5 Ice Breakers and Games to Play in Your Class

The first few weeks of school are the most crucial time of the year for teachers, in my opinion.  It’s the time for first impressions, learning names, building relationships, and setting the tone for the rest of the school year.  Get off to a good start and the students will be happier and work harder.  A bad start will make the next few months an uphill battle to win back the students’ attitudes toward your class.  In fact, some students have to consider you to be a friend, even if you don’t reciprocate that feeling, before they will fully invest themselves in your class.  We like to think that teaching is not a popularity contest, but as Rita Pierson exclaimed in her famous TED Talk,

“Kids can’t learn from teachers they don’t like.”

So here are my top 5 ice breakers and games to help you start the year off with a bang!

5. Rock-Paper-Scissors (or Cowboys-Ninjas-Bears)

I know what you’re thinking . . . SERIOUSLY?!  Yes, even with high school students, the appeal of this classic one-on-one contest never wanes.  Here’s how you do it with upwards of 35-40 students.  First, find a space to play the game.  Most classrooms are too small, so find a common area, courtyard, foyer, or open space that is far away from classes so to not disturb them.  Review the rules so that everyone understands that they say “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.”  Never assume they know that.  Each student finds someone to challenge.  After each round, the losing student stands behind the winning student creating a train as the winning student walks around to challenge someone else.  Elementary school students may feel comfortable enough putting their hands on the shoulders of their classmate to physically create the train.  I found that middle and high school students don’t like to do this for obvious reasons.  Soon you will be left with 2 long trains of students as the final two square off.  You can make the final round best of 3 and declare an RPS champion with a prize such as a large rock, pair of scissors, piece of paper, or perhaps a crown!

A fun variation on RPS is Cowboys-Ninjas-Bears.  Some kids may have played this game in elementary school, but many have never heard about it.  Students start by challenging a classmate and standing back-to-back.  They both pace out 3 steps, turn around, and make a cowboy, ninja, or bear pose.  Watch this video to see it in action.  Ninja beats cowboy, cowboy beats bear, and bear beats ninja.  You can apply the same rules as RPS.

Game Play Variations

• Change the rules.  Students who lose once can continue challenging other classmates until they lose a second time.  This allows students more chances to play.
• Make the game go faster so you can play more rounds by battling 3 students at a time.  Whichever student(s) has the winning choice, the other two are eliminated.  For example, if 2 students choose rock and one student chooses scissors, scissors is eliminated.  If 2 students choose paper and one student chooses scissors, both papers are eliminated.  If all 3 students choose different objects, play again.
• Have the boys play each other and the girls play each other until each group has an overall winner.  Then, have the “Battle of the Sexes” Championship at the end.

I know this may sound childish to do beyond K-6 perhaps, but I’ve never had my high school students react negatively to this activity.  Smiles and joy are abundant!  You can even have a class discussion afterward to tie in subjects like probability, algebra, statistics, and even debate/persuasive writing.

Here are some sample questions.

• If a student picks rock, paper, or scissors randomly, what’s the probability he/she picks rock?
• Research statistics on RPS.  What is the most frequent choice?   Was the studies methodology valid in your opinion?  Why or why not?  Does the choice match your experience in playing the game?  Explain why or why not.
• Do you think there is a different most frequent RPS choice based on gender?  If so, which choice do you think is most frequently chosen for boys and girls?  Explain your reasoning.
• How many possible combinations of head-to-head battles can you make in this class?  Why calculate the combinations and not the permutations?  Explain your reasoning.
• If each student plays each round of RPS at the same time (ex. Round 1 winners battle, then Round 2 winners battle, etc..), how many rounds will it take to become champion?  Create an algebraic formula in which you can find the answer with any number of total students in the class.  Create another formula to calculate the total number of RPS battles necessary to crown a champion.
• Do the assumptions in Ninjas-Cowboys-Bears make sense?  That is, should ninja beat cowboy, cowboy beat bear, and bear beat ninja?  Explain your reasoning.

4. Cool Kids

Students really like competition and moving around.  This game is a fantastic way to accomplish both.  As the setup diagram shows, you will need markers on the floor that number one less than your total number of students in your class.  The markers could be the nice colored rubber spots that are often used by PE classes (ask a PE teacher to borrow them) or they could simply be scrap pieces of cardboard from cutting up a paper box (I’ve done this before).  Whatever you use, make sure it is sturdy enough to not slide around on the floor or rip when students stand on them.  Once again, you need an open space away from other classes to play the game.  After students get to the location, have them get in a circle and then handout the spots (or better yet, have a student do it as you explain the rules).

