1995 Indiana University - The Center for Adolescent Studies

Icebreakers

Lesson Objectives:

Grade Level and Subject Area:

7-12/All

Activities and Strategies:

• Start with a ball of yarn. Say your name and an interesting fact about yourself. Then, holding the end, toss the ball to a student. The student will say his/her name and an interesting fact, then, holding on to part of the yarn, toss the ball to another student. By the time everyone has spoken, there will be a large web of yarn that can be displayed on the bulletin board with thumb tacks. (This activity can also be used as a review tool - each student says something about the subject, then tosses the yarn.)

• Split the students into pairs. Each pair will have 30 seconds to find 5 things they have in common. At the end of the 30 seconds, put two pairs together and give the foursome a minute to find something all 4 students have in common. Finally, each group can present the list of things they have in common. (You can use this activity to form student groups.)

• Pass around a bag of M&M's. Tell the students to take as many as they want. Once all the students have M&M's, tell them that for each M&M they took they have to say one thing about themselves. For instance, if a student took 10 M&M's, they would have to say 10 things about themselves.

• Have each student introduce themselves by ethnicity and have them speak about their ethnic heritage or their ancestors. They could speak of family stories about coming to the U.S. or family traditions.

• Have the students line up in a particular order. For instance, tell them to line-up by birthdate. You can make this more difficult by not allowing them to talk during this activity. For older students, the line up could be based upon a 1-5 scale. For instance, line up accordingly from strongly agree to strongly disagree with a particular topic. This can also stimulate interesting conversation.