10 Fun Back-to-School Icebreakers for Older Kids

As we gear up for the exciting back-to-school season, it's the perfect time to plan some fun and engaging icebreakers to make our students feel welcome and excited about the new school year. Icebreakers are not only great for building a positive classroom atmosphere but also for helping students get to know one another and feel more comfortable using English in a relaxed setting. 

First, I’d like to admit that this was a hard one to write. Icebreakers have never been my favorite because I always want to go straight into the meat of what I teach. All that considered, I did my research and I’ve compiled a list of ten of the best back-to-school icebreakers that will leave our ESL students smiling and eager to learn.

The Importance of Icebreakers

For those of us who want to get started with our content material, here’s why you should incorporate icebreaker activities into your first week of school. 

• Alleviate the anxiety that new students feel on the first week of school, especially those who are new to the school or country.

• Opportunity to build relationships with other students. This is important for those who are new and don’t know anyone yet.

• Lower the affective filter. Many ESL students are not comfortable with speaking English in front of their peers, but will speak to them in friendly conversations.

• Encourage English practice. Many students spend their summers speaking their native language and need to sharpen those English proficiency skills once again.

• You, the teacher, can assess their language skills during low-stress activities.

10 Fun Back-to-School Icebreakers for Older Kids

1. Icebreaker Games: Help students get to know each other better by playing icebreaker games. These can include "Two Truths and a Lie," or "Human Bingo."

2. Find Someone Who: Create a list of statements, such as "Find someone who has a pet" or "Find someone who speaks two languages." Put them on a bingo card and have students mingle and find classmates who match each statement. 

3. All About Me: Have students create an "All About Me" poster or presentation, where they can share about their background,  interests, hobbies, and more.This can also help teachers understand their students better. 

4. Goal Setting: Encourage students to set academic and personal goals for the year ahead. Discuss the importance of having clear objectives and how they can work toward achieving them.

5. Time Capsule: Have students create time capsules where they write letters to their future selves. These can be opened at the end of the school year to see how much they have grown and accomplished.

6. Classroom Rules and Expectations: Involve students in creating classroom rules and expectations. This promotes a sense of ownership and responsibility among them. This can be in the form of a classroom mission statement on a poster that everyone signs. This will serve as a guide to refer back to throughout the year.

7. Peer Interviews: Provide each student with a set of questions to ask someone else. Assign partners and have them ask the questions. Once they’re done, have them introduce their partner to the class. 

8. "Get-to-Know-the-Teacher" Activity: teacher shares a list of facts with the class, one by one. The students can then take turns guessing which fact belongs to the teacher. You can also create your own All About Me poster or slide show and present it to the class. They love to know that their teacher is also a person outside of the classroom. 

9. Words and Images that Describe Me Scrapbook: This can be digital or in poster form. You can also assign it as homework and share it when it’s completed.

10. Learning Style Survey: Create a set of questions to find out how your students prefer to learn. This is a valuable tool for you to prepare for the school year. 

In a Nutshell

The key to successful back-to-school activities should be fun, inclusive, and engaging for students. It's also important to create a positive and welcoming atmosphere to lower the affective filter in our ESL classroom. The goal is for students to feel welcome and get to know each other.

Need a simple, no-prep icebreaker that is also fun? Check out these First Week of School Speaking Activities:

This is an all-in-one activity. With topics about school, home, summer and hobbies, your students will have a blast getting to know each other. The scaffolded format makes it easy for your English language learners to use English words, too!