The first week of school is all about setting the tone for a fantastic year ahead. For many kids, it’s a mix of excitement and nerves, which is why I think it’s so important to kick the year off with fun and engaging ice breaker activities. Back-to-school ice breaker activities not only help students get to know each other, but they also help build a positive sense of class community right from day one. Here are six of my favorite ice breaker activties for upper elementary kids.
1: Four Corners Ice breaker Activity
One of my go-to ice breaker activities for back-to-school, and a student favorite, is Four Corners. It’s perfect for helping your students find things in common with their new classmates. Simply place numbers 1-4 in different corners of the classroom and display or read out prompts to your class. For example: ‘Which activity would you prefer on a rainy day? 1. Reading a book 2. Watching a movie 3. Playing a board game 4. Drawing or painting.’ Students choose their answer to the prompt and then gather in the numbered corner. It’s a quick way for everyone to learn more about each other and bond over shared interests with their new classmates.
You can get a ready-to-go FREE Four Corners Game right below!
2. Pick Two Ice breaker Activity
Pick Two is one of my favorite back-to-school ice breaker activities for seeing my new students’ personalities emerge. To play, you state a scenario, for example, ‘You are stuck on a deserted island,’ and then you give your class three items they can choose to have with them in the scenario, but the catch is: they can only pick two! I love this game because it really helps students open up and get used to sharing their opinions with their new classmates. It’s also a great opportunity to practice respectfully agreeing or disagreeing with classmates and encouraging your students to expand on their ideas.
3: Would You Rather
There’s nothing like a good round of Would You Rather to break the ice in the first week back at school! As one of teachers’ go-to back-to-school ice breaker activities, students have likely played it before. Therefore, I love mixing in silly and unique prompts to ease those first-day jitters and encourage laughter—a great way to relax and bond in those initial days. I like having the game prepared on ready-to-use slides.
4. Find Someone Who Bingo
This low-prep activity involves a bingo sheet where students have to find someone who matches the quirky prompts on the bingo grid. It’s a fantastic way to get everyone laughing and interacting right off the bat. Grab a FREE Find Someone Who Bingo sheet HERE.
5. Trivia Gameshow
I love hosting a Team-Building Trivia Quiz Game during the first week of school. I divide my class into 5-6 teams, have them choose a scribe, and then run 20 rounds of fun and engaging trivia questions on our class screen. This team game helps encourage collaboration and friendly competition, setting a positive tone for the year ahead.
6. List It Team Building Game
Another fun and easy-to-run team-building game is List It, where teams race against the clock to list the most items they can, based on a prompt. You simply break your class into small teams and have them select a scribe. Then, call out a list prompt such as “list as many 4-legged animals as you can.” I like to set a visual one-minute timer. Students must work as a team to list as many related items as possible. You then award the team with the most accepted list items a point. This game is excellent for teamwork and brainstorming, making it a hit for back-to-school.
Are you keen to jumpstart your school year with fun, low-prep ice breaker activities? If you’d love a whole set of games (including the ones listed above), check out the money-saving Ice breaker Bundle for easy, ready-to-go activities. It will save you time and energy while making the first week back at school so much less stressful!
Further Reading
If you enjoyed this blog post, check out my other blog posts with morning meeting ideas:
