First Day ESL Introduction Games
ABC
Age/Level: Any Time: 20 minutes Players: Individual Preparation: Three blank cards or pieces of paper for each student
Aim: To introduce yourself to the class.
Introduction: You can use this card game on the first day of class to help students introduce themselves. This introduction game works best with small class sizes.
Procedure
Give each student three blank cards or pieces of paper.
On the first card, students write their name, surname and age.
On the second card, the students write four adjectives to describe their physical appearance and personality.
On the third card, students write their favourite TV programme and type of music.
You can change the information the students write on their cards, depending on their level and your chosen language focus.
When the students have finished writing, take all the cards back and shuffle them together.
Next, sit the students in a circle and hand out three cards to each student. Each student should have three cards that other students have written. If students receive their own card back, exchange the card.
One student begins by asking the person on their right to swap one, two or three cards with the student sitting to their right or left.
Then, the next student does the same and so on.
This continues until one of the students gets their three cards back.
When this happens, the student says "ABC." All the students then place both hands in the middle of the circle.
The last student to do this loses and gets the letter 'A'.
The student who got all their cards back introduces themselves to the class using the information they wrote on their cards, e.g. 'Hello everyone. My name is Toby Smith. I'm 12 years old', etc. The student then leaves the game and becomes a spectator.
If a student is the last person to put both hands in the circle a second time, they get a letter 'B'. If this happens a third time, they get a letter 'C'. The student then has to repeat the names and information of all the students that have introduced themselves.
The game continues until all the students have introduced themselves to the class.
My Life in Five Sentences
Age/Level: Elementary and above Time: 20 minutes Players: Pairs Preparation: None
Aim: To use sequence words to order information about a partner.
Introduction: This is a great icebreaker activity for the first day of class to help students get to know each other. In the activity, students use sequence words to order information about a partner.
Procedure
Write five sentences on the board in a random order about interesting things you have done in your life.
Then, write some sequence words on the board, e.g. first, second, then, after that, finally.
Tell the students that the sentences on the board are things you have done in your life but the order is wrong.
Have the students put the five sentences in the correct order using the sequence words on the board. The students can do this verbally or you can have them write the sentences.
Then, ask the students for their sequence until someone gives you the right order.
Next, tell the students to write five sentences in a random order about interesting things they have done.
Tell the students to avoid writing sentences where the chronological order is obvious.
When the students have finished writing, divide them into pairs.
The students read their partner's sentences and try to put them in the right order using sequence words.
If the order is wrong, the student tries again until they get it right.
You can make this icebreaker more challenging by using more sentences, e.g. 'My life in ten sentences'.
When everyone has finished, ask the students to give feedback to the class on the information they found out about their partner. Any interesting findings can then be discussed in more detail.
Secrets
Age/Level: Elementary and above Time: 25 minutes Players: Individual Preparation: None
Aim: To ask 'Wh' questions in order to find out who is lying and who is telling the truth about a secret.
Introduction: This is a fun mystery game to play on the first day of class. The game motivates students to ask 'Wh' questions and helps them learn interesting things about their classmates.
Procedure
Give each student a slip of paper.
Tell the students to write their name on the paper.
Then, ask the students to write down a secret about themselves.
The secret should be something that is unknown to anyone in the class, such as a hidden talent, a skill, accomplishment or a place they have visited.
After the students have written their secrets, collect in the slips. Read them and choose one slip that has an interesting secret on it.
Next, ask three students to stand up and go out of the classroom.
One of the three students must be the person who wrote the secret you have chosen.
Go out of the classroom and tell the three students the secret on the slip and explain to them that they must all claim to have that secret.
Bring the three students back in the classroom and sit them down in front of the class.
Tell the class the secret and explain that the secret belongs to one of the three students sat at the front of the class.
The students' task is to ask the three students 'Wh' questions to determine which students are lying and which student is telling the truth.
After a few minutes of questioning, the students vote for the person who they think is telling the truth.
Award one point to the students who guess correctly.
Then, choose another secret and repeat the process and so on.
The student with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Snowball Fight
Age/Level: Beginner and above Time: 25 minutes Players: Individual Preparation: Recycled paper
Aim: To introduce other students to the class.
Introduction: Here is an inventive way for students to introduce each other on the first day of class. This game works best with younger students.
Procedure
Give each student a piece of recycled paper.
Ask the students to write their name and five things about themselves on the paper, e.g. their age, hobbies, etc.
If you want to give the students more direction, write a short introductory text on the board for them to copy onto the paper and complete with their own information.
Next, divide the students into two teams and have the teams stand facing each other at opposite sides of the classroom.
Tell the students to crumple their paper into a snowball.
Explain that the two teams are going to have a snowball fight.
When you say 'go', the snowball fight commences.
When you shout 'stop', anyone holding a snowball must open up the paper and find the person whose name is written inside.
The student then introduces the person to the class using the information written on the paper in the third-person, e.g. 'His name is Joshua. He is 11 years old', etc.
When the introductions have been made, the corresponding snowballs are removed from the game.
The two teams continue the snowball fight until everyone has been introduced to the class.
