Relationship Building Activities  

 
Teaching is all about building positive relationships.

The beginning of the school year/term, is the perfect time to establish positive relationships with
students that helps foster a positive and productive learning environment. Below are some
activities you might like to try to assist in establishing positive student-teacher and peer
relationships within the classroom.

 
 
Scavenger Hunt:  
See the example in the appendix for inspiration. Get students to find a different peer for each
box on their scavenger hunt. Great activity to get the students up and moving.

Silent Line Up: 

Have students arrange themselves in chronological order (without talking) for a specific topic
e.g. youngest to oldest, birthday months, smallest to tallest. A great activity to ease students
anxiety around the first day.

D-icebreaker: 
Divide students into groups of 4-6 and give each group one die and a copy of the D-icebreakers
printable (see appendix). Students take time rolling the die and answering the matching
questions. Try a speed round, by putting a 3-minute timer on the whiteboard.

The Continuum Walk: 

Get to know what your students like and dislike. Place an ‘agree’ and ‘disagree’ sign on
opposite walls in the room. Write several different statements e.g. I love going to the beach, I
watch Netflix, I have been overseas etc. Have students walk to either side of the room
depending on whether they agree or disagree with the statements. This is a great activity to get
students moving and lead discussions around students shared experiences.

Google Form: 
Use google form to gain a greater understanding of all of your students. You can create a form
where students can tell you about their interests, hobbies and learning styles. This is great to
allow all your students a chance to share who they are. Get started making a form now:
https://www.google.com/forms/about/

Counting to 10: 
As a whole class, challenge students to count to 10. Seems easy, but the catch is only 1 student
can say a number at one time. This activity is great for promoting problem solving and
teamwork, as students try to figure out how to get to ten.

Name Game: 
Have students sit in a circle and go around and say their names. Set the challenge! Time the
students to see how fast they can get around the circle when saying their names. Now, which
way is faster? Clockwise or anti clockwise?

Three things in common: 

In small groups, students must identify 3 things they have in common with each other. Provide
examples, lead a discussion and help students find what they have in common with their peers.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A Great Wind Blows: 
A great game to ease students nerves. Arrange​ ​your classroom chairs in an inward facing circle
and have everyone sit in a chair. There should be one less chair than students. Stand outside of
the circle and say the phrase “A great wind blows for everyone who…” and fill in the statement
with a characteristic that students may have in common e.g. everyone who has been overseas,
everyone who supports Carlton footy club. Any student that identifies with that particular
characteristic must stand up and move to a different chair. Every time someone gets up, a chair
is removed. Any child that cannot find a chair will step outside of the circle and help the teacher
think of phrases for the remaining players.

Drawing in Pairs:
A great activity to promote communication between peers. ​Divide your team into pairs, and have
each pair organise their chairs so they are sitting back to back. Give one person out of each pair
a picture of a shape, and give the other person some paper and a pencil. The person who is
holding the pictures is now required to give verbal instructions to their partners on how to draw
the shape – they are not allowed to tell their partner the name of the shape and can only
describe the picture. Allow three to five minutes to complete the picture and after, compare the
shape with the actual drawing.

Marshmallow Spaghetti Tower:  

Creative Problem Solving & Collaboration.
What You'll Need: 20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti, 1 roll of masking tape, 1 ball of string, and 1
marshmallow for every team.
Instructions: Using just these supplies, which team can build the tallest tower? ​There's a catch​:
the marshmallow has to be at the very top of the spaghetti tower, and the whole structure has to
stand on its own (that means no hands or other objects supporting it!) for five seconds.

Salt and Pepper:

Communication Skills.
What You'll Need: Tape, a pen, a small piece of paper for each student and a list of well-known
pairs (think peanut butter and jelly, Mario and Luigi, or salt and pepper).
Instructions: Write one half of each pair on the sheets of paper (Mario on one piece, Luigi on
another, and so on). Tape one paper to each student’s back, then have everyone mingle and try
to figure out the word on their back. The rule: they can only ask each other yes or no questions.
Once they figure out their words, they need to find the other half of their pair. When they find
each other, have them sit down and find three things they have in common while the rest of the
team continues.

 
 
 
 
 
Appendix: 

D-icebreaker Activity- Scavenger Hunt example-

WANT MORE!?

Check out more activities at the website links below:

● https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/10-fun-back-school-activiti
es-and-icebreakers/
● http://www.gpb.org/blogs/education-matters/2016/07/21/20-great-icebreakers-for-the-clas
sroom