Want to encourage your students to get to know each other or just encourage them to interact more in class?  You might try an icebreaker activity.  We’ve compiled a list of ideas for different amounts of time that you might have available.

5 Minute Activities

  • Mood barometer – “How are you today?” Create a brief one-question quiz about how they’re doing using Kahoot, Collaborate Polling, or Zoom Polling.
  • Hometown Wordcloud – “Where are you from?” Create a word cloud in Slido.
  • One Word – “In one word, how would you describe…”  Create a word cloud question in Slido.
  • Group Picture – Take a group Zoom picture by having people pose and doing a screenshot. (PC / Mac)
  • Would you rather? – Play a game of “Would you rather?” with Kahoot, Collaborate Polling, or Zoom Polling.
  • I’m weird. You’re weird. We’re all a little weird! – Share the weirdest thing you own in chat.
  •  On Your Left – Grab the thing on your left and hold it up for the camera to see!  Good job! That’s your weapon for the zombie apocalypse! You can use lots of other ideas for this one too.  Maybe the thing on the left is the key to world peace, the only thing you get to take with you to a desert island, or the item that will make you famous.

10 Minute Activities

  • A picture’s worth a thousand words! – Draw your Mood on the shared whiteboard.
  • Scavenger Hunt  – Give a short amount of time to find some item in their home.
    • “Something orange”
    • “A spice or seasoning”
    • “Something more than 10 years old”
    • “Something from another culture”
  • Background Challenge – Have your students create a background and add it to their video. You might even add prompts to the background ideas.
    • Somewhere you’d like to be right now
    • Your favorite family tradition
    • A holiday you love
    • Your favorite character/band/movie
    • Career goal
  • Best Thing – “What was the best thing about the previous day/week?” Have them give their responses in chat.
  • Name that sound! – Play a sound, and have the participants guess what it is in chat.
  • Shape Challenge – Split everyone up into groups and have them choose one person to create a shape by telling each person on their screen how to hold their bodies and then once the shape is formed take a screenshot and share it with the whole class.
  • Internet Treasure Hunt – Give the students a prompt and have them hunt the internet for the best example of that prompt.  Perhaps even give a prize to encourage them to do their best!
  • Show off your Babies! – Share a Word file that the participants can edit where they can upload pictures of their pets/children/plants/crafts.
  • Image Search – Another activity that you can use a shared word file for is an image search game. Give them a prompt and have them find an image that matches that prompt.
  • Draw and Share! – Draw a picture of your breakfast/car/job and show it in the video.
  • I know Kung Fu! – If you could have a new skill in an instant, what would it be? Once they’ve decided either go down the list sharing via video or share in chat.

15 Minute Activities

  • 2 Truths and a Lie – Play a game of 2 Truths and a Lie where participants share two truths about themselves and then make one up.  After that the others can guess which they think the lie is using Kahoot, Collaborate Polling, or Zoom Polling.
  • Workspace Awards – Everyone should upload pictures of their workspace (not just what you can see from the webcam) and then others can vote on the worst/best/funniest space.
  • Show and Tell – Remember Kindergarten Show and Tell? This is just the same! Have each person show something important to them or that they find interesting.  You’ll learn so much about your students this way!
  • Fun with Partners and Groups (Use Breakout Groups in Collaborate and Zoom.)
    • Make up a secret handshake with your partner.
    • Make up a nickname for a new partner.
    • Make up a life motto together with a new partner (perhaps speaking one word at a time each?).
    • Make up your own!

30 Minute Activities

  • Trivia Game – Play a trivia game!  You might come up with a theme related to your course content or just something fun.  (This is great for test reviews!) You can use Kahoot, Collaborate Polling, or Zoom Polling for this.
  • Virtual Pictionary –  Play a game of Virtual Pictionary using the whiteboard.
  • Virtual Charades – Take turns acting out a person, place, thing, or idea and have the group guess in chat!

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