Kayla Sveen

1) Creating a Get to Know You Class Slideshow: This means that you as the teacher create a google
doc PowerPoint, or another PowerPoint tool that allows students to copy and paste in pictures of their
family, hobbies, etc. to have the students get to know one another more and also more about their
teacher. This also allows students time to share information out loud. You can give the students a certain
amount of time to create their slide, say ten to fifteen minutes. Then pull it up on a projector where all the
students can see each others slides when they share with one another. I have seen this strategy in some
of my college courses. I think this would work better in upper elementary classrooms where students are
more familiar with using their computers.
2) Getting to Know Each Other through Poetry: This involves the students writing a poem about
themselves to have their classmates get to know them. The students get to be creative in this activity. I
think this would also work more with upper elementary aged students in 3rd-5th grade. In this poem, you
as the teacher could make the students answer questions about themselves in their poem. For, example
you could ask them to make a poem about their favorite school subject, a favorite part of summer, a
favorite pet, favorite sport, or have them choose. After the students write their poems you can share them
with the class and then display them to remember your students.
3) Create a Personal Box: This activity involves the students and parents of your classroom. The
students need to find a box to fill at home with little things, pictures, toys, etc. that help describe their
families, hobbies, etc. to the class. You as the teacher could let the parents know that the student is to
complete this before the school year begins. I think this could be done in lower elementary and upper
elementary. If, you just wanted to involve the students, and not have them bring things from home, you
could have clay and have the kids sculpt things and put them on paper instead and create a personal
paper to share.
Mackenzie Schultz
1. Stringing Conversation Together: This is a warming up activity to the class. The teacher cuts strings
at different lengths but has a pair of strings that are the same length. The students then go and find a
sting they want. Next they have to find the person with the same length of sting as they do. These two are
then partners. After they find their person they begin to introduce each other and say interesting facts
about them. Then the students will introduce their partner to the class by repeating what the their partner
told them. Many students love this activity because it is easy to understand and they enjoy finding their
partner out of a group of students.
2. Beach Ball Games: For this activity the teacher will write different activities, games, the students
favorite color or anything else the teacher wants to. Then the class will go outside and form a circle. One
student starts with the ball and they toss it to another student. When the student catches it, whatever
activity the students right thumb lands on, the student then has to say it out loud and the class has to
participate in the activity together.
3. Filling Bag of things that represent us: The teacher brings a paper bag filled with things about her
life to the first day of school, it can be pictures of her family, a dog, or anything she wants. Then she pulls
them out of the bag and shows the class and tells them a little bit about her. Then she explains the
activity to the class while handing out paper bags to them. The next day she asks them to bring the bags
filled with 5 or more items that represent them or things they like to do. The following days and weeks the
students learn many things about their classmates.
Brooke Albertson
1. Collage Sharing: Bring in several magazines to class. Let the class go through them and cut out
pictures or phrases that represents things they like or things that they did over summer. Have students
cut out 5-7 things and glue them on a piece of paper with their picture on it. Once they are done,

