8th Grade Getting to Know You

School'south about to outset, and you've got a new course of students. Time for some fun, new 'getting to know y'all' classroom activities or icebreakers for kids? Back-to-school icebreakers can go a long style in the early weeks of school to assistance your students feel more comfortable in the classroom, go to know you, and assist them become to know their classmates!

Whether your school shuffles students effectually from yr to year, you lot've got a batch of pre-K or kindergarten students who are brand-new to attention school, or you lot've got some new kids who but moved into the commune, those first solar day of school and commencement week of schoolhouse icebreakers will make a big difference in creating a team atmosphere.

What Is an Icebreaker?

If yous're not familiar with getting to know you icebreakers, peradventure it's merely because you oasis't used that term before. They're activities that are fun and congenital around loosening students upwards, helping them "interruption the ice" so to speak with you and other classmates who they might not know very well.

Maybe you've washed your own fair share of icebreaker activities in staff meetings or during an orientation? So yous know they can help give people something to talk well-nigh and assistance them quickly build up a rapport.

Best of all … we've got plenty of fun icebreaker games and activities for kids from pre-school on up to middle schoolhouse!

Icebreaker Games and Activities for Kids

Permit's pause the water ice with some fun activities, shall we?

Find Four Icebreaker

Find Four is a great icebreaker for helping kids get up and become those wiggles out while introducing themselves to their new classmates.

The premise is uncomplicated:

Students are given a card broken out into different squares with instructions in each square (You can print a pre-filled Notice Iv carte here !).
Each instruction tells them to "find four" classmates who meet different criteria such as "find four classmates who accept a dog."
It's upward to your students to wander the room and ask their peers questions virtually themselves to run across if they can "find four!"
Students can write the names of their "our" in the boxes — a great way to help kids commit new names to memory.

All-time for grades: 2 through 5

Classmate Scavenger Chase

Send your students on a scavenger hunt to break the water ice with their new classmates … just they don't need to detect something. They need to find someone, or rather several someones! Very similar to Find 4, this chase may be more than appropriate for smaller classes where "finding iv" might exist tough or for younger students.

From someone who has a pet to someone who has blue optics, this activity gets kids up and moving as well as meeting and greeting their classmates.

You can print a pre-filled scavenger hunt template here .

Best for grades: 1 through 3

Proper noun Hunt

Recall 'Duck, Duck, Goose'? This icebreaker activity is a twist on the archetype playground game and a great one to help new students recollect each other's names.

Students sit down in a circle with ane person, "it", standing on the outside.
The person who is "it" walks around the circle, gently borer each person on the head, maxim that person's name every bit they do (instead of saying "duck").
If the person who is "it" taps someone and says the grade proper name instead (e.one thousand. "Ms. Light-green'due south class" instead of saying "goose"), the tapped person has to stand up upward and chase "it" around the circle trying to tag them before "it" takes their spot.

Best for grades: Pre-Chiliad and upwardly
kids playing drama games, standing in a circle holding hands

Getting to Know You Fortune Tellers

Whether you call them cootie catchers or fortune tellers, the pop newspaper flap games are a large hit in the classroom. Just did you always retrieve to use them as an icebreaker? Impress out the fortune teller template (it'south free!), and fill it in with getting to know you questions such every bit "what day is your birthday?" and "how many siblings exercise you accept?"

Photocopy, and distribute to your students, splitting them into groups of ii to play "fortune teller" together. They'll take fun seeing if the fortune teller is able to guess the right answers!

Best for grades: 3 through half dozen

Two Truths and a Lie

This game is a classic (and adequately addictive) icebreaker for kids that can be played as a whole form or in small groups.

icebreaker game cards with duck duck goose and two truths and a lie

Each person in the course comes up with three statements about themselves. Ii should exist truthful statements, and one should be faux. Depending on the age of your students, you might let them to think up the statements and keep them in mind or to exercise writing them downwardly.
Working your way down the grade listing, telephone call on students one by one.
When called on, each student should announce their 3 statements for the rest of the class to determine which statement they recall is false.

