These fun and easy activities can be used on the first day of school or anytime you'd like to develop cooperation skills amongst your students. They include virtual classroom lessons, hands-on activities, and engaging games to create a positive classroom community.
1. Play a Favorite Animal Sounds Game
After being assigned a secret animal, students have to find a person in the room with the same animal as them. The fun part is that they can't talk or use gestures but have to imitate the sound of their assigned animal.
Learn more: Ice Breakers
2. Create an All About Me Book
This comprehensive ice breaker activity includes interesting writing prompts about student preferences, families, friendships, and goals as well a book jacket cover that they can design to their liking.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
3. Play a Candy Colors Game
This fun icebreaker game helps students learn facts about each other based on the color of candy they choose. You can assign a color for favorite hobbies, cherished memories, dream jobs, or even a wildcard for them to share anything they would like.
Learn more: Ice Breakers
4. Play the Concentric Circles Game
After arranging themselves in an inside circle and an outside circle, students connect in pairs to discuss their answers to the series of accompanying questions. This low prep game gives students an opportunity to connect with many classmates in a short period of time.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
5. Play the Favorite Celebrity Game
After placing nametags of various celebrities on each student's desk, instruct them to figure out which famous person they are by asking only "Yes" or "No" questions.
Learn more: Ice Breakers
6. Make Your Own Classmate Bingo Cards
Students can choose the clues they would like to include on these customizable bingo cards using a free and simple app.
Learn more: My Free Bingo Card
7. Play the Blow-Up Beach Ball Game
This classic game is fun to play inside or outside. After writing a question on each section of the ball, students can toss the ball around. Whoever catches it has to answer the question under their left thumb.
Learn more: Thought Co.
8. Play the Roll of Toilet Paper Game
Once the roll of toilet paper has been around, explain that for each piece of paper torn off, students must share one fact about themselves. The facts can be simple such as their favorite book or birthday month or more elaborate, depending on their level of comfort.
Learn more: Guide, Inc.
9. Play a Would You Rather Game
These engaging icebreaker questions are a great way to stimulate meaningful discussion among students as they invite deeper reflection and sharing.
Learn more: Twinkl
10. Choose Three! Icebreaker Game
After students select three items to play the game, you can read each scenario and have them share the item they would choose that best fits the scenario. The fun part will be hearing each other's creative reasons for their choices.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
11. Getting to Know You Writing Activity
These getting-to-know-you prompts develop writing skills and allow students to reflect on what they would like to share before they present themselves to the class.
Learn more: Education
12. Stand Up or Sit Down Question Game
This is an excellent virtual icebreaker activity, as it can also be done easily from home. Students will stand up or sit down depending on their answers to a series of questions. The questions are thoughtfully formulated to help you gain insights about your students, including whether they like working in groups and what subjects they enjoy.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
13. Play The Time Bomb Name Game
After having students stand in a circle, throw a ball to someone in the group. They have two seconds to call someone else's name and throw the ball to them before the "bomb" explodes and they are eliminated from the game.
Learn more: Fun Attic
14. Play Jenga Tumbling Towers Game
Each team works together to answer a series of ice breaker questions written on a series of Jenga blocks. The team with the tallest tower at the end wins. This is a fun and engaging way for students to build connections, without any of the pressures of presenting in front of the class.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
15. Birthday Lineup Game
Students have to silently organize themselves in order of birthday month using only hand gestures and non-verbal clues to communicate. This is a great team-building challenge and a fun way to get your class moving.
Learn more: Innovative Teachers Ideas
16. Play the Snowball Game
After writing down three facts about themselves, students crumble up the paper to resemble a snowball and have a "snowball fight" by throwing the papers around. They then have to pick up a piece of paper from the floor and try to find the person who wrote on it, before presenting them to the rest of the class.
Learn more: Innovative Teaching Ideas
17. Play the Observation Game
Students line up facing each other and have thirty seconds to look each other over. Then students in one line change something about themselves and the second line of students has to guess what their partners have changed.
Learn more: Innovative Teaching Ideas
18. Play a Game of Scattergories
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This classic game requires students to come up with unique objects within a set of categories starting with a given letter. It's great for morning meetings or brain breaks throughout the day. This particular teacher-made version has creative and fun categories and can also be used for virtual learning.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
19. Play the Cooperative Game Marooned
After telling students that they are stranded on a deserted island, explain that each student needs to select items from their personal belongings to help them survive and explain their reasoning to the group. This is a fun and engaging way to set a tone of collaboration and cooperation in your classroom.
Learn more: GPB.org
20. Create a Time Capsule
This time capsule lesson is open-ended and allows you to include whatever mementos you and your students would like, including photos, letters, artifacts, or cherished objects. This is a wonderful way to learn about the passions and dreams of your students and also to witness how they change over the course of the school year.
Learn more: Twinkl
21. Try the Marshmallow Challenge
Using simple items such as pasta sticks, tape, and string, students have to build the tallest structure that can support a marshmallow on top. This cross-curricular activity incorporates engineering and design skills while developing students' creative thinking and ingenuity.
Learn more: Common Sense.org
22. Tell A Tall Group Story
After starting the story with an intriguing premise such as “Yesterday, I went to the mall and was passing a window display." Allow students to add to the story one by one until they have created a hilarious tall tale.
Learn more: GPB.org
23. Draw Fabulous Flags
Students are sure to enjoy drawing flags that contain objects and symbols that represent their passions, talents, and values.
Learn more: Ice Breakers
24. Play Photo Scavenger Hunt
This is a fun team-based activity whose goal is for students to bring back photographs of various places and things. It's a wonderful way to capture special memories while enjoying an adventure as a team.
Learn more: Ice Breakers
25. Play a Game of Four Corners
After labeling the corners of your room with the included signs, read one question at a time and have students move to the corner of the room labeled with the number that corresponds to their response. This is a great way to get your students up and moving and learning about each other.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
26. Play A Big Wing Blows
This entertaining and active game incorporates musical chairs with questions for students to get to know each other. The student in the center shares a trait that is true about themselves and all the players who share the same trait have to find a seat.
Learn more: GPB.org
27. Play the All About Me Board Game
This colorful game features bright illustrations and a variety of topics ranging from favorite foods to movies to hobbies. Students roll a die to move along the board and depending on where they land, answer questions in front of their class.
Learn more: Twinkl
28. Play an Escape Room Icebreaker
Students will decode clues to discover your classroom rules, procedures, expectations, and in the final challenge, they will watch a video explaining the importance of cultivating a growth mindset.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
15 Perfect The Dot Activities for Kids