It’s that time of year -- back to school! Some children are already back in school; some will return in the next few days. It’s an exciting time -- new supplies, new teachers, new routines, seeing old friends and making new ones.

If you’re a teacher, it can be great watching these friendships grow. One way to break the ice and learn more about each other is through games. One of our favorites is the “snowball fight.” (Yes, we love anything related to “snow” at Hawaiian Shaved Ice.) There are several ways to play this game, so pick the one you like the most -- or play several rounds with different questions each time!

Snow Ball Fight
Give each student a piece of paper and have them write three facts about themselves on the paper. Encourage your students to share things that are interesting, unique, and that other students may not know about them. For many students, it might help to have a prompt or questionnaire instead of leaving the task open-ended. Here are some ideas for questions to include:
  • My favorite food is _____.
  • If I could, I would change my name to _____.
  • The best part of waking up is _____.
  • What is the worst tasting thing you’ve ever had?
If you need more questions, check these out.

Instruct the students NOT to write their names on the paper. Then, have each student crumple their paper into a ball. When you yell, “Snowball fight,” your students should throw the balls around the room. Let the snowball fight go on as long as you can stand it, and call an end to the fight. Each student should pick up one snowball. Pick one student to start by unfolding the paper in their hands, reading it aloud, and then -- the fun part -- guess who wrote it. The person who wrote those answers is the next to read the paper in their hands.

What is your favorite ice breaker game? We’d love to hear about it! Share it with us on our Facebook page.