First Day of School: A Back to School Icebreaker Activity

This is a back to school icebreaker scavenger hunt called "Bubble Gum Buddies" for the first day of school (or the first week). Your students are going to think you are the coolest teacher when you pass out BUBBLE GUM!!

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This is my take on the common 'get to know your classmates' scavenger hunt type activity. I tried to think of a way to change it up a bit and come up with something they may not have done before. What does that mean? Add Bubble Gum!!! It's a fun way to build community in your classroom from day one.

The ice breaker activity is called Bubble Gum Buddies. Basically kids walk around mingling with their new classmates trying to find someone who fits into each of the categories, such as 'has a pet fish' or 'is left handed'. There are 21 different categories for kids to get signed (not all classmates will sign each paper when you have a class larger than 21, but that is perfectly fine). When they find someone that fits into the category, they have that person write their name in the bubble gum circle.

I marked the back to school activity for grades 3-5, but please use your best judgement when deciding if it works for you. Some people may think it will work for second graders or even higher than 5th.

The fun part is that while they are walking around getting the names and meeting new friends, they get to chew bubble gum. :-)

I know that not everyone can allow gum chewing though, so if that is the case, I have included a page that does not include chewing gum as part of the directions. In my class, I would do the bubble gum, but I would tell them that once the activity is over it has to go in the trash (oh well...:-)

If you want to use this activity as a hallway display, have the kids color the pictures on the sheet and snap some pictures of them chewing gum and blowing bubbles with a friend. Mount the pictures onto the frames I included. Then hang them around the scavenger hunt sheets. CUTE!!

Have fun, and have a great time getting to know your new class.

For more creative classroom ideas, click on 'elementary lesson plans' by my picture above.