First Day Icebreakers
Getting to Know Your Students with Fun and Games
Start out the year in your religious education class by forming friendships and classroom bonds.
Icebreakers are the perfect first-day activities for a new religious education class. Getting-to-know-you games and activities allow everyone in the class to get acquainted, help with team building and set a relaxed, fun tone to the first day of CCD.
Don’t expect the students to be talkative, at ease or relaxed at first. Children often approach a new year with some anxiety. The purpose of icebreakers is to put them at ease with each other.
As teacher, be sure you participate in the games and activities. It’s important that the students get to know you, too.
Balloon Toss
Give each child a deflated balloon and a tiny slip of paper. Tell them to write a fun fact about themselves, something that might be unique. Give examples (“I went to Italy on vacation last year,” “I have two dogs, a cat, a lizard and three fish.”). Tell them to fold the paper up as small as possible and stuff it inside the balloon. Then blow up the balloons and tie them. With the group sitting in a circle, you yell, “Go!” and the students begin to toss the balloons back and forth, batting them around the circle every which way. You yell, “Stop!” and everyone grabs the closest balloon. When things have quieted down, have the students pop their balloons, one by one, and read the fun fact. Everyone tries to guess who wrote it.
Skittles Game
Sit in a circle. Pass around a bowl of Skittles and tell each child to pick out five. Tell the students that for each color of Skittle they have, they are to tell something about themselves. Red – something personal about themselves (where they live, what grade they're in); Yellow - something about their family (number of siblings, what mom or dad does for a living); Orange – favorite TV show; Green – something about school (favorite subject, awards and accomplishments); and Purple – something about their hobbies.
Two Truths and a Lie
Have each student write down three things – two truths about themselves and one lie. Take turns reading them. The class tries to guess which one is the lie.
Name Game
Each person in the circle says his name and something about himself that starts with the same letter as his name. For example, “I’m Diane and I love desserts.” The next person repeats that sentence and adds his own. “She’s Diane and she loves desserts. I’m Scott and I play soccer.”
News Interview
Pass around a play microphone and have each student “interview” another student by asking him three questions.
Pictures Only Please
Tell the students that they have to write about themselves, using only pictures and no words. Take turns showing and explaining their pictures.
Connections
The teacher starts this off, by starting to tell things about him/herself (“I have two dogs . . . I like to go shopping . . . I keep a daily journal . . .”). As soon as a student hears something that he has in common with the teacher, he yells out, “Me, too!” That student then begins to tell things about himself and the students listen for things in common. The last student gets to tell about himself, too, and can stop when someone says, “Me, too!”
- Looking for fun things for your students to do before class starts? Check out CCD Class Gathering Activities: Fun Things for Students While Waiting for Classes to Start.
- Find valuable tips and ideas for planning your CCD year with Religious Education Lesson Plans.