You can also use this game to review question and answer forms by writing a question inside each snowball. When you shout 'stop', anyone holding a snowball must answer the question written inside.
Teacher's Question Time
Age/Level: Elementary and above Time: 40 minutes Players: Individual Preparation: None
Aim: To write and respond to questions about the teacher and course.
Introduction: This fun icebreaker activity can be used to introduce yourself and the course to a new class of students. This activity also helps you to gain insight into your students' level of English.
Procedure
Before you begin the activity, don't give the students any information about yourself or the course.
Tell the students to work alone and write some questions that they would like to ask you. The questions can be about anything they want to know about you or the course.
If you have a large class, ask each student to write three questions. If it is a small class, ask each student to write five.
While the students are writing their questions, write the students' names on the board.
When everyone has prepared their questions, ask a student to come to the front of the class.
Tell the class that the student at the front of the class is going to take on the role of the teacher and attempt to answer another student's questions.
The student then tries to guess the answers to the questions asked by a classmate.
It's important not to reveal how the activity works until the students have written all their questions as this may affect the questions the students write.
While the student is answering the questions, you keep score.
The student scores one point for a correct (or close enough) answer.
If the student gives an incorrect answer, write an 'X' next to their score. The classmate asking the question should also mark an 'X' next to the corresponding question.
The game continues with students taking it in turns to be the teacher and guess the answers to a classmate's questions until everyone has asked and answered one set of questions.
Afterwards, tally up the scores to see who gave the most correct answers. Then, tell the students to ask you the questions marked 'X' that were left unanswered. This time you can give them the real answers.
The Name Game
Age/Level: Beginner Time: 20 minutes Players: 2 teams Preparation: Two balls
Aim: To give basic personal information about yourself and repeat other students' information.
Introduction: This fun introduction game is ideal for the first day of class and helps beginners get to know each other. In the activity, students play a game where they give basic personal information about themselves and repeat other students' information.
Procedure
Arrange the students into two teams and sit each team in a circle.
Tell the teams that they are going to race each other to say everyone's name in their team.
Give the first student in each team a ball. The first student begins by saying their name, e.g. 'I'm Ryan'.
The first student then passes the ball to the second student.
The second student repeats the first student's name and then says their own name, e.g. 'He's Ryan, and I'm Kate'.
The second student passes the ball to the next student.
The next student continues, e.g. 'He's Ryan. She's Kate, and I'm Amiko'.
The game continues until all the names have been said.
If a student forgets the name of a teammate, the team starts over from the first student.
The first team to finish wins the round and scores a point.
Then, start with a different student and repeat the game with other personal information, e.g. age, height, etc.
The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Trip to the Moon
Age/Level: Young learners Time: 15 minutes Players: Individual Preparation: None
Aim: To introduce yourself to the class and say an item that begins with the first letter of your name.
Introduction: Here is a fun way to get students to introduce themselves to the class. This introduction game works best with young learners.
Procedure
Begin the game by saying, "I'm the captain of a spaceship. I'm going on a trip to the moon. Who wants to go with me and what are you going to bring?"
Then, write the following sentence on the board for the students to say:
Hi, my name is... and I'm going to bring a/an/some...
The students who are allowed to go are the ones who bring something that begins with the first letter of their name. However, don't explain this to the students. It's up to them to work it out!
The first student then stands up and says, "Hi, my name is... and I'm going to bring a/an/some..."
If the item doesn't match with the first letter of their name, say, "I'm sorry, you can't go."
Then, move on to the next student.
If a student manages to work it out or accidentally says an item matching with the first letter of their name, you accept them on board and write up their name.
Eventually, most of the students will understand the game when they see that some students are allowed to go.
You can also have the students give more information about themselves (e.g. their age, hobbies, etc) by adding to the text on the board.
Who am I?
Age/Level: Any Time: 20 minutes Players: 2 teams Preparation: None
Aim: To ask questions about the teacher
Introduction: Here is an excellent game for the first day of class. This game helps you to introduce yourself to the class and gives you insight into your students' level of English.
Procedure
Before you start the game, cover the board with information about yourself. Next to each piece of information write a number. The type and amount of information you write will depend on the level of your class.
Example:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| John | blue | Yes, I can | football | London | the beach |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 years | 10 years | 183 cms | steak | Honda | Yes, I am. |
Next, divide the students into two teams (A and B).
Tell the class that on the board is information about yourself.
Explain that the aim of the game is for teams to choose a number and ask a question that they think matches with the answer on the board.
Tell the students that for some answers many questions may be possible, but only one question is correct.
Teams then take it in turns to choose a number and ask a question.
Teams score one point for the correct question and one point for using the correct grammar.
The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Example: Number 2, blue
Teacher: What number would you like Team A?
Team A: Number 2 please. What is your favourite colour?
Teacher: Sorry, that's the wrong question. My favourite colour is green. What number would you like Team B?
Team B: Number 2 again. What colour are your eyes?
Teacher: Correct. Well done. Two points for Team B. That's the correct question and correct grammar. (Crosses off number 2 from the board) What number would you like Team A?