Back to School Icebreakers Your Students Will Love!
The first day back to school can often be a stressful time for students as they are faced with a new classroom and unfamiliar faces. This is why icebreaker activities are so important – they give students an opportunity to get to know students in a low-pressure situation. Depending on the grade and age of the students, some icebreaker activities can be met with resistance. That’s why it’s important to have a variety of back to school icebreakers to choose from to keep them engaged.
Below are a few ideas to try if you are looking to switch up your icebreaker game. You’ll find activities to spark conversation, creativity, or just thinking out of the box. Here you will find ideas that can work well for upper elementary icebreakers, middle school icebreakers, or even Adult ESL icebreakers.
1. Find Someone Who…
This is a classic first day activity because it’s perfect for getting students up and moving around the classroom. For this activity, there are lists or squares with specific criteria (has a brother, has lived in another state, can play a musical instrument, etc.). Students then walk around the room asking questions to other students to see who matches the situation. This can be done in a simple grid or as a bingo-type game, and you can customize it so that it best suits your class. You could even add local references as part of the categories.
One thing I don’t particularly like about these activities is that students tend to run around and quickly ask the questions, write the name, and rush to the next person. This results in limited interaction between the students and they don’t really learn much about each other. Also, the categories don’t have much personal relevance for them, so it doesn’t mean much for them when they get a match.
Because of these limitations, I created what I call a “DIY Find Someone Who…” activity. In this variation, students first write their own answers to questions (e.g. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?) and then they find someone who wrote the same answer. This allows them to find some common ground with each other. There is also a place for students to ask a follow up question, which will lead to a little more conversation about the topic instead of just going quickly to the next person.
If you teach Adult ESL, you might like to try these icebreaker activities that were created with adult language learners in mind.
2. Games or puzzles
Games are always a great way to get students together and have some fun, so they make perfect back to school icebreakers. The possibilities are endless here: there are many board games that could be used or adapted for the classroom, such as Scrabble, Apples to Apples, Game of Things, or Pictionary. You could even create a simple Kahoot trivia game or Wordle puzzle (students love these!). Or you could put students in groups and give them puzzles and see which group can finish first.
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Here are a few games and puzzles that I have created and work well as icebreaker activities in the classroom:
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If you love games and puzzles as much as I do, you might want to check out this endless bundle of word games and puzzles. It contains the above games and many more. Grab the bundle at a 50% savings, and you will have free access to any future games or puzzles that are added.
For more ideas on using games as icebreakers, see my blog post about games for remote learning. These ideas would also work well in the classroom.
3. Scavenger Hunt
Who doesn’t love a scavenger hunt? And they are so easy to make based on things that are in the classroom, or you can hide certain random items around the classroom.
For a twist on the classic scavenger hunt game, you could even make a list of items that might be found in a bag, purse, or backpack, listing some common items, less common items, and relatively obscure items to make it interesting. Then put students in small groups to see which group can come up with the most items from the list. I have created an activity for this type of scavenger hunt that is included in the ESL Icebreakers packet.
4. Escape Room
This is one of my favorite activities for a back to school icebreaker, end of year activity, or any time students need a break from the routine. It is also a huge hit with the students! There are plenty of standards-based escape room games, but for an icebreaker type of activity, doing one that consists of general puzzles and challenges is perfect. These activities are great to get students to work together and use critical thinking skills to solve a variety of challenges.
If you’re new to escape room games, this Word and Logic Puzzles Escape Room is a great place to start! This is by far my most popular resource, and students report that they have a blast! There is no complicated setup for the teacher, and there is even a printable-digital hybrid version that cuts down on the preparation even more. It also allows students to go through the steps on their own without the need for the teacher to review the puzzles.
5. Find Something in Common
This is my go-to when I need a quick back to school icebreaker activity and I have not prepared anything. We’ve all been there, am I right? I have actually had some of the best results and learned the most interesting things about my students thanks to my lack of preparation. Here’s how it works:
Put students in pairs or groups of three. Ask students to talk with their partner(s) to discover things that they have in common. It can’t be something obvious like hair color, but rather something they would have to actually talk to each other to find out. They shouldn’t stop at one thing; see how many things they can come up with in a short amount of time. Have them take notes about the items in common.
After a few minutes, have them change partners and repeat the above process. You can do this as many times as you would like depending on how much time you want to spend on this.
I love to reserve a few minutes at the end of the discussions for students to volunteer to tell the class about something interesting they discovered in their discussions. This is often everyone’s favorite part because we learn so many interesting things about the class.