everyone will sit in a circle and share their collage of pictures with the class and talk briefly about each
picture and what it means.
2. Fun Facts: Have each student tell you one fact about themselves. You will take each fact and put it on
a piece of paper and the students will have 2-3 minutes at their desk to match the fact with the correct
person. When they are done, you will have each person come up and talk about the fact that is about
them. You can give a prize to the person that go the most facts correct.
3. Video Collage: This one will work for older students. Students can get into groups of 3 and make a
video colleage of what they did over the summer, it can be pictures of what they did or they can shoot a
video of themselves talking or acting out things from the summer. They must say their name, the best
part of summer, and what they are looking forward to in school this year.
Tami Redinger
1: Create Your Own License Plate
I got this idea from my sister who just started 7th grade in a new school this year.
Each student has to create his/her own license plate using facts about him/herself. In the end they will
share it with the class. Students guess what the numbers, letters, etc. mean for the student who created
it. For example, my sister said she did hers something like this:
License plate #: 33J W08 and her state she chose was Montana
the 33 meant she had 33 nieces and nephews; the J was for her name, Jana; the W stood for where she
was born (Watertown); the 08 meant she had 8 nieces and nephews older than her; Montana was the
state she'd like to live in.
2: Two Truths One Lie, Who am I?
This game is basically a combination of 2 games I remember playing in school and I play with my friends
when we want to have a little bit of fun.
each person writes down 2 truths and 1 lie about themselves on a piece of paper and gives it to the
teacher/reader. The reader then reads them allowed and everyone else has to guess whose it is AND
which one is a lie.
3: Time Capsule: This is another one I have done in school. On the first day of school each student
brings in 3-4 items they would place in a time capsule that tells others about themselves (we didn't
actually put them in a time capsule). Then each student has to share with the class what they brought
and why they would place it in the time capsule. For example, I might bring in a corncob doll, a crochet
hook/crocheted item, cookies for the class, and a picture/video of some of my nieces and nephews. I
would then tell them I brought a corncob doll because I like Laura Ingalls Wilder and I work/worked at the
Ingalls Homestead, I brought the crochet hook because I like to crochet and do other crafts, cookies
because I like to bake and cook, and the picture is of my nieces/nephews because I have 33 nieces and
nephews with 2 more on the way. One I think would work great for older students is have them create an
art project using only 3-4 colors and the colors are to describe themselves (you would have to share what
the different colors mean, and they would select the colors from that). This way, they are having fun,
creating art, and telling about themselves at the same time and you can see who has more of a creative
touch! I also like the idea of students creating videos to introduce themselves!
Sarah Zach
All About Me: On the first day of school, students will be required to bring three things that represent
them. They will then introduce themselves and tell why they brought those things. For example, bring a
crayon because they like to color.

Outline of Me: With the help of the teacher, the students will outline themselves and cut the outline out.
The students will then draw, on the outlines, things they enjoy/like to do. The students will then bring it to
the front of the class and explain to everyone why they drew what they did.
Somethings Not Right
Before the students arrive in the classroom, arrange 10 things so that they look out of place or the wrong
way. When students arrive, they will get into groups and work together to find the things that are askew.
Sadie Fitzke
Partner Interviews: (Upper elementary)
The teacher puts the students into partners (groups of 2). The teacher instructs that they will be
interviewing each other, so they just decide who is the interviewer and who is the interviewee. Once that
is done they have 3 minutes to talk. The interviewer must learn as much as they can able the interviewee.
The interviewer is writing down the information that they learn. Times up! They switch roles. The
interviewee is now the interviewer and vise versa. Three minutes again to learn everything possible about
the partner. Times up! Now, the students have 1 minute to study their papers and memorize everything
they wrote down. Now, each partner must introduce their other partner to the class, but they CANNOT
look at their notes from the interview! They have to go by memory!!!
This is a fun game to break the ice and to get the class talking to each other and learning about each
other.
Picnic: (older elementary)
Tell students you are going on an imaginary picnic. Ask the students to go around the room introducing
themselves by saying their names and a food to bring that begins with the first letter of the name. (Im
Sadie and Im bringing a salad.) The next person must give the names and foods of everyone who came
before, then his/her own name (Thats Greg and hes bringing grapes; Im Slice and Im bringing a salad.)
Instructors usually go last, so that they have to repeat everyones name.
This is another fun game that will get the kids giggling and mingling with each other.
Dopey Questions: (older elementary)
Ask everyone to stand up. Tell them you will be asking them to get information about three different
classmates, and that for each question, they should try to find someone whose name they dont know or
with whom they havent spoken much. First, they should find someone and ask what three things are
always in his/her refrigerator. (Allow a few minutes for conversation, then get everyones attention.) Next,
everyone should find a new partner and ask the name of their favorite music artist or band. (Allow a few
more minutes.) Finally, everyone should find another partner and ask for a description of his/her most
spectacular childhood injury. At the end, see if they can remember the names, faces, and answers of the
three people they met.
Sheryl Koenig
1. The Name Train: In this activity, the students will form a circle. The teacher will also be in the circle.
The teacher will introduce her/himself and give one thing that they like to do. For example "I'm Ms. Koenig
and I like to sing". Then, going either clockwise or counter clockwise, the student will say exactly what the
teacher said "She is Ms. Koenig and she likes to sing" and then add on to the train their name. Then the
third person will go and will have to say the name and hobby of the teacher, the classmate/s in front of
them, and then, finally their name. This activity is challenging and it is important to show the students that
its okay if they don't remember everyone's names, just kindly ask each student to say their name and
their hobby again if the other student struggles. I did this activity this summer with a class and it was
amazing how we all knew each other and had something to talk about after we did it. At the end, the
teacher will say each student and their hobby to finish out the circle.

