We are officially living in the era of zoom meetings and classes; it started a few years ago but hasn't stopped ever since! However, have you ever heard about a thing called 'Zoom Anxiety'? Yes, many people, including students, get anxious when they have a zoom meeting or class coming up. Well, we can't blame them either. Zoom meetings are long, boring, and extremely stressful for your head and eyes. This is why people should start making zoom meetings more fun and comfortable by using zoom ice breakers.
Now you must be wondering what zoom icebreakers are and how can they make a zoom meeting fun? Don't worry; we are here to answer all your questions! Keep Reading to see some best zoom icebreakers and games to play with students for online meetings, and everything else you need to know!
What Are Zoom Icebreakers?
Zoom icebreakers, also known as virtual icebreakers, are fun activities and games that teachers and meeting hosts of zoom introduce to make the participants feel comfortable and welcomed. Also, these zoom icebreaker games give a chance to all students, team members, and participants to get to know and engage with each other and get rid of their zoom anxiety too. As the name implies, "breaking the ice" refers to removing the tension and formality between the members of a group. In fact, according to research, many students engaged more efficiently after playing icebreaker games. These zoom icebreakers can be in the form of games and random, interesting questions.
Best Fun Zoom Icebreakers
As promised, below, we are mentioning some fun zoom icebreakers to make the atmosphere of your zoom meetings more fun and pleasant. Not only for zoom meetings but you can also these fun icebreakers for face-to-face training sessions or physical classes. Read on!
1. ‘Two Truths and a Lie’ Icebreaker Game
Two truths and a lie are a world-famous, old, and fun game to play. Also, this classic game is perfect for online meetings and classes. In this game, all the students and participants are asked to write 2 true and 1 false statement about themselves. However, they won't have to disclose which statement is true and which one is false. Every participant should then read those statements aloud to other participants. After that, all the other students and team members need to assume what statement is actually true and what is false. When every participant is done assuming, the actual team member will disclose what statements were true and false. This icebreaker activity is a guessing game and a convenient way for the team members to interact with each other.
2. Night Owl or Early Bird?
Students of remote teams usually tend to stay up late at night, so why not make a game out of it? You can ask every team member about their sleep schedules, what time they sleep, and when they wake up. You can even ask other participants to guess the same thing about their team members. Moreover, you can make this game more interesting by asking the students about their class timings preferences; morning, afternoon, or evening. This great icebreaker is a great opportunity to engage your students and make them feel comfortable.
3. Storytelling Icebreaker
Storytelling is always a fun activity, and indeed an amazing and engaging zoom icebreaker for students too. Being a host and teacher, you can create and use a virtual whiteboard with a set of 4 pictures on it. However, make sure that the students should be able to tell some kind of story after looking at those pictures. After that, divide the students and participants into 4 breakout groups and give them 15 minutes to closely look at the pictures and think of a story or script out of those pictures. After 15 minutes have passed, tell the groups to narrate their story in front of the whole online class. This zoom icebreaker game is a great tool for students to think of wonderful ideas and actively interact and communicate with each other team members.
4. Introducing Each Other
If you really want the students to know and interact with each other, then introducing each other is the best zoom icebreaker and one of the fun games to play. What you can do is ask every participant to introduce themselves. For this, you can also write down a list of questions on the virtual whiteboard and ask the students to answer them one by one. These questions can include name, qualifications, interests, likes, dislikes, etc. This way, every team member will get a chance to know each other better. You can arrange this activity before the online session or in between.
5. The Salesman Zoom Icebreaker
Next, we have another fun zoom icebreaker; The Salesman game! In this game, you can ask all the team members to create a sales script to attempt to sell a certain product in a fun and engaging way. You can assign them a product by supposing a mouse, bag, pair of shoes, or anything else you feel like. However, make sure to tell the students to be creative and persuasive with the descriptions and sale scripts. This game will allow the team member to have fun, laugh, and interact; all in one!
6. ‘Childhood Dream’ Ice-breaker
The childhood dream ice breaker game is a great tool for students to talk about their life goals, how they changed, or how are they going to achieve them. You can ask all the students to write their childhood dream and goal on the virtual board. Moreover, ask them to relate that dream with what they have achieved or where they are now in their lives. This game will not only be fun but also an inspirational activity for all the team members and students.
7. This or That?
This or that is the best virtual icebreaker out of them all! In this team-building activity, ask questions to all the team members and make them choose between this or that (two things). For example, a burger or a sandwich? Coke or Sprite? Beaches or malls? Summer or winter? You can also use the zoom poll feature for this activity. Doing this activity at the start of the online session will freshen up the students, they will get interactive, and will feel motivated t0 enjoy the whole class and session.