6. Conversation Cards
For this activity, put individual questions on small cards. These could be questions about their interests, experiences, opinions, etc. One way to use the cards is to put students in groups and have them go through a small stack of cards and discuss the questions in the group.
Another way is to give each student one card, and have them move around the classroom to find a partner and they each take turns asking the questions on their cards and have a short discussion. After a few minutes, the partners switch cards, and then find another person to talk to, and this time they will have a new question to ask. Continue in this way for as long as you would like to do this activity.
If you teach Adult ESL, I have created a set of conversation cards for advanced learners. There are a variety of engaging topics that are sure to encourage conversation!
7. Four Corners
This is another activity that gets students moving around that doesn’t take a lot of prep work. With large signs, number each corner of the room 1-4. Then read options for students to gather under the specified number. For example, you could ask: you can only save one fast food item: (1) pizza, (2) hamburgers (3) hot dogs (4) tacos. Students then go to the corner representing their answer. Then read another question, and have them move again to the correct corner. Use themes such as favorite things, worst things, polls, facts about them (e.g. which season their birthday falls in).
Another way to do this is to label the four corners with: Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree. Then read opinion statements, and have students go to the corner that represents their opinion on the statement.
8. All About Me / My Favorite Things
This back to school icebreaker activity is a fun way for students to express and share their interests with the class. You can find or make a simple worksheet with questions about their likes, personality, or interests. However, I love this sketch notes activity because it allows students to get creative. Also, the design might work well for older students who feel that many All About Me activities look too childish.
Students complete the sections with information about themselves, and then color or add any other drawings to express their personality. It comes in 6 different designs so they can choose the one that suits them best. Once they have completed the activity, you might wish to display their creations in the classroom.
9. Brain Breaks as Back to School Icebreakers
Many brain breaks can work really well as icebreakers. They are creative or critical thinking activities that can often be done as a class or in small groups. And they are perfect to use as get-to-know-you activities because they are fun and quick. Choose one or a few brain breaks to get your students talking, laughing, and moving!
Click the link below to see a set of brain breaks that are perfect for older kids or even adult ESL. There is a wide variety of tasks, so you’ll find plenty of activities to use as back to school icebreakers and throughout the year!
10. Would You Rather
Another student favorite is Would You Rather icebreaker questions. They are a great way to get students talking and laughing together. Questions can be silly, outrageous, gross, or thought provoking. For my older kids and adult ESL students, I like to have a mix of questions that are funny and some that make them think about the options. For even further conversation, you can ask them to justify their choices. These can be done as a class or in small groups for discussion.
If you would like a set of Would You Rather questions that are ready to go, I have put together a set of 100 questions. It comes in a variety of formats: printable task cards, individual cards for projection, a printed list, and Google Slides. These questions also make great writing activities, and you can also assign them digitally and have students type in their answers. Want a free sample? Get a few Would You Rather questions (plus other fun activities!) by subscribing to my blog. Just fill out the subscription form at the end of this post.
11. Picture Prompts
Pictures can also be used for back to school icebreakers, and they are a great way to get students thinking and talking! Find some interesting pictures and use them to spark discussion. They can make inferences about what is happening in the picture, who the people are, what the significance is, how it makes them feel, etc. The New York Times has a great series called, “What’s Going On in This Picture?” where the captions have been removed and students can discuss what they think the story is about.
I have also created a set of picture prompts for discussion and writing. These are great for group discussion and then to follow up with a short journal writing activity. This resource comes in a variety of formats, including fillable Google Slides to easily assign to your students.
12. PowerPoint Party
This is not technically a back to school icebreaker activity that would be done for the first day of school. However, it is a great activity for early in the year to get students to share a little about themselves, showcase their personality, get low-pressure presentation practice, and just have fun! For this activity, students are given free reign to create a presentation about pretty much anything, within reason, of course. It can be about a hobby or sport they enjoy, favorite celebrity, a how-to presentation, a top-ten list–the possibilities are endless. They can get as creative or funny as they wish, and the beauty of this is that they are talking about something they enjoy. See this blog post for more information about how to host a PowerPoint party and get tons of sample topics to give your students some inspiration.
I hope you and your students enjoy these back to school icebreaker ideas!
The first days of a new school year can be rough for everyone, but with a few fun activities, you can help your students relax and start building a sense of community. If you’ve tried any of these back to school icebreakers, or if you have any of your own activities that have worked well in your classroom, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Need ready-to-go back to school icebreakers and activities?
If you liked the ideas above but don’t have the time or energy to create anything new right now, I’ve got you covered! Below you will find a list of all the resources mentioned in this post. Be sure to grab your freebie!