Icebreaker activities for remote teaching

Icebreakers aren’t just useful at the beginning of a class to facilitate introductions – they can be used throughout the session to help foster unity, access prior knowledge, as energisers or topic segues, and are also good for breaks. Activities can relate to the content, subject or topic or be completely unrelated, depending on your purpose, goals and cohort.

Check out this selection of online icebreakers below to find some that may work for your next class!

Common ground

Give small groups five minutes to write a list of everything they all have in common. Then, have them introduce each other to the whole group, being sure to mention at least one thing they have in common with each other.

Introductions with a twist

This icebreaker gives students an opportunity to learn something silly about each other and divulge something personal about them. As a kick-off to the class, everyone is asked to introduce themselves by telling something informational (name), something silly (e.g., where you’d be if you could be anywhere right now, your favourite dessert, etc.), and something reflective (e.g., what you hope to get out of this class). Teachers may spontaneously recall specific things people said as a way of maintaining humour and giving students opportunities to connect during the rest of the class.

Introduce your pet

Many of us have pets, so why not introduce them to each other and tell us a bit about them. (E.g., what’s its name and why did you call it that? What breed is it? Does he/she have any distinctive personality traits? etc.)

Burning questions

Students write 1-3 “burning questions” they have about the course which can later be shared and addressed in a group discussion.

Make a puppet

Give students 10 minutes to make a puppet or avatar/alter ego from whatever they can find at home that represents something about them and then share with the group in their persona’s character. This activity guarantees a lot of laughs!

Play an instrument

Many students play an instrument, so ask them to collaborate and compose or play a song to share with the class, or alternatively find a song that they all like if they don’t play themselves.

Miscomm-puter-unication

Ask students to share their most embarrassing mishap using a computer. Share your own experience, for example, replying to the wrong person in an email. This will loosen them up and cause a few to chuckle before embarking on a whole new way of thinking…using technology instead of paper and pen.

Five pictures

In this activity, students create a collage of five pictures or images that best describe themselves. These can be pictures they have already taken or images from other sources. Make sure they cite the sources for images that are not their own and describe how the pictures represent who they are.

Two truths and a lie

In groups students tell each other three interesting facts. Two of these are true and one is made up. Have group members guess the lie.

Six degrees of separation

Ask students to find out how he/she is linked to another participant through 3-5 others because they have some kind of connection. In finding the answers, students have to interact and ask a lot of questions to each other. A shorter variation of this exercise may be to ask students to find one other person they have some kind of connection with (i.e., a student they did not know before).

I’ve done something you haven’t done

Have students introduce themselves and then state something they have done that they think no one else in the class has done. If someone else has also done it, the student must state something else until he or she finds something that no one else has done.

Talking about art

Bring in contemporary or historical artwork, objects, or books that relate to the projects you have planned for your course. Assign three roles to group members: writer, timekeeper, and speaker. Distribute the objects among groups of 3-4. Give each group one questionnaire for each object with questions. (The questionnaires are for notes only.) Students won’t need to turn them in. Sample questions:

• When and where do you think the piece was created?
• What methods do you think were used to make this object?
• Name any major artists whose work is similar.

Give groups 5-8 minutes to answer their questions. Remind students that their opinions and speculations are important for this activity. Later in the course they will learn the correct answers to the questions. As the instructor, circulate and listen to each group’s discussion. Join in when relevant. Finally, ask the “speakers” from each group to speak to the class about the objects based on their groups’ responses.

Things

Choose an object to share with the class that represents you and explain why.

The ‘Me shield’

For this activity, have students design their own coat of arms or shield answering 4 of the following 7 questions:

• What are three things you are good at?
• What do you like most about your family?
• What do your friends like about you?
• What do you think you can do better than almost anyone else?
• What do you dream about doing one day?
• What is something you have already done that makes you feel really good?
• What is one thing you would like to change about yourself?

Students can write their answers or use a combination of art and writing to express themselves. Try using Microsoft Whiteboard or Google Jamboard.

First job

Have students introduce themselves, sharing their name and something valuable they learned on their first paying job.

My slogan

Many organisations and companies have slogans or mottos which reflect their values. Ask each person to write (or borrow) a slogan to describe him or herself and share that with the class.

Memory lane

Ask students to list three major world events that happened the year in which they were born, then have the other members guess the year and post a short response on whether they remembered the events or had never heard of them.

WHIPS

Quick answers to incomplete sentences, such as:

• “Right now I’m feeling…”
• “Today I…”
• “I wish…”
• “The best part of the day…”

The magic wand

You have just found a magic wand that allows you to make three changes. You can change anything you want. How would you change yourself, your job, or any other part of your life? Have students discuss why it is important to make the change. Another variation is to have students discuss what they would change in this classroom if they were the teacher.

Storytelling

Because of the creative and cooperative nature of this game, it is a good activity to use either as an icebreaker or as a team-building activity. It can also be useful for a training session on creativity. Follow these instructions:

• In advance of the class, prepare some documents or boards (you can use MS Word or create boards with an image manipulation program) with a set of 4 pictures on each.
• Separate the participants into groups of 4 people in breakout rooms and assign each group one of the files with the photos.
• Give the groups 10 minutes to look at the photos and to create their narrative that creates a story that connects the four images.
• When the 10 minutes are up, ask each group to share their story onto a virtual board and to spend up to three minutes to tell the story of their images.
• Allow other groups to then suggest how they might have developed the story and if they would have used the images differently.
• Use an online Whiteboard, chat board, or other collaboration tools such as Padlet, Jamboard or Lino.

Charades

Kick off your class by playing a few rounds of charades where the presenters can pick only school-related things. If you’re rusty on your Charades skills, here’s a quick refresher:

• Pick a “presenter” to start things off.
• Ask the presenter to think of an office item or activity. They can announce the category, but that’s the last time they can talk.
• Then have the presenter explain the item using only gestures. Any spoken words lead to an immediate disqualification.
• Laugh a lot. All charades manuals agree the game cannot be played without lots of laughter and yelling.

The X Factor

In groups, ask students to think about X Factor or any other talent show on TV, and then sum up the class, learnings and key takeaways in an X Factory-style 2-3 minute presentation, which could be a song or a rap, advertisement, jingle, rhythm or rhyme, short play or pantomime, or story with props. Everyone must participate in some way and then present back to the class.

Shoe pictures

Have everybody take a photo of one their shoes. Upload on to a shared screen. Select shoes at random and have all participants invent something about the shoe and its owner. Have one or two people share their thoughts. (e.g. the shoe belongs to somebody that likes to exercise). Ask the real owner to show themselves and share the story of their shoe.

Movie pitch

Have students work in breakout rooms give them 10 minutes to invent a film they’d like to make. Each group pitches to the class. The class votes on the best pitch.

Time machine

Write in the chat a year and a place you would like to go back in time to visit. Suggest someone you might want to meet from the past. Would you like to remain in the past or just visit? Why? Would anybody like to go far into the future? Why or why not? Ask students to share their responses and discuss.

Food memories

Ask students to share in chat, breakouts or with the class their favourite comfort food. What does it remind them of and what emotions are associated with it?

Picture me

This icebreaker is useful for getting students to open up about their feelings and discuss their thoughts about the course and how they perceive it. The icebreaker is also a light-hearted way of introducing participants. Place your pictures on a pre-prepared board and ask participants to each select a picture that best represents their feelings and/or other significant issues regarding the course topic. As each person introduces themselves, ask them to explain their thoughts behind why they chose that particular picture and review their comments in turn. Where you can, identify common issues that occur within the group and discuss them.

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