3 Fun Icebreakers for Kids
Icebreakers for Kids
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It isn’t only adults who may feel nervous when brought together with people that they don’t really know. The same definitely goes for children too. Much like with adults, there are a variety of different icebreakers that you can use to bring a group out of their shells and have them chatting away and getting to know each other in no time at all.
Getting to know you
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If you have a group of children that don’t know each other, then this icebreaker is an ideal way to get them finding out about one another as well as having fun too. Get the children to stand in a circle and grab a bean bag or a soft ball. Start the game by throwing your bean bag or ball at one of the children and ask them a simple question about themselves. “What is your name?” “Do you have a pet?” “What is your favorite color?” These are all great ideas. The children then take turns throwing the item and asking questions of their own. Play for 5/10 minutes depending on the size of your group.
”Lets talk! Bridge the gap. Break the ice.” – Debashis Sarmah
There are different ways you can differentiate this activity. For example, you can use a beachball with circular stickers all around the ball. You can have a variety of fun questions on each sticker. The question can include things like “What is your favorite food?” and “If you could be an animal, what animal would you be?” When you throw the beach ball, the child will (hopefully) catch it, and the sticker that is under or closest to their right thumb when they catch it is the question they will have to answer. For even more fun, you can have the kiddos help you create the questions before you start the game as well. The options are truly endless!
The Line-Up
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If you have older children then you might want to tailor your ice-breakers for their age range. A good game if you have a larger group has to be The Line-Up icebreaker. This works best with around 6 players per team and mixed ages is ideal. You act as the caller of the game; asking the teams to line up in order of age, first name order, height, birthdays, longest hair, most cousins. The list can go. This encourages the children to learn more about one another and will have them laughing and interacting too.
Just like the previous ice breaker, this ice breaker can be tailored as well to meet the needs of different students. For example, you can have the students do the activity silently, or you can have them practice their writing skills by being required to communicate via writing only. If you are a class teacher, this activity allows you to quickly see who the different students are in your class. This activity is known to bring leaders to the forefront and this can be helpful in allowing you to understand how to continue running your class.
Funny Faces
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If you have a smaller group of children, then you might worry that there are less icebreakers that you can use. However, there are some icebreakers that are ideal for smaller groups. Funny Faces is one of those. Ask the children to sit in a circle facing each other. One of the children is “it” and he or she needs to make their funniest face to get everyone else to laugh. They get a point for every person who smiles or laughs. After a set amount of time (say 30 seconds) they then need to wipe their funny face off and pass it to the next child. This is great fun and is likely to have even the grown-ups smiling. These are just some great ideas when it comes to ice-breakers for kids; ideally it is important to have them smiling, laughing and learning about each other, all without even realizing it.
These are some of the best icebreakers for kids. Want more icebreaker ideas?
