Ice Breaker Games for High School Students

You might think icebreaker's are all fun and games, but you will be surprised at what you can accomplish by working as a team on an engaging goal. Use icebreakers to diffuse awkwardness and energize your group as you give students an opportunity to share about themselves and learn about others. It is important to gauge your group and choose icebreakers that will be interesting and accessible to high school students, and appropriate to the size of the group.

Use the "Name Game" for an ice breaker for a large group of up to 30 participants. You will only need a small stuffed animal or soft object to toss for this game. To begin, have everyone stand around in a circle or, you can have students remain seated, if you need to make accommodations for students, unable to stand. The first person will start the game by saying her name and a descriptive word that starts with the same letter (i.e. Spontaneous Sarah). She should throw the ball to another person in the group, and he will repeat the participant's first name followed by his own name. In this example, Sarah throws the ball to Tom. He says her name plus her chosen adjective, Spontaneous Sarah and then adds his name plus adjective: Tenacious Tom. The game continues until the last person recites the names of all of her classmates before introducing her own.

Each student starts the "Sharing Game" by grabbing a handful of candy. Once each student has taken some candy, explain that they will be sharing one fact about themselves for each piece of candy that they have in their hand. You can give students ideas of what to share, such as their favorite book, the number of siblings they have or their place of birth.

The "Interview Game" is a good get-to-know-you activity for larger groups. Partner the students up in teams of two and allow each student to interview his teammate for two minutes to learn as much information as possible. Once the interviews are complete, go around the room and have the students take turns introducing their teammates to the rest of the group. This activity can alleviate the awkwardness that a student may feel talking about herself in front of a group. Give students a list of questions to facilitate the interview.

Use an ice breaker to engage the minds and bodies of students. In "Human Bingo," make bingo cards ahead of time with boxes that could apply to different students in the group. Examples of these could include: a person who was born in September, a person who has broken a bone, a person who has a sister or a person who is left handed. Give each student a bingo card and a pencil and have the students move around the room asking their fellow students if they fit any of the categories. Once a match is found, the student will initial the box. Once a card has been filled in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line, that student will win.

Keep the students active by playing the "Two Extremes" game. Use a list of items that fall at opposite ends of the spectrum, such as: chocolate or vanilla, surfing or skiing or country or rap. The students start standing in a big group, but when each choice is read, they move to the side of the room that the facilitator indicates is associated with their choice. Students will see all of the things that they have in common with their new classmates.