The rules are simple.  Each student in the circle stands on their marker.  A student in the middle of the circle completes the sentence starting with “Cool kids . . . “.  For example, “Cool kids are wearing jeans.”  All the students on a marker who are wearing jeans must move to another marker that is NOT adjacent to their current marker (see red arrows).  Students who are not wearing jeans stay on their marker.  The student in the middle also attempts to find an open marker to stand on before they are all taken.  Clearly state that pushing or diving to a marker is NOT allowed.  One student won’t find an open marker so they will make the next sentence starting with “Cool kids”.

This game does put students “on the spot” which may be outside their comfort zone, but that is when they have the opportunity to grow their creativity and their communication skills, such as public speaking, in a small way.  Students and the teacher get to know each other in a fun, novel way which will help build good relationships all around — especially if you, as the teacher, play with them!

Here are some tips and variations to this game.

• If the student in the middle is struggling to come up with a sentence, help him/her as the teacher or have a student ask another student to come to the middle to help them (like a “lifeline” on a game show).
• If your class has never played, you (the teacher) should play as well.  You can start off the game and get “caught” in the middle on purpose to add some variety to the sentences.  Most students, in my experience, will make a sentence about a physical trait or clothing rather than something more interesting like “Cool kids have traveled outside of the country,” or “Cool kids have broken a bone,” or “Cool kids have not been in the middle yet.”  As the teacher, you can inject this creativity into the game by being a part of it.  Students are more likely to think and be creative when you model it for them.
• If you don’t like the phrase “Cool kids”, change it to your mascot.  For example, “Oakland MS Tigers like pizza.”
• Make the game collaborative by taking away a marker.  This will result in 2 students being in the middle each round so they can discuss what to say.  Keep removing spots to add more collaborators.  This takes the pressure of the spotlight off of the student in the middle.

3. Kahoot! Disney Movie Characters Game

I know Kahoot! may be a little overused with our students due to its popularity, but have you tried the Disney movie character quizzes?  Simply login to your account (or create one) and search for “Disney movie characters.”  Students love playing this game individually or in small groups.  If you don’t have easy access to technology (computers, tablets, or Chromebooks), you can have students use their smartphones to play.  If some of your students don’t have smartphones, simply pair them up with those who do.

These games help students bond with each other by showing them what they have in common.  You can share stories about your favorite Disney (or Pixar) movie characters — or your kids favorites.  Finding common ground is usually the start of any good relationship.  Also, unlike most quizzes, this one is no pressure, high enjoyment, and emotionally safe for students to just guess, laugh, and be kids.

Other fun Kahoot!s include world flags, US capitals, and world capitals.

2. Fact or Fiction

This activity is hands down my FAVORITE icebreaker activity for the first day of school.  Not only do students learn more about me, but I get to learn a lot about them in a short period of time and in a very entertaining way!  Here’s how to do it!  Fact or Fiction requires you, the teacher, to list 3 facts about yourself and 1 fiction (lie) in a multiple choice format.  Here’s my example:

Give students 30 seconds to think about which statement is false as you play up your skills of deception!  “I doubt anyone will be able to figure out the false statement.  I’m going to fool all of you!”  Ask students to respond by holding up their fingers to indicate the choice they believe to be false.  Give the proper pause to build some suspenseful drama before the big reveal, and then tell them the answer!

#2 is false!  Did you get it right?  Regale your students with some short stories about the true statements.  For example, “I heard President Clinton speak about AmeriCorps on my college campus and afterward when he mingled the crowd, I pushed past the secret service agents with their pig-tailed earpieces and shook his hand.  He had a BIG, red face!  I ran the NYC and Rochester Marathons and I’m lucky to have never broken a bone because I drink a lot of milk — or because I’m Bruce Willis from Unbreakable.”  Ask the students if they have any questions.

Now, have the students write down 3 facts and 1 fiction about themselves in a multiple choice format AND using complete sentences.  Students often have trouble with this.  I advise them that they don’t have to share anything too personal, but if they have traveled somewhere exotic, met someone famous, or experienced something unusual, write it down.  Otherwise, I advise the students to write simple sentences like I have 3 brothers, or I used to play soccer, or my favorite food is asparagus.  This usually jump starts their creative minds.  Honestly, most students have the most trouble coming up with a fictional statement about themselves!