2. Who is that person?: Each student is given a name of another student in their class. They have to
find that student and then draw them. They then have to know what they like to do for fun, their favorite
color, and their favorite food. At the end, the students have to get up, one-by-one, to the front of the class
and the other students have to guess who the student is.
3. Person Scavenger Hunt: Each student will tell the teacher something interesting about themselves.
Then, you will write all of these interesting facts on a piece of paper with a blank so the students can write
the name in. Then, the students have to find who the person is that has the interesting fact. In the blank,
the student that has the interesting fact has to neatly print their name so that the students can remember
their name.
Lilian Harmer
Activity #1 - Getting to Know You Bingo:
This Ice breaker game will help teacher and students getting to know each other better.
Material Needed:
Printable: https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/misc07/GettingToKnowYou_Bingo.pdf
Procedure:
Give to each student a copy of the printable. The students task will be to find classmates who fit the
descriptions on the game card. Play a quick version as bingo, or reward students for completing the entire
card. Students will have fun trying to find a classmate to fit the description of the printable.
Activity #2 Package of a Unique Product YOU!
Advertisers really know how to sell their products. There is not a word or image in an ad that isnt focused
on making you think that that particular product is the best ever! Use the same techniques to tell your
teacher and your classmates what a unique person you are. Redesign a cereal box, keeping the focus of
every world and image on your message and show how special you are!
Material Needed:

Empty cereal box

Construction or craft paper

Students pictures

Magazine pictures, stickers, magazine words that represent your personality (Whatever
represents YOU!)

Markers or colored pencils

Small treasures or souvenirs

Procedure:
Ask students to cut a piece of paper that will fit over each panel of the cereal box. Using the style of the
writing and images on the cereal box as inspiration, students will describe themselves in glowing terms
using pictures, magazine pictures, stickers, bold or fancy words that represent their personality, etc.
Students should change the cereal nutrition facts to a list of their personal facts and in the ingredient
space students should write the name of ingredients that make them who they are.
Make sure students glue everything in the panels of the box. After the box is done each students will
present their Unique Product project to the class, so the teacher and each student can get to know each
member of the class better.
Students should use the box to hold small treasures that say something about them: Souvenirs, ticket
stubs, photos, jewelry they made in class, or a CD of a favorite song.
Activity #3 Google Voice Messages and Google Map Personal Story:
This activity will aloud the students to use technology to introduce themselves and to share special places
that they have visited and that is meaningful to their lives.
Material Needed:

Computer

Internet


Google account
Procedure:
Students will use Google Voice to leave the teacher a message sharing something about their lives.
Students will also create a Google Map where they drop pins in places that are meaningful to their lives.
At the end of the class students will share their Google Map Personal Story with the teacher and their
classmates.

