Whether you're teaching a class, facilitating a meeting, hosting a group, or attending a casual summer party, getting to know the people around you can be intimidating or very fun. Break the ice! All ice breakers are printable!
Check out the top 10 ice breakers of 2009. Three times a year, people flock to the Continuing Education site for ice breakers that will make the first day of class exciting. Any day of class, really. Find out which ice breakers they chose as the top 10 of 2009.
Share the ice breakers you think belong in every teacher's top ten. What has worked for you, or not?
Beginning your lesson plans with a five-minute warm up or ice breaker can serve to focus your students on the topic, open up creative thinking, and help them to apply the learning in new ways. The feedback you get from students also gives you an instant reading on where their heads are. Here are ten ice breakers that make great warm ups in lesson plans.
'Tis the season for ice breakers, no matter what kind of teacher you are. Ice breakers are the best way to help your students get to know each other, to break the ice on the awkward first day of school. If your students are adults, it's important to break the ice too, but even more important to choose an ice breaker that won't backfire on you. Most adults don't want to play silly games. Choose on…
Need to get your students on their feet and moving? Try these top 10 kinetic ice breakers when you need to wake up your class.
Are party games appropriate in the classroom? If you use them to energize your class, they can be. The trick is to choose ice breakers that won't drive your adult students out of the room.
You may have heard of 8-minute dating, where 100 people meet for an evening full of 8-minute dates. They talk to one person for 8 minutes and then move on to the next. Eight minutes is a long time in the classroom, so we’ll call this ice breaker a 2-minute mixer. Ready? Go!
You know the song. These are a few of my favorite things... Use this ice breaker just for fun, or customize it to your topic.
A brainstorm race is a great way to review topics you've already covered, and have some energizing fun in the process. Teams race to brainstorm and list as many items as they can in a certain amount of time---without speaking!
A simple drum jam can be a fun and easy kinetic ice breaker or energizer to wake up your class. All you need is your hands on your desks. Start with a few rhythm exercises and let the jamming begin.
Find out what your students or guests like to eat. And what they never want to put in their mouths again!
Expectations are powerful, especially when you're teaching adults. Understanding your students' expectations of the course you're teaching is key to your success. Make sure you know what your students expect with this expectations ice breaker.
Stretching is one of the all-time best kinetic ice breakers or energizers you can do to get the juices flowing. It doesn’t take much, you don’t have to change clothes, and it just plain feels good. When the blahs set in, get your students up on their feet and lead them in a short round of stretches.
Everybody loves a fortune cookie, especially if they get a good fortune. Some love it even more if the cookie is a little sassy. Learn something about your students when you ask them to write fortune cookies. Are they gurus? Or wisecrackers?
If you could have taken a different path in life, what would you have chosen to do, knowing what you know today? Find out if your students are in your classroom to change their lives. It happens.
If you had a magic wand, what would you choose to change? Pass a magic wand around your classroom and generate some energy!
Money is pretty powerful. How’s that for an understatement! It’s easy to think having a lot of it would solve all our problems, but history shows otherwise. If you won the lottery, what would you do with all the cash?
Meaningful conversation is one of the most important aspects of learning, especially for adults. Sadly, it doesn't happen very often anymore. Whether you're the teacher or the ageless learner, following Ron Gross's suggestions for stimulating meaningful conversation will enliven your classroom and your dinner table.
This ice breaker is a great introduction when the people gathered are strangers, and it fosters team building in groups that already work together. I have always found the choices people make to be very revealing about who they are as a person.
If they made a movie of your life, what kind of movie would it be and who would be cast as you? Are you Bond...James Bond? Or more the Ahnold type? Maybe you’re like Scarlet in Gone With the Wind. Or Cat Woman. Is your life an adventure, drama, romance, or horror flick? Entertain us.
You may have people in your group who hate the name game so much they’ll still remember everyone’s name two years from now! Ha! You can make it harder by requiring everyone to add an adjective to their name that starts with the same letter (e.g. Cranky Carla, Blue-eyed Bob, Zesty Zelda). You get the gist.
