Starting a new school semester or year, and even just introducing a new topic, can take time. Introducing a fun icebreaker can help ease everyone back into the groove and jump right back into the learning process.
Starting a new school semester or year, and even just introducing a new topic, can take time. Introducing a fun icebreaker can help ease everyone back into the groove and jump right back into the learning process.
Icebreakers may seem cliche to some and you may even think they are cheesy and even a little awkward, but using a tool like Mentimeter to facilitate these icebreakers takes the hassle out of it and all answers are anonymous. Let’s have a look at what kind of icebreakers will work for you.
All of these examples can of course be tailored to help break the ice with students in middle school, high school, or college.
Best icebreakers for students
- Word Association
- This or That
- Two Truths & A Lie
- Subject-specific
- Junior/Middle School
- High School
- College
- Get to Know Your Teacher/Lecturer
- Fun Would You Rather Questions
Using icebreaker questions is a great way to encourage students to interact with what you are asking while also thinking critically about the response they are going to submit. All of the templates included are free and ready to use and you can use any of the other suggestions as inspiration for your next presentation.
1. Word Association icebreakers
Choose a subject, it could be something educational or perhaps a completely random topic. Ask the students what words they associate with that particular topic and get them to enter their words into Menti.com.
Create beautiful visualizations in real-time from your student’s inputs with a word cloud. The younger students will love to watch the word cloud grow and the most popular words appear larger. Older students will get inspired by their peers' ideas.
Word Association
- What comes to mind when you think of math?
- What words do you associate with school?
- What does the word ‘History’ make you think of?
- How do you feel about homework?
- What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘test’?
- What word comes to mind when considering the character of Hamlet?
- What comes to mind when hearing the word ‘French’?
- What do you think of when you read the word ‘homework’?
- What is a good teacher?
- What comes to mind when you think of science?
2. This or That icebreakers
‘This or that’ is a fun icebreaker to see what your students have in common. The more random the options the better and the funnier for the students. To make this icebreaker work the question must be a ‘yes or no’ or would you rather kind of question with only two answer choices.
This or that
‘This or that’ is a fun icebreaker to see what your students have in common. The more random the options the better and the funnier for the students. To make this icebreaker work the question must be a ‘yes or no’ or would you rather kind of question with only two answer choices.
- Would you rather be invisible for a day or be able to fly for a day?
- Live on a desert island or in Antarctica?
- Breakfast or Dinner for every meal?
- Only be able to play sports or read books?
- Can only watch scary movies or funny movies?
- Wake up at 6 am every day or go to sleep at 9 pm?
- Play a new instrument or speak a new language?
- No more phone or no more laptop?
- Stay at home forever or never be able to return home?
- Would you rather become a dog or a cat for a day?
3. Truths & A Lie
The name says it all, give the students two truths and one lie and they have to choose which one is the lie. It is a fun way to find an unusual fact about their teacher and they may even be shocked to find out their teacher has skydived or scuba-dived with sharks. It could also be used as a fun way for students to introduce themselves to the class.
Two truths one lie
- I have skydived - I am vegan - My favorite place in the world is Barcelona - I can juggle
- I can play the X - My favorite sport is X - I have never visited X
- X is my favorite food - I have a dog/cat named X - I am allergic to X
- I used to live in X - I love to watch X movies - I used to work as an X
- I am from X - I support X - I was once an X
- My favorite artist is X - I would love to live in X - My best subject is school was X
- If I wasn’t a teacher I would be X - My nickname as a kid was X - My father is an X
- My secret talent is X - I own X pairs of shoes - X is my favorite color
- I drive an X - I once lived in X - My favorite activity is X
- I am a twin - I speak X languages - I have a fear of X
4. Icebreakers for Middle School
Time to get your students thinking about something fun. Let them use their imagination to come up with some creative answers. But don’t just leave it there, feel free to ask them to explain their decisions and see what reasoning went into their choices. This can be a great way to promote discussion and help kids express themselves and improve their reasoning skills.
What is your favourite hobby?
- What is your favorite hobby?
- If you could be an animal, which animal would you be?
- Who is your favorite character from a book?
- What superpower would you love to have?
- If you could only watch one tv show, which would you watch?
- What is your favorite subject and why?
- What historical figure would you like to meet?
- What is your dream job?
- What is the first thing you would do if you became President?
- What country would you most like to visit?
- What has been your favorite holiday?
- If you could meet one famous person, who would it be?
- What is your favorite season?
- How long would you survive in a zombie apocalypse?
- Name one thing on your bucket list.
5. Icebreakers for High School
This could be a great way to get students talking with people they don’t regularly interact with or a means to encourage them to think long and hard about a relevant issue or topic. More than simply a yes or no question this can require students to debate, discuss, and think critically about their answers.
If you wrote a book
- If you wrote a book, what would it be about?
- What subject do you want to study at university?
- If you could go back and tell your younger self one thing, what would it be?
- How would you go about spending $ 1 million?
- Who is your role model and why?
- If you were to teach this class, what would you focus on?
- What is the most exciting thing about this class?
- What is the most important skill to develop?
- What are your plans for after school?
- What have you thought about your time in school to this point?
6. Icebreakers for University & College
This could be a great way to get students talking with people they don’t regularly interact with or a means to encourage them to think long and hard about a relevant issue or topic. More than simply a yes or no question this can require students to debate, discuss, and think critically about their answers.
Favorite Author
- Who has been your favorite author to study?
- If you could add one other area of study to this course, what would it be?
- Is there any specific part of this course you are looking forward to learning about?
- Why did you decide to study this subject?
- What would you like to do upon graduation?
- What do you think is the most effective teaching method?
- How would you describe the university experience?
- What authors have you read that you found most insightful?
- If you recommend one interesting topic to your fellow students what would it be?
- What made you choose to study here?
7. Get to Know Your Teacher/Lecturer
Introductions can be awkward and often a little dull. So why not create friendly competition and see who comes out on top with a ‘get to know your teacher’ quiz? Thanks to Mentimeter you can also let your students submit some questions with the built-in Q/A function.
Get to know your teacher
- Where does your teacher come from?
- What is your teacher’s favorite sport?
- What is your teacher’s favorite ice cream flavor?
- If your teacher could go somewhere on holiday where would they go?
- What subject did your teacher love in school?
Get to know your teacher
Get to know your lecturer
- Where does your lecturer come from?
- Where did your lecturer study for their BA?
- What topic did your lecturer choose for their Ph.D.?
- What book does your lecturer consider a ‘must read’?
- Where did your lecturer study?
Get to know your lecturer
Would you rather icebreakers
- Would you rather have the world’s worst haircut or worst breath for the rest of your life?
- Would you rather time travel or be able to stop time?
- Would you rather learn a new language or a new instrument?
- Would you rather live on the moon or under the ocean?
- Would you rather have to present your guilty pleasure or a secret no one knows about you?
What are good icebreaker questions?
A good icebreaker should be fun and insightful and can kickstart a discussion amongst the group. The best icebreakers will fit the situation perfectly. For example, an icebreaker for students could ask them something about what they learned last week, while a conference icebreaker could get everyone debating and discussing a topic with the person beside them.
More Templates mean more inspiration
We have plenty more ready-made and easy-to-use templates that range from quizzes to icebreakers that can be used in team meetings or in classes. These are perfect for icebreakers to use for your next lesson or lecture, or as a fun and unique way to quiz students. Perfect for a live setting, asynchronous learning, as well as formative assessment.