Mandy Tetzlaff
1.) A poster entitled 'About Me' - it has spaces for a photo of the child, likes and dislikes (foods, movies,
books etc), about their family, what they like to do in their spare time, schools they went to before and
birth date. (I like to give a Birthday Certificate or card to children)
Its a way for me to get to know the children and if the children are new to each other, its great for them to
learn more about each other and find a new friend with similar or same interests.
2.) 2 Truths and 1 Lie: Have students tell the two most wildest facts about themselves and one wild, but
untrue fact, is among the three total. It is up to the class to guess which fact is untrue. I usually begin and
tell the class:

I water ski frequently.

I used to have pink hair.

I love the Jonas Brothers.

It's then up to them to choose which "fact" is really fiction!
3.) Beach Ball: Take a beach ball and write activities on it in black permanent marker. Write on the ball
activities such as: play tag, sing part of a song, play duck, duck, goose, Say your favorite color, etc. Then
the students and would go outside and stand in a circle. One child starts with the ball and tosses it to
another child while calling out their name. The student whose name was called catches the ball and
wherever his/her thumb lands, they are to play or say whatever the ball tells them. This really gets the
kids excited about playing with one another and they get to practice names! They LOVE that it's outside
on the first day too! It makes a nice break in all of the rules and telling/teaching expectations for the first
day!
Audrey Hupf
This is for you... (A game for upper elementary)
1. On the board, write, This is for you, (name). Thank you, (name).
2. Students stand in circles of 10-15. Start by going around the circle. Everyone introduces themselves.
3. Give one stuffed animal a student. She reintroduces herself (Im Mai.). Then she says, This is for
you, (name) and throws it to that student.
4. That student says, Thank you, Mai. Im Emi. This is for you, (name). and throws it to another student.
* It is a good idea to have them make sure everyone has gotten the animal once before there are
repetitions. There will be times they dont know someones name. They just look at that student and
gesture that they need help with the name. That person says her name.
5. Once everyone has received and thrown the stuff animal once, the fun begins. Ask them to follow the
trail they throw it to the same person. Introduce the second and third stuffed animal. Leave a few
seconds delay between each one. They continue to say, This is for you, (name). Thank you, (name).
each time they throw it.
6. Then suggest a bit of silence. They continue to throw the animals but the only think about the names.
They dont say them. This silent period really helps them concentrate on the names.
Variation. At this point, make it a free for all. They see how many names the remember. They call out the
names and try to get that persons attention (Mai! This is for you!, When they do, the toss the animal to
that person. The animals no longer follow a trail . Creative chaos!

*At the end, give everyone a minute or two to look around the circle and see how many peoples names
they know.
Me and We - (for lower elementary)
In this activity, the teacher will have to make an outline of the word "ME," and photocopy it for kids to cut
out. Then kids can decorate the front of the word with drawings of things that represent themselves. After
they finish, let each child talk about their drawings and why they included them. Then let them turn over
their "ME" projects so that the blank word "WE" appears. They can then draw pictures of things they
learned about other people in the class on the "WE" side of the paper.
Wrap Around - (any grade)
The teacher stands at the entrance of the door with a spool of ribbon or yarn and scissors as the students
walk into the classroom. Each student tells the teacher how much ribbon/yarn they would like. (This can
range from a centimeter to several feet depending upon the student.) After all of the students get their
piece of ribbon/yarn, the teacher will explain that they have to talk about themselves while wrapping the
ribbon/yarn around their finger until it is all gone. The teacher will start. For example, if a student only
wanted a small portion, they may only say "Hi, I'm Audrey," and their ribbon/yarn is already wrapped all
the way around their finger so they are done.
Stacey Hansen
Facebook Profile Activity https://mcdn1.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/Facebook-StudentInformation-Worksheet/original-671073-1.jpg
The Facebook profile activity works as a regular Facebook get to know you or information page. The
information to fill in is the same an actual Facebook page, but with some twist on it. For example; name,
birthday, favorite book, favorite subject. Also it provides status updates which can be anything from
parents names and occupation, Im in need of help with, I hope my teacher and my favorite thing to do is.
This activity is a really great ice breaker game for older elementary, middle school or high school students
where which the teacher gets the opportunity to get to know his or her students and for the students to
get to know their classmate and their teacher.
Student Selfies http://www.clipartbest.com/cliparts/RcG/kMa/RcGkMa7cL.jpeg
The student selfies is an opportunity for students to be creative and artistic to get to know the rest of the
class and teacher. What students do is they first receive a handout from the teacher of a blank head.
Then they create their own selfie by putting their characteristics on the blank head (physical
appearance) and surround the head with interest, hobbies, and favorites. This activity would be great for
elementary school grades for students to have the opportunity to express themselves through an artistic,
ice breaker.
The Skittles Game https://mcdn1.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/Getting-to-Know-you-withSkittles-061484300-1375716284-1438056088/original-810556-1.jpg
The Skittles Game is a good ice breaker activity to get to know students in a fun, eating candy type of
way. This activity is designed for younger elementary because of the easier question content. What a
teacher does is hand out a handful of skittles to each student and the students match up the skittle to the
color chart provided and answer the color coordinated questions. Skittles is a good candy choice because
of the new peanut allergy restrictions, making skittles the perfect choice for this activity.
Annalesha Kalis
Crazy Eyes: Crazy eyes is a game, when students stand in a circle with their heads down. Teacher will
say heads up and students will look at someone. If you are looking at the same person then both of the
students are out. I think this activity would be fun and effect because students will start off hesitant and by
the end everyone is laughing, and nervous to look at someone.