8. I Spy Zoom Icebreaker
I spy is a zoom icebreaker game that tests the observational skills of students. To play this game, you need to turn on the gallery view mode so that every member can see all the students. Then ask one member to spot and tell the first or most random thing they see from everybody's frame. For example, "I spy a red lamp". Then, the other team member on the line will have to spot that item in every frame. After spotting, they also have to mention something, and the next person will spot it, and the game goes on. You can even give bonus points to students who are quick and swift to spot the mentioned products. This game is one of the best and great conversation starters for zoom meetings!
9. Never Have I Ever
I think all of us here know about the fun Never Have I Ever Game, right? It is a classic party and gathering game, and a great zoom icebreaker too now! This game will allow the team members to learn about the past experiences of other students and participants. To perform this icebreaker activity, you should have a list of confessions, statements, and interesting things about your past experiences ready. For example, one student can say, "Never Have I Ever Cooked Something From Scratch". Then, whoever has experienced that statement in their past lives will virtually raise their hands. If you want to make the icebreaker game more interesting, you can ask the students to give a background story of their experiences.
10. Riddles
Riddles are a great tool to freshen up your mind, have fun, and interact with others. This is why it is one of the best zoom icebreakers available right now. You can arrange a specific riddles day and ask all the participants and students to come prepared with exciting, funny, and creative riddles. Participants can tell their riddles one by one and the other students can guess them. If not this, you can pick out some riddles yourself and read them aloud in class. The participants and students of your zoom meeting can then attempt to guess them one by one.
11. Perfect Pair Icebreaker
As the name implies, in this icebreaker game, every team member tries to find their perfect pair and partner out of all the teammates. To initiate the game, you can ask a very random question from your team like, "What is your favorite cookie?" Then, all the team members will answer the question. The answers can be; chocolate chip, oatmeal, sugar, etc. If two students have the same preference or matching answers, they will become the perfect pair! This is one of the best virtual icebreakers, and students will get to know each other and communicate more efficiently.
12. Best Books Icebreaker
The Best books question is one of the most informative and engaging zoom icebreakers used by hosts! In this game, you can ask all the participants about the best book they have read, what was its summary, and why they loved it. This activity will give all the students a chance to know about the interests of other team members, and what they have in common, and get to know more about trending and informative books.
13. In The Kitchen Icebreaker
In this classic icebreaker game, you need to ask every student about their favorite dish or cuisine to make in the kitchen. For example, ramen noodles, apple pie, their mother's recipe for banana bread, etc. You can also request the students to be a little more elaborative by sharing why they like the specific recipe and why they enjoy and love cooking it. This icebreaker can be extremely beneficial for lightening up the mood of the meeting and having a good time.
14. ‘Take a Picture of Something’ Icebreaker
The ‘Take a Picture of Something’ game is also one of the best and most amusing zoom icebreakers you can play with your students. You need to ask the students to take a picture of something after setting a certain theme. For example, you can ask them to take pictures of their desks, the view outside their windows, their garden, etc. After they are ready, tell the students to upload those pictures on their virtual boards one by one. Once they do it, you can start a discussion on those pictures and make the whole class communicate with each other.
15. The One Word Icebreaker
Ending our list with another fun and amusing zoom icebreaker; One Word. In this activity, you can ask the students and participants to describe their life or themselves in one word. This activity will give students a chance to become more creative, enhance their thinking skills, and have fun. The one word answers are obviously going to be funny now, right? Most importantly, it will break the 'formal' vibe of the online environment and session.
Fun Zoom Icebreaker Questions
Apart from the zoom icebreaker games mentioned above, there are some random questions too that you can ask the students in the zoom meeting. Here are some fun icebreaker questions all the participants can enjoy in the zoom meeting:
- What is your favorite Halloween costume?
- What is your favorite pizza slice shape?
- What is the weirdest thing you have done as a kid?
- Are you a dog person or a cat person?
- For how long do you think you can survive a zombie apocalypse?
- What is the best sitcom you have ever watched?
- Earth is round or flat?
- Egg Salad or Potato Salad?
- What is your travel bucket list?
- What song should be the theme song of your life?
- Would you take a lemon slice with your water?
- If your life was a movie, what would you name it?
- What is the weirdest food combination you like to eat?
- Do you make your bed in the morning?
- Could Rose have saved Jack in Titanic?
- What movie makes you cry every time you watch it?
- What is your favorite fun icebreaker game?
- What is the worst piece of advice you have ever received?
- If a UFO offered you a ride, would you take it?
- What was your first job?
Conclusion
Now that you have gone through the 15 best ice breakers for zoom meetings with students, we are sure you are all ready to build a healthy and friendly online environment for your students. Moreover, these icebreakers can also help the students become more interactive and productive. The more the team members get to know each other, the more they will enjoy learning in their online sessions. Also, these icebreakers will be great to help the sessions run more smoothly.
At MTS, we have a team of highly skilled and professional tutors who make a very friendly and comfortable decorum of online classes. Just visit our website and book a private and professional tutor for you or your kids. So, what are you waiting for? Your dream tutor is just a click away!
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