Icebreakers Teaching Resources

Hey Teachers, do you need icebreaker questions, activities, and games for the first day of school? Teach Starter's teachers have covered you with a curated collection of getting-to-know-you activities designed especially for primary students.

We know that the day-one goal for teachers is to make students feel safe and welcome in the classroom, and we have designed this collection with those goals in mind. Explore funny icebreaker questions that will have your students laughing together plus icebreaker games for kids designed for team-building — all while you're assessing individuals and recording information regarding group dynamics!

Each printable and digital teaching resource in this back-to-school collection was created by the Teach Starter team and has undergone a rigorous review process to ensure it's ready for use in Australian classrooms.

Is this your first year using icebreakers? Our teacher team has put together a quick guide to help with their introduction! 

What Are Icebreaker Games?

The name may say it all, but then again, perhaps not. Icebreakers (or ice breakers — both spellings are correct) are games that help 'break the ice'  for a newly formed group of people. Essentially, they get people talking!

For primary teachers, icebreakers are a great way to 'warm up' shy students and help new classmates get acquainted, learn what new friends like to be called, find common points of interest, and more.

What Is an Easy Icebreaker Activity to Start With?

This collection is packed with printables and activities that will help you break the ice, so feel to skip ahead to explore them all, or take a peek at some fun ideas from our teacher team:

1. Start off with a name game that will help you remember what each student is called and provides a chance to assess student behaviours in the classroom.
2. Provide pre-printed 'all about my culture' chatterboxes to help students recognise and appreciate each other's differences and the special things they bring to your classroom community.
3. Hand out our interview worksheets for students to conduct interviews of their new classmates.
4. Allow students to ask YOU questions for 5 minutes, then ask them to tell you 2 things people would not know by looking at them. This can help you build those important teacher-student relationships.
5. Play fun games of Would You Rather and Never Have I Ever.
6. Break students into small groups with task cards that lead them through a variety of activities while building camaraderie!

Explore the whole collection for more ideas for starting school and building relationships in the classroom!