Break the Ice in Your Classroom!

Back to School Icebreaker

Set a tone for your school year!

Icebreakers are effective and interactive team-building activities that typically precede the big event, and in our case, the big event is class!  They enable students to get to know each other in a relaxed setting and buy into the purpose of the event - learning! They also allow for diverse learning styles and opportunities to help each other.

Research has demonstrated that students will learn when they are physically, mentally, and emotionally involved.  Games allow educators to meet these needs.

Icebreakers convey a tone of working together through communication, support, and laughter.  

Here is an example of a back to school icebreaker:

The Name Game!

Materials:  soft tossable object, timer (optional)
Directions:

1. Stand in a circle.  Everyone should raise one hand.
2. Call one student’s name and toss the object to that student.  This student then keeps his/her hand down. The student who has the object should say “Thank you (insert name of person who tossed the object)”.  Then, the students calls another student’s name and tosses the object to that student. This student then keeps his/her hand down, says “Thank you (insert name of person who tossed the object)”, and chooses the next name.  This continues until each student has had the object and it is returned to you.
3. Next, time the group as they repeat the sequence in order of how the item was tossed in step 3.  This is the group’s baseline time.
4. Time the group as they repeat the sequence in order of how the item was tossed in step 3.  

Optional:

1. Discuss strategies to improve time.
2. Time the group as they repeat the sequence in order of how the item was tossed in step 3.  
3. Discuss strategies to improve time.
4. Time the group as they repeat the sequence in order of how the item was tossed in step 3.  
5. Debrief.

Variations:
Students stand in a line or sit in a circle. The first person says their name and a favorite thing.  The second person then says their name and a favorite thing, as well as the name and thing of the person before them.  Each person after that adds the names and items of all of the people before them.

Differentiation:
★ Have students say their name only
★ Do not time the students.  Simply use it for learning each others’ names.
Variation for the School Year:
•Instead of names, have students wear index cards or stickers…
••with sight words, vocabulary words, etc. on them.  Students will have to read and/or spell the word they are tossing to.
••with a math fact on them.  Students can say the fact and answer before tossing the object.
••with names of items in a sequence (think ABCs, planets, life cycles, events on a timeline, etc.) that students are learning about.  Students have to toss the object in the correct sequence.

Get a free pdf version HERE!

This activity and more can be found in my Back to School Small Group Activities resource!

​Have fun breaking the ice this year!

​~ By Miss Rae