First Day of School Icebreakers

By Leah | August 1, 2019

Are you ready to kick off the best school year yet? Help your new students get to know you and each other with three adorable activities that are perfect for the first day of school! These simple activities are amazing ice breakers that will turn first-day-of-school jitters into smiles and excitement about an amazing school year ahead. Read on to find out more!

We're [Star]Bursting to Know Ya!

Here's a sweet way to start the school year with your new little learners! Fill a jar or bowl with Starburst candies and pass it around the class. As each student picks a candy at random, he or she will answer a color-coded question to help the class get to know him or her.

For example...

A student who picks a red Starburst will share about their favorite memory from summer vacation.
A student who picks a pink Starburst will tell the class about their favorite summertime treat.
A student who takes a yellow Starburst will describe something they tried out for the first time on summer vacation.
A student who takes an orange Starburst will say one thing they are most looking forward to in the new school year.

You can download a printable version of the candy key right here.

Your students will love this extra-sweet activity that will help them get to know their classmates, and we think you will too!

New School Year Survival Kit

Put together a super simple bag of goodies to welcome your students back to school! This new school year "survival kit" is the perfect icebreaker for the first day of school. You can really fill the goody bag with whatever you like, but here's how we put ours together.

We picked out a cute, patterned treat bag from the local dollar store and filled it with the following (also from the dollar store):

A highlighter, to remind students that this year will be filled with many highlights.
An eraser, to remind them that it's okay to make mistakes because this is how we learn and grow!
Stickers, to let them know that we can accomplish amazing things if we stick together as a class team!
Smarties, to remind students that they are capable of learning so much and making great strides this year.
Starbursts, to let them know you are bursting with excitement to get to know them and help them succeed.
Crayons, to help them see that they are each creative, unique, and a work of art.

Print out treat bag tags and a cute printable note to include with your "survival kits" right here.

You can easily add to or change the items you include in your goody bags. There are so many variations to this activity, and you are only limited by your imagination (and maybe your classroom budget!) We think whatever you put in your goody bags, your students will absolutely adore their new school year survival kits.

Let's Have a [Beach] Ball This Year!

Here's another fun icebreaker for the first day of school. It's a great way to get all of your students interacting, having fun, and sharing about themselves while getting up and out of their chairs. You will need a beach ball and a permanent marker for this activity. (By now you know our favorite place in the world is the dollar store, but just for the record, we got these items there too.)

Inflate the beach ball and use a permanent marker to write icebreaker questions all over it. Here are some of our examples:

What is your favorite color?
When is your birthday?
What is your favorite animal?
What is your favorite memory from summer break?
Do you have any brothers or sisters? What are their names?
Where was your favorite place to go on summer break?
What is your favorite movie?
What is your favorite after-school snack?
What is your favorite school subject?
What is your favorite hobby or activity?

Gather students in a circle. Begin the activity by tossing the beach ball to a student across from you in the circle. Have them look at the question closest to where their right thumb is touching the ball. Ask them to answer that question for the class. Direct the student to toss the ball to another student across the circle from them. The activity continues until each student has had a turn to catch the beach ball and share with the class.

Have you tried any of these icebreakers with your class? Do you have your own favorite first-day-of-school activities or traditions that you like to do with your new students? Our teaching community is an amazing place for sharing ideas! Please tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.

We hope you have an incredible start to the school year! Be sure to visit the Super Teacher Worksheets Back-to-School Page for more fun activities for the first week of school.