3. 3
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
Are activities or games carried out
at the beginning of each class to
motivate students so they can
make good use of the class time.
4. 4
1. Spark Ss’ curiosity and promote a comfortable,
good, and positive atmosphere.
2. Reduce and lower anxiety and tension.
3. Create a warm and active environment.
4. Make a classroom a lively and interesting place.
5. Activate Ss’ prior knowledge of the unit theme.
6. Familiarize Ss with the topic of the story.
7. Improve ability to produce the target language.
8. Improve the ability to work cooperatively.
WHY ?
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
5. 5
Students’ common attitude:
1. Afraid to speak English
2. Frustrated
3. Lack of confidence
4. Make fun of themselves
Avoid :
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
6. 6
1. quick and easy to organize
2. neither difficult nor easy
3. short time
4. motivating class openers
Features :
Tip: Remember that 'warm-ups' can be 'turn-offs' if
they last too long. Your own judgment and preferences
will determine whether such games provide a suitable or
useful introduction.
STOP
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
7. 7
Each person is given a blank name tag. Explain to the group that
corporations are recognized by a specific logo or symbol
(McDonalds arches, 3M, Apple Computer's Apple, etc.). They are
given 2 minutes to draw their personal logo. This logo should reflect
their personality, their interests, major or any thing they would like
other people to know about them. Then give the group time to
mingle and see what each others logo looks like. When it looks like
the entire group has mixed, instruct everybody with a similar logo to
form a small group. You may be surprised at how many similarities
there are in your group.
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
8. 8
Each participant is asked to give
his/her middle name and tell how
or why that particular name was
chosen for them. The facilitator
should begin the process and if
appropriate, do it with a little bit of
humor to encourage others to
share.
Da Ya really wanna know?
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
9. 9
The object of this small group exercise is to get the group to quickly meet the other
members. The facilitator calls out a color of the rainbow: - for example
Color Jacuzzi:
RED:
Red typically is the stop/turn- off color - What is the thing (that they can disclose in public)
that is really a turn off to you?
Orange is the motivation color - what motivates you?
Yellow
is the inspiration or creativity color - what is the best idea you've ever had ?
Green
is the money color - what do you plan to do for money? what is the dumbest thing you
have ever done for money?
Blue is the sky's limit color - what is your favorite fantasy about your future ?
Purple
is the color of royalty - if you were ruler of the universe for a day, what is the first thing you
would do?
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
10. 10
Alternate these two words as
sentence beginnings in a 'round'.
The first person says: 'Fortunately ...
' (e.g. ' ... we won the lottery.'). The
second person says: 'Unfortunately
...' (e.g. '... no-one could find the
ticket.'). The third person continues
the story with a 'fortunately', the
fourth with an 'unfortunately‘ ,and so
on.
FORTUNATELY ...
UNFORTUNATELY
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
11. 11
Set up interview pairings. The smaller person is A,
the taller is B. A makes a personal statement (e.g.
what s/he had for breakfast, what s/he wants for
Christmas, why s/he came on the course) and B
asks 'why?'. A answers, B asks 'why?' etc. etc. It's
easy for B! At a suitable point, swap roles and
restart.
WHY? WHY? WHY? (WWW)
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
12. 12
The teacher provides visuals for the class
. After showing a picture for one or two
minutes, the teacher can ask the class to
tell what they see in the picture, or to
make up a story, or to list as many
adjectives or adverbs as possible that can
be used to describe the picture.
Seeing the picture helps Ss to retell the
story, and at the same time the T can see
whether Ss understand correctly or not.
PICTURE TALKING
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
13. 13
Alien, Tiger, Cow
Type Active activity that can be done anywhere.
Works on breaking the ice and getting everyone warmed up.
Group Size Any group size.
Equipment None
Objective To get everyone making the same creature.
Rules There are three things that the players can be.
1.Aliens: signified by making antennae with fingers and leaning into the circle saying "zeep zeep".
2.Tigers: signified by leaning into the circle with ferocious claws out and roaring.
3.Cows: signified by putting hands on the stomach with fingers out and mooing loudly. One person counts
to 3 loudly. On 3, everyone commits themselves to one of the three options listed above. Keep repeating
this cycle until everyone does the same one.
Variations Whichever being is in the minority, those people are knocked out of the circle and watch. Eg) If there are 6
aliens, 4 cows and 2 tigers. The 2 tigers are out and the next round starts. Add more types of beings.
Note Good luck on getting everyone to do the same being. You will probably need to be willing stop the game
before it gets boring.
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
14. 14
Ss write sentences in which the first word begins with
A, the second word begins with B, the third word
begins with C, and so on.
START AT THE VERY BEGINNING
PUSHING PENCILS, TWISTING TONGUES
Ss write sentences in which all the words begin
with the same letter.
LONGER THAN ALWAYS
Ss write sentences that begin with a one-letter word, followed by
a two-letter word, and so on.
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
15. Have Ss use each letter of their personal or family name to begin a word in an
English sentence; e.g.
THOMAS: Two horses of mine are sick.
REVERSE ACRONYMS
JUST CALL OUT MY NAME
Draw a diagram of a telephone dial. Have Ss create
word or phrase phone numbers for business. Write only
the type of business and the number on the board so the
other Ss try to guess the words or phrases.
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
16. 16
Challenge Ss to create English sentences in which one letter or number
represents an entire syllable or word because it is pronounced the same;
e.g.
You are too cagey
U R 2 K-G
FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
17. FIRST AID KIT FOR ICE BREAKERS AND WARM-UPS
Pablo Mejía Mal donado, Esp, MSc.
PROJECTS
Pr oyect os de Desar r ol l o Soci al y Educat i vo
Servicios Educativos Integrados
Proyectos, Asesoría, Capacitación, Traducciones,
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