Some different ways to play this game are:

Have the entire grade vote by a show of hands on which statement they recall is false.
Accept each student write downwards which statement they think is simulated, and run into who gets the most correct.

Best for grades : ii and up

Embankment Ball Icebreaker Game

The Beach Ball Icebreaker game is some other archetype and FUN way for you to become to know your students and for your students to get to know each other!

Utilize a permanent marker to write a question on each panel of a blow-upwards beach brawl.
Continuing or sitting in a circle, students throw or curl the brawl to someone else in the circle.
When students receive the brawl, they respond the question that is facing them. And then they pass or roll the ball to someone else.

This game can be so easily tailored to suit the context of your classroom or the fourth dimension of year. You could set a diversity of beach assurance to bring out for brain breaks too (check out six of the Teach Starter teachers' favorite means to utilise balls in the classroom)!

For example, with a new form, you may write some more basic getting to know you questions such every bit "What is your favorite thing to do on the weekend?" Returning from a break with a class yous already know you may write unlike questions like "If you could live anywhere in the world, where would information technology be and why?"

Pentagonal Me

Your students have come back from summer pause brimming with stories and updates about their lives. Harness that energy with Pentagonal Me, an icebreaker activity that doubles as a fun manner to introduce geometric shapes.

Print a Pentagon Template that's been broken into 5 separate sections.
Each section directs students to share 5 facts about themselves in unlike subject field areas.
After the kids accept written out their 25 facts, set your students up in groups of 5 (if possible), and have each student cull i department of their pentagon to read out loud to their grouping.
When the group is done, send students back to their seats, and ask students to share 5 things they've learned about their classmates.

The filled-out templates as well make a great display for a Back-To-School Night or Meet the Teacher Night. Parents will dearest spotting their kid's pentagon on the wall.

Best for grades : iii and up, just this could exist extra fun for 5th graders!

All About Me Cube Games

All About Me Cube template

This hands-on activity can be used in different ways. Download and print enough copies of the All About Me Cube Template for every student in your class (and a few spares to go into any 'new educatee packs' you may have prepared for kids to bring together your grade later in the twelvemonth!). Y'all may decide to enlarge these to tabloid size for actress creative infinite and to make a fun display.

Here are a few different means you could use the cubes to turn this craft activity into a group-sharing, icebreaker activeness:

#i Cube Clumps

The teacher calls out 1 of the topics on the cube (e.g. birthday months, pilus color, special places, favorite hobby).
Students discover all of the other people in the class who share that same calendar month, characteristic, or interest and stand in a 'dodder'.
For topics that leave students standing alone (e.g. they are the simply person in their class with that birthday calendar month, characteristic, or interest) utilise this as a fashion to highlight the amazing diverseness and individuality in your class!

all about me cubes

#2 Cube Mix

Students complete all sides of the cube except for the name and self-portrait sides.
Collect the cubes and mix up in a bag or box.
Hand a cube out to each student making certain they don't get their own cube.
Students look at the cube they received and see if they can effigy out who it belongs to.

#3 Cube Stack

In groups, students apply the complete cubes to create 3-D sculptures or displays in your classroom by stacking cubes with the same face out.

The proper name and birthday side tin can be used to create a birthday display by stacking all of the cubes from each month together.
Stack the cubes with the portrait side facing out to brand a 3-D sculpture.
Employ the "special people" or "special places" sides to create a display, or even to use every bit writing prompts throughout the year.

Best for grades: 2 through 5

Stalk Activities

Stalk (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) activities brand fantastic icebreakers as they encourage kids to work together and start building a team mentality. It can also have some of the pressure off shy students who may experience uncomfortable with activities that focus on aspects of themselves and their own lives.

