20 Icebreaker Activities Teachers Can Use on the First Day of School
Schools are gearing up to welcome students back after a long summer vacation. Students return with different emotions: some are excited to see friends, some miss the vacation, and some are neutral. Creating a welcoming classroom environment can make all the difference.
The ‘Welcome Back to School’ banners are ready, and teachers are looking forward to welcoming students with some fun activities, which would not only be fun but might work as a refresher too. Understanding how today’s Gen Alpha learners think and interact can help teachers design more meaningful classroom experiences and establish stronger classroom communities.
Explore the 20 Icebreaker Back-to-School Activities to help students feel comfortable from day one.
Icebreaker Activity 1: Classroom Web
Materials Required: a yarn (more if the class size is big)
Place: Open area/big room
How It Works: The teacher holds the yarn and says her name and one interesting fact about her.
Example: I am Saloni. I love playing chess.
Then she holds the yarn and throws it to a student. The student must then introduce himself/herself.
Example: I am Tarun. I read 5 story books during vacation.
Tarun then holds a piece of the yarn and throws it to another student. This continues till all the students have introduced themselves. By this time, a web has formed among the students, and introductions have been made.
Challenge: Ask students to trace the web back until the yarn reaches Ms Saloni. Students have to remember who passed the yarn to them and how they introduced themselves, in the same order as they started.
Icebreaker Activity 2: Name + Action Symbol
Materials Required: None
Place: Open place (empty classroom/ground)
How it Works: Students form a circle or U-shape. The first student says their name, then comes up with an action symbol (e.g., a karate move or a dance move). The next student repeats the name and action symbol of the person before him/her, then says his/her name and adds his/her action symbol. The next student repeats the name and action symbol of everyone before them and then adds their own. Repeat until everyone in the group has gone.
Icebreaker Activity 3: Me in Three Pictures
Materials Required: Drawing book/A4 sheets
Place: Regular Classroom
How it Works: Students draw three pictures
- Something they love
- Something they are good at
- Something they want to learn
Once students finish drawing, the teacher can hang their sheets on a string as a mobile.
Icebreaker Activity 4: Human Sudoku
Materials Required: Chalk piece, number cards
Place: An empty room
How it Works: Create an 8X8 or 9X9 grid. Assign numbers to each student. The same number can be assigned to more than one student. Students move around and complete the Sudoku.
Icebreaker Activity 5: Adjective Game
Materials Required: Chalk piece and board
Place: Classroom
How it Works: Teachers give themselves an adjective.
Example: Active Aditya, Busy Bharati, Creative Carla
The teacher divides students into groups. Each group then creates a story using all the names and adjectives.
Example: Active Aditya and Busy Bharati plan an outing. Creative Carla joins them…
Challenge: Students can be asked to enact the story.
Icebreaker Activity 6: Superheroes
Materials Required: None
Place: Empty Classroom
How It Works: Ask the students to stand up, write SUPERMAN on a piece of paper for everyone to see, and ask the students and the teacher whether they know who Superman is and what he does. He flies! The teacher holds his/her arms out and flies like Superman, having everyone imitate him/her. Do the same for: SPIDERMAN – he climbs! NINJA – he runs! (Run in place if space limited), HULK – flexes his muscles and growls!. Once the teacher has gotten through the 4 superheroes, he/she calls out the names in random order, sometimes repeating some, and has participants act out the motions defined for each character. Can speed up the pace so that people really get moving!
Icebreaker Activity 7: 10-second portrait
Materials Required: Paper and a pencil/Pen
Place: open place
How It Works: Ask each student to write their name at the top of a blank piece of paper (it can be in a notebook), then instruct everyone to stand up. If you have music, start playing a popular song and instruct all participants to walk around in the open space, in random directions, carrying their blank piece of paper and a pen/marker. When the music stops, students pair up with the student closest to them and exchange pieces of paper. Instruct students to look at their partner and, in just 10 seconds (or less!), draw the person’s eyes. When 10 seconds are up, have each person return their piece of paper to the owner, then start the music again so people can mingle. Repeat this pattern, having students pair up and exchange their papers to draw each other’s nose, mouth, face outline/hair, ears, and body. The trick is to limit the drawing to 5-10 seconds and keep people moving. The result has never been anything short of hilarious (and some portraits actually quite accurate!), and post everyone’s portrait on the classroom wall. Students can later take them home.
