Hello! Here are the team building, ice breakers and SEL activities that I am going to do this year!!! These have been “researched” from numerous sources and only like two are my own so feel free to share! Some of these are easy to see or experience than explain so let me know if I can clarify. Have a great school year!
| First Quarter | |
| Name Game | Get students in a circle. The first person says their name and every subsequent person says every subsequent name until the teacher has heard every name over and over again. The teacher is last and says every name. |
| Silent Lineup | Everyone lines up silently on their birthdays. (to practice) Then by height you get a standing order for the risers. |
| Cup Game | Circle up. From the movie Pitch Perfect. Except you perform it to music. Make a playlist of current songs that gets faster. The last step of the routine is passing the cup to the next person.Starts a discussion of the difference between beat, tempo and rhythm and is fun. |
| Walk Around and In/Out | Students walk around the room randomly in no order. You yell “Rihanna” , they yell “Beyonce”, you yell “Stop”, they go, you yell “Go”, they stop. You yell “Clap”, they snap, you yell “Snap”, they clap. Then you get the students in a big circle and the leader yells in or out. Students jump inside or outside the imaginary circle. Mix it up until they mess up. |
| Three Questions | Students write three meaningful questions they would like to know about people in the room. They all mingle and get three people to answer their questions. At the end, each person introduces themselves and people share what they learned about the person. |
| Humming Challenge | Everybody spreads out around the room and each person is given a song to hum on a piece of paper. Hum the song while pacing the room and try to find your partner who is humming the same song. |
| Second Quarter | |
| Plate Game | Two lines facing each other with a paper plate on the ground. You yell “head, shoulders, knees, toes, plate” in any order while keeping a beat on drumsticks or claves. When you yell plate, the first person that stomps on the plate wins. New partners are formed and the game continues until you have a winner. |
| Snowballs | Students write an interesting fact about themselves on a piece of paper and then wad it up. Throw the snowballs in the middle of the room and mix them up and everyone grabs one to read out loud. Try to guess who the person is. |
| Baggage | Bring a trash bag…students anonymously write on a piece of paper all of the things that hinder them from learning. Examples can be hunger, stress, bad teachers…whatever. Wad up the papers and put them in the trash bag. The teacher pulls each one out and reads to the class what is on the paper. If anyone feels the same, they snap. Powerful. |
| Song Categories | Divide into teams. The whole group is given one word and three minutes to come up with as many songs with that word in the lyrics or title as possible. Extra points if you sing it. |
| Don’t Sit | Students are standing. One student at a time yells 1,2,3,4…..until the whole room is sitting. If you go at the same time as another student, both students are out and you start over at the number 1 with the students that are left. |
| Song Parody | Write parodies based on songs performed throughout the year and sing them together. |
| Third Quarter | |
| Two Truths and a Lie | Students present two truthful things about themselves and one lie. We try to guess the lie. Use index cards so the students don’t forget. |
| The Big Wind Blows For Those That | Students sit in a circle. One student in the middle of the circle. The student in the middle announces “The big wind blows for all of those that (had cereal this morning)” Those that had cereal have to quickly get up and find a new seat. |
| Moving Pen Circle | Each person has a pen. Form a circle so that everyone in the circle is holding a pen with just one finger with the person next to them and then try to slowly walk in a circle and change directions on command. |
| Red Solo Cup Catch and Farthest From the Line | Partner up and see who can toss a solo cup and their partner can catch it in another solo cup. Then have teams where they try to stand behind a line and reach down and pick up a solo cup without touching the ground past the line. Utilize your team by hanging onto each other. |
| Tag But Just On the Downbeat | Play music but you can only step on the downbeat. Everyone is “it”. If you get tagged, you are out. |
| Spot the Difference | Students sit in a circle. One person goes out in the hall. Once in the hall, elect a secret leader that everyone follows whatever that leader is doing (clapping, snapping, singing, etc.) A person in the hall comes in and tries to guess in three tries who the secret leader is. The secret leader goes into the hall once guessed. |
| Fourth Quarter | |
| Animal Kingdom | Circle up and stand. One student is the leader and makes a quick sound like a bark or a yelp. At that sound, everyone in the circle chooses one of the following animals and strikes that pose: Elephant, Snake, Bear, Gorilla, Rabbit. The leader also simultaneously picks that pose when they make the sound. If you have the same pose as the leader, you are out and sit down. The remaining people remain standing and the circle gets smaller with a new leader. Hilarious sounds. Quick reaction. Large hand poses. |
| Zip Zap Zop | Students say “Zip, Zap, Zop” one at a time while looking at the student they are sending the energy to. If you mess up, you are out. |
| Family Portrait | Think musical chairs. Students are walking around the room. When the music stops, the class has to pose in groups of 5-6 people and form a family where there are two parents, siblings and a pet. Take pictures. It’s really funny. |
| Plastic Bag Game and Juggling | Bring in a bunch of plastic bags. Each student has one. Partner up. Have them throw the bag into the air and go and catch their partner’s bag before it hits the ground. Once that energy dies down, try to teach them how to juggle with the plastic bags. |
| Wisdom Tree | Students get in groups of 8 or so. Each student says one word to form one sentence to a question the teacher asks. Once the students get this, it’s really a fun exercise in improv and quick reaction. |
| 1776 | Students stand in a circle. The student in the center of the circle walks around and says either Rabbit, elephant, or 1776 and points at the student. If you point to a student and say rabbit, they show rabbit ears with their hands. Elephant is an elephant trunk and 1776 is a drummer with a flutist on one side and a flagbearer on the other. If you mess up, you become the person in the middle of the circle. |
| Commercial Jingle | Commercial jingles! Separate into small groups – each group has to come up with an imaginary product (does not have to be realistically feasible, could even be magic), and then write a commercial and jingle to advertise the product. All group members must participate, there needs to be some form of planned/choreographed movement – not just standing there and reading off a script. This can easily take up a week – 3 days to write/practice/create props, 1 day to perform for each other. Record the performances, then watch them together on the 5th day and have an end-of-the-year choir party! |
Tyler Merideth 