Home/Activities/What Can You Buy

Challenge · A great activity for everyone

What Can You Buy

Each team gets about $5 and a countdown clock, then heads to a real store for the best haul they can defend to the judges. It works because a $5 budget turns shopping into a live math problem — every dollar spent forecloses another option, and the tension shows at the register.

15–30 min2–10 peopleEasyCash + bag neededIn-person only
By Jon Zajac · Founder & Chief Icebreaker · Last updated February 19, 2024

What is What Can You Buy?

What Can You Buy hands each team a small cash budget — about $5 — and sends them into a real store to buy the best haul they can within a set time limit. Teams keep receipts, return by the deadline, and defend their purchases against whatever criteria the host set up front: most practical, most creative, or the most cleverly stretched dollar.

It works because a real budget in a real store makes the math immediate — every item picked up is one a team has to actually pay for, out of money that's visibly running out. Kids get real-world practice adding, subtracting, and negotiating; adults get the same math with different stakes and, usually, funnier arguments over what counts as the best item.

It needs an actual store within reach and a shopping trip nobody directly supervises, so skip it for a group that can't leave the building, or for younger kids without an adult tagging along. For a shorter, no-travel take on the same trading instinct, Bigger and Better stays in the room.

The rules

  1. Decide upfront how you'll judge the haul — item type, value, or creativity.
  2. Give every team the same starting cash — about $5 keeps it tight but doable.
  3. Hand out a bag per team to carry the purchases in.
  4. Set the shopping window at 20–30 minutes, depending on the store's size.
  5. Teams keep every receipt and return within the time limit.
  6. Inspect the haul when teams return and score it against your criteria.

Before you start

  • Group size: 2–10 participants. Split into teams if you've got enough people for more than one — every team needs its own budget and its own bag.
  • Fixed cash per team, about $5. Give every team the same amount. $5 is tight enough to force real choices without shutting anyone out.
  • A store within reach. No store nearby? Sort out transportation before teams head out — that's not a mid-shop problem to solve.
  • Bags and receipts, ready to go. Hand each team a bag before they leave, and tell them up front to hold onto every receipt for when they get back.
  • Decide the winning criteria first. Item type, total value, or plain creativity — settle on how you'll judge the haul before anyone walks into the store.

How to run it

  1. Set the rules and the budget beforehand

    Decide how you'll judge the haul, note any item restrictions, and settle on a budget — about $5 a team keeps it tight without shutting anyone out.

  2. Hand out cash and bags 1–2 min

    Give each team its cash and a bag for carrying purchases. Playing with kids? Hold the money yourself and hand it out at the store.

  3. Send teams to shop 20–30 min

    Point teams to the store with their cash and bags, remind them to keep every receipt, and set the return deadline before anyone walks out the door.

  4. Inspect the haul and score it 5–10 min

    Check receipts and items against your criteria when teams return, then announce the winner.

← the math gets real at the register.

Facilitator tips

Keep the budget genuinely affordableIf teams are covering their own cash, keep it low enough that nobody sits out over money — $5 a team is the sweet spot for a reason.
Pick a store with real rangeA store with cheap, useful, and offbeat options gives every team a fair shot at a good haul, whatever their strategy.
Reward the clever pick, not just the pricey oneJudge on usefulness, uniqueness, or humor as much as sticker price — it levels the game and produces better stories.
Rule out off-limit items before anyone shopsPost a short list of anything that's out of bounds so nobody finds out the hard way at the register.
Frame it as collaborative, not cutthroatPoint teams toward sharing ideas and helping each other shop well — the game holds up fine without a killer instinct.

Why it works

Math you can't fakeEvery item added has to be paid for out of a shrinking, visible balance — running the total in your head is the whole strategy, not an add-on lesson.
A real store forces real trade-offsPicking one item means not picking another, in front of teammates who are watching the same $5 disappear. That's budgeting practiced, not explained.
It sends people into an actual businessUnlike most icebreakers, this one puts players in front of a cashier and a shelf of real choices — a team activity that also puts money through a local store.
HELLO, MY NAME ISJon

"This is the one team game that actually leaves the building — no slides, no worksheet, just $5, a bag, and a real store. It works on kids and grown adults for the same reason: everyone has to decide fast, with real money on the line."

Jon Zajac · Founder & Chief Icebreaker

Reflection questions

Five questions that turn a shopping trip into an actual conversation.

  1. What strategies did you use when deciding what to buy?Surfaces the decision-making process — and whatever math shortcuts a team invented on the fly.
  2. How did you feel when you realized you couldn't buy a particular item?Gets at the emotional side of a real constraint, not just the strategy.
  3. Did you learn anything new about budgeting or making purchasing decisions?Connects the game back to actual money decisions outside the store.
  4. How did working in a team impact your shopping experience?Names the collaboration and negotiation that happened along the way.
  5. What would you do differently if you were to play this game again?Turns the debrief into strategy for next time, not just a recap.

If this fits, so will these

Activity

Bigger and Better

Trade one small object for something bigger, better, or more creative — the pitch is the whole game.

Activity

A Better Place

Each player names something for a better place, then the group repeats the whole chain before adding their own.

Activity

The Bests

Teams send up a representative for an oddball challenge without knowing what it is until it's announced.

Activity

Best Skills Showdown

Teams send one player at a time into a string of odd mini-games, and everyone has to compete once before anyone competes twice.

Jon Zajac

Founder & Chief Icebreaker

I started IcebreakerSpot because I believe strong connections are the foundation of successful teams. This site exists to make it easy to find and share the icebreakers and team-building activities that build trust, spark collaboration, and help groups do great things together.

XLinkedIn