STEM tasks help you to appraise where your new students are at in terms of general knowledge and college-social club thinking skill development. Additionally, you volition be able to run across how students piece of work in groups which volition help with classroom and behavior management planning.

Here are some nifty open up-ended Stalk tasks that your students can work on in small groups.

Lower Class STEM Task Cards

Lower Years STEM challenge task cards

This set of STEM task cards for early on course students contains 22 different challenges that students can complete with usually found and easily sourced materials. From creating the tallest push button tower to racing cars without using their easily, these activities are a super fun way to get kids engaging with their new peers.

Upper Grade Stem Task Cards

Build a Raft STEM challenge - free download

You lot can download this "Build a Raft" STEM claiming ! Or you cheque out our Stalk Claiming Task Cards for upper grades besides.

Heads or Tails

This is an easy icebreaker game to play in the classroom that requires almost no set-up! All you need is a pile of pennies and your whiteboard markers!

On your whiteboard, create two separate lists with the discussion "Heads" on height of i and "Tails" on tiptop of the other.
List Ane should exist a list of favorites such as animate being, colour, volume, etc.
Listing Two should be "would you rather" questions — would yous rather accept a dog or cat, eat cereal for breakfast or dinner, etc.
Have your students pair off, and give each pair a penny.
Students in each pair then trade off flipping the coin.
If they get a "heads," they have to share an answer from list one with their partner, working downward the list in lodge.
If they get a "tails," they have to tell their partner their answer to a "would you rather" question from the listing, working downward the list in gild.

Alternate means to play:

Instead of writing it all out, choose 1 of the Would You Rather question sets below that are available in Google Slides!

Best for grades: 2 and upwards

My Memory Matching Game

Another twist on a familiar archetype, this is a corking game for older students. In this game, students create their own cards to play a game of memory with a partner.

Provide students with an even number of blank cardboard squares or rectangles that are all the same color and size. They volition create 2 memory cards for every fact nearly themselves (i.e. To create 3 facts every student needs 6 cards. To create 5 facts, each student needs ten cards.).
On each pair of cards, students write or draw a fact about themselves. You may like to provide students with a list of prompts to aid.
When they accept finished creating their 'My Memory' cards, students shuffle their cards with a partner and play a game of memory.
Students can rotate to play with other new partners as well.

This Is Me Task Carte du jour Game

This icebreaker game is keen for the lower grades, and it makes for a great motion break during those early days of schoolhouse. Download the task cards, and tell your students to stand up up near their desks or in a circle. If the weather is nice, you may fifty-fifty want to have the class outside to get some of their wiggles out while the kids get to know i another.

As each card is read aloud to the students, they answer accordingly if the information applies to them, east.g., bound up and down if you have an older brother. Students will discover that there will be many cards that do apply to them, and many that practise not. They simply stand up still for those cards that are not applicable and become to know their classmates!

All-time for grades: Pre-K and upward

Wipe That Grinning Off Your Face

Hey, nosotros promised these games were fun, correct? Well, this one is FUN, and for fans of the YouTube "try not to laugh" challenges, information technology volition be a big hitting!

Students sit down in a circle and the instructor chooses one person to start the game.
That person smiles their widest, biggest, cheesiest smile at everyone else in the circle, trying to make them express mirth. However, they must be silent, and cannot pull faces or be silly, all they can practise is smile.
For every person in the group who laughs at their smile, they receive 1 point.
After they have smiled at everyone in the group, they 'wipe' the grin off their face with their hand and 'pass' the smile to the adjacent person in the circle.

Best for grades: Pre-k through iii

Don't forget your Icebreaker Game Cards Download...

Are there more icebreakers for kids, or 'getting to know' you games, that you lot love playing with your class? Share them in the comments below!

Imprint image via Shutterstock/ Andrew Angelov

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Source: https://www.teachstarter.com/us/blog/classroom-getting-to-know-you-icebreaker-games-us/