Icebreaker Activity 8: Heads and Toes
Materials Required: None
Place: Empty Classroom/ground
How It Works: The teacher acts as the “caller” and stands at the front of the room. The teacher makes gestures, and the class follows along. The trainer shows off the gestures: hands on head, hands over mouth, hands on shoulder, hands on elbows, hands on hips, hands on knees, hands on toes. Once everyone has learned the gestures, pick up the pace. Do gestures from top to bottom, and mix it up to keep people guessing. Before it is over, run through the motions EXTRA fast, and make sure to do a few hands-on-hips, hands-on-knees, hands-on-toes. The goal is that everyone should laugh by the end of the session.
Icebreaker Activity 9: Mystery Bag
Materials Required: A sack, materials ( umbrella, pen, eraser, vegetables…)
Place: Classroom
How It Works: Ask students to take turns and pick an object from the sack (without looking). Students then connect themselves to the object drawn from the sack.
Example: Umbrella: I am a good friend, I protect my friends from problems (rain/sun)
Icebreaker Activity 10: Six Word Story
Materials Required: None
Place : Classroom
How It Works: Ask each student to describe himself/herself in exactly six words.
Example: Curious learner who loves solving puzzles.
Icebreaker Activity 11: Toss a Ball
Materials Required: A small ball and sheets of paper,large rubber bands
How It Works: Each student writes a fun question on a sheet of paper. Once they finish writing, they take the ball and wrap their paper around it. All students do the same. If needed,use rubber bands to secure the papers around the ball. Toss the ball around. Whoever gets the ball unwraps the top paper and answers the question written on it before tossing the ball further.
Icebreaker Activity 12: Survival Island
Material Required: None
Place: Classroom
How It Works: Divide students into groups. Tell them the threat is that they are stranded on an island with no facilities. Each group has to come up with a list of 5 things and 5 values that they would carry with them.
Create scenarios like: The monkeys ate all the food / the tsunami took away supplies… To replace each material, the team has to sacrifice value. What would they do? How would they survive?
Icebreaker Activity 13: Quick Actions
Materials Required: Sketch Pens, papers
Place: Classroom
How It Works: Divide the class into teams. The teams have to:
- Name their teams and create a logo for each.
- Find 5 red pens (any other object, as many as the number of members in each team)
- Find a song which everyone knows (4 lines)
- Make a paper boat
- Pose for a picture
The teams have to draw the logo on the same part of each person’s hand, sing a song together, make as many paper boats as there are team members, bring objects (as decided), and pose for a picture. The team that does it first wins.
Icebreaker Activity 14: Our Class, Our Rules
Materials Required: Chart Papers and Sketch Pens
Place: Classroom
How It Works: Divide students into groups. Each group discusses and writes down the classroom rules for the year. These rules should be practical and genuine.
The downside should also be mentioned: what happens if someone disobeys the rules or refuses to follow the rules? All teams display their charts on the wall. Now, together, the class picks up the best rules from each team and makes a consolidated list, which is represented on a fresh chart. This chart is displayed at a prominent place in the class; the rest are taken down.
Icebreaker Activity 15: The Human Knot
Materials Required: None
Place: Open classroom or playground
How It Works: Students stand in a circle. Each student grabs the hands of two different people across the circle. Without letting go, the group must untangle itself into a circle.
Icebreaker Activity 16: Seven Papers
Materials Required: Papers
Place: Open Classroom
How It Works: Divide the class into groups. Give each group 10 sheets of paper (same size). Each group selects two members. The group places the sheets of paper between the students. Each paper must touch both students.
