?
- How did the low-pressure start shift the room atmosphere for the session ahead?

**Finished output:** Every participant introduces themselves to two distinct colleagues and shares or listens to an icebreaker prompt.

## Remote

This physical exercise uses crackers. For an online team, run this labeled digital version: share the Digital Cracker Jokes and Prompts sheet. Send participants into breakout pairs for two 5 minute rounds, with partners switching between rounds. In each round, partners introduce themselves, take turns reading one joke from the sheet, and answer one prompt.

## Hybrid

Provide in-person attendees with physical crackers and pair them together. Pair remote attendees together in video breakout rooms using the Digital Cracker Jokes and Prompts sheet. Do not pair an online participant with an in-person participant for cracker pulling.

## Access and participation choices

- Wearing the paper crown is optional.
- Participants sensitive to loud pops may pull crackers gently without snapping, tear open the paper cylinder manually, or ask a partner to pull it facing away from them.
- Anyone may choose between sharing a real gift story, naming an imaginary gift, or simply passing on the story.

## If the session gets stuck

**A cracker fails to pop or tears apart without opening the novelty chamber.**

Immediately hand the participant a replacement cracker from the spare stash.

**An odd number of participants leaves one person without a partner.**

Have the facilitator pair with that person, or create one trio where participants pull in a chain and take 90 seconds each to speak.


## Terms used here

- Christmas cracker: A cardboard tube wrapped in festive paper that snaps when pulled apart by two people, releasing a paper hat, a small novelty, and a written joke or motto.

## Participant material: Digital Cracker Jokes and Prompts

Prompt Options (choose one to answer):
1. What is the best holiday or birthday present you ever received, and why?
2. What is the funniest or worst present you ever received?
3. If money were completely unlimited, what present would you buy for someone you know?

Backup Cracker Jokes:
- Joke 1: What do you get if you cross Santa with a detective? Santa Clues.
- Joke 2: What happens if you eat Christmas decorations? You get tinsel-itis.
- Joke 3: Why was the snowman looking through bags of carrots? He was picking his nose.
- Joke 4: What do snowmen eat for breakfast? Snowflakes.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in TrainerBubble training materials under the title Christmas Cracker.

Retained the core mechanic from TrainerBubble of pulling crackers in pairs, wearing novelty hats, reading riddles, and sharing gift stories. UWT streamlined the conversational elements per round, expanded each conversation step to allow unhurried speaking time, specified clear noise check procedures, and aligned participant materials terminology across delivery modes.

[TrainerBubble](https://www.trainerbubble.com/downloads/christmas-cracker/)

[TrainerBubble](https://www.trainerbubble.com/downloads/christmas-cracker/?currency=USD)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/christmas-cracker/