10 Great Classroom Icebreakers

1. Self-Portrait.
Have your students draw themselves. AIter they have done this, collect the papers and hang them
up Ior the whole class to see. Now have students try to guess who the artists was Ior each picture.
2. Letter Writing.
At the beginning oI the year, write a short letter about yourselI as the teacher. Tell the students
where you live, what your hobbies are, and iI you have any children, pets, etc. Hand out your
letter to each student in your class and ask them to write you back with similar inIormation about
themselves.
3. The Mingle Game.
Give each student an index card. Have them write a question that they would like to ask the other
students in the class. Examples might include, "What is your Iavorite song?" or "What is your
Iavorite sport?" Next, have the students get up and walk around the room. When you say, "stop,"
students have to stand beside the person closest to them and ask the question that is on their own
card. Both students have to answer the questions. Now have them mingle again and meet a new
person.
4. The "What Am I?" Game.
Have the students get into a circle. Give each student a post-it note. Have each person write a
noun on the post-it note. Then stick the post-it on the Iorehead oI the person standing to right oI
them with the noun showing. Now have student take a turn to ask the group a "yes/no" question
that will help them guess the noun on their Iorehead. II they do not guess correctly, the person on
their right gets to ask a question. Keep going until all oI the noun have been guessed, or your time
limit has expired.
5. These are a few of my favorite things.
Pass around a sheet oI paper and some pens. Ask the students to write their name and their
Iavorite TV shows (you can come up with your own topic Ior Iavorite things). Collect the papers
and pens. Begin reading the answers, but have the class guess who wrote the response.
6. Birthday Lineup.
Call out any month oI the year and have all students born in that month come up to the Iront oI
the room. It is up to the students to decide who stands Iirst, second, etc., so they are standing
Irom the Iirst day oI the month to the last day oI the month. Now call out another month (don't
call the months in order), and have those students try to position themselves correctly by day and
by where they should stand as an entire month. This is a great way to get kids working together
and knowing each other. Once all oI the kids have lined up, test them to see iI they are correct.
7. Icebreaker Pictionary.
Have the students draw pictures about what they like to do, what their Iavorite Ioods are, and
what is their Iavorite subject in school. Have each student come up and show their pictures to the
class. See iI the students can guess what each student drew that tells a little bit about themselves.
For instance, iI a student draws a yellow M, can anyone guess that she likes McDonalds?
. Show and Tell.
Don't Iorget about this old time Iavorite part oI class. Instruct students to bring in something that
they cherish, or just want to share with the class. Give each student a turn to come up and tell
about the item that they brought in. This way the class will get to know each other and something
that makes each student happy.
9. The Snowball Activity.
Have students write three things about themselves on a piece oI paper. Then have them crumble
up the paper to resemble a snowball. Let the students have a snowball Iight Ior about one minute.
Now everyone grabs one oI the snowballs and has to try and Iind the person who wrote on it.
Once they Iind their partner, they have to bring that person up in Iront oI the class and explain
what they learned about their new Iriend with the three Iacts written on the piece oI paper.
10. The Observation Game.
Line up the students in two lines Iacing each other. II there is an odd number oI students, you can
play the game, too. Give students 30 seconds to look each other over really good, paying
attention to all details about their partner. The students in one line now turn Iacing the other way
while the other line oI students changes something about themselves. For example, a girl might
take oII a hair bow, or a boy might un-tuck his shirt. When the kids in the Iirst line turn back
around, they have to guess what their partner changed. Now switch and let the Iirst line make the
change and the second line guess the diIIerence.
10 Things to Do When You Only Have 5 Minutes
Left in Class
So, you completed your lessons Ior the day, but you still have some time leIt and a group oI eager
students with nothing productive to do. What can you do in this time to keep your class under
control until the bell rings? Here is a list oI 10 things to do when you only have 5 minutes leIt in
class.
1. 1ournal writing:
Have your students write a journal entry to summarize the things that they learned in class that
particular day. Make sure they date their entries so that they will have a record oI when they
wrote in their journals. This is a particular good exercise to help kids reinIorce what they learned,
as well as provide them with questions that they may have the Iollowing day on something they
did not understand completely.
2. Conduct a poll:
With only 5 minutes leIt in class, this is the perIect time to have a poll Ior the students to vote on.
You can use Iacts to get the kids Ieelings about whether or not they think something was Iair, or
list possible responses as ways that the kids would do something diIIerent than what actually
happened. For instance, when talking about Abraham Lincoln and Ireeing the slaves, perhaps
students would have handled the situation in a diIIerent way than Abe.

3. Writing notes:
Students are always writing notes in class, but usually get in trouble when they get caught. This
time give permission Ior kids to write notes, but it has to be a Iact that they learned in class and
pass it to another student. This way the whole class is getting a Iact that they might not have
know about the lesson. Collect the notes as students leave the class.
4. The Toilet Paper Game:
This game is a Iun way to review what kids learned in class. Because they pick up on the way the
game is played very quickly, you will have to change it every time you use it. How it works is
that you tell the students to pull oII anywhere Irom 1 to 5 pieces oI toilet paper Irom a roll, but do
not tell them the rule oI the game until everyone has done so. Then, use the amount oI paper each
student pulled oII to give you that number oI Iacts about the lesson they learned that particular
day. For instance, iI a student pulls oI one piece oI the roll, they have to give one Iact about the
lesson, and so on. The next time you will probably have lots oI kids pull oII one piece (because
they think they are getting oII easy), and you will need to switch the rules a bit to catch them oII
guard.
5. Ticket to Leave:
Give each student a ticket. Ask each student to write a Iact about the lesson they learned on their
ticket. As the students are leaving they must present their ticket to you. II they do not have a
correct Iact on their ticket, give them a chance to answer a review question that you have already
prepared beIore they leave the classroom.
6. Read a book:
You can read part oI a book to the class during the last 5 minutes. Eventually you will read an
entire book.
7. Play Hangman:
Use this game to have kids guess words related to the lesson they learned that day.
. Toss a ball:
Have the students sit in a circle. Using a small rubber ball, toss it to a student. The student who
catches the ball has to give you a Iact about the lesson they are learning, or ask you a question
about something they do not understand. When that student is done he tosses the ball to another
student, and it keeps repeating until the bell rings.
9. Pictionary:
Students enjoy the opportunity to write on the board. Make up about 3 to 5 words that have to do
with a lesson the kids are learning. Give a student the chance to draw the word out on the board.
When another student guess what the drawing is, they get to come up and draw the next word.
10. Puzzle worksheets:
A good teacher always has a set oI puzzle sheets Ior students to complete when there is time leIt
in class. You can have word searches, crossword, cryptogram, and hidden picture puzzles ready
to go Ior any lesson that you are teaching.