Icebreaker Activities for the First Day of School

Name Game

• The name game is one of the simplest icebreakers for children on the first day of school. Once the children are seated, the first child in the first row introduces himself. Next, the second child in the second row repeats the name of the first child, saying, for example, "This is Bryan and I am Susan." The third child then remembers the names of the first two children and introduces himself. The game continues this way until the last person in class names everyone before him and introduces himself. To make the game more difficult, you can ask the children to state not only their name, but their favorite color as well. This icebreaker is ideal for helping children remember their classmates' names.

True or False

• In this icebreaker, ask each child to write down on a piece of paper one truth about herself and two things about herself that are not true. One by one, call each child to come to the front of the class and read what she wrote. The class will guess what they think the one true statement is and may even get some laughs, depending on how wacky the true and false statements are. This icebreaker not only gives children a chance to reveal something interesting about themselves, but helps everyone to get to know each other a little better.

Who Am I?

• This game works with both returning and new pupils. Have each child write two or three sentences about himself without revealing too much. For example, "I am good at math" and "I hit a home run in last year's baseball game." Everyone gives the teacher what he wrote; the teacher reads each out loud, and the pupils try to guess who the person is based on the clues given. Pupils who have been classmates before may be able to guess easily, but this is a good way for new pupils to get to know others. Additionally, returning pupils will also learn about the new pupils.

Pupils' Expectations

• At the beginning of the year, some teachers ask pupils what they expect from the teacher or the class. One way to do this is through an icebreaker in which children work together. Divide the class into groups and ask each group to make a list of expectations. At the end of the activity, ask each group to read its list out loud and write the expectations on the blackboard. The class and teacher will realize that some expectations may be the same, and the class and teacher may discover new expectations. Likewise, the teacher can tell the pupils his expectations of the class.