Fun icebreaker questions to bond with your students

Elementary-school-child-coloring

It's already time for a new school year and for kids (and teachers), this is an exciting time. The first day of school is the perfect time to get to know your students and help them get to know each other, too. Ice breaker questions encourage kids of all ages to get out of their shell and feel comfortable with their new teachers and classes. Here are some of our favorites! Click the ice breaker questions below to copy into your account. Don't have an account yet? Create one here.

Ice breaker questions for elementary school students

It's especially hard to start a new school year for the little ones, but these fun ice breaker questions can help them feel comfortable and encourage them to make new friends:

  • If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why?
  • What's your favorite summertime activity?
  • Who is your favorite superhero and why?
  • If you could be any flavor of ice cream, what would it be and why?
  • What's your favorite thing to do after school?
  • If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
  • How many books did you read this summer?
  • What word would you add to the dictionary and what would it mean?
  • If you won a million dollars, what would you buy?
  • What's your favorite book or movie and why?
  • If you could keep any animal as a pet, what would it be?

The best types of ice breaker questions for students are open-ended questions because those open a conversation up for further discussion. You can even ask follow up questions or play a fun game with their answers.

Ice breaker questions for middle school students

Middle school is an important milestone (and a little bit awkward), so ice breaker questions are the perfect way to help your students open up and get to know each other as the school year starts. These ice breaker questions help direct that attention to something fun:

  • What's on your bucket list and why?
  • Who do you admire in your life and why?
  • If you had three wishes, what would you wish for and why?
  • What's the best gift you've ever received?
  • If you had a TV show, what would it be called and who would play you?
  • What's your favorite part about school?
  • What's one thing you want to learn this year (either in school or outside of it)?
  • What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?
  • What's something that you have in common with the person next to you?
  • If you could get rid of one food forever, what would it be and why?

For shy middle schoolers, you could also play a trivia game instead and provide answers that they can just pick. Sometimes, middle schoolers might not want to share their personal information so providing options and comparing the answers is a good way to spark a discussion but not push your middle schoolers out of their comfort zone.

Ice breaker questions for high school students

High-schoolers-talking

High schoolers are generally excited to start a new year. They're almost on their own, and it shows! These ice breaker questions will help them think outside of the box, get them ready for the new year, and help you get to know them better:

  • What's your catchphrase?
  • If you were to write a book, what would it be about?
  • What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
  • What's one song that you'll always remember the words to?
  • Do you know any other languages?
  • Do you do any volunteer work? Or, where would you donate $1 million if you could?
  • What's your go-to karaoke song?
  • What's your nickname? Or if you don't have one, what nickname would you create for yourself and why?
  • What's your favorite quote and why?

To keep your high schoolers interested, make your ice breaker questions into an interactive game to get everyone involved. When they can see each other's answers and compare themselves against their peers, they're sure to open up and make new friends. Plus, you can save their answers from the first day of school and compare them to the last day of school to see how much they've progressed in the year.

Poll Everywhere can help teachers make the most out of their classroom activities or presentations. Learn more about our plans here!

Marina Grindle has over 8 years of marketing experience and has written for a variety of industries from eCommerce to health care to interior design, and everything in between. She currently works as a Content Strategist at one of San Diego's leading marketing agencies and contributes her writing to various publications as a freelancer, as well.