Now my favorite part!  As students are writing, I play music, I study my seating chart to learn names as quickly as possible, and I assist students who seem to be struggling with their statements.  I also do some light trash talking, such as “You’ll never fool me! I can tell a lie from a mile away!  I’m an expert human lie detector!”  After about 3 minutes, have students share their statements with their classmates around them.  What follows is a lot of laughter, celebration, and smiles — even with friends who have known each other for years!  Of course, I walk around and try to guess the fictional statement from almost every student.  They are so eager to “trick the teacher” even though we have just met.  I am quite good at detecting the lie, however.  The trick is that most students won’t make the first statement the lie.  They’ll start with a couple of true statements so the lie is almost always statement #3 or #4.

Give this one a try . . . you won’t be disappointed and you will learn a lot about your students.

1. The Movie Game

This is the ULTIMATE game.  It can be used as a brain break, a reward, an icebreaker, or anytime a lesson is falling flat and you need to boost the energy in the room.  I have never experienced a class of students who were not elated when a said the words — “MOVIE GAME.” The game is super simple too.

Here’s how it works.

1. Split up your class into two teams.  You can do this simply by drawing an imaginary line down the middle of your room for equal numbers or separate boys and girls into two teams — my favorite option.  Don’t worry about uneven numbers between the teams.
2. Explain the game play procedure.  A letter of the alphabet will be chosen (the teacher starts the game by picking the first letter), and each group will alternate naming a movie that starts with that letter.  They will only have 12 seconds to do so!  For example, if the letter is ‘A’, Group 1 has 12 seconds to come up with a movie starting with ‘A’ such as Armageddon.  The timer is immediately reset and it is now Group 2’s turn to name a movie that starts with ‘A’ within 12 seconds.  Continue resetting the timer and alternating groups until a group cannot name a movie starting with ‘A’ within the 12 seconds.  Whichever group cannot name a movie in time loses that round.  Winning team picks a different letter of the alphabet for the next round of play.  Play as many rounds as you like!
3. Explain the rules of the game.  
   • Students are not allowed to use their devices to look up movie names.
   • Obviously, they can’t repeat movie names already used in the round.
   • The teacher will repeat the movie named by each group.  If a group yells out more than one movie name, the other group can “steal” it.  This WILL happen a lot.
   • They can’t name movie sequels, such as Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV.  For example, once Rocky is used, no sequels are allowed.
   • Articles such as “the”, “a”, or “an” don’t count as starting with ‘T’ or ‘A’.  For example, The Last Samurai starts with ‘L’, not ‘T’.
   • Movie names may be challenged by the other group if they believe it is invalid.  Challenges will be Googled at the end of the round.
   • All other judgments will be made by the teacher.
4. Project the countdown timer.  Use this online countdown timer to set 12 seconds for the game and project it on the big screen!  Test it out to make sure the volume is up so you can hear the ring when the timer hits 0 seconds.  Position yourself so that you can continuously reset and start the countdown timer with the mouse and point to the group to indicate whose turn it is.
5. Reveal the starting letter of the alphabet right before starting the game. Don’t forget to point to the proper group to prompt them for a response, reset and start the timer, and remember the movie names stated by each group so that none are repeated.  Most of the time, the groups will enforce that rule for you.
6. Play multiple rounds, tally who wins on the board each round, and have fun!  This game is very high energy, fast paced, and intense.  Students will get very competitive, upset (in a good way), anxious, and loud!

If you have a class of 30-40 students, the two teams are quite large for a game that requires only one person per team to talk and I concede that this game is really for students in grades 6-12.  Initially, teams will struggle with who will speak, how to share answers discretely, and what strategies to use.  Resist the urge as a teacher to tell them what to do.  Let them work out these issues on their own.

You will learn a lot about your students such as who the leaders are, their organizational skills, who the really shy students are who need your encouragement to share their answers.  Typically, the group that is closest together is victorious.  You’ll be surprised to see the quiet students start to participate after a few rounds or game sessions.  I’ve seen a lot of students come out of their shells during these games and be accepted by more peers in the class.  Subsequently, they participate more during class discussions.

I can’t emphasize enough how my students would BEG me to play this game.  They would remember and talk about previous games throughout the year!  If you need an academic justification to play the movie game, I firmly believe that it develops critical 21st Century skills such as communication, collaboration, and problem solving.

So that’s my list!  Please share with me your thoughts in the comment section below or add your own fun icebreakers and games.