People Bingo is one of the most popular ice breakers because it's so easy to customize for your particular group and situation, and everyone knows how to play it.
People Bingo is one of the best ice breakers for customizing to your particular group, whether it's a class, a conference, or a social gathering. Find bingo card characteristics here and add your own favorites. It's an idea frenzy!
Flags have a way of making everybody feel good, especially when they’re waving in the breeze. Ask your students to make their own personal flag and present it to the class.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Almost everyone has a photo or two in their wallet, especially when you’ve got a room full of adults, or even better, baby boomers with grandchildren. The photo scavenger hunt is on!
This ice breaker is perfect for any group that has gathered for hands-on topics. Get them involved right away by giving each student a can of Play-Doh and a handful of pipe cleaners. Can you imagine the results already?
Adults bring to your class or meeting room an abundance of life experience and wisdom. Tapping into their stories can deepen the significance of whatever you've gathered to discuss. Let the power of story enhance your teaching of adults.
When it's time to recap what you've just taught, recap with rhythm. Remember the old game where you sat in a circle, slapped your knees, clapped your hands and snapped your fingers? Slap, slap, clap, clap, snap right, snap left.
Scarf juggling will get your class up, moving, and laughing. The cross-body movement also stimulates both sides of the brain, so when the exercise is over, your students will be ready to learn.
A snowball fight in the classroom is pure fun, and it's also a great way to introduce students or review a topic. Using paper from your recycle bin makes it even better.
Wouldn't it be great to have super powers? If you could have one super power, which one would you choose?
Table Topics is an ice breaker sure to make introductions interesting and conversation lively. Choose from nine versions of the four-inch acrylic cube, each filled with 135 thought-provoking questions. Great in the classroom and meeting room, around the table or on the patio.
When you're tired of superficial chit-chat and want to start meaningful conversations to break the ice and get to really know people, get out the Table Topics. There are several different versions, each with 135 questions in a four-inch acrylic cube. Start talking!
I'm often surprised, maybe even shocked, by the people who share with me that they've always wanted a tattoo. These are people I would never have guessed would be interested in such a thing. The first question is always, "What kind of tattoo?" And then, "Where?" You know the drill.
If you had to describe yourself in three words, which three would you choose?
What message would you put in a time capsule to be opened by your ancestors in 100 years? Assuming we haven't destroyed our planet by then, of course. We’re thinking positive here. Do you have advice? An admonition? Or would you make them laugh?
Were you born way ahead of your time? Maybe too late? When and where would you travel if you could go forward or backward in time?
Two Truths and a Lie is a fun and humorous ice breaker for introductions in the classroom, at a meeting, anywhere.
The more technology brings us together, the smaller the world becomes. Where in the world are you from? Or, where in the world is your favorite place?
Would you rather find true love or win the lottery? Would you rather be bald or completely hairy? Would you rather tell your best friend a lie or your parents the truth?
Karen Schweitzer, About.com's Business School Guide, has a great collection of ice breakers for professional groups and team building.
This wonderful and very professional booklet of icebreakers is offered by Business Training Works. Each printable page is dedicated to one icebreaker and includes steps, materials needed, time involved, and variations.
Mind Tools not only provides a great list of icebreaker ideas, they also share info about when to use an icebreaker, exactly what it is you're breaking, and how to design the right activity for your group.
This is a large collection of icebreakers, some designed specifically for use in ESL classes.
This is a nice collection of icebreakers from Don Clark, intended for an office setting. While you're there, check out the rest of his awesome training, performance, and development material.
For Coachville, Janice LaVore lists her top ten icebreakers. There are a few in her list I've never heard of and they seem fun!
A nice collection of games and links to other icebreaker websites.
From Virgil E. Varvel Jr. for the Illinois Online Network, a great article about using icebreakers online.
A teacher's collection of icebreakers that have worked for her.
