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Writer's pictureOPAL Teacher Training

5 Fun and Engaging Icebreakers to Kickstart Your School Year

As the new school year begins, it's important to set a positive and inclusive tone in your classroom. One way to do this is by incorporating icebreakers – activities that help students get to know each other and feel comfortable in their learning environment.



students sitting in a group and smiling


Here are five fun and engaging icebreakers that are perfect for the back-to-school season:


  1. Two Truths and a Lie: In this classic icebreaker, each person shares three statements about themselves, with two being true and one being a lie. The others in the group have to guess which statement is the lie. This is a fun way to learn interesting facts about each other and to start communication between students as they can also ask questions to determine which statement is a lie.

  2. The Human Knot: In this physical icebreaker, everyone stands in a circle and reaches out to grab the hand of two different people. Without letting go, they have to untangle themselves to form a circle again. This is a great team-building activity that encourages communication and collaboration.

  3. The Question Game: In this simple but effective icebreaker, one person starts by asking a question to someone else in the group, who then has to answer that question and ask a different person a different question, and so on. This continues until everyone in the group has had a chance to ask and answer a question.

  4. The Show and Tell Challenge: In this icebreaker, each person brings in an interesting object from home and has to tell the group a story about it. This could be a personal memento, a hobby-related item, or something else that is meaningful to them.

  5. The Mingle Mixer: In this energetic icebreaker, everyone has to move around the room and talk to as many people as possible in a specified time frame. They can ask each other questions, share fun facts, or just chat about anything. The teacher lets the students know when the time is up and now they can share everything they have learned about each other with the rest of the class seeing who got the most pieces of information. This is a great way to get everyone comfortable with talking to each other and making new friends as well as to lower anxiety as they will be talking about other people in front of the whole class, not about themselves.

Which ice-breakers do you usually use? How do your students like them? Let us know in the comments.



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