ESL Drama Games – Icebreakers

Game: Greetings
Level: Beginners+
Aim: The main focus of this activity is for the students to learn how to greet people. The extension to the activity promotes imagination and creativity.
Minimum number of participants: 3
Resources needed: Clear space.
Instructions: The students stand up and walk around the room in different directions. They have 30 seconds to shake everyone hands and say “Hello, my name is …. Please to meet you?
Extension: you can make this more difficult for higher levels. When’s hey have greeted everyone in 30 seconds they have to go around the room and greet everyone in different scenarios. The teacher calls out the different scenarios.
Examples of the different scenarios:
Greet someone you haven’t seen for ten years.
Greet someone that owes them money.
Greet everyone as if they have bad breath
Greet everyone as if you are in love with them.
Greet everyone as if you don’t like them.
Greet everyone as if you are suspicious of them.
Greet everyone as if you are frightened of them

Game: Snowballs
Level: Pre intermediate +
Aim: Statements and interrogative questions is the language focus here but this activity helps the students to be observation and be aware of other people’s body language.
Minimum number of participants: 4
Resources needed: Pieces of paper, pens and a clear space.
Instructions: This is a good icebreaker or warm up game for a class that don’t know each other that well. Give each student a piece of paper. Each student writes a statement about themselves on the piece of paper. When everyone has done this they scrunch up the pair and throw it in the circle. They keep picking up and throwing different pieces of paper until the teacher says stop. They pick up a random piece of paper and they must ask each other questions to find out who the piece of paper belongs to. If they group knows each other well get them to write down less obvious statements about themselves.

Game: Roll The Ball
Level: Beginners+
Language focus: This is a very useful game to play at the start of a new class. It helps both the students and teacher learn each other’s name in a fun way.
Minimum number of participants: 4
Resources needed: A clear space and a ball.
Instructions: This is a fun and easy game to play with younger students. It help with coordination skills. You need a ball. All the students sit in a circle with their legs wide open. The say the following rhyme as they roll the ball to on another.
Roll the ball, roll the ball, roll the ball to (name)
(name) has got the ball, roll it back to me.

Game: Data Processing
Level: Elementary+
Aim: The main aim of this activity of this activity is to ask personal questions but it also aids listening skills..
Minimum number of participants: 4
Resources needed: A clear space
Instructions: Get the class to work together and get them to get into a straight line:
• Alphabetically by their first name
• Alphabetically by their surnames
• Alphabetically by their best friend’s name
• Hair length
• Show size
• Birthdays
• How many brothers and sisters you have?

Extension: If the students are advanced get them to do this exercise by not using sound. They can only use body movement and gesture.

For more ESL Drama Games click below: