15 ESL Icebreakers for Adults: Back-to-School and First-Day Activities (Free PDF)

The icebreakers at a glance

Free · printable PDF

First Lesson Icebreakers

Ten of the fifteen icebreakers below need paper, and all ten are in one PDF. Every page carries its icebreaker's number from this post and prints its own rules, so groups can start without you explaining twice.

10 pagesA1 to C1A4 and LetterRules on every page

1of 15A2-C110 min · Whole groupNo printing

Name Story

• Each student says their name and one fact about it: who chose it, what it means, a nickname, or how people get it wrong.
• You go first, as a model. Keep it under 30 seconds.
• Lower levels use a frame on the board: My name is... My parents chose it because... My friends call me...

Why it worksA name with a story is much easier to remember than a name on a list, and every student has a story ready, so nobody has to think of something interesting to say. It also tells you how each student likes their name pronounced, before you get it wrong.

Online: Students say their story in the order of the video tiles. Ask everybody to rename their tile to the name they want to be called.
1-to-1: Swap stories with your student, then ask two questions about theirs. It is a gentle first five minutes before the needs analysis.

2of 15A1-B25 min · Whole groupNo printing

Name Chain

• The first student says their name and one thing they like: I'm Tomás and I like coffee.
• The next student repeats it and adds their own: He's Tomás and he likes coffee. I'm Amara and I like hiking.
• The chain grows until the last student says everybody. Then the first student tries the whole chain.

Why it worksStudents hear every name six or seven times in five minutes, and they practice he likes / she likes without noticing. Classmates help when the chain breaks, which is the first moment the group works together.

Online: Go in the order of the video tiles and keep the chain on screen as names only. Students cover the list for the last round.
1-to-1: Turn it into a memory game about your student's world: they name five people in their life and one fact about each, and you repeat the chain.

3of 15A1-B115 min · Whole groupFree printable · page 1

Find a Classmate Who

• Each student gets the grid of 16 prompts, such as has lived in another country or used English at work this week.
• Students turn each prompt into a question, walk around and ask. A yes means they write the name.
• After every yes, they ask one more question and write the answer under More.
• One square per classmate, so they have to talk to everybody.

Why it worksThis is the classic for a reason: every student asks ten or more real questions in fifteen minutes. The adult prompts are about work, coffee and moving abroad, and the follow-up rule turns each yes into a short conversation. Students who can't form the questions yet can first do Who, What, Where?, an A1-A2 lesson on basic WH-questions.

Online: Share the page, send pairs to breakout rooms for two minutes at a time, and ask students to type the names in the chat.
1-to-1: Your student finds which prompts are true for them and for you. Then they ask you the follow-up questions, which is often the first time they ask anything in English.

Free printable · page 1

For beginner groups

Hobbies is a free A1-A2 lesson with the vocabulary half the grid needs. Who, What, Where? practices the question forms.

HobbiesA1A2FreeOpen the free lesson →Who, What, Where?A1A2ProSee the Pro lesson →

4of 15A2-C215-20 min · Groups of 3-5Free printable · page 2

Two Truths and a Lie

• Each student writes three sentences about themselves: two true, one false, using a starter for their level.
• They read them to the group. The group asks up to three questions, and the writer answers as if all three were true.
• Everybody votes for the lie. Every wrong guess is a point for the writer, who then tells the true story behind their best sentence.

Why it worksThe questions round is where the English happens: the writer has to keep a lie going in real time, and the others have to listen closely. The starters on the page (I have never..., I used to..., I'd never... again) make the same game work from A2 to C2. For a full lesson on the topic, White Lies is a B1-B2 lesson on the lies people tell to be kind.

Online: Students type their three sentences in the chat at the same time and the group votes with reactions.
1-to-1: You and your student each write three. You will learn more about them from their lie than from their truths.

Free printable · page 2

5of 15A2-B210-15 min · PairsFree printable · page 3

The Answer Is

• Students write only answers in six boxes: a number, a place, a name, a year, a thing they can't live without and a time of day.
• They swap cards. The partner guesses the question behind each answer: Is 7 the number of your house?
• The writer answers Yes!, Close! or No, guess again. After three guesses, they tell the story.

Why it worksStudents build questions in every grammar they know, because the answer decides the tense: a year needs the past, a place might need the present perfect. The writer decides how personal to go. When a guess is close but wrong, students need ways to check meaning, which is what Come Again? teaches at A2-B1.

Online: Students hold their card up to the camera or type their six answers in a private chat to their partner.
1-to-1: This works well 1-to-1: you write a card too, and your student hears a correct model question for each of your answers.

Free printable · page 3

6of 15B1-C120 min · Pairs, then groupFree printable · page 4

The Interview, then Introduce Your Partner

• Each student ticks five questions from a list of ten and interviews a partner for five minutes, writing key words only.
• They pick the three most interesting things they heard.
• Each student introduces their partner to the group in one minute. The partner can say That's right or Not exactly!

Why it worksTalking about a partner is easier than talking about yourself, and the introduction makes students report what they heard: She told me she lives near the sea. The Not exactly! rule keeps the listener listening. The Art of Interview is an A1-A2 lesson on asking good questions, and Networking takes the same skill to B1-B2 business groups.

Online: Pair students in breakout rooms for the interview, then bring them back for the introductions.
1-to-1: Swap roles: your student interviews you first, then introduces you back to you. It practices you told me that... and shows you their note-taking.

Free printable · page 4

7of 15A2-C120 min · Whole group in pairsFree printable · page 5

Speed Friending

• Students sit in two rows, facing a partner. A pile of question cards sits between each pair.
• They take the top card, both answer it, and ask one question of their own.
• After three minutes the timer rings, one row moves one seat, and they take a new card.

Why it worksEvery student talks to five or six classmates in one activity, so by the end nobody is a stranger. The cards come in four topics, from Coffee, tea or neither? to What did you learn last year?, so a group can start light and go deeper. Speed Dating is an A1-A2 lesson built on the same format.

Online: Use breakout rooms of two and reshuffle them every round. Post the round's card on screen before you open the rooms.
1-to-1: Put the cards face down and take turns: your student picks a card for you, you pick one for them.

Free printable · page 5

8of 15A2-C110 min · Pairs or small groupsNo printing

The Last Photo on Your Phone

• Students open the photos on their phone and choose one of their last ten.
• They show it to a partner and explain it: where, when, who took it, why they kept it.
• The partner asks two questions. Then they swap.

Why it worksEverybody has a phone, and every photo has a story, so even quiet students have something to say. Choosing from the last ten keeps it private enough: students decide what to show. It is also a natural way into small talk, the skill The Art of Small Talk teaches at A2-B1.

Online: Students share the photo on screen or hold the phone up to the camera.
1-to-1: Show yours first. It is a good way for your student to see you as a person, not a test.

9of 15A2-B215 min · Groups of 3-4Free printable · page 6

Common Ground

• Groups find five things everybody in the group has in common.
• Obvious ones don't count: We all study English scores nothing.
• Each find scores 1 to 3 points for how surprising it is. The top group tells the class its best one.

Why it worksTo find something less obvious, students have to ask many questions and agree with So do I and Neither do I, the language most adults get wrong. The scoring rule pushes them past the boring answers. Finding Common Ground is a full A1-A2 lesson on so, either and neither.

Online: Groups work in breakout rooms with the page on a shared screen or in a shared document.
1-to-1: You and your student find three things you have in common. It is a quick way to find the topics they will enjoy talking about all course.

Free printable · page 6

10of 15A1-B210 min · Whole groupNo printing

Line Up

• Give a category: birthdays from January to December, distance from home to class, years of learning English.
• Students line up in the right order without your help. They have to ask each other to find their place.
• When the line is ready, each student says their answer out loud to check.

Why it worksIt is short, it gets adults out of their chairs, and it needs a lot of questions: When is your birthday? How far do you live? The final check is also a quick listening test for numbers and dates.

Online: Everybody types their answer in the chat at the same moment, then students say the order out loud, one by one.
1-to-1: Your student lines up five things from their own life: places they have lived, jobs they have had, cities they have visited, in order and with a reason.

11of 15A2-C115 min · Whole groupFree printable · page 7

Human Bingo of Firsts

• Each student gets a bingo grid of firsts: first job, first concert, first salary.
• They walk around and ask: Do you remember your first concert? Who did you see?
• A classmate who remembers gives one detail, and the student writes the name and the detail. Four in a row is bingo, and the winner tells the best story they heard.

Why it worksFirsts are memories everybody has and nobody minds sharing. Students switch between Have you ever...? and the past simple in every square, which is exactly where the mistakes happen. Life-Changing Experiences is an A2-B1 lesson that goes further with the same grammar.

Online: Share the grid and let students ask in breakout rooms of three, then come back to compare grids.
1-to-1: Your student picks four squares and tells you each first. You ask the follow-up questions from the bottom of the page.

Free printable · page 7

12of 15A2-C115 min · Groups of 5+Free printable · page 8

Who Wrote This?

• Each student completes an anonymous slip with three true answers: A food I can't stand, A job I wanted at age ten...
• The slips go in a pile. A student reads one slip to the group.
• Everybody guesses who wrote it and says why: It must be Marta, because she said she loves cooking.

Why it worksIt is the one icebreaker where the quiet students are the hardest to guess, so they become the stars. Students practice must, might and can't for guessing without a grammar lesson. For more talk about character, Personality Types is an A1-A2 lesson on personality adjectives.

Online: Students send their answers to you in a private chat. You paste them one at a time and the group guesses.
1-to-1: Not for 1-to-1. Use The Answer Is instead.

Free printable · page 8

13of 15B1-C210 min · Whole groupNo printing

Story Chain

• One student starts a story with one sentence: On my first day in this city, I got on the wrong bus.
• Each student adds one sentence. The story has to make sense, more or less.
• The last student ends it. Then the group gives the story a title.

Why it worksStudents have to listen to every sentence to add the next one, and the story gets funnier as it goes. A shared laugh is the best thing a new group can take home. For longer storytelling, the 4-3-2 rounds in our printable speaking games work well in the second week.

Online: Go in the order of the video tiles, or let each student name the next speaker.
1-to-1: Build the story together, one sentence each. Write it down as you go and send it to your student after class.

14of 15B1-C220 min · Groups of 3-4Free printable · page 9

Desert Island

• Groups are on a desert island for 30 days. They can keep three of sixteen items, from a fishing net to a guitar.
• Each student ticks their top five, then the group has to agree on three.
• Each group presents its three in one minute, and the class votes for the plan most likely to get everybody home.

Why it worksAgreeing on only three makes students disagree politely and give reasons, with second conditionals they need: Without a knife, we couldn't... You also learn who leads, who listens and who gives in, which helps you plan pairs for the rest of the course.

Online: Groups negotiate in breakout rooms, with the item cards on a shared screen.
1-to-1: You and your student each choose three alone, then you have to agree on three together.

Free printable · page 9

15of 15A2-C115 min · Alone, then pairsFree printable · page 10

My English Story

• Students complete six sentences about themselves and English: The first English word I remember is..., I learn best when...
• They tick how they feel about each skill: I'm nervous, It's OK or I'm confident.
• Pairs compare and find one thing they both find hard and one they both enjoy. Then students hand the page to you.

Why it worksIt ends the first lesson on the reason everybody is in the room, and it gives you a needs analysis in your hand, written by the students themselves. Keep the pages: in three months, students fill in the skills table again and see how far they've come. For a full lesson on how adults learn, Lifelong Learner is a B1-B2 lesson on designing your own study plan.

Online: Share the page as a document. Students fill in their copy and send it to you after class.
1-to-1: This is your first-lesson needs analysis. Do it together and ask about every answer.

Free printable · page 10

First Lesson IcebreakersAll ten printable pages in one free PDF, each one numbered like the icebreaker in this post.Download the free PDF

Teacher's reference

Slips to note down while they mingle