Convostones: Teachers will create questions and tape them to the bottom of clear stones. The stones
will be placed in a bag and students will be sitting in a circle and pick their stone from the bag. The
students will then state their name, read the question and answer it. The questions can be serious, funny,
all about me, etc. Convostones would be effective because it can get students to open up, and be familiar
with everyone. The questions are to bring people out of the box. I have played this game, and some of
the questions I have had were "Where were you born," "What is your biggest fear," "if you could get a
tattoo what would it be?"
Hum a tune and pleased to Meet You!: Nice to meet you is a musical get to know you game for children
and adults. Teachers will write song titles on note cards and make enough for everyone in the group. The
songs could be Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars, Star Spangled Banner, etc. Everyone will begin to hum their
tune and then try to find their partners. I think this game would be fun for the students. It would get them
to work together and work as a team. If the students are excited to find their partners hopefully they would
be excited to stay working with the partners.
Mara Eichenberger
Activity 1: All About Me Bag
For this activity you could use it starting at grade kindergarten. This activity could work for any grade, but
for the younger level grades, when they cant write full sentences they could easily draw a pictures. What
you do as a teacher is write four or however many questions you want on the brown paper bag, hand it
out to the students and have them either answer the questions by drawing or writing a short response.
For example, Did you go anywhere exciting this summer? Where was it? Students will then draw or
write their response and put it in the bag. When everyone is finished answering/drawing there will be a
share time so each student can get to know one another and hear about any interesting facts.
Activity 2: Find Someone Who
For this activity the teacher will hand out a sheet of paper with 5 rows and 5 columns, making you have
25 boxes. In each box you have a topic such as, Find someone Who has traveled to another state,
loves dogs, has brown hair, etc What students are to do is to find someone in the classroom who has
done any of these things. Its a great way for students to communicate and learn about one another,
especially when trying to make new friends.
Activity 3: Beach Ball Facts
For this activity it aims towards elementary students. For this students are to sit in a circle in the front of
the classroom. The teacher will have a beach ball and on each of the colors there will be a question. The
teacher will start by tossing the ball in the air to a student and whatever question faces them when they
face it they are to answer it. A question could be, What did you do this summer? More than one student
will have the same question which is completely fine! We want to learn about students and who they are,
where they come from, and so forth.
I speak for myself when I say that all of these would be great icebreaker games for elementary students!
We want students to feel welcomed and comfortable in a classroom so any game that gets them to learn
about one another and find things in common is very helpful and calming to students.