My school district puts a heavy emphasis on SEL. For those who don’t know this alphabet soup acronym, it stands for Social-Emotional Learning, which emphasizes that social and emotional states impact the learning process. Here is a short definition: “Social-emotional learning (SEL) is the process of developing the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills vital for school, work, and life success.” Orchestra teachers live SEL on a daily basis. In my mind, what we do is SEL.
I want my students to get to know one another quickly, learning names and making connections, so I’ve reviewed the ice breakers that will make those bridges rapidly. Notice that these ice breakers encourage students to connect and, most significantly, how they are alike, rather than how different, plus they work for all ages. I like to get students to lead these activities, which requires some planning, including writing out the activity with easy-to-read instructions and contacting the students ahead of time.
Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament is good for bonding and is usually our first ice breaker. Be sure to spell out the rules, including when and how the kids show their rock/paper/scissors. Kids pair up, play Rock, Paper, Scissors, and the winner is the best out of three rounds. The loser is now on the winner’s team and will chant their name for the next matchup. Each time there is a winner, the team rooting for the student grows, and the student’s name gets chanted - a great way to learn names on the first day of school. You should end with two students and their “teams” at the end of the activity for the grand winner. A fun or silly prize makes this a fun event.
Blobs & Lines and “Would you rather?” lets students group themselves into like groups or lines. Dogs vs. Cats; Disney Vacation or Adventure Vacation; and Hamburgers vs. Pizza. You can add an element of discussion after the kids choose their spot, like, “Tell someone about a fun vacation.”
No-Peek Self Portraits is absolutely hilarious. Students draw a self-portrait with their eyes closed, then make an airplane or crumple the paper and throw it. Students pick up a paper and find the owner of the self-portrait.
Easy Card Games get kids interacting. I bought a card game pack that included Go Fish, Old Maid, Crazy 8s, etc. I start with assigned groups, and they play the card games for a set amount of time. Then I have the groups mix up and play a new game. Find an easy way to change groups that mix the kids up. Whether the kids know each other or not, I always have them say their names before they start playing.
Crumple & Shoot gets kids to interact with everyone. On a piece of paper, students write a list of things about themselves. Ideas are favorite animal, favorite color, number of siblings, birthday month, instrument, etc. Depending on the age group, adding silly topics can help break the ice. Students crumple their paper and throw it across the room. The leader picks the topic, and everyone picks up a piece of paper and searches for people who have the same or similar answer on their paper for that topic. Note, students will not have their own paper but still have to find a match to the paper they picked up. At the end of the game, mark a spot on the floor and have students throw the papers in the trash can.
I want my students to get to know one another quickly, learning names and making connections, so I’ve reviewed the ice breakers that will make those bridges rapidly. Notice that these ice breakers encourage students to connect and, most significantly, how they are alike, rather than how different, plus they work for all ages. I like to get students to lead these activities, which requires some planning, including writing out the activity with easy-to-read instructions and contacting the students ahead of time.
Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament is good for bonding and is usually our first ice breaker. Be sure to spell out the rules, including when and how the kids show their rock/paper/scissors. Kids pair up, play Rock, Paper, Scissors, and the winner is the best out of three rounds. The loser is now on the winner’s team and will chant their name for the next matchup. Each time there is a winner, the team rooting for the student grows, and the student’s name gets chanted - a great way to learn names on the first day of school. You should end with two students and their “teams” at the end of the activity for the grand winner. A fun or silly prize makes this a fun event.
Blobs & Lines and “Would you rather?” lets students group themselves into like groups or lines. Dogs vs. Cats; Disney Vacation or Adventure Vacation; and Hamburgers vs. Pizza. You can add an element of discussion after the kids choose their spot, like, “Tell someone about a fun vacation.”
No-Peek Self Portraits is absolutely hilarious. Students draw a self-portrait with their eyes closed, then make an airplane or crumple the paper and throw it. Students pick up a paper and find the owner of the self-portrait.
Easy Card Games get kids interacting. I bought a card game pack that included Go Fish, Old Maid, Crazy 8s, etc. I start with assigned groups, and they play the card games for a set amount of time. Then I have the groups mix up and play a new game. Find an easy way to change groups that mix the kids up. Whether the kids know each other or not, I always have them say their names before they start playing.
Crumple & Shoot gets kids to interact with everyone. On a piece of paper, students write a list of things about themselves. Ideas are favorite animal, favorite color, number of siblings, birthday month, instrument, etc. Depending on the age group, adding silly topics can help break the ice. Students crumple their paper and throw it across the room. The leader picks the topic, and everyone picks up a piece of paper and searches for people who have the same or similar answer on their paper for that topic. Note, students will not have their own paper but still have to find a match to the paper they picked up. At the end of the game, mark a spot on the floor and have students throw the papers in the trash can.