Impressum

Welcome to bel’s book of icebreaker games!

So, how do you get a lesson started? bel has put together a collection of tried and tested games that can be used to get a class going.

The games are all very flexible and can be adapted to class size and ability. Many of them can even be expanded to become more than a 5-minute warm-up game. On occasion, a lesson doesn’t go the way you planned, so if an icebreaker develops into a full-on fun and engaging exercise, run with it!

The games are a colourful mix of icebreakers that can be adjusted to accommodate specific vocabulary or grammar topics. Some require next to no preparation, some require a bit more of your time, and some can be prepared by your students. The spectrum of preparation ranges from only needing a few ideas to preparing simple worksheets or cards.

The most important thing with these icebreakers is to have fun.

It is easy to forget how much repetition learners need. Be patient, be understanding, and help your students to enjoy the learning process. And of course, make sure that you enjoy yourself, too!

Have fun and break some ice!

Beate Baylie, Karin Schweizer

and everyone at bel

Inhalt

Yakety-yak

Word association

What did you say?

Alphabet soup

Rain, rain…

Ranking

Vocab ping-pong

Sorted

Mind map

Dialogue

Picture memory

What’s next?

Picasso

Card collection

Truth or lies?

Conversion

FizzBuzz

Sentence building

Cartography

Quo vadis?

Students’ choice

Take, catch, go

Gestures

Déjà vu

Animal, mineral, vegetable

What are you doing?

Memory XL

Labels

Yakety-yak

Instructions

1. Think of topics for students to talk about.

2. Put 30 seconds on the clock.