Icebreaker Activity 17: Fashion Show
Materials Required: Newspapers, glue, sketch pens
Place: Classroom
How It Works: Divide the class into groups. Each group has to design a dress/accessories using new papers. They have to find a model from the group who would wear the clothes/accessories and do a ramp walk. The best team wins. The model and team can be crowned and given a sash (all paper)
Icebreaker Activity 18: Longest Bridge
Materials Required: Newspapers,glue,stapler
Place: Classroom
How it Works: Divide students into groups. Each group prepares a bridge between two desks. The bride should be strong enough to hold pencils and erasers. Students can be as creative as they can be. The longest bridge wins!
Icebreaker Activity 19: Walk -Stop
Materials Required: None
Place: Empty room/ground
How It Works: Students walk randomly around the room. Teacher calls “Stop! Everyone freezes immediately. Variation:
- Walk fast
- Walk slowly
- Walk like a giant
- Walk like an ant
- Walk like you are carrying a heavy bag
Students walk. The teacher calls “Partner,” and each student partners with another. They call each other’s name.
Challenge: Walk becomes stop,stop is walk,walk fast is walk slow…
Icebreaker Activity 20: Chain Story
Materials Required: None
Place: Classroom
How It Works: The first student says a word; the second repeats it and adds one more; the third repeats the first two and adds his own word; this goes on until we reach the last student. The idea is not to add random words, but meaningful ones that together will create a story. The results are often funny.
Example: Today – I – got up- late- father shouted…
Bonus Icebreaker Activity: Pass the clap
Materials Required: None
Place: Classroom or hall
How It Works: Students stand in a circle. One student turns to the person next to them and claps once. The next student immediately claps to the next person. The clap travels around the circle.
Level 2: Students can reverse the direction at any time by clapping twice.
Level 3: Add names: “Clap, clap, Swati!” Swati then passes the clap to another student while saying their name.
Challenge: See how quickly the class can send the clap around the circle without mistakes.
Students enjoy the first day of school when the teachers plan something other than the regular revisions. When students feel connected to their peers and the classroom environment, they are more likely to participate actively and develop stronger learning habits throughout the year.
For the academics for the rest of the year, VIVA is there to help you at every corner.
Happy Learning! Have a great academic year!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Why are icebreaker activities important on the first day of school?
Icebreaker activities help students feel comfortable in a new classroom environment, reduce anxiety, encourage interaction, and foster positive relationships among classmates and teachers.
2. What are some easy first-day-of-school icebreaker activities?
Simple activities like Classroom Web, Name + Action Symbol, Six-Word Story, Mystery Bag, and Pass the Clap require minimal preparation and can be conducted in almost any classroom.
3. How do icebreaker activities improve classroom culture?
Icebreakers encourage communication, teamwork, empathy, and mutual respect. They help students get to know one another and create a supportive learning environment.
4. Are icebreaker activities suitable for all age groups?
Yes. Most icebreaker activities can be adapted for different age groups by adjusting the complexity, instructions, and dis
5. How long should first-day icebreaker activities last?
Depending on the activity, they can range from 5 to 30 minutes. Teachers can choose one or several activities based on their timetable and classroom needs.
6. Which icebreaker activities encourage teamwork?
Activities such as Human Knot, Survival Island, Longest Bridge, Seven Papers, Our Class, Our Rules, and Quick Actions are excellent for promoting teamwork and collaboration.
7. Can icebreaker activities support social-emotional learning?
Absolutely. Many icebreakers help students express themselves, build confidence, develop communication skills, and strengthen peer relationships, which are key components of social-emotional learning.
8. How can teachers make the first day of school more engaging?
Teachers can combine welcoming classroom décor, interactive icebreaker activities, student introductions, collaborative games, and positive discussions to create an enjoyable and memorable